Page 70 of Cozen

“No, he did.”

For the briefest second, something unknown flashed in her eyes—fear, maybe, or just enough concern to make her do a double-take.

“What was that, then?” she asked. “That he found, I mean.”

“Foster homes. Unknown parents. Runaway.”

Cozen laughed, and almost smiled—if that bitter sneer could be considered a smile. “Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that, Cozen.”

“What, did my rough upbringing and shitty circumstances pull at Jett’s heartstrings?”

“Yes.”

Seemed his simple response did make her reassess his words for a second. Cozen passed him a look, and Sargon only shrugged his shoulders in response.

“One of the foster homes you ran away from … they were eventually shut down, and charged with a variety of things. Physical and sexual abuse amongst many allegations brought up in the documents I unfortunately read.”

“They’re not allegations when they pleaded guilty,” she murmured.

Sargon nodded. “My mistake. How did you know they pleaded guilty if you were already long gone by then?”

Cozen grinned into her glass. “I’m sure someone helped evidence get into the right hands at one point or another.”

“Did you go back for that?”

“Someone else helped,” she offered, but her tone said she wasn’t going to give him much else for details in that regard. “And in a way, you could say that helped me, too.”

“Did it really?” he pressed.

“What?”

“Help, Cozen. Did it take away the pain, and the memories? Did it make you feel less dirty, and not as used? Did the nightmares go away?”

Her lips flattered in a thin line before she whispered, “Not right away.”

“How long did it take?”

“Long enough to know that they wouldn’t be able to do it to someone else, Sargon.”

She looked over at him, and he didn’t hide the fact he was staring at her. He had the slightest feeling this woman was by far one of the strongest and most beautiful people he had ever met in his life. A little broken, too, sure.

Who wasn’t broken?

Who didn’t have a story?

Jett would never be able to fully appreciate how entirely amazing this woman was, or how her history had probably shaped her into the person she was today. No, Jett was the type who would want to save Cozen from it all, and not let her save herself. He would be the kind of man who figured giving her nice things, and locking her away in a life full of wealth and wonders would erase a lifetime of horrible memories.

The idea made Sargon sick.

So disgusted.

“Why California?” Sargon asked.

He needed to get far away from his thoughts, so he moved onto something else entirely.

“Pardon?”