Page 72 of Ruthless Protector

Jude lifted his head, cupped my jaw, and looked down at me. “Tils, she looked afraid. Has he ever hurt her?”

His voice was steel when he said this. I actually felt him trembling with rage. It made me like him all the more. “Not physically. But he could be verbally abusive to her and Rebecca. Tilly saw both of her parents use drugs, lived in that hell for a lot of years. Watched her mother get clean, then fall off the wagon repeatedly. I don’t have proof, but I’m pretty sure Trent put pressure on my sister, made it hard for her to stay clean, maybe even forced her to use. It was the only way he had any control over her. The drugs he could give her were the only thing keeping them together, and he was obsessed with her. Had been since they met when she was fresh out of high school.”

“Christ. And Tilly saw all of this?” Jude asked.

I nodded, shame filling me. At the time, I thought I had everything under control, that I was doing all I could, but now I knew more about the situation. I’d let Evan convince me that there was nothing more I could do, that I was doing all I could for them. I’d let him get in my head. I let my feelings for him cloud my judgement.

And I’d failed Rebecca and Tilly.

Jude’s expression turned fierce. “No, Willa,” he said.

I blinked up at him. “What?”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself for any of the shit that happened. Not any of it, you hear me?”

“Jude, you don’t…”

“Beautiful, I know you. You might still be trying to hide from me, but I see you, and I know there is nothing you wouldn’t do for the people you love. Nothing.”

I wished that were true. I’d thought it was. But finding out about the verbal abuse Tilly had suffered, that I’d missed it—I knew he was wrong. If I’d been there, if I’d done all I could, I would have known.

“You want me to look into this asshole? See if there’s anything we can do to get him out of the picture for good?”

If I said yes, he’d know who Trent was, that he was the guy from the poker game. And as much as I knew he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do, not legally, and I would never ask him to do something that could end with him behind bars. I had a plan. I knew what I had to do. How to get Trent out of our lives. Yes, it would cost me. But having him sign his rights away, never having to see him ever again, was worth every cent.

“Thanks for the offer, but I doubt we’ll be seeing much of him again.”

Jude frowned. “Yeah? Why is that…”

“I’m ready!” Tilly said, running into the room in her favorite dress. She pulled up short when she saw us, and I thought she was going to say something about the way Jude was holding me. Instead, she said, “Willa, you haven’t changed. You can’t go to a party dressed like that.”

I looked down at myself.

“It’s just casual, Tils,” Jude said. “What she’s wearing is fine.”

Tilly shook her head. “She needs to make a good impression. I want your friends to like us.”

Jude’s expression softened. “They will, sweetheart. You just have to be yourselves.”

She shook her head again, harder. “Please, Willa, please put on something nice.”

There was a desperation to her voice I hadn’t heard before. My stomach clenched. She really wanted me to look nice for Jude’s friends, and I thought I knew why.

She wanted Jude to stick around.

God, I needed to be so careful. I didn’t want to get her hopes up. I didn’t want her thinking Jude would be around for good. Even if we stayed, that wasn’t an option.

I threw my hands up and rolled my eyes at her, trying to lighten the moment. “You’re going to give me a complex, kid. I suppose I can get all gussied up.” I headed for my room. “I’d planned on getting changed anyway, so there.” I spun back to her and we poked tongues at each other, both of us laughing as I walked into my room.

Maybe going to this thing with Jude wasn’t such a great idea, but my main priority after what Tilly had gone through today—after that awful visit with Trent—was making her happy.

So I got changed.

* * *

Jude pulled his SUV to a stop outside a warehouse. The area was mainly industrial, but this place, with its flower filled pots by the door and windchimes tinkling away in the breeze, was definitely a home, warehouse or not.

Jude climbed out and came around, opening my door before I had a chance. No one had ever opened my door for me like that; not even Evan, with his rich-boy upbringing and snooty parents. It made me feel special, important to Jude, and I liked that feeling a whole lot. Those feelings only strengthened when he opened Tilly’s door for her and lifted her down from the high vehicle.