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As soon as we reach my building, I gather up the bags from the trunk and then help her out. She looks down at my hand and a slight smile lifts her lips.
“Is that all for me?” Her voice is hoarse and still heavy with emotion.
“Yes,” I answer honestly as I lead her into the building.
Fresh tears stream down her cheeks as we get onto the elevator. She leans against me, gathering my shirt in her hands before burying her face against my chest. I place my free arm around her back and hold her tightly until we get to my floor.
“Daddy is going to take care of you,” I tell her as we step off the elevator.
She doesn’t let go of me as we walk down the short hallway. When we’re inside, I head straight for the bedroom. Avery follows me, and when I look back, I can see the remnants of her t-shirt wound around her fists.
What kind of animal would do that?
Me. That’s something I would do, but never out of anger. I’d never hurt a woman.
She stumbles over to the bed and sits down.
“Everyone knows now,” she mumbles.
I kneel in front of her and grab her hands. This is the first time in my life I’ve felt truly helpless.
“Don’t worry about that right now, Avery.”
“But I’ll get kicked out of Danville and you’ll lose your job.”
“So what? Fuck everyone on this campus.” I bend my head and brush soft kisses across her knuckles. “All we need is each other, right?”
“You don’t have to be so nice to me,” she says with a grimace.
I sit back on my heels and look at her. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
When she looks up at me, there’s a red mark blooming on her cheek. Fuck. I thought her face was read from crying, but now I can see that her eye is slightly swollen and bloodshot.
“He got so angry,” she whispers. “He saw what you wrote all over me and got so angry.”
“Who?”
I think I know who she’s talking about, but I need to be certain. If end up spending the rest of my life in prison because I killed a man for touching my dirty girl, then I want to make sure it’s the right fucking man.
“Alec.”
I reach up and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m so sorry he hurt you, Avery. Did…did he…did he force himself on you?”
I clench my eyes tightly and take a deep breath, dropping my forehead against hers. I wish I could take all the pain away, that I could go back in time and never drop her off at the house. Or better yet, make sure this asshole never laid a finger on her. But instead, all I can do is hold her in my arms, letting her know that no matter what happened, she’ll always be my dirty girl.
“No,” she says with a sigh. “I kicked him. He got mad and hit me, but then I screamed just as a few of the girls came home. They chased him away.”
“Thank God,” I breathe out. “Tell me what to do, Avery. Tell me how to help you.”
She lifts her head slightly and looks me dead in the eye. “Am I a whore, Samuel? Is there something wrong with me? With us? I’ve fantasized about you since I was eighteen, and when you wrote all over me, I loved it. It turned me on. What’s wrong with me, Samuel?”
“Nothing,” I tell her honestly. “We’re just wired differently. Some people want candlelight and bubble baths. We don’t. There’s nothing wrong with you or with what we do together.”
“Then why did Alec get so angry with me?”
“Because not all gentlemen are truly gentlemen. They keep their monsters hidden deep in the dark and fool everyone into thinking they’re perfect and wonderful when they’re anything but. I’m sorry you saw Alec’s ugly side.”
“What about you? Do you have monsters?”
