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Ash’s voice trembled. “He was so strong….”
Chloe leaned forward and rested her hand on Ash’s arm, wanting to somehow help her. “Travis is a trained fighter, don’t forget that. Even Sawyer would’ve had trouble fighting him.” She slid her glance to Sawyer, whose intense eyes told her that no, he would have no trouble royally kicking Travis’s ass. Looking at that body, Chloe didn’t doubt he could. But she gestured toward Ash, hoping he caught the hint.
He nodded and turned to his sister. “Travis is trained to hurt people. That training makes him stronger.”
“I felt so”—more tears spilled down Ash’s face—“helpless to stop him.”
Ashlyn’s expression became haunted, and a sick feeling rolled through Chloe as she understood what Ashlyn was unable to say. “Your brother needs to know everything,” Chloe said very gently, “no matter how hard it is to talk about it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Sawyer stiffen, but she stayed focused on Ashlyn.
Ashlyn hung her head for a long moment before she murmured, “Before he took me into the kitchen to beat me…he raped me.”
There was a long, heavy silence.
Chloe glanced over at Sawyer as he rose from his chair, his expression closed off. “Please excuse me for a moment.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Ashlyn’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon.” Without looking at either Chloe or his sister, he left the room.
“He’s going to lose his shit, isn’t he?” Ashlyn asked, eyes wide and worried.
Chloe took Ashlyn’s hand. “He loves you,” she said, giving the other woman a soft, reassuring smile, “and you’ve been hurt in a
very bad way. Of course he’s going to lose his shit.”
Chapter 6
After Sawyer’s parents returned to Ashlyn’s hospital room with full bellies, Chloe left them and found Sawyer sitting outside the hospital on the bench by the main entrance. Arms resting on his bent legs, he bowed his head. It saddened Chloe to see a man as strong and powerful as Sawyer with such a haunted aura.
Sawyer didn’t look at her as she approached him, nor did he say a word when she sat down next to him. Torn between wanting to talk to help him and knowing it might be best to stay silent, she angled her head back, gazing up at the stars.
A soft cough caught her attention, and she lowered her chin, catching sight of a couple walking past them toward the hospital entrance. Their faces were drawn, a telling sign that whomever they were visiting tonight was not doing well.
Chloe shivered. She hated hospitals and avoided them at all cost, not enjoying the reminder of mortality. But tonight wasn’t about her, so she shoved those less-than-pleasing thoughts away as the couple vanished through the glass doors.
After the doors whooshed shut, Sawyer finally said, “I want to kill him.”
Chloe heard the battle between his desires and his morals in the coldness and hardness of his voice. “I’m starting to think that Travis deserves that fate.”
Sawyer turned to her, the streetlamp above them highlighting one side of his face, leaving the other side in shadow. “Which would be fine if I wasn’t a cop and bound to uphold the law.”
Chloe nudged his arm, giving a small smile to lighten the mood. “Well then, it’s good that you have someone working with you who, uh…”
“Skirts the law?” he offered.
“I don’t skirt the law,” she defended. “I stay perfectly within its parameters.”
One brow arched at her.
She laughed. “Okay, fine, I push against its limits. Is that better?”
“It’s at least closer to the truth,” he said, very matter-of-factly. “Besides, pushing up against limits is something I can respect.” He drew in a long breath, seemingly controlling the rage within him. “Is Ashlyn all right?”
“Yeah, she’s resting now,” Chloe replied. “Before she fell asleep, she said that a nurse had told her they did a rape kit, so I guess that’s good to have on file. But she also said not to say anything to your parents. She doesn’t want them to know.”
“Not surprising,” Sawyer grumbled. “My mother would baby her, and I know Ash wouldn’t want that.” His mood altered, and the heavy darkness returned to the gorgeous man beside her. “How in the hell do you do this job?”
Confused by his question, she said, “The same way you do this type of job.”
“What you and I do is very different.” His haunted eyes met hers. “I don’t know the finer details of what happens behind a case. I also don’t know how the criminal affects the people he or she victimized. I get a list of charges against a person. Then I go and apprehend them, along with a team of men at my back. I don’t do this alone. You do.”
