AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Finally, she said, “Thanks again for today. I know I keep saying it. But I don’t even want to think about where I would be right now if you hadn’t been there.”
“Don’t think about it at all if you can help it. It will mess with your head. In fact, if you’re feeling unsettled, you should pick up your Bible.” The surprised look on her face mirrored his own surprise as the words came out of his mouth. A year ago, it’s exactly what he would have done himself and it always helped. Why was it that he couldn’t face it anymore?
Her eyes drifted sideways to where the Bible sat. “You still following God after all these years?”
“Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“Tonight’s not the right time to get into it. Good night, Sydney.”
“Night.”
* * *
Sydney waited until Aaron closed the door, then sat on her couch. She hadn’t wanted him to leave. When she told him to wait, it was a desperate reaction that she had no reasonable explanation for.
She picked up her Bible and flipped it open to a red ribbon that marked the spot where she had been reading. She ran her finger along the satin. It had been several weeks since she’d opened her Bible and she couldn’t remember which chapter on the page she was up to.
After skimming over a couple of verses, she tugged on the ribbon and closed the book. It was too hard to focus on anything besides Aaron’s face or that of her captors. Neither was helpful.
She slid down in the seat, closing her eyes. She could blame it on the trauma of the night, or maybe it was because she was reminded of that time Aaron had burst into her house with a bat when he’d heard the glass break.
She hadn’t thought of that night in a long time, but with Aaron being reintroduced into her life, and with her life being threatened, the nightmare had resurfaced and was as fresh as when it happened.
She pressed her fingers into her eyes as she remembered the small fight she had gotten into at school. The school couldn’t reach her mom, so they called her dad.
She could still remember the shade of red that his face was when he picked her up from school. She knew she was in trouble.
He had raged at her on the drive home. Spit flew from his mouth as he blamed her for making their family look bad because she couldn’t control herself.
At home, he pulled her from the car by her collar and dragged her inside. She could still feel the rough fabric burning against her neck.
When her mom tried to intervene, he pushed her across the room, then grabbed a vase and threw it at her. He missed, but a piece of broken glass must have hit her face because Sydney could remember there was blood on her face and he hadn’t hit her yet.
At that point her dad had grabbed her again and threw her on the couch, lifting his arm to backhand her. That was when Aaron threw open the door, a bat in his hand. He yelled at her dad to stop, whacking the bat on the floor in threat.
Aaron was a star player on the baseball team, but when her dad headed his way, she knew he was in trouble. Her dad had the reflexes of the monster he was and he caught Aaron’s bat mid swing, yanking it from his hands.
She could still feel the sick squeeze in her stomach as she waited for her dad to use the bat on Aaron. But he was too smart for that. He knew if he attacked Aaron with the bat, that would be the end of him. So instead, he kicked him out, literally. She remembered noticing the next day that Aaron had scrapes on his hands.
Her dad threw the bat out after him and slammed the door, then turned and looked from her to her mom. He mumbled something about nosy neighbors before heading to the kitchen for a bottle of scotch.
Recalling that day revived a helpless gnawing in her gut, and she pressed her palm against her stomach. But tonight was different. Aaron was the one in control this time. And this time, he’d saved her life.
As a girl, she had been impressed with him for standing up to her dad. No one ever did that. But to see him now standing up to a group of armed men brought back feelings she couldn’t believe still existed.
She pushed up off the couch, heading for the shower. She wouldn’t entertain those feelings anymore. They belonged to a scared little girl, not a grown woman. Not to mention the commitment she’d made to avoid relationships at all costs. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d pushed aside her reservations and dated a man she knew she should have stayed away from. It had been a disaster and proved that she couldn’t trust her own judgment.
It didn’t matter how she felt about Aaron. She couldn’t afford to risk it again. She wasn’t brave enough.
Chapter9
Aaron pulledup to Sydney’s apartment the next morning after a restless sleep. He’d rung the agents on-site several times throughout the night to check on the status of the watch, but that’s not what kept him up. It wasn’t even the way Sydney looked at him, like he was the only man in her life that mattered. That only made things harder.
As the events of the day untangled in his head throughout the night, his unease intensified. This job was supposed to be a walk in the park. That was why it had been given to him. But when Aaron had debriefed Knightly on his drive home, he didn’t get the reprimand he expected. Knightly had only sounded relieved that they had Sydney under heightened security and told Aaron to keep her close.
Aaron nodded at McCaffrey when he rounded the corner.
