“I’ll have to see him?” Taylor panicked, her fingernails digging into his hand as she clutched at him.
“Yes, but he won't be able to see you. It’s one-way glass; you can see him, but he can't see you,” Tom assured her. “I’ll go see if everything is set up.”
Once Tom left, Fin took a tentative step toward Chloe, shaking off Taylor’s hand as he went. “Chloe,” he began hesitantly.
She just glared at him and turned her back, fiddling with papers on her desk.
She was angry.
That was fine; he deserved that.
She’d gone out on a limb and took a huge risk admitting that she still loved him and that she wanted to get back together. He’d told her he still loved her, too, but that had been driven by fear. Now it was time to take the same risk she had.
“Chloe, I'm sorry about this morning.”
She said nothing.
She wouldn’t even turn to look at him.
“I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you. It was wrong,” he babbled helplessly. He wasn't good at apologizing, even when he knew he was in the wrong and knew he had to.
She still refused to say anything.
Instead, she just turned and stalked off.
“Don’t take that personally,” Tom said from behind him. “She had a bit of a shock earlier.”
Panic suddenly flared inside him.
Had something happened?
Was she more seriously hurt from the car accident than they had thought?
“What happened?” he demanded.
“I think it’s up to her to decide if she tells you or not.”
“Don’t give me that,” he growled. “What happened?”
Tom sighed. “Marcus King is out on parole.”
That was the last thing Fin had expected to hear.
How could that man get out after what he’d done?
Why hadn’t she told him?
She said she wanted to get back together and yet every time something important happened, the first thing she did was walk away. How could he ever trust her if she kept doing this? If she loved him and wanted to be with him like she claimed, then she had to stop running from him. She had to tell him when she needed him; she had to turn to him. She had to give him the chance to be there for her.
Leaving Taylor with Tom, he headed off after Chloe. She was going to talk to him whether she liked it or not. Finding out that man was out there must be terrifying.
He found her staring aimlessly into a cup of coffee in the corridor.
“Tom told me about Marcus King,” he said quietly as he came up behind her.
“He shouldn’t have done that,” she muttered.
Gently, he took hold of her elbow and turned her to face him. Her bruises had grown darker in the few hours since he’d last seen her. Although she tried to hide it, he could see the fear lurking deep in her brown eyes. She didn't want to be afraid, but she was. Why wouldn’t she be? That man was a monster.