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“Do what, baby?”
“Touch him. I had to touch that motherfucker so I could get somethin’ to eat!”
The air drained out of my lungs. I trapped a whimper inside my mouth and grabbed at Sean, pulling his upper body into my lap as he began to sob and curse. He clung to me.
I willed my own tears to dry up. I had to stay strong for him. But God, I had never wanted to break down and scream so badly before in my life. How could this happen to him? How could no one protect this boy?
What the fuck was wrong with people?
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, you’re safe now,” I whispered, stroking his hair, his face.
His arms around me flexed and held tighter.
I kept rubbing his back. Kept kissing him. Kept telling him it would be okay. This went on for minutes, until Sean eventually fell asleep, and even then, I kept repeating the same thing over and over while I stared off into the bedroom.
Hours passed. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t relax or lay back, and it didn’t matter anyway. I was no longer tired.
I thought about that woman. About Sean as a boy. So sad and scared. About all the pain he lived and was still living.
I had to do something. I had to help him.
When the alarm on my phone went off, I climbed over Sean’s legs and slid out of bed. His head was back on the pillow now.
I felt his hand on my hip as I turned off my alarm.
“Hey.” I smiled at his sleepy face, half covered by his hair. He was sprawled out on his stomach.
Sean slid his hand up to my arm and pulled me as he rolled, allowing me room to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“You sleep any?” he asked.
“A little.”
I hated lying, but I didn’t want Sean feeling any guilt or regretting sharing with me the thing I was betting he had never wanted to share. He’d warned me before about stuff happening to him we’d never talk about. And even though it killed him to say it and me to hear it, we had talked about it.
I didn’t want him ever feeling sorry for telling me.
“Are you hanging out with your girls today?” I asked, pushing his hair back and running my fingers through it, discovering how much he seemed to like me doing that last night.
His eyes closed briefly in bliss, then he nodded and opened them again. “Val’s picking them up later. Not sure how that’s gonna go. The girls said last night they were movin’ in.”
I laughed. “Well, it is pretty awesome here. Can’t say I blame them.” I bent down and kissed his mouth, feeling his goatee tickle and the fullness of his lips and wanting to stay there, kissing him, but there was something bothering me, and I couldn’t leave here until I got it off my chest.
I sat back and gently stroked his face. “Was it just the one time? With that man…did it happen again or with anyone else?”
My stomach tightened as I braced. God, what if it happened all the time?
Sean stared at me, released a tight breath, then shook his head.
Relief sagged my shoulders.
“Did she know what was going on? That woman—did she do anything?”
“Walked in on me jackin’ him. She laughed and walked out.”
My teeth clenched. My God, I was going to torture her like nobody’s business. I just had to find her.
“Hey.”
I blinked the bed into focus and looked down at Sean after he spoke.
He was studying me. “You’re thinkin’ somethin’. What is it?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
“What is it?” he pressed.
“I’m wondering if that horrible woman is still living here, and how difficult it would be for me to find her,” I admitted. “I’m hoping not too difficult, so I can get on with the torture sooner rather than later. I have a lot planned.”
Sean stared at me, his expression unreadable, then he sat up and moved beside me so we sat shoulder to shoulder. He grabbed my face. His hold was gentle.
“Leave it alone,” he said, and just the thought of letting that bitch get off, it made my blood boil.
“I can’t do that,” I told him. “She hurt you. And she did worse than that. She didn’t protect you at all, Sean. She doesn’t deserve to be breathing…”
“Leave it alone, Shayla,” he repeated, his voice firm and final. “You don’t need to be diggin’ on this. I ain’t worried about her.”
“I am. What if she finds you? What if she’s here? God, she could come into Whitecaps or try and see your girls. I won’t let her.”
“She ain’t gonna do shit.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“How? How do you know?”
He curtly shook his head.
“How, Sean?”
“Shayla,” he growled, bringing his face so close to mine our noses almost touched. His tone was severe. “Remember before when I said pick another topic?”
