“She never got over it?”
“No.We moved around all the time.Sometimes we even lived apart if she thought they might be gaining on us.Split up a lot.”
Which explained why she’d wanted to do that when they were in trouble.
“Toward the end...”She trailed off, rubbing the front of her shoulder again so hard he was afraid she was going to leave a mark on her skin.
He pressed his hand over hers so it lay flat against her shirt rather than moving.“Toward the end...she hurt you?”
Bree’s eyes flew to his.“She didn’t mean to.She was confused.Sick.The last few weeks, she was convinced I was working for the Organization.That I was helping them take us back into captivity.”
That didn’t make any sense, of course, but he didn’t need to point that out.Bree was well aware her mother’s fears had been irrational.
“She stabbed me in the shoulder because she thought I had poisoned her.Then she ran outside and right in front of a car.Killed her instantly.”
He gripped her hand in his and brought it down from a wound that was years old but obviously had never healed.Might never heal.
He brought her fingers to his lips.“She needed more help than you could give her.She had a breakdown.”
“She needed a daughter who hadn’t let her mother be tortured until she was never right in the mind again!”
It was the most emotion he’d ever heard out of Bree.
He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.“No.She sacrificed to get you out of there.She wouldn’t have wanted you to give the Organization what they were demanding.But her head muddied it up.”
She held herself stiff for a moment before relaxing against him with a sigh.“I know.I know she wanted us out of there.I just wish we could’ve gotten out earlier.That I had been smart enough to figure out how to dothatrather than just useless computer stuff.”
“Useless?You formulated technology that was years before your time.And you were a child when you did it.”
“And then I destroyed most of it before I left.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes.Tanner wasn’t sure if that had been the right call or not.But it had definitely been the only choice a teenager who’d been tortured physically, mentally and emotionally had.
“Where does Melissa fit into this?”
“Melissa didn’t know what the Organization really was until recently.She lost everything.”Tanner listened as Bree told him about how Melissa’s fiancé had been killed and how she hid the babies so she could try to make her move against Communication for All.
“But she can’t do it,” Bree said.“She’s not good enough.I’ve known that the whole time but ignored it because I’ve been afraid.They have to be stopped right now, and I’m the only one who can do it.”
“That means coming out of hiding.I can put you in protective custody.”
“No.I’ve been thinking about this all day.In order for this to work, I’ll have to be at the symposium myself.I’ll use their own system against them.”
“I’ll make sure you’re safe.”And he damn well meant it.
A soft sound came from the monitor.Beth was awake.She generally woke up from sleep first and played contentedly for a few minutes until Christian woke and made the entire world aware of his unhappiness.
Bree stood and pointed at the baby monitor.“Those kids need to grow up with their mom.Not with their emotionally stunted second cousin,” she said.
Tanner stood also.“Technically, it’s first cousin once removed.”
Bree laughed, a beautiful sound he wanted to hear more of.“I notice you don’t try to argue theemotionally stuntedpart.”
He stepped closer.“You’re emotionallyguarded, not stunted.And that’s completely understandable.”He slid a hand under the thick brown hair at her nape.“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking it slow.Believe me, slow can be very, very good.”
He kissed her.Tenderly, aware that this woman—brilliant, brave and about to bring down a major group of criminals—had never known tender kisses.Outside of him, had probably never known any kisses at all.
He would be more than glad to show her any type of kiss she wanted to learn.
