Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“I never talk about this with anyone,” I whisper.
“You can talk to me,” he says passionately. “What happened to this piece of filth?”
“He quit his job when another girl came forward. He got four years in jail, but I learned he got out after three. Something to do with the charges, only being able to prove indecent exposure, and I…”
Luke doesn’t say anything, simply waits for me to talk.
“I didn’t come forward.” I’m shaking just thinking about it. “I should have. It would’ve been the right thing to do, but I was so scared. I was terrified of him. I still am.”
“And he’s out there.”
Luke rises to his feet, paces the room, shaking his head as every muscle in his powerful body tenses. He looks ready to murder the guidance counselor right now.
“He doesn’t deserve to breathe after what he did to you,” Luke snarls.
He stops, spins on me, and glares down.
“What’s his name?”
“Why?” I ask.
Luke laughs savagely. “Why do you think? I’m going to pay him a visit.”
It’s probably strange, considering everything that’s happened, but this sends more panic spiraling through me than anything has yet.
“You can’t do that.”
He flinches, staring down at me. I never imagined there could be so much volcanic rage contained within one person, bursting out through every inch of him. I know what would happen if the guidance counselor was here.
“Why?” he growls. “The bastard deserves it. He deserves worse than what I’d do to him. You said it yourself. What he did to you, he did to other people. A man like that doesn’t stop.”
The sense of his words rings through my mind. I know he’s right, know that everything he’s saying is rooted in reality.
“All I’ve wanted since it happened is to put it behind me,” I say. “All I’ve wanted is to push it away, ignore it. I don’t want anything to do with that part of my life.”
“I get it,” he snaps. “But—”
“Keep your voice down,” I whisper, standing up.
He steps forward, looming over me. Heat emanates from his body in waves, like he’s going to jolt into action any second, aim all his savage impulses at the man who tried to ruin my life.
“I can’t let him get away with this,” Luke snarls.
“Why do you even care?” I whisper-kiss, a curious combination. “I get it. You’re risking a lot to help me and Dad. But to do this… to risk your life—”
“I wouldn’t be risking my life. I’d carry out the job like a professional. He wouldn’t even know I was there.”
“Your freedom,” I go on. “You’re going to risk it for something that happened half a decade ago?”
“I’d risk a lot more for you.”
His voice gets husky in that way I love so much.
When he leans down, our kiss is more passionate than any we’ve shared, maybe because of the emotional stuff we’ve shared too. His hands don’t go to my hips or my ass. He cradles my back, pushing me gently against him, both of us fully committed to the closeness of the kiss. We sink together, our bodies fusing.
I know he means it. He’d protect me, right the wrong of the past.
“I want to leave it behind,” I whisper as the kiss breaks off, but we remain close, embracing each other.
“I can’t let this go,” he growls.
“Because you care about me so much?” I snap.
Even as misplaced anger enters my voice—I hate the counselor, not Luke—I know I can’t give Luke his name. I can’t let the past crash into the present.
“Yes,” he growls. “I do care about you.”
“That’s rich, coming from a hired killer.”
“Don’t get sassy with me now. I mean it, Violet. This man doesn’t deserve to breathe after what he did.”
“That’s not your decision to make,” I hiss. “If I want to lock it in a box and never think about it, I have that right. It’s my trauma. It’s my pain. They’re my nightmares. You don’t get to come into my life and change everything.”
I push away from it. The embrace has too much intimacy, too much hope, and I long ago accepted there was nothing I could do about what happened. Nothing except to shove it down into the deepest holes in my mind and throw layer upon layer of dirt atop it.
“Why not?” he says. “That’s what you did to me. Came into my life and changed everything.”
We stare into each other’s eyes, losing ourselves there. I never knew what that phrase meant until I met my man. We lose ourselves.
Then, across the hallway, there’s noise, movement.
“Dad.” I gasp. “Oh, God. You have to go. This is all too much. It’s too fast. You can’t be here.”
Luke sighs and steps away. He looks at me one last time as he stands at the door. I can see it in his eyes, the willingness to defend me. The willingness to tear the world apart to keep me safe. He leaves, closing the door behind him.