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Tessa closed her eyes and blew out a few breaths, obviously trying to bring her panic under control. She walked slowly around the small cabin, closing the curtains against the night. “I came home to five men in my room that day. Including my father and uncle.”
“Did you recognize the others?” The bastards who’d interrogated her. He didn’t know what that meant yet but he wanted them to never see the light of day again.
Her head shake was sharp. “I’d never met them before. I always stayed in my room when my father had meetings.”
“Can you walk me through that day with more detail? It’s important.”
Every drop of color leeched from Tessa’s face and she dropped into a chair.
“Afterward, I wondered if there was a sixth person, or if there were hidden cameras I didn’t know about. My uncle seemed to know I was coming up the stairs. He said something likeHere she comes nowwhen I was out of sight down the hall. I think he placed the journal in my room and then pulled it out dramatically to prove to my father that I was ratting him out.”
She blew out a breath. “Not that I even know now exactly what business he was involved in. Whatever my uncle had in the book had my father convinced. I’d never seen him that furious.”
Her hands twisted together on the table, knuckles white. “The first punch to my jaw took me completely by surprise. I’d never been hit in my life. There were more hits and kicks.”
Flynn gripped the bed below him to keep himself still. Her voice was thick and barely audible.
“I was only half conscious when my uncle told the other men to take me to the interrogation room. I didn’t even know it existed. Up on the third floor behind multiple locks.”
“They threw me on the floor and two of the men stayed in the room. My uncle said they could do whatever they wanted to me.”
Her body shuddered and Flynn couldn’t stop the growl. Jetson bounded off the bed and moved to her again.
Tessa’s hands ran over his fur. The orange cat hopped onto the table from wherever she’d been hiding and sat watching her. One of Tessa’s hands moved to her, but she stayed out of reach. With a sigh, she went back to petting Jetson.
“The two of them argued for a while. I couldn’t make sense of it. My head was ringing and I was trying to figure out what was happening and how to get away.”
“One man punched the other guy and tossed him out of the room. Then he picked me up and threw me onto a bed. He was undoing his pants when the house exploded.”
Relief filled him. On top of everything else, she wasn’t having to cope with being raped as well.
He couldn’t stay away from her any more. He squatted on the other side of the chair from Jetson and patted her hair with one hand and her arm with the other. “Hell, Tessa. I can’t imagine how utterly terrified you had to be. That’s one of the most horrific things I’ve ever heard. I’m so damn sorry you went through that.”
His own voice broke and Tessa turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears. Flynn pulled her into his arms and held her when she broke into sobs. He cradled her in his arms and returned them to the bed. Once again she snuggled in.
Her tears were fierce but they didn’t last long. “I’m sorry.”
He let the emotion show in his voice. “Nothing to be sorry for, Tessa. I’m skating a thin edge here and it didn’t happen to me. Emotions only explode at the worst times when you keep them inside. Let them out and then you start to heal.”
She looked up at him with tears on her cheeks. “That’s pretty smart.”
“It should be. It’s a direct quote from the therapist I saw after that day. My family was great, but Dr. Perez was the one who got me through it. She helped me find ways to channel my anger and grief. Helped me realize that rodeo wasn’t the future I wanted any more.”
“What did you want?”
“I wanted to take down the bastards who’d hurt you.”
Chapter8
Second Time Around
Tessa hugged Flynn even more tightly. He’d changed his plans and his dreams because of her. Because he thought she was dead and he’d wanted to find the men who’d set the explosions that had killed her.
Could she love this man any more? “You’re a good man, Flynn Walker.”
He flinched and she lifted her head to see him frowning and shaking his head. She lifted a finger and touched his lips to stop him from speaking. “You are. You always were the best person I knew when I was a kid and I’ve seen nothing to indicate that’s changed.”
His frown didn’t disappear. “No, I’m not, Tessa. I was so pissed off when I saw you in that canoe. I thought you’d walked away from me and hidden yourself away because you didn’t care.”
