Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Is he correct?
Was I ever soft and gentle?
I suppose I was. I suppose I wanted to be. I still want to be. I’m just afraid that if I let my guard down, I’ll get hurt again.
Because I always get hurt.
“So tell me,” he says. “Am I right?”
“You don’t know what it’s been like,” I say.
“Right. I don’t. Only you know your own story, Kelly. If you want to talk, I’m happy to listen.”
“I would like to talk.”
“You can talk to Macy. Or Aspen. Or to Zee. I know either of them would be happy to talk with you.”
“What if I want to talk to you?”
“I’m here. For whatever you need.”
“Whatever I need?”
He nods.
“I need you to kiss me again.”
He steps backward then, rakes his fingers through his thick blond hair. “I’m not made of steel, you know. You know how beautiful you are, Kelly. Why do you insist on teasing me like this?”
“I’m not teasing you.”
“Hell, yeah, you are. You know I can’t go to bed with you. My job is to protect you, not to get involved with you sexually. Yet you insist on…” He shakes his head. “Good night.”
This time he does leave.
He opens the door and closes it behind him.
I go to the door and slink down against it, until I’m sitting, my back against the hard door.
I’m throbbing all over, and my flesh is hot, and then cold, and then hot again.
My lips still sting from his kiss, and my cheek burns from his touch.
And that volleyball surrounded by roses on my shoulder?
It’s burning into my skin, like a brand.
And I remember.
I remember why it’s there.
I cry myself to sleep that night. My birthday. My tenth birthday.
My mother destroyed my volleyball—the only thing I ever bought with my own money. I scraped together pennies and nickels, dug out the money buried underneath the couch cushions, saved money on the rare occasion that my mother gave me a few coins. And sometimes, when my mother wasn’t home, I went to the neighboring houses, asked if I could do any chores for money.
More often than not, I was told no, but an elderly couple who lived a few houses down took pity on me and always let me come in and vacuum or dust for a dollar or two.
I’ll buy another volleyball.
But I’ll hide it. Because if my mother finds that, she’ll destroy it like she did the first.
And then…
I will get out of this house as soon as I can.
Once I turned eighteen, my mother kicked me out anyway. She actually helped me with that last promise.
By the time my eleventh birthday rolled around, I had enough money to buy a new volleyball, which I stored at one of my friends’ houses.
My mother never knew I had it.
Still, that didn’t keep her from making my life miserable. By the time I was fourteen, she didn’t lock me in the closet anymore. She didn’t hit me anymore. I was as big as she was at that point, and because of all the volleyball and other sports I played at school and afterwards, I was more muscular than she was.
Many times I dreamed of pounding her into a pulp.
But I didn’t.
Part of her still had power over me. The power of motherhood. I wanted her love so badly that I allowed her the power long after I should have ended it.
I’ll never forgive her for that.
I don’t even know if she’s still alive.
And I don’t care.
Funny. All the rest of the women from the island had people to call—people who were thrilled to find out they were still alive rather than dead as they all thought.
But not me.
I had no one.
Which is why I’m stuck here, living in the housing provided by the Wolfes. With Leif Ramsey as my personal bodyguard.
I rise then.
And I open the door.
25
LEIF
Sitting in an empty hallway, my back to Kelly’s front door, isn’t where I should be.
It took all the strength and willpower I possess to leave that apartment. I can’t believe how much I want her. Yearn for her. This woman—this woman who has been through so much—who fights against everything and everyone who tries to get close to her.
I can’t imagine the pain she’s suffered.
But I can’t be the one to add to it.
And taking her into my bed? Making love to her? It would feel good for both of us. But the pleasure would be solely physical, and she would regret it afterward.
Would I regret it?
Making love to a beautiful woman?
Hell, no.
But it’s not really in my job description.
I suppress a laugh. The Wolfes sent Buck after Aspen, and he ended up sleeping with her.
In fact, they fell in love, and I swear to God, after all they’ve both been through, they are two of the happiest people in the universe. Does anything make sense anymore?