Forsaken (Protectors #4)

Eli

Focusing on Caleb’s voice was impossibly difficult since I was still reeling from everything that had just happened. When I’d first walked into the motel room, I’d been stunned by how broken and small Caleb looked. He’d always been quieter than Nick, but he’d always had a smile on his face and he was the type of guy who naturally drew people to him. And while he hadn’t exactly been kind to me when we were younger, he hadn’t seemed as resentful as Nick always had.

I hadn’t had any idea of what Caleb would tell us about what had happened to him from the time he’d left me that message, but I certainly wasn’t expecting him to expose my biggest secret in front of both a virtual stranger and the man I’d hoped would never find out what I’d done. Even now, the knowledge that Mav knew I’d fucked a man I considered a father – my own mother’s husband – was making me violently ill, and I wished more than anything that Mav would stop touching me because my skin felt like there were a million ants crawling beneath it.

“Caleb, what happened after you called Eli?” I heard Mav ask, and I forced myself to focus.