Now?
Even if their circumstances didn’t preclude the possibility, he’d already blown any chance he had with her. Goddamn, the thought of her lying to him had made him mental. Temporary insanity. The only reasonable justification for dropping the truth on her the way he had.
Her wide-eyed reaction to his ill-timed revelation had confirmed his suspicions. She hadn’t admitted the Matthews’ involvement. She hadn’t denied it either. She also hadn’t spoken to him since. Except to say she wanted to leave in the morning.
She couldn’t.
For two reasons.
One, it hadn’t stopped snowing. Without winter tires, the A-Bloom truck wouldn’t make it ten feet past the barn doors before getting stuck. New rubber would solve the problem. Probably take a day at the most to rectify.
Two, she wasn’t ready. Not physically. She’d been on her feet all of five minutes in the last twenty-four hours. She couldn’t even walk to the bathroom and back on her own, both attempts having ended with her in Adam’s arms.
She needed time to rest and recover.
Gave him until Wednesday. Thursday at the most.
Not that he needed to be here. With her. Alone. In his cabin. In the middle of a blizzard. The smart thing to do would be to bring her down to the lodge. Ask Doc and the rest of the JTT to watch over her while he made a quick trip to LA.
He had enough information to go on, and a surprise visit to the Matthews would fill in the blanks. Then he’d do whatever needed doing to keep her safe. Give her back the life she had before she met him.
Yeah. That would be the smart thing to do.
Just one problem.
Adam had a hard time with the idea of letting Eve go.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Tell me you love me,Mommy.
“No!” A burst of adrenaline drove Eve from nightmare to reality in the time it took her to open her eyes. The dim glow of the bedside lamp replaced the harsh lights of her prison. Her single plastic mattress morphed into the extra-large, extra-soft king. Her wrist, no longer handcuffed to the wall, registered the soothing brush of a thumb.
Adam.
Relief flooded through her, and on its heels, a tsunami of emotions battered at her defenses. Fear. Anger. Betrayal. Hurt. Guilt. Each wave crested. Threatened to engulf. Left her wounded. Raw. Exposed to the marrow of her bones.
Her tears came hard and fast.
With little knowledge of how she landed in his arms, Eve buried her nose in the crook of Adam’s neck and let the storm come. Her sobs stole her breath, hurt her chest, made her stitches pull, and she couldn’t stop. She wept while he soothed, rocking her gently with murmured words and soft caresses.
She cried until the well ran dry.
Until nothing remained but a hole inside her where Bryan and the judge used to be.
The calm came as her tears slowed, and little by little, the squeezing ache in her heart subsided. Resolve strengthened her bones. Purpose thickened her skin. Armor for the battles ahead, forged in the fire of pain and suffering at the hands of those she thought loved her.
Alone as the day her parents had died, Eve had no family left.
It might have shattered her if it weren’t for the man cradling her like she was broken glass, and he had no fear of her sharp edges. He held her together. Kept her intact. Grounded her in the here and now.
With every breath, his chest moved hers. Slow and steady. Inhale. Exhale. The smell of leather and man, a balm to her senses.
Clutched in her fist, his shirt was wet. Soaked with…
Oh shit.“Sorry about the snot,” Eve mumbled without raising her head to meet his eyes. She wasn’t sorry at all but figured it as good a place as any to start the conversation they needed to have.
“Jesus, Eve. I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed you so hard. Forgive me?”
