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Women had never made him feel this way. Dinah was a special kind of woman. He knocked on the door and waited. Seconds passed.
Finally, the door opened, and there was Dinah. She was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt that fell a little off her shoulder, showing the strap of her bra.
“Road,” she said.
“Dinah.”
He stared at her, and she was so beautiful. Damn it, he missed his friend, he missed his woman, he just missed Dinah. He held out the bottle of beer and she frowned.
“I, uh, look, I was hoping we could just talk or hang out,” he said. “I know I have no right to ask—”
“Shut up,” she said. “You came for me. You didn’t have to come for me.”
“Yeah, I did. I wasn’t going to let him hurt you. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, Dinah.”
“Is that why you told me the truth?” she asked.
He saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “Yeah, I had to tell you what I had done. I know it messed everything up.”
“Stop,” Dinah said. “What did he tell you about my mother?”
Road didn’t like this. “He told me there was a woman who had betrayed him, and that she needed to be taught a lesson. There were always men and women who … they, uh, they turned on him. He always made an example of them. In most cases he wanted them dead.”
“But with my mom?” she asked.
“He wanted her hurt. He wanted her to pay the price,” Road said.
She pressed her lips together. “Did you ever see my mom?”
“No, I didn’t, I had other jobs to do. I delegated it.” He dropped his head.
She stepped back from the door, and he expected her to slam the door in his face. Instead, she took another step into her room. Road didn’t need to ask twice. He stepped into her bedroom and was a little taken aback to see that she’d made this place her own.
She’d transformed the room into her bedroom. The reason he asked for Brute to give her this room was because of the magnolia walls and soft carpet beneath their feet.
“You can close the door,” Dinah said.
Road did so without question.
She had moved to sit on top of the bed. He walked over toward her and handed her a beer bottle. She wrinkled her nose and picked up a cup with a straw. “I’ve got some water.”
“It’s not as good as beer.”
Dinah laughed. “So true, but I think for awhile I’m going to, you know, just stick with the water.”
“How is the pain?” he asked.
The bandages had come off, and most of the bruises had all but faded.
“It twinges every now and again. I just need to, you know, get used to it.” She clenched and opened her hand, and then turned toward him. “I don’t hate you.”
“You can hate me.”
“No, I can’t. I … want to, but the truth is, listening to the guys, everything they have gone through, I can’t hate anyone here. There’s no way I can. What he’s capable of, there are no words.”
“It will be short-lived,” Road said.
“It’s not exactly short. He’s been at the top for a long time.” She took a sip of her water. “You must have been so devastated when he did what he did to you.”
