“No, Luka.Trent didn’t rape me.”
Chapter9
Luka
My lungs seized and my vision tunneled as Millie’s words replayed in my mind, an endless loop of her shattered voice and shadowed eyes.
“Whatdidhe do?”I asked with a measure of calm that came from some source I hadn’t known I had.
Ida Jane had told me Millie had been hurt.She’d hinted that it was assault.I’d thought I was ready to hear those words.
I wasn’t.And my relief that he hadn’t raped her made me feel shitty.I gritted my teeth to accept what she’d just told me.
“We were engaged, see…”
She’d mentioned that—as if it made whatever happened next okay.I swallowed, not liking where this was going.
“We’d been…together for a while.It was a slow seduction, one I didn’t have any defenses for.”She cleared her throat and looked at me, pleading with me to understand.“That night…when I left…he…” She shivered.
I need to know, Millie.Shit, I need to know!I cupped her elbows, trying to give her my support, and if she needed it, my strength.
“He threw away my birth control pills.He said he was going to fuck a baby into me.”
“Why?”
Her smile was sad and angry and filled with loathing.“To ensure his portion of the Jones billions.”
The words didn’t translate into my mind for a long moment.When they did, I felt as shattered as she looked.“He knew you didn’t want that, I assume.”
She bit her trembling lip and nodded.“I wanted a career…”
“He tried to take your choice from you, Millie.”
“I, I know.”
I cupped her chin and looked deep into her eyes.“It was about power and force,” I whispered.The words seared us both, made my hair follicles sizzle.
She licked her lips.“Y-yes.”
“Millie, sweetheart, I’d like to hug you,” I said, my voice as ragged as my emotions.
She didn’t refuse, so I tugged her into my arms, holding her against my chest.So much made sense now.
That slick-haired douche had betrayed my girl, hurt her emotionally—to her soul.Used her with plans to break her.
And she’d just ninja’d his hand, nearly dropped him to his knees right there in the terminalwith ease.She’d smiled faintly when that old lady’s dog took a piss.That had been awesome—something I would have laughed about with the guys if not for the background Millie had just shared.
She’d faced, with poise, the man who was supposed to love and cherish her and had betrayed her instead.She hadn’t let me wade in and pummel the slick-suited jackass like I’d known he’d deserved.
Millie amazed me.Right now, though, she was vulnerable—like her guts were outside her body and she might not survive her next breath.
That reined in my aggression.Some, not all.The need to beat Trenton continued to hound me.
She shook her head, sniffling.“Just go, Luka.Leave.I know you must want to.”
“No, sweetheart.I’m going to hug you for another minute,” I said, my voice as gentle as I could manage.“Don’t shut me out now.We both need this.”I thought—Ihoped.I was in so far over my head with Millie that I wasn’t sure how to keep breathing as the waves continued to crash, hauling me down.
No wonder she’d ghosted me.I couldn’t fault her for wanting to protect herself from another man—from another betrayal.
