Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
Nothing could prepare me for this. Not war. Not carnage. Not walking through the fires of hell in the most physical sense.
But I wouldn't realize how truly unprepared I was to swallow the brutality of Aria’s story until much later.
Stroking the long, wavy strands of her hair, I hold her as she speaks in quiet, agonized whispers.
As the late afternoon light spills into the cabina, with only the hum of the air conditioner and the pounding of my heart in my ears, I listen.
“The scars are from being handcuffed,” she begins.
Fighting a growl, I tighten my hold on her, forcing myself not to squeeze her too hard.
“It started out so normal. Just a few dates. Then I noticed that my ex was cruel to strangers. You know, the way someone treats a waitress that makes you pay attention. and not in a good way. I guess those were red flags.”
She swallows and her fingers tighten against my back. I’m locked inside my frozen body, anger cinching every inch of me until I’m vibrating with the need to howl.
“He was cruel. Just the way he spoke. And it got worse as the months went by, and I started to question why I was dating him.”
“It was harder to have sex with him.” Her voice breaks. “I just couldn’t reconcile my emotions. I was attracted to him, but his behavior began to cast a shadow on the chemistry. But some lonely part of me didn't admit it was over.”
Her nose presses more against my shoulder and I force my hand to move to her neck, unlocking my clenched biceps enough to move.
Hearing Aria talk about chemistry with another man is one of the least favorite topics she could ever bring up, but knowing that this story ends with scars on her wrists makes it the worst fucking story ever.
“Then what happened?” I prompt with gravel—and not the sexy kind—in my throat.
“I guess the first really alarming thing was he choked me one night in bed.”
I swallow the shards of glass in my mouth and wait for the stinging sensation to ease in my chest, but it doesn’t.
I’ve been the man choking a woman before. But she wanted it. Got off on it. Even if it never did anything for me.
“I should have stayed away after that.” A shiver rocks her shoulders. “But he kept showing up. Kept pushing for more. More of my time. Making me let go of the things I liked to do, only to sit at home and wait for him. But then he’d have some excuse and he wouldn’t show up. And all the time, he was getting less predictable. More rash. More hair-trigger.”
“This fucker’s a real piece of work.”
She laughs humorlessly. “Oh that’s just the beginning.”
Because my stomach is tying a knot around my airway, I have to ask, “He cuffed you?”
“Not until the end.”
I press my nose against her temple, force air into my lungs, and kiss her damp skin. “What happened?”
For a few seconds, she just clings to me. The heat of her tears on my collarbone makes me curse silently.
“He’s never hurting you again. You understand that. You’re safe with me.”
“I know,” she says softly.
“You don’t have to tell me right now.”
Her head shakes back and forth. “No, you need to know this. But after I tell you, I’m going to ask certain things of you.”
“Whatever you need.”
When she leans away from me, I’m hesitant to let her go. But then I realize she needs to see me. Wants to watch my reaction to whatever she’s about to say.
I get that.
The split second reaction is one of the biggest indicators of character. And right now, she needs to know who I am.
Licking her bruised lips, her lashes dip down for a second. Then Aria pins me with her luminous brown gaze. “I told him I didn’t want to see him again. He drugged me under the premise of having a drink to talk things through. I guess he carried me home to his house, or something. I woke up cuffed. Naked.”
Her soft voice breaks. Pinpricks erupt all over my skin and I’m not sure if I want her to continue .
She swallows, never looking away. “While I was drugged, he’d raped me. There was a lot of blood. My wrists were mangled. It looked like I had struggled, or he had been so violent. My…my…”
Grimacing, she tries to inhale, but her chest shudders.
“Stop,” I rasp. “It’s okay, baby. You do not have to relive this.”
Glancing down, she inhales deliberately hard for a few seconds. “It’s embarrassing.”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about, baby. You are not responsible for that man’s actions.”
Tears glistening, forehead drawn, she covers her mouth with her hand. “He convinced me I wanted it.”
“He’s a monster.” My words are growled.
Visions of Aria hurt, bleeding, and terrorized burn into the deepest recesses of my soul. Something dark and dangerous awakens inside of me.
I haven’t felt this particular beast before. And that’s coming from a man that’s got plenty of demons inside him.
Aria’s face flushes red, her pulse racing below the thin skin of her neck. “He cleaned me up, drove me home. Kissed me and told me how amazing our night was.”
That sick bastard.
“Goddamn, Aria.” I close the distance and wrap my hand around her skull bringing her to my neck again, tucking her into the place I’m beginning to know was made for her. “Baby, I’m so mad right now, I want to burn cities. That monster deserves to sit in prison for the rest of his life.”
Or face a fate worse than what he did to her. Far worse.
With soul crushing sadness, she says, “That won’t happen.”
“Why? ”
The sheen in her eyes builds until it threatens to overflow her lashes and I want to kiss every damned tear away.
“Scout, I never told anyone. Not until now. It’s dangerous. Things could go horribly wrong because his father’s some kind of federal prosecutor. He’ll spin the story. Something could happen to Griff, I can’t take that chance because I know how truly evil he and his father are. I overheard some of the things they talk about.”
“Where do they live?”
She pulls away and lunges off the bed, clutching her chest, her expression wild.
“What’s his name, baby girl?”
As if the reality of confessing this is too much to bear, fisting her hair, she sinks to the floor on her knees. “I shouldn’t have said so much. You have to leave this alone. Someone could die. You promised me you’d give me what I need if I told you.”