Chapter 11 #2
But I sensed that terrible aloneness in her, a kind of self-imposed isolation.
And without responding, I closed my eyes and pulled her against me.
She slid her arms around my waist, and I caught her up in a fierce hold, my face against hers.
I didn’t want to embarrass her, but I also wanted to make sure that she wasn’t denying it to spare me something.
“I saw your back. Who did that to you?” I asked gently.
She took a breath and murmured. “No one. It was a car accident. Really, Ethan. I’m just moving through here. This between us was truly unexpected. I haven’t let anyone get this close in a long time…if ever. Stop worrying about me.”
Too late . It was far too late for that.
“I’m interested in you, regardless. My wanting to know you better isn’t going to change anything else.
I’m not saying all this to…take advantage of you.
” The more time I spent with her, the more I wanted her.
Preferably without the haunted look in her eyes.
I wasn’t at all convinced that those scars were caused by a car accident.
It looked more like the end of a belt as if she’d been beaten with the buckle. I got angry all over again.
She raised her head, giving me a soft kiss on the lips. “I should go in. It’s getting late, and we both have to be up uber early in the morning. I’ve got a ton of things to do for Aubree’s bash.” She went to pull away but I couldn’t let her go.
“Promise me,” I said, “If you need help, I hope I’ll be the first person you’d come to.”
She held my gaze for a fraction of a second longer, then dipped her chin in a quick, silent agreement, before letting me go.
I accepted that for now. It was all I could do until she either felt safe enough to confide in me, or I found out some other information that I could press with. I wasn’t giving up on Lawson whether she liked it or not.
I walked her to the door and gave her another soft kiss. Before she went inside, I said, “Sweet dreams. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Before I could leave, she launched herself at me and kissed me hard.
As the kiss slowly deepened, the battle raged between need and common sense.
It was late, we were both tired, there was another long day ahead of us with little sleep to go on—at least on my part—and who knew what other surprises lay in store.
She hadn’t told me the whole story—I’d bet on it.
“Ethan, I’m so falling for you. Why did you have to be so sweet, too?”
“Too?”
She smiled up into my eyes. “Gorgeous, smart, funny and wonderful.”
I cleared my throat, and if she wasn’t so hard against my chest, it would have puffed up to proportions that would make a peacock jealous.
“Right back at you, babe,” I said, bumping her hips and making her eyes widen.
“Goodbye and thank you, Ethan…for caring.”
There was something unsettling in her face that made me want to hold her down and get her to tell me what she was thinking. But she turned away and closed the door.
I walked to my truck, the last moments weighing in my gut like bricks. I started up the engine and headed for home.
Lawson was hiding a boatload of hurt, abuse. She was running from her past, her life, and now…her present. When I was almost halfway home, I realized what it was that was nagging at me. She was going to bolt. That’s why she’d kissed me like that and said “goodbye” instead of good night.
I whipped the truck around and was heading back to Outlaws, accelerating, hoping to God I wasn’t too late.
My cell rang, and I answered it. “Ethan, it’s Mike. I checked everything, even driver’s licenses. I can’t find a thing. It’s as if she never even existed. Is she running from the law? A fugitive?”
“No, Mike. I’m sure about that. But I’ll get back to you as soon as I find out. I’m going to get some answers right now. Thank you for checking. Please, let me handle this.”
“Will do, but if she’s running from the law…”
“I get it. You can’t look the other way.” My gut clenched hard. “I’ll be in touch.”
I pulled up and my headlights illuminated her in the beams. She froze, took one look at my truck and started to run. I noticed the bag she had in her hand. I’d been right. She was leaving without even her car. She had to have been spooked pretty bad.
I jumped out of the truck and started to chase her. “Lawson! Stop!” But either she was too panicked to hear me, or she was ignoring me.
I ran after her and she was fast, sprinting out of the parking lot, kicking up shells and dirt to the road. I ran every day with Rory, and without breaking stride, I pelted after her, increasing my speed, my muscles pumping.
She cut across the road and disappeared into the bayou, running on the soggy ground was going to slow her down, and she would realize that instantly. I anticipated that she would change direction and try to cut back out to solid ground.
Sure enough, she emerged from the brush so close to me, her harsh breathing heavy and panicked.
