A pair of jeans that looked to be perfectly broken in hung just so at his narrowed waist. Like the sleeves of his shirt, the denim covering his legs stretched in a way that revealed a set of muscular thighs.
When it came to the kind of men Allison had come here to find, Liam Cutler definitely fit the part. Question was could he be trusted with her deepest, darkest secrets?
There’s only one way to find out.
It was a risk, not only to her safety but also to her daughter’s. But as Sloane’s earlier text about how the men of Delta Team could be trusted rang loudly through her mind once more, she drew in a deep breath and took a giant leap of faith.
“My name is Allison,” she revealed her real name, praying this wasn’t a monumental mistake. “Allison Gallo. A…friend suggested I come here. She said your team might be able to help.”
“Help with what, Allison?” Liam gave her hand a gentle shake but didn’t immediately let go. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Something like that.
Her blonde curls bounced along her stiffened shoulders as she gave her head a jerky nod. “It’s my husband. H-He’s not a good man. I’ve tried running” Liam’s image blurred behind an unexpected wall of unshed tears. “My daughter and I have been running for so long. After Seattle, I thought maybe…but he found us. He sent his men after me and Maddie, and now…” Allison finally blinked, sending a single tear into a free fall down her cheek. “Please, Mr. Cutler. I have nowhere else to turn. If I don’t find a way to stop him for good, he’s going to…”
“What?” Liam watched her closely, his brows dipping inward as his deep voice grew softer. “What will your husband do if he finds you?”
You’ve made it this far, no sense in holding back now.
She stared up into his intriguing gaze that seemed to hold worry for a woman he didn’t even know. Her lips parted, her breath hitching a little on its way past her tightened throat. And with a whisper she wasn’t certain he could hear, she told him the truth she felt to her bones.
“He’ll kill me.” Allison swallowed hard.
The seconds ticked by as she waited for his response. It was all so crazy. Shesoundedcrazy. And yet?—
Liam reached over and smacked the button to the building’s top floor before looking back down at her. “Let’s go to my office. Everyone else has already gone home for the day, but you can fill me in on what’s been going on with your husband.”
“And after that?”
“I’ll let you know once we’re finished talking.”
Ah, so he’s a skeptic, too. Or at the very least, someone who takes careful consideration before signing on a new client. Which reminded her…
“I don’t have a lot of money to pay you,” Allison blurted. “But I can work off my tab. I’m good with people, and I usedto manage a hotel, so if there’s a need for an administrative assistant in your office, I can?—”
“How ’bout we talk first and worry about the rest later?”
Meaning what, exactly? If she doesn’t make a strong enough case, there won’t be a bill because he and his team won’t bother wasting their time with her case?
They rode the rest of the way to his security firm’s floor in relative—and extremely uncomfortable—silence. With the burner phone Naomi had provided still clutched in Allison’s hand, she rubbed a nervous thumb back and forth over its smooth edge as she rehearsed all the things she needed to say.
Admissions that, at one time, she’d sworn to take to her grave. The yelling. Name calling. The constant demeaning and ridicule. The beatings.
Maddie’s sweet face flashed before her eyes, and it was all Allison could do not to let more tears fall. At least her daughter was safe for the time being. But neither of them could stay at the shelter indefinitely.
Just take a deep breath and, when the time comes, tell Liam everything you know. What happens after that is out of your control.
Out of her control. Her entirelifehad been out of control for so long, it was hard to remember a time when it wasn’t.
“This is us.”
Liam’s deep rumble caused her to blink, and she realized only then that the elevator had come to a stop. As the doors parted from the center, he motioned for her to go first. Allison stepped out into an empty hallway, her pulse spiking when she realized he’d been telling the truth.
It was empty, and the office space up ahead was dark and void of any signs of life. So now she was floors away from the others she’d seen downstairs, and it appeared she and Liam were completely alone.
“Maybe I should come back another time.” She let Liam walk past on his way to the closed office door. With her arms crossed tightly in front of her, Allison hugged herself as she questioned the decision to trust a stranger.
Stopping just shy of unlocking the door, he looked back at her with what could only be described as cautious concern.
