Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“I was actually kind of turned on,” she admitted, and her cheeks flushed. “But then you slammed the door, and I turned around, and you had your hand raised, and suddenly I wasn’t here…”
“Where were you?” He swallowed over the nausea rising in his throat, certain this was tied to why she felt she owed her brother so much. Because he’s the one who was there when…“Where were you?” he asked again. “And this time, I’m not letting you get away with not telling me.”
She walked over to the oversized sofa, which happened to face a massively oversized television screen, and sat down.
He wondered if she planned on finally telling him. He watched her internal struggle and saw in her face when she finally gave in and decided to trust him.
“It was the beginning of my sophomore year of college. For my first year, I pretty much flew under the radar, but guys started to notice me the following one.”
“They’d be blind not to,” he said.
She shook her head and shot him an embarrassed smile. “Anyway, Tim was a senior, and it was beyond flattering that he’d focused on me. I was too naïve to realize that focus would later come back to haunt me.”
“What happened?” He eased himself beside her on the sofa, letting his legs touch hers but not pressuring her.
As a cop, Dare knew the signs of abused women, and by now, he also knew Liza well enough to know she hadn’t been permanently scarred by whatever had occurred. She’d gotten past it on most levels. He’d guess the stress of three traumas in almost as many days had built up her anxiety levels. And he never wanted to see that look on her face aimed his way again. He still hadn’t gotten over the notion that for a split second, even her subconscious believed he’d been about to hit her. Jesus.
He placed his hand over hers.
“At first, Tim’s possessive behavior was kind of endearing, at least to someone like me who’d never had anyone to look out for her. But things quickly changed. His behavior was classic, really. He was jealous of my friends, men or women, and controlling over the time I spent away from him. And the longer we were together, the worse it got. Honestly, I was always so used to being on my own that he was strangling me by just existing.”
Dare wasn’t surprised in the least. The woman he knew did and said whatever she wanted.
“One weekend, I went home from school, and he insisted on coming with me. After five minutes with him in my space at home, I knew I had to end it. I was planning to wait until we got back to school, but something happened. I can’t even remember the trigger.” She shook her head. “I do remember we were alone in the house and had an argument. I told him it was over. We argued some more, and he said I was his. I walked to the front door and opened it. I told him to get out.”
Dare ran his thumb over her hand, encouraging her to continue while his silence told her to take her time.
“He slammed the door hard, turned around, and slapped me.” She blinked as if still stunned.
Dare clenched his jaw tight, wishing he could wrap his hands around the bastard’s neck.
“Hey.” He waited until she turned to face him. “I may get my inner caveman on, but I will never touch you in anger. Ever.”
She smiled. “Believe it or not, I know that. It’s just that I wasn’t here anymore for a split second, from the door slam to the lift of your hand. You know?”
He managed a nod. “You’ve had a lot of stress this past week. I’m sure that didn’t help. So what happened next? How did your brother save you?” he asked, wanting the story over and done with.
She tipped her head to the side. “How did you know about Brian?”
“I put together the clues. You said Brian would never hurt you drunk or sober because he was there when… This had to be the when.”
She nodded. “He’d been home earlier and had met Tim for the first time. Brian told me later he didn’t like the vibe he got from the guy, and something made him come home to check on me.”
Dare felt something akin to respect for the other man for the first time. His gut had worked correctly, and he’d done something for someone other than himself.
“I was fighting Tim off. No way was I going to let him rape me and show me what it meant to be his.” She shuddered in complete revulsion. “We’d trashed the entryway—broken an expensive lamp among other things. Then Brian walked in from the garage, took in the scene, and in a split second, he had Tim against the wall by the throat.” She swallowed hard. “Brian told Tim if he left now and never bothered me again, he might let Tim live.”