She ran right into me, too busy looking over her shoulder. As soon as my arms wrapped around her, she started to struggle. “No, let me go. Let me go, Bradley…”
“Lawson,” I shouted. “It’s me, Ethan.” She was struggling in earnest now, and I was afraid I would hurt her. I let her go, and she fell backwards and started to propel herself, pushing away from me. She was heading for the bayou. The look on her face was full-blown panic.
She flipped over, using her arms to push herself up and started to run again, but I caught her around the waist. She was crying in earnest now, tearing at my heart.
I carried her to the road, got her under a street light and framed her face in my hands, making her look at me. “It’s Ethan! I’m not going to hurt you. No one’s going to hurt you ever again.”
She stopped struggling, her tear-streaked, panicked face looked up at me. Her expression frozen, and she went so still, it was as if she wasn’t breathing. There was a long, electric silence, her agitation almost palpable.
“Ethan,” she said, softly, then repeated my name her voice stronger. She threw her arms around my neck and burst into hard sobs. I picked her up and crouched down for her bag. Settling her deeper into my arms, I headed back to Outlaws with her cradled against me.
Now I knew something was seriously wrong, that she was terrified and running, and I had a name. She was so strung out and tense, like fine crystal ready to shatter, I knew there was no going back. I was all in here with her.
I would deliver on that promise. No one was ever going to hurt her again.
I set her down long enough to turn off the ignition and the lights in my truck, then closed the door. I hauled her back into my arms and carried her up the back stairs and into her apartment.
I went straight for the sofa and sat down, cradling her in my arms. She was shaking violently.
I grabbed the throw on the back of the sofa and covered her up, cuddling her against me.
It tore me all to hell thinking that she had been alone and dealing with this for a year, living from hand to mouth, running from state to state. I could barely stand it.
Well, it was going to stop here. Now.
She was still sobbing, and I let her have that release. This Bradley, the fucker, obviously had her scared out of her mind.
She buried her wet face in my neck, and I just held her tightly, giving her time to get it all out. When the sobs dwindled to sniffles, I reached for some tissues on the side table, handing them to her.
She wiped at her face and blew her nose, wadding the tissues in her hands. She looked up at me, her eyes puffy and swollen, her nose red.
She was so goddamned beautiful.
“Why don’t we cut the shit right now, Lawson, and you tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if I don’t know.”
She went very still again, and I caught a glimmer of alarm in her eyes and a contriteness that made me think that this had been a terrible battle for her.
“I don’t want to get you involved. People who get involved get hurt. I can’t let that happen.”
“I’m a Marine, Lawson. I can kill a man with my bare hands if I have to. I’m a wall of muscle that’s going to be standing between you and whoever thinks they can terrorize you. So spill. Now.”
She gave me a snippy look and grumbled something about alpha macho men under her breath.
“Lawson, I’m not going to leave here or stop badgering you until you tell me.”
There was an instant, just an instant, where she sat staring at me, almost as if she was paralyzed, then she abruptly covered her face with her hands, a low sound wrenched from her.
Experiencing a fierce, painful cramp in my chest I forced myself to keep it together, the need to comfort her almost unmanageable.
But now wasn’t about comfort, it was about truth. The whole unvarnished truth.
Unable to handle her despair, I looked across the room. The sounds from her tearing me to shreds inside. But there was nothing I could do until I heard the story.
I had just about reached my limit when she finally lifted her head and quickly wiped her face.
She let her breath go in a shuddering sigh, then she clasped my shirt.
Finally, she lifted her head and looked at me, a depleted expression in her eyes.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” she whispered. “It’s all been so awful.”
I settled back, taking her with me and cuddling her against my chest. I gave her a small smile. “Then why don’t you just start talking, and we’ll see where it takes us?”
She managed a smile, then she leaned her head against my jaw. “I’m from Atlanta,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I have no family left: my daddy died when I was twenty-five, just after I was married. He was very wealthy and very well-regarded in Atlantean society.”
“You’re an heiress?”
“Yes, are you surprised I’m a princess?”
I shook my head, urging her with my eyes to go on. “My daddy was sweet and kind, always wanted the best for me. He introduced me to a man he thought I would do well with, encouraged me to consider my future.” Her voice caught and her eyes teared up again.
“Lawson,” I asked softly, “who is Bradley?”
She looked at me, her gaze bleak. “My husband.”