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She’d been beaten savagely by a monster who’d meant to destroy her.
His first thought was that he wished he’d been there to protect her. He hadn’t known her then, but Liam still felt as if he’d failed her somehow.
His second thought was that he would kill the man.
He took seething breaths to bring his rage under control. “Her father did this to her?”
“Keep breathing, man. It’s a shock,” Hammer said in a tone meant to soothe a wild beast. “I know.”
How ironic. It was the first bloody time all day his old pal seemed to find his control.
“Breathe? Like hell! Answer my fucking question.”
“Yes, her father.”
The bloody prick they were headed to see. Liam stared down at the photo. There were more pictures he hadn’t seen yet. He didn’t want to…but he must. If he wanted to understand Raine, this was part of who she’d become. He hoped like hell she hadn’t let it define her.
Hammer sent him an anxious glance. “I took those the night I found her. She wouldn’t let me near her, even to give her first aid. So I called Beck over, and we slipped a sedative in her Coke. Once she drifted off, Beck made sure she didn’t have any injuries that needed immediate attention. The following morning, I took her to a doctor he recommended. She examined Raine. Cracked rib, a couple of stitches, lots of bruising. The rape kit came back negative. She hadn’t been sexually assaulted.”
Thank god for small mercies.
But from this photo alone, the fact that Bill hadn’t raped her might be the only one. Liam wanted to growl at the injustice Raine had endured. He didn’t care if the pictures had been taken six years ago or yesterday. The agony her father had forced on her stabbed him with pure fury.
Dragging in a sharp breath, he shuffled to the next picture. Raine’s arm, black with bruises in the shape of a man’s hand. God, she’d been a skinny little thing. A grown man unleashing all his force on her would have overpowered her quickly. And no one had been there to stop him. How had Raine done it alone?
Another photo revealed a red, angry spot of torn scalp just above her ear, indicating she’d been grabbed and yanked viciously by the hair.
His eyes smarted. She’d been nothing but a scared child, enduring what that bastard had dished out. But by Christ, she’d escaped. No wonder running was ingrained.
The next shot was of her neck and chest. Deep gouges and cuts raked her flesh. More mottled bruises lay beneath the straps of her tank top. Liam could see discoloration around Raine’s throat. Her father had tried to strangle her? Fuck killing the man; Liam wanted to destroy him.
At the lodge, he’d pried the girl open with pickles and chocolate. The memories of Raine’s words that night rang in his ears. I found out that I shouldn’t mess with Dad’s temper… He would never win father-of-the-year awards. A fucking understatement. He said he wouldn’t go to jail for disciplining his stupidest, most willful...
Jail was far too kind for Bill.
The Dom inside him wanted to hold her close and protect her. Eventually, he’d turn her over his knee and give her a few loving swats of his own for so grossly understating her past. He intended to make it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate her lying or blatantly withholding information anymore.
But wasn’t that why he’d uncollared her in the first place?
The enormity of her damage sank in.
All this time, he thought he’d made progress with her at the lodge, convincing himself that he would have dismantled her walls if he’d had more time. He’d blamed Hammer’s “need” for stunting his ability to reach Raine. But now he feared that all the pickles and chocolate on the planet wouldn’t have been enough for her to reveal the depths of her anguish.
Raine’s soul was still torn. She nurtured her pain, using it like a shield to keep anyone from getting too close. He understood that she hid in shame. Her fear of abandonment and difficulty trusting couldn’t be more clear. But these photographs proved that she’d rather outright lie than risk revealing her real self and letting anyone too close.
As soon as he found Raine, he intended to tell her that he grasped the hell she’d survived, but he would no longer let her use it as a reason to hide from him.
His stare fell upon the final photo. Hammer had pulled the sheet aside to reveal her sleek, supple legs. The bruises and scrapes on them infuriated him enough, but the sickening dark contusions staining her inner thighs ignited his blood. He couldn’t contain his wrath.
“Motherfucker!” Liam’s fist connected violently with the glove box.
Hammer cast a startled glance in his direction. “Take another breath. It was a long time ago.”
