Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
And that wasn’t going to be a good thing.
“No,” she said urgently. “Never. They’d never make me feel that way. I know they love me the same as I love them. They’ve done nothing but support and take care of me.”
“They let you hurt yourself.” Liam’s voice was a harsh whisper
“It . . . they . . . ” She sucked in a deep breath. “They didn’t let me hurt myself. When I first started doing it, they insisted that I talk to someone. I was having problems. Nightmares. I couldn’t leave the house. I was paralyzed by fear. If I hurt myself, then for a while some of those feelings were muted. I felt more in control.”
“How did we not know about this?” Liam said in a harsh whisper.
“How could you know? Only my brothers know.”
“What happened when they found out?” Nico asked her.
“Regent got me a therapist. She would come to the house twice a week. I finally found other ways to manage my emotions and need for control without hurting myself.”
“Until now?” Nico asked. “Or have you been hurting yourself before tonight?”
“I . . . I . . . ” He couldn’t know. No one knew.
“Show us your arm, pretty girl,” he told her.
Shit. Shit.
Liam just stared down at her. And she felt him willing her to do it.
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?” Nico asked her.
Wasn’t it obvious?
“I’m ashamed.”
Liam crouched once more and reached for her chin, turning her face to his. “There’s no shame between us. Only truth. Show us.”
She didn’t know what it was about him that made her want to be better, do better, to make him proud. She felt that way with her brothers, but not like this.
She drew back the arm of her nightgown. It had elastic at the wrists so it couldn’t accidentally ride up. Chosen on purpose.
When she drew it back, she heard Liam let out a hiss while Nico tensed against her.
“Nico,” Liam said in a voice that sounded almost pained.
“I know,” Nico replied.
“This is completely fucking unacceptable!”
She jumped, startled at this reaction.
“Liam,” Nico replied sharply. “Calm down.”
“Why? Look at her arm.” It was almost a wail. “Look what they let her do.”
“I don’t understand. Who let me do this? If you’re talking about my brothers, then they didn’t let me do this. They don’t know.” She didn’t like the implied criticism. They were her brothers. She was loyal to them. Always.
Whether they were in the right or not.
But this time, there was no reason for anyone to be upset with them.
“This is all on me. It has nothing to do with my brothers.”
“They should have been taking care of you,” Liam countered.
“Liam,” Nico warned. “You need to quieten down. Do you want to alert someone that we’re in here?”
“I don’t care,” Liam said with a snarl. “Fuck it. We’re taking her with us. Pack up anything with sentimental attachment and get her dressed. I’ll call for a car and get the plane prepped. We’re going.”
He headed toward the door.
“Shit,” Nico muttered.
“Has he lost his mind? I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m not certain he ever had his mind to begin with. Liam, we can’t just take her with us.” Nico put her gently down and jumped up, striding toward Liam.
“We can. We will.” Liam had reached the door. “Why is there no lock on this?” He turned back to her.
She drew her legs up, putting her arms around them. “So, I couldn’t lock myself in here.”
Shame flooded her. She didn’t care what they said. This wasn’t normal. She wasn’t normal.
Nico said something in Greek, then he came back to her, sitting and drawing her back into his lap. “Liam, calm down and think because we can’t just take her.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on. Take me where? Why would you want to? Why do you even care what I do?”
Liam had his hands resting on the door, his head was bent. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, and his shirt stretched across his back. Any more pressure and she worried it might rip. Then he might burst out of it like the Hulk.
Actually, she could totally see that happening.
“She needs support, Liam. Not for you to lose it at her brothers,” Nico told him.
“Why is he so mad?” she asked. “I really don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand because I was fucking stupid,” Liam said.
Nico turned her on his lap, so she was sideways, facing Liam who still had his back to them. He gently pressed on her legs, getting her to let them go so they hung over the edge of his lap. No one had held her like this in years. She shouldn’t like it as much as she did. These guys weren’t hers. They never would be.
Except they were acting rather protective for men who had no attachment to her.
“We should have known, Nico. Why didn’t we know?” Liam asked, pain in his voice.