AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We should get back,” I said. But sure enough, as soon as I tried to move past him, he stepped in my path, though he was careful not to touch me. He’d made the mistake of touching me on our second assignment together and it hadn’t been pretty.
“You know you can talk to me, right?” he said softly.
Too softly.
Fuck, had he picked up on something? My behavior upstairs had been over the top, especially for me, but surely he couldn’t see why I’d reacted the way I had.
“I’m fine,” I said, forcing myself to remain calm.
“I don’t buy that and you know Ronan won’t either.”
I did know that and while Phoenix was likely to let me off the hook, Ronan wouldn’t. Especially if he thought my behavior would be any kind of detriment to the job.
Which meant I needed to get a handle on myself.
“Nothing to tell,” I finally said as firmly as I could. As confused as I was about my physical reaction to Ethan, I wasn’t about to give voice to those feelings. It had been a temporary thing brought on by the close quarters. And the fact that it had been a while since I’d been with a woman.
Phoenix said nothing as he moved out of my way. I hurried back to the family room and found that Ethan and Ronan were already sitting down again in the same positions. Before I could give it too much thought, I went to sit on the same couch Ronan was sitting on. I ignored my inner voice telling me I should have sat down next to Ethan. I also ignored Ronan who I knew was looking at me just like Phoenix had downstairs.
Once Phoenix entered the room and closed the door, Ronan nodded at Ethan to continue. I steeled myself for what was to come next and locked eyes with Ethan just before he opened his mouth.
Chapter Eight
Ethan
My body felt hot all over as Cain’s gaze swept over me. It didn’t take a genius to know what he was thinking, especially considering at what point of my story he’d interjected the suggestion of a break.
How could you let him do that to you?
It was a question I’d asked myself over and over that night and in the months that had followed as I’d continued to work my plan to get free of Eric. As a doctor, I’d encouraged victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault to come forward and press charges. I’d taken pictures of broken, battered bodies and performed exams on people at the most vulnerable times in their lives. But it wasn’t until that night as I’d limped into the ER, blood and tears coursing down my face and the proof of Eric’s depravity pooling in my underwear, that I’d truly understood what my patients had been feeling and why so many had remained silent. Since I’d known that calling the cops was one of the first things the hospital staff would do when they got a look at me, I’d told the nurse who’d been sitting at the triage desk that I’d leave if the police were called. I’d spent the rest of the evening enduring being put back together and listening to the same argument I myself had often given to my patients. I’d been strong up until they’d asked me that one question that had hurt more than any injury Eric could have inflicted upon me.
Is there someone we can call for you, Ethan?
There’d been no one.
Because I’d pushed them away.
For Eric.
“Ethan,” I heard Cain say softly and I looked up to see him and Ronan watching me with concern. I finally noticed that Cain had some bruising on his knuckles that hadn’t been there before and his hair looked damp. His shirt was different too.
“Sorry,” I murmured as I realized I’d gotten lost in the past. “After that night, I had to take some time off work for my injuries to heal. I was hoping the medical records and recordings would be enough proof to convince Eric to stay away from me, but I still needed money to disappear…to start over somewhere. I…I got better at not pissing Eric off as much, but it was taking a toll on me and people started noticing. But I was able to put them off with excuses about stress and being tired. About three months before Lucy and I took off, Eric’s former partner on the force came into the ER to be treated for a burn to his hand. He was one of the only people who knew about me and Eric…I’d seen him a couple of times when Eric would do one of his random check-ins to make sure I was at home or work like I’d said I’d be. His name was Tom Douglas.”
