“Ms. Smith, you need—”to leave.
Except, the words never left my mouth. Because when I lifted her wrist away from me, I saw the bruises.
The bruises that ran up the inside of her upper arm. The bruises that matched a large male’s grip. In disbelief, my gaze snapped to hers, and I saw her flush and look away, scented her shame.
Shame.
And the anger that hit me then threatened my control. MyKteerhowled, not in need, not in desperation, but in pure, unadulterated rage. Someone had hurt this female,myfemale, and I would be damned if I was going to send her off to be hurt again.
I understood her fear now, and it fed my fury when I hissed, “Who did this to you?”
Chapter Two
Stevie
Who did this to you?
I felt something inside me shrivel, just like it did anytime I saw a loving father-daughter relationship in a movie or whatever. I was ashamed of my asshole of a father, and embarrassed Garrak had guessed.
Forget Dad, forget the LeClair brothers. Maybe this was my chance to disappear and get away from it all? Maybe I could tear up my return ticket and hitchhike up north and reinvent myself and?—
The fuck are you kidding? You’re going to land in trouble, just like you always do.
Still, I couldn’t hang around here. Couldn’t keep throwing myself at a male who made it clear he didn’t want me, who was even now making a noise like anangry animal. Was that growl coming from his mouth or his chest?
When I tried to tug my wrist out of his grip, his hold on me tightened.
“Who did this to you, Stevie?” His voice was quieter, more threatening, and my gaze snapped to his.
He was furious. With me? My pulse sped, and I found myself responding. “My?—”
Luckily, I had the sense to snap down on that answer. I’d given him a false name because in that moment, I hadn’twantedhim to know my own father had called me a whore—had essentiallywhored me outto cancel his debt. Now, though? Now that Garrak hadn’t even taken the offer? Now the shame was almost overwhelming.
So I dropped my gaze to his chest again and chewed on my lower lip. “Hendricks,” I whispered, knowing he’d guessed the truth. “When he told me about this trip, I told him I had plans for the weekend, and he didn’t like that.”
I winced, remembering how tightly Dad had grabbed my arm. Garrak’s hold on my wrist wasn’t nearly that tight, but it was firm. I wasn’t getting away. Could he feel how rapid my pulse was?
“He sent you here to deliver the letter in person, and didn’t tell you thatyouwere the debt repayment?”
My gaze was locked on his chest, so close…if I swayed forward just slightly, I could lean against it, lean againsthim—and where in the hell hadthatthought come from? “Yes,” I whispered.
It wasn’t the first time my father had used me…just the first time he’d been so open about it. Itwasthe first time he’d threatened me to go through with it, though.
Let’s be honest; I wasn’t terribly afraid of going to jail. I’d done a few overnights over the years, before Dad could scrounge the money to bail me out, and I’d done the same for him. At least they fed you, and you had a bed there. No, jail wasn’t all that scary compared to some places I’d spent time.
You know whatwasscary? The thought of pissing off people who didn’t bother with trials and lawyers and sentences.
The LeClair brothers weren’t the kind of men who went to the cops when you cheated them. They were the kind to drop you into Lake Pontchartrain with cinder blocks tied to your feet, so you’d disappear completely. The fact that they’d drop my father in next to me for the scam he pulled—the scam I helped with—wasn’t going to make me feel any better when the crabs started to eat my eyeballs.
You’re panicking.
Hell yes, I was panicking!
“Stevie.”
His low voice said my name in a firm, commanding tone, and I couldn’t help that my gaze snapped to his, my entire body responding to the control I heard. My lips parted, but no sound emerged.
Garrak held my gaze, and as I watched, his nostrils flared, inhaling slowly… I found myself matching him, inhaling…and then exhaling when he did. Another inhale, another exhale, and my shoulders slowly relaxed.
