Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Okay,” Chase says calmly when her voice rises, and it sounds like she might spiral into another panic attack. “You’re absolutely right, Abbi. You did the right thing. I can tell you that I did a run on his name, and it turns out this is not his first sexual assault. The fucker is a rich brat whose daddy paid for attorneys to get him a plea bargain on the last case, but part of his parole stipulation was that he not offend again. He’s going back to prison.”
“For how long?” My voice is a growl.
“Twenty more years,” Chase replies.
“You found all of that out?” Abbi asks. “That was fast.”
“My office does good work,” he says with a smile. “He can’t hurt you, or anyone else, again. I’m so sorry this happened, Abbi. Are you sure I can’t take you to the hospital?”
“No hospitals,” she repeats, shaking her head. “But thank you. Thanks for coming so quickly.”
Before he leaves, Chase takes his time, assuring Abbi that she can call him anytime and that everything will be okay. Then we’re alone in the quiet house.
Abbi stands, blows out a breath, and calmly walks into the kitchen to freshen up her ice pack, before turning to me with big, sad blue eyes.
Those eyes are going to be the death of me.
“So, I guess this means that anything you and I might have started is over.”
I blink at her and then scowl. “What? Why would you even think that? None of this is your fault.”
She sighs and, if I’m not mistaken, chuckles.
Chuckles.
“This isn’t funny, Abbi.”
“No.” She presses the pack to her face and cringes. “It’s not funny. But it’s typical. I’m a fucking mess and a half, Brady. You don’t need to bring my bullshit into your life.”
“I don’t see any bullshit.”
“No, you’ve seen what I want you to see, and I don’t mean that as deceitful as it sounds.”
She walks back into the living room and sits on the couch, pulls her feet up under her, and looks so…sad.
“Maybe you should talk to me.”
I take Chase’s seat across from her so I can look her in the eyes.
“I don’t ever talk about this,” she replies quietly and shivers, and I pull the throw blanket off of the back of the chair I’m in and take it to her and wrap her up in it, before returning to the chair. “I’m not going to go into the nitty gritty because I can’t. I have to go home later to be with Daisy, and if I go there, I might not come out of the darkness that it puts me in. But I was in foster care. You know what Jake went through.”
My brother’s son was in foster care for over a year after his biological parents died in a car accident. He was brutalized in that house, over and over again, until Chase and Ryan saved him.
I narrow my eyes on her and nod. Christ, I want to hold her.
“I was abused in every way there is to hurt someone. In. Every. Way.”
Unable to stand it, I cross to her and lift her into my arms, settling with her in my lap, and press my face to her neck.
How could anyone want to hurt this beautiful, smart, sweet woman?
“Never again,” I say, my voice rough with emotion as we cling to each other. “No one will ever hurt you again, Abbi.”
“I didn’t think so. Until today. And I was unprepared, unarmed, and so damn stupid.”
I pull back and frown down at her. “What are you talking about? Are you supposed to carry a gun every time you leave the house?”
“I should have been more aware of my surroundings,” she says. “I should have checked every room before I started cleaning, and I should have had a partner with me.”
“I won’t argue about the partner,” I agree. “That’s just common sense, but it’s the holidays and you were short-staffed. Jesus, Abbi, it’s not your fault.”
Her lower lip quivers, and I cup her cheek, pressing my lips to hers.
“I wish…” She stops talking and closes her eyes.
“What, baby? What do you wish?”
She takes a long, deep breath. “I wish you hadn’t seen me like that. The panic attacks don’t happen very often anymore, and it’s bad enough that poor Daisy has to help me through them. I didn’t want you to see it.”
I don’t like that Daisy is the one she has to lean on.
“Well, to answer your previous question, no. This doesn’t change anything between you and me. We all have a past, Abs. We all have stuff. If you need to fall apart, then fall the fuck apart. I can handle it.”
She leans in and buries her face in my neck.
“I have secrets, Brady. You don’t deserve that.”
“Will any of your secrets hurt my family?”