“Evidence for what?” I push.
“Careful what you ask me,” he warns and I swing around. He takes a step closer and the air crackles between us.
“Don’t give me that crap, Damian!” My voice pitches. “You kept those memory cards of me being beaten and … and.” I can’t say it and instead I lunge at him. I slam both my hands flat against his chest. He doesn’t even flinch. “Did you watch them?” My voice climbs more, bordering on shrill.
“I did,” he answers, and in that moment I hate his honesty.
“How could you?” I almost whimper. I yank my hands back as if the very touch of him burns me.
“Cara,” his voice is tense, “your uncle wants you and I can’t just let him take you. I looked at those memory cards so I could make a specific one for him. He has to see what happened to you, but not all of it. I have to get him to back off. You were lucky they didn’t kill you by day two!”
He takes a breath to calm down. My eyes are glued to him as he walks away from me only to turn around and stalk right back until he’s inches from me.
“The mafia fucking kills! They don’t play around, and you should know that. Your parents are dead because your father and uncle got involved with them. The way they work is to take out the smaller dealers until only the most prominent members remain standing. And they take out the whole family. You should’ve died twice already. I won’t risk a third.”
My mouth drops open at hearing his admission. I skip the part of the mafia and dying and go straight to my uncle wanting me after all.
“He wanted me?” I ask lamely.
“You won’t be safe with him.” He shoves his hands through his hair and it’s the first time I see him frustrated. It’s the first time I see him show real emotion. “Everything I have done is to keep you safe. I won’t do one thing different, Cara.” Each word is intense and it grabs at my heart.
I can’t look at him anymore, and I drop my eyes.
“Now,” he continues gruffly, “I’m glad you’re dealing, and I’m glad you’re angry and finally fucking feeling, but, Cara,” he waits for me to look up, “you don’t disrespect me. Don’t ever raise your hands to me again.”
I watch him leave and I drop to the floor, my emotions a destructive storm inside of me.
I took it out on him. I took the pain and fear out on Damian, the only person who has been there for me. What have I done?
Damian~
I wipe my tired eyes. They’re stinging with unshed tears.
I failed Leah.
I’ve failed Cara once and I’ll be damned if I’m just going to stand by as Tom takes care of her just to save his own worthless ass.
When Tom reached out to me, saying that he wanted her … I just couldn’t. Why after all these years? There can only be one answer and that’s because they finally got to him. Maybe they got to him a long time ago? I mean, the shitty new identity he gave her just doesn’t make sense. He had to have known that they would find her if she went by her mother’s name. It’s fucking common sense.
I’ve sent back the money he paid for my services. I’ve closed that account and wiped out any trail that could lead to me. He won’t find her. Fuck, I won’t let it happen. I’ll take care of her. I can make up for failing her once.
When the door to my room creaks open, my eyes snap up and my body tenses. I watch a tiny figure sneak in and when she sees me by the window, she slowly walks closer.
She stops right in front of me and I hear her suck in a deep breath, and then she looks up.
“I’m so sorry, Damian. What I did was wrong on so many levels,” she blurts the apology out and then waves her hand lamely in the air. “I … I just wanted to apologize.”
I raise my hand to her cheek and catch a tear with my knuckle. I hate it when a woman cries, but not Cara – it’s a sign that she’s finally feeling something. It’s a good thing.
I slip my hand behind her neck and pull her to my chest. She comes willingly and it’s a small victory. She’s not so scared of my touch anymore.
I hold her for a long while. She’s soft against me. Last night when she walked into the kitchen wearing that skirt and boots, I almost dragged her back to the room. It’s as if something smacked me upside the head, forcing me to see the woman in front of me – and fuck