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The hurt in Jane’s voice made his heart clench. Reaching back, he felt for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m here, baby.”
He felt her moving around, then her hand rested on his shoulder and he could feel her hesitance. “Then answer me.Please. It’s been sixteen years. Surely you can tell me now?”
“I promised I wouldn’t,” he said, then laughed. The sound was not a pleasant one. “You know what? Fuck it. I am sick and tired of keeping a promise to a man who hasn’t upheld his end of the bargain. He was supposed to keep you safe. He failed.”
“What are you talking about? What man?”
Rafe turned to find Jane kneeling in the centre of the bed, glad it was too dark to see her face overly well. “Your father.”
He heard her suck in her breath well enough though. “What?”
Striding to the other side of the room, Rafe flicked on the lights then grabbed his jeans and dragged them on. He needed pants to have this conversation.
Pants and distance.
He paced the room as he tried to decide the best way to go about telling Jane the truth. A truth he’d kept from her for so long.
“Do you remember the night of my twenty-first birthday, when you snuck into my room and climbed into bed with me?”
She shifted uneasily. “You mean the night I offered you my virginity and you said no?”
Rafe glowered, his lips pressed together in a firm line. “I was studying to be a lawyer and you were underage. Did you honestly think I was going to say yes?”
“I was only three weeks shy of legal,” she mumbled, avoiding his gaze, his ire. “It was supposed to be your birthday present.”
“Where the law is concerned, near enough isn’t good enough.” Stopping by the bedside, he reached out and stroked her cheek. “Besides, you gave me a better present,” he said. “When you told me you loved me.”
Jane closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. The urge to drag her down to the bed and take her almost overwhelmed him. But that would be taking the easy way out. And she had a right to know.
He moved away again and grabbed a chair, sat in front of her, faced her head-on. He needed her to see him, to hear him. And understand.
“The following afternoon, I received a visit from your father. He threw a punch at my head and threatened to kill me if I ever touched you again.”
That got her attention. “He hit you?” she said, eyes wide and mouth open.
“Please. I grew up dodging punches from Oliver and the twins. I know how to duck.”
Snapping her mouth shut, she pinned him with her intense green stare. “But how did he even know we’d been together?”
Rafe dragged a hand down his face. “I can only assume someone saw you leave my room in the morning and jumped to the wrong conclusion. And that someone told Alec.”
“What happened next?”
“What do you think happened?” he said, his mouth twisting at the abhorrent memory. “He accused me of raping his daughter.”
All the colour drained from Jane’s face and she looked like she might throw up. “No. He wouldn’t— Hecouldn’tpossibly believe that.”
Of course she wanted to defend her father. She’d looked up to him her entire life.
Even if he didn’t deserve it.
“Whether he believed it or not is irrelevant. I told him exactly what happened that night, told him we were in love.” Rafe barked a laugh and shook his head. “I even asked his permission to marry you. But he didn’t want to hear any of it. Alec was adamant, he wanted me charged with rape. Do you understand what that means?”
Slowly, she nodded. “It would have ended your career before it even began.”
“Worse than that, baby,” Rafe said. “It would have ended your life before it began.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, but Rafe could tell from the downward tilt of her chin and the darting of her eyes, she understood plenty. She just didn’t want to accept it.
