Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“So you gave in,” I ventured, easing my hold on his arms so I could run my hands up and down his chilled skin.
“I hated it,” Eli whispered. “I threw up every time he did it to me. Every single time. I told him it was making me sick, but he didn’t care.”
I reached up to wipe at the tears that were still slipping down his face.
“About a year after it started, I finally told him I wouldn’t do it anymore. I told him if he ever touched me again, I’d tell my mom and Dom the truth. He laughed at me and told me to go ahead. He said no one would believe me after they saw the video. Then he…he threatened to pull his support for Dom’s contracts with the army.”
I stilled my movements at that as things finally started to click into place.
“He told me how much money Dom and his brothers would lose. He said he could ruin their business. I knew he would do it so I stopped saying no after that.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dom?” I asked. “He would have helped you. He wouldn’t have cared about the money.”
Eli shook his head. “I couldn’t let him find out what I’d done,” he said quietly. His eyes lifted to meet mine and he whispered, “I fucked my own mother’s husband. He’s one of Dom’s closest friends.”
“Eli-”
“You saw me in that parking garage, Mav. You saw what I was capable of.”
I knew he was talking about the day he’d tried to trade a blowjob for the self-defense lessons he’d wanted. He’d been on autopilot in that moment and if I hadn’t seen how empty and dead his eyes had been, I would have let him suck me off and from the seemingly eager, expert way he’d handled me, I would have thought he was completely into it. But none of that negated what had been done to him…what that fucker who’d claimed to be the father he wanted had done to him.
“I don’t care if you stripped all your clothes off and begged him to fuck you, Eli! You were a kid and you were in no position to consent! He raped you!”
Eli closed his eyes and shook his head and I bit back my frustration. Nothing I said was going to convince him otherwise. “When did it stop?”
“It stopped for a while when I left for college. It was why I picked a school on the east coast. Then Jack got the job at the Department of Defense. The first time I went to see their new house in Virginia, he did it again. My mother was in the house,” Eli whispered on a broken sob. “I stopped going there after that unless I absolutely had to and I avoided being alone with him. It happened a few more times, but he finally stopped pursuing me my sophomore year. But I didn’t trust him not to want to start things up again so I decided to go back to Seattle for school.”
Eli slumped against the tree. “I thought things would be better if I was around Dom and his family, but every time I’m with them, all I can think about is what I did. They’ll hate me if they ever find out,” Eli whispered just before looking up at me.
“No they won’t,” I said softly and then I leaned down to kiss him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Eli. I know it. Dom will see that.”
“No,” Eli cried out as he shook his head violently. “Dom can’t know. My mom…it would kill her if she knew. Please, Mav…please promise me you won’t tell anyone. Please, I’m begging you,” Eli said desperately as he grabbed my arms.
“He needs to pay for what he did to you.”
“Mav, please. I just want to start over somewhere else. Please, please, please,” he repeated over and over until I dragged him into my arms. I could feel his breathing ticking up and I knew he was seconds away from a panic attack.
“Okay,” I said softly against his ear. “I won’t tell anyone,” I reassured him.
Eli’s relief was palpable as he sagged against me. I held on to him for several moments until he completely relaxed in my arms. “We need to go back and talk to Caleb,” I said quietly.
Eli nodded.
I took his hand in mine and led him back across the parking lot. I gave the door a light knock and waited for Jace to open it, then tucked Eli against my side as I sat him down on the bed. Caleb was still in the same position and his worried eyes stayed on Eli before finally shifting to Jace who went to his side and nodded his head.
Caleb took a deep breath and then started talking.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eli
Focusing on Caleb’s voice was impossibly difficult since I was still reeling from everything that had just happened. When I’d first walked into the motel room, I’d been stunned by how broken and small Caleb looked. He’d always been quieter than Nick, but he’d always had a smile on his face and he was the type of guy who naturally drew people to him. And while he hadn’t exactly been kind to me when we were younger, he hadn’t seemed as resentful as Nick always had.