Page 27 of Patrick’s Seduction

Lydia pushed the T-shirt aside to look at the shoulder. “I can’t see a bruise or an abrasion.”

“I know.” She felt like crying again. She wasn’t lying. “But I felt it. It was as if his fingernails were claws. As if—”

“Claws?” Lydia interrupted, her eyes widening.

“Yes, it felt like it, or like his teeth. As if he bit me. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I know what I felt. I remember it. I can still feel his touch.”

“I get it, I do,” Lydia said, nodding. “I’m not discounting what you’re saying, but you should tell Patrick what you remember. He needs to know what Cameron is capable of.”

“But it makes no sense.” Patrick would think that she was making it up. “I can barely believe it myself. I mean, why would he bite me? If that’s what he did. No, he couldn’t have. It must have been his fingernails.” She furrowed her forehead and looked at Lydia. “I’m a doctor. I know what happens when a person bites someone. There’s always an infection. And it would heal really slowly, but I can’t see a wound…”

The more she talked, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she was getting. Something was seriously wrong.

“I know Cameron hurt me. I know it was him. I recognized him. But the rest? I don’t know for sure what he did to me. Only that he did something. And that it was my fault.”

“Your fault?”

“Yes, he said it. I remember it clearly.”

“Let’s call Patrick. He needs to know.” Lydia pulled out her cell phone and tapped on a contact. “Hey. Fallon is starting to remember things.” There was a short pause. “I’ll let you talk to her.”

Lydia handed the phone to her, and she took it hesitantly. “Hi, Patrick.”

“Hey,” he said softly. “You’re remembering the attack?”

“Only parts of it. And I’m not even sure about some of it, other than that I recognized Cameron. It was him, and he attacked me.”

“What else do you remember about the attack?”

“Tell him about the bite and the claws,” Lydia urged her.

“What was that?” Patrick asked as if he’d heard Lydia’s words.

Fallon cleared her throat. “I think—and I’m not a hundred percent sure—that he either bit me in the shoulder or dug his claws into me.”

“His claws? You saw claws?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t see them. I felt them. As if his fingernails were two inches long and sharp like blades.”

Patrick cursed under his breath, but she heard it nevertheless.

“You don’t believe me. I knew it. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, Fallon. I do believe you. There are men who’re capable of anything.”

A sob traveled up from her chest, and she suppressed it. “I don’t even believe myself. But I can still feel the pain. But there isn’t even a bruise there.”

“Don’t think about that right now. At least you can be sure now that Cameron did this. We’ll get him for it. I promise you that.”

She didn’t know what to say, but she felt grateful. Lydia took her hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

“I’ve been looking into Cameron a little more. Can you tell me, have you ever been to his flat, stayed overnight there?”

“No. He lives all the way out in Marin County, so he always just stayed with me when we were going out.”

“Marin County?” he asked, a quizzical tone in his voice. “His driver’s license shows an address in the city.”

“That can’t be,” she insisted. “He told me he lives out somewhere near San Rafael. That’s why he always suggested that he stay over at my place. He said it would be better for me, since I go to work early, and if he had to drive me all the way from San Rafael to UCSF in the morning, we’d be stuck in traffic.” He’d made it sound like he was concerned for her wellbeing. “Why would he lie about that? Are you sure he has a flat in the city?”