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“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I was worried about your family.”
A ghost of a smile twitched at his mouth, but it vanished so quickly I wasn’t sure it had ever been there. “I’ll talk to my uncle.” He stood and reached his hand out to help me up. “If something hurt or took Joseph, the rest of the pack could be in danger.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
I joltedupright in the bed, cold sweat running down my face, and my chest heaving as if I’d run a marathon. Nope. No marathon. I’d just had a nightmare about my time at the Bowden’s.
The smell of chlorine and rum choked the pool house as Mr. Bowden came closer. His fat fingers trailed over my bare skin, his breath quickening. My gut roiled at how he licked his lips, and his pupils dilated as he cornered me.
“Just relax, sweetheart. You’ll enjoy it more.”
The memories continued to assault me, and acid shot up my throat. I scrambled off the bed and ran into the bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet not a moment too soon. Vomit poured out of my mouth, filling the room with a sour scent.
I hadn’t had a nightmare terrible enough to make me sick in a while, but the things he did would make most lose their dinner.
A faint sensation on my neck was the only warning I got before a presence formed behind me, and hands drew my hair back.
Ugh, why is he here?
“What are you doing?” I croaked out. “You couldn’t just leave me alone?”
Fane kneeled behind me and twisted the hair from my face. “No, I couldn’t.” His words were barely more than a growl, and anger pummeled each one.
Hot humiliation burned me everywhere. His rage wasn’t directed at me for waking him in the middle of the night. He’d seen this nightmare and what had happened to me. The storm of fury crashing within him was all for that sick asshole.
Did Fane realize he wasn’t blocking me?
The demon shifter kept my hair away and rubbed my back until my stomach emptied. I flushed the toilet and slowly crawled to my feet on trembling legs. The disgusting taste in my mouth wouldn’t vanish after I rinsed it out, so I grabbed the mouthwash and took several swigs, spitting into the sink.
Tears stained my cheeks, and sweat covered my ashen skin. Fane stood behind me like a bodyguard, his irises taking on a luminescent sheen in the mirror.
“What’s his first name?” His gravelly voice spilled down my back, sharp and deadly.
“Why?” I wiped my trembling fingers on a towel.
His jaw muscles feathered as he clenched his teeth, and the tattoos covering his bare arms and torso twitched. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t need his first name. I’ll find him.”
“Find him for what?” I leaned against the counter as my knees grew weak. “To kill him?”
“No.” A dark look penetrated his eyes as shadows curled within them like vengeful phantoms. “I’ll make him suffer first. And then I’ll kill him.”
He wasn’t kidding or exaggerating. Fane Maverick would eventually find Mr. Bowden and pour every ounce of anger he had right now into the sadistic man.
And I couldn’t find the words to argue.
I averted my gaze to the white counter as the room blurred. “I tried to tell, but no one believed me.” So much pain clung to those words. And guilt. After I left, he did it to other girls. Who knew how many. “I didn’t want him to hurt anyone, butno onebelieved me.”
Fane stepped into me, his body curving over mine like a protective barrier. He gently rested his hands on my shoulders. “It’s not your fault. None of what he did to you or anyone else is your fault.”
Itwasmy fault I failed to stop him from hurting others. This was just another thing I had to atone for.
A sob slipped out, and tears dampened my cheeks again. Fane’s hands left my shoulders and grabbed my hips as he felt my legs giving out.
I wiped my tears but let him pull me from the counter, folding us onto the floor. “I hate that you see this part of me.”
“I know,” Fane whispered as he drew me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me. His warmth spilled over me like a blanket against the icy anguish trying to tear me apart.
My hand splayed over his bare chest as I buried my face in it despite my head screaming for me to get away from him before I did something stupid.
