She made a giant O with her lips, and his sex-deprived brain went south.
“But can you prove that?”
“One of the guys who was hiding Bray, Clyde, told Zain.Didn’t sound like he even had to put too much pressure on the dude.He sang pretty easily.I bet if he was brought in for questioning, he’d share even more.”
She bit her bottom lip.“This is dangerous.”
“It has to be done.”He set his shoulders.He wanted her to feel safe with him, to speak her mind, but he wasn’t budging.This was the one and only way he could help Bray and Natalie—to finally break her of this hold Keetan had over her.The same hold that’d made her run from him in Fargo.“Trust me, okay?”
Tear-filled eyes met his.“You asked me that earlier today.And I did.”
His heart stopped.“You don’t trust me now?”
She let out a weak guffaw.“I trust you even more now.It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”Tears snaked down her cheeks.“I wish I’d done it three years ago.”
He slid his thumb beneath her eye.“Don’t do that, okay?We’ll talk about everything later.For now, we just gotta end this mess.”
“This isn’t your problem.It’s mine.”Worry creased her eyes.
Protectiveness coursed through his veins again.He placed his hand on her side, cradling her to him, and his other palm moved to her cheek.“Well, I guess that means you’re my problem.”
Her eyes glittered, and that delicious pink tint that’d touched her cheeks in the bathroom crawled up her neck once again.
Her slim fingers circled his wrist, near her face.“I’m scared.I don’t want Bray to lose you now that he finally has you in his life.”
“I won’t let that happen.”Fierce certainty vibrated his throat—not only because he meant every damn word, but because Natalie cared.About him.He slid his hand up her side, reveling in her slightness.“I—”
Her face twisted, and she let out a hiss and flinched.
He froze.Concern spiked his blood pressure.“What’s wrong?”
She placed her hand on top of his.His fingers were lightly grazing her ribs.“Nothing.It just hurts there.”She lowered her face, but not before he caught the glimmer of shame in her eyes.Near that damn green mark on her cheekbone.
He remembered how stiffly she’d moved that morning when they left the motel.He caught the material of her shirt.“Can I see?”
“It’s just a bruise.”But as she said the words, she peeled up the material, giving him a view of her smooth skin and tight abdomen.A deep blue bruise covered her ribs.“He kicked me.”
He ran his fingertips over the marking, wishing he could erase it.“That fucking bastard,” he snarled.
She pushed her shirt down.“It’s fine.Doesn’t hurt as badly as it did last night.”She turned from him, but he caught her hips and spun her gently to face him.Surprise widened her mouth.
Ever so gently, he placed his hand on her opposite side.“What about here?”
She shook her head.
“That’s the only spot?”
Her throat moved on a swallow.“Just the marks you see on my face and the bruise on my side.That’s all he did.”
“Too much,” he whispered, over the constriction in his chest.An overwhelming sense of urgency filled him.All day he’d been consumed with finding their son.He hadn’t slowed enough to really pay attention to Natalie.
He brought the tip of his thumb to the cut at her mouth.“I hate that he hurt you.”
Her bottom lip wobbled, but she didn’t take her eyes off him.
“I don’t know what that means, to be honest with you,” he continued.“But it really, really fucking bothers me.”
She lifted a shoulder.“Most men don’t like when guys hit women.”
