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Both Taz and I nodded.
I could see her heart break again and I sighed.
While Taz tried talking her down, I went back outside where the body was. Looking around the backyard for a spell, I inched my way around the house to the front. The man’s car was still parked there. Curious, I hurried over to it and looked in all the windows.
It was probably a rental—there was nothing in it to say it was lived in.
No dust, no paper, no snack wrappings—not even a pendant hanging from the mirror.
Everything was pristine.
Taking a picture of the VIN number, I made my way back to the house, checking the front porch and the other side.
By the time Taz and Ma exited the house, my brain was just a flurry of thoughts and conspiracies.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Taz
After we took Ma somewhere safe with one of Tex’s connections, I gave in and allowed Storm to fuss over me. This was new to me—having someone who wanted to take care of me.
My father passed away when I was young and afterward, I kind of had to grow up fast to raise myself. My mother ensured there was a roof over my head and food and clothing, but I lacked everything else.
She didn’t believe I needed love—to be tucked in at nights, story times, even hugs were never a thing I was used to. I would get them, but not often enough to remember my mother ever hugging me.
“Storm?”
“Mm?”
He kept reading the label for my lotion.
“Anurak.”
He looked at me then.
“What’s the matter?” Storm asked. “You only use my name when you’re angry or when—”
My cheeks heated.
I lifted my arms to him.
“Is this your way of saying you want a hug?” He questioned.
Pouting, I nodded.
Storm smiled, set the bottle on the bedside table and climbed into the bed. He scooped me into his arms, holding me tightly with one hand while the other caressed up and down my back. After a while of pure heaven, he pressed that rubbing palm to the back of my neck and shimmied closer.
“This is new to me.” I whispered my secret.
I had never imagined telling a lover this.
That would mean opening myself up in a way that could only leave me broken.
“This?” He asked.
“Being held.”
Storm moaned and held me tighter.
