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Hammer exhaled heavily, then eased back. Something—guilt, maybe, or regret—flashed across his strong face. “There’s something I should tell you. You wouldn’t allow me to call the police after I’d found you. But I needed ammunition against Bill in case he came back for you.”
Raine’s heart drummed in her chest. “And?”
“I was worried about you. All those bruises, the gash in your lip… Hell, I didn’t know whether or not he’d broken your damn eye socket.” As he spoke, he turned both angry and ashen. “I called Beck into your room after you fell asleep. He checked you over to make sure nothing was broken before we could get you to the hospital that next morning. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but while we were there, I took pictures of everything that prick had done to you.” He hesitated. “I showed them to Liam when you went missing.”
Raine felt as if he’d yanked the floor out from under her. She fought and struggled, elbowing wildly until she sat up and scurried back, staring at Hammer in horror. “You took pictures? And kept them for all these years?” She swung her gaze to Liam. “You saw them?”
Liam nodded solemnly. “It’s all right.”
“The hell it is!” She jumped to her feet and glared at Hammer. “You betrayed my trust and didn’t tell me for six fucking years?”
He leaned in and grabbed her wrist, tumbling her back down flat on her back between them. “Watch your goddamn mouth. I took them to protect you, so I’d have something to show the police if they ever came knocking. They’ve been sitting in my safe all this time, and I only showed Liam because one of us needed to reach you. If it wasn’t me, then he needed to know what demons you were fighting. Blame me and hate me all you want. It doesn’t change what I did. I’d make the same choice again.”
Something between sincerity and determination filled his face. Raine closed her eyes. Logically, she saw his point, but that didn’t make her ache less. “I didn’t want anyone to see me like that. I wanted you to forget. I didn’t ever want Liam to know.” She tried to curl up into a ball and hide her face. “It’s the reason I wandered the streets for two days before you found me. The second anyone saw me, I ran. By the time you discovered me, I was in so much pain. I meant to leave the next day, but…” Together, he and Liam held her down, not letting her hide. Feeling like that scared girl again, stripped and defeated, she stopped struggling. “Can I be alone?”
“No, precious. I will never forget, and whether you wanted Liam to know or not, he deserves all your truths. The good. The bad. The ugly. Didn’t he already make that point with you?”
Yes, he had. Raine couldn’t do more than nod.
“It’s not going to make him love you less, but until you start believing that, you will always want to curl up, close off, and hide. We’re not going to allow that anymore.” Hammer’s voice was calm but stern.
“Exactly. You’ll not be squirming away from my questions ever again,” Liam vowed. “And I’m not giving up on you. If you’re still thinking that, don’t.”
“Besides, the truth is out and see?” Hammer said. “We’re still here. We think you’re fierce, a survivor. We’re fucking not walking away. Neither are you.”
She’d walked into this task knowing she had to learn to tell them everything. She couldn’t do that if she hid. “No, I’m not. I’m sorry. Stay…”
Liam rubbed a soothing palm on the small of her back. “Good. I don’t think you grasp yet how much you mean to us. Whatever happens when this is over, don’t think for one minute that you’re not treasured by us both. I never expected to fall for you, Raine. I just wanted to help you along, but you surprised me and stole my heart. Now…” He paused. “There’s nothing you could ever say or do to change that.”
They were forcing her to be cuttingly honest, but they were also giving her their truths. It was costing them to admit their secrets and feelings. They’d both been so reassuring and giving—and far more understanding that she’d ever expected. “I needed to hear that. Will you both kiss me?”
Hammer stared into Raine’s pleading blue eyes. She looked more fragile than he’d seen her in years, but the courage she’d shown in embracing their task and divulging her worst fears revealed such strength. And commitment. Tonight, she’d come so much further than he’d expected. And she’d blown him away.
As she lay before him with her soul exposed, his heart swelled. She radiated a need for reassurance, and Hammer ached to give it to her. She deserved a reward. But goddamn it, if his cock didn’t throb in demand, too.
