Page 27 of Hunted Innocence
Then he wraps his arms around her and pulls her against his chest. I hear his low voice murmur something, but I can’t make out the words. Seeing him hold her should make me feel jealous as fuck because it’s another man touching her, but it doesn’t. It’s my brother consoling my woman.
Vaughn takes a step backward. He turns his head, his eyes find mine, then he smirks. “We’re taking care of everything, right?”
“Everything,” I confirm.
He nods once, then turns and walks out of the room. Apparently, that was all he needed to hear. Nadine watches him go, then, for the first time since she started her story, her eyes meet mine.
She doesn’t say anything. Instead, she walks over to me, standing beside me, but otherwise doesn’t move. I wrap my fingers around her wrist, gently grasping her. My eyes shift up to meet hers, but first, they skirt past the bruising on her throat.
My bruising.
It’s fucking beautiful.
Gliding my fingers up her arm, I gently grip her bicep. The men around me stand up and move out of the room, leaving us alone. I can’t look away from her, though. She looks down at me through her lashes, her gaze focused as I gently tug her down onto my lap.
Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her against my chest. “Are you okay with what just happened?” I ask.
She doesn’t say anything, but I feel her inhale a deep breath then let it out slowly. Running my fingers through her hair, I close my eyes as I think about everything she told us today. I fucking hate Nadine’s parents just as much as I hate Landon Tate.
And I do hate him. Every part of him.
Landon Tate is going to suffer for what he did to my woman.
I’m not sure how long we stay with her on my lap, me with my arms around her as I stroke her hair. She needs this, but I think I might actually need it more. When she pushes back slightly with her hands on my chest, she looks down at me. Her palms cup my cheeks before the pads of her thumbs slide across my bottom lip.
“You don’t see me any differently, do you?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.
Her words are unfathomable. “I couldn’t even if I tried, baby.”
She smiles softly, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. As much as I want to fuck her right now, it’s not the right time or place. Even if it would seriously make me feel better about this whole situation.
“You are not alone in your past, Nadine. Every single man who was in this room lived through worse than that. We will never hold any judgments or look at you any differently, me included.”
“Will you tell me one day?”
Tangling my fingers in her hair at the nape of her neck, I shift forward, keeping her still as I touch my mouth to hers. “I will, though I’ll probably have to get drunk and high to do it.”
“Okay,” she breathes against my mouth.
I kiss her, ending the conversation for now.
NADINE
I’m not goingto get any other work done today. Sitting at my desk, I just stare at the computer, completely and totally mentally drained. I knew today would be difficult, just coming into the office. But adding the fact that I had to tell six men in a conference room about parts of my life that I had never told anyone before just plain exhausted me.
I inhale a deep breath and hold it for a moment, letting it out slowly, just in time to hear my burner phone ringing. It’s my brother. He’s the only one who has this number. Reaching into my purse, I take out my phone and frown at the sight of an unknown number.
Normally, I wouldn’t answer any call that wasn’t from my brother, considering he’s the only person with this number, but something tells me to answer this call. Maybe it’s the fact that I feel safe. Everything is out in the open, and I’m in the most secure building, probably in the country.
My thumb presses the button to answer the call before I lift the phone to my ear, and I answer.
“Hello?”
Silence.
I start to say hello again when I hear someone clear their throat on the other end of the phone. A man. A man clears his throat. My heart starts to race. It slams against my chest as sweat instantly breaks out over my skin. There is something wrong with this call, and the other person hasn’t said a single word.
I shouldn’t have answered.
