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“Yes.” She lifted her hand to his cheek.
He turned his face to kiss the inside of her wrist. “I’ll always give you what you need, Colorado.”
“I know. I knew from that night in the Hummingbird. I didn’t want to admit it. I’ve been running from that side of me for years, Ry.”
He tightened his hold. “Did someone hurt you?”
She nodded. “Yes, but probably not the way you’re thinking. I’d been with some guys before him, but he was different. Older. Established. He showed me so many things I’d never known before, as clichéd as it sounds.”
Ryan’s breath whistled out between his teeth. “Then he took it too far?”
“Not the sex. Not exactly.” She dropped her forehead to the cool glass. God, trying to navigate what had happened was hard enough in her own head. Trying to tell someone else—to tell the most vital someone else—was nearly impossible.
“He didn’t have a normal job. The people he knew, some of them weren’t aboveboard. A lot of them weren’t. And when I noticed too much, he found ways of shutting me down.” As Ryan tensed, she shifted in his arms. “He never hurt me physically, I swear.”
Ryan didn’t reply.
“God, it’s all in the past. But sometimes I can’t help remembering.”
“Because of me. Because of us, what we do.”
The pain in Ryan’s voice had her gripping his biceps. “No. We’re separate. We’re so different. I’ve loved everything we’ve shared. But with—”
She couldn’t quite spit it out. Marco’s name had become so huge in her head. For God’s sake, his name was on par with Voldemort from Harry Potter. And she knew it was her own fault for letting him become so big.
So very important.
She was so tired of Marco taking everything from her, even now.
“Being with him grew too overwhelming for me,” she said, knowing she was copping out and unable to stop it. Even saying this felt like too much, and she couldn’t breathe. “I was a mess, Ry. I dropped out of college. I just ran. Donovan helped me get away. Helped me start over.”
“Donovan? Why?”
Swallowing deeply, she cupped Ryan’s jaw. It was time to face some of her demons. “Donovan is my uncle.”
Chapter Seventeen
Dumbfounded, Ryan could only stare at her. Uncle? One of the most influential millionaires in the country? For fuck’s sake, he was pretty sure a few countries. He didn’t quite know all the ins and outs of Donovan Lewis’s empire.
“You’re rich?”
She laughed. Well, it was more of a squeak than a laugh. “I wouldn’t go that far. The Lewis name has money. My parents do.”
“And they didn’t help?”
She looked down, her eyes trained on his chest. “Not really their kind of deal.”
“You’re a Lewis?”
She nodded. “Casey Lewis.”
“Casey Lewis.” The name felt wrong on his tongue.
“Colorado,” she said hoarsely. “Denver.” Her voice grew a little stronger. “I’m not that girl anymore.”
He frowned and tipped her chin back up so he could look into her eyes. “Why Donovan?”
“He has contacts everywhere and he has a way with taking care of details. And not asking a ton of questions.” She averted her gaze. “I was ashamed of what I’d gotten myself into. Of the man I let myself get involved with.”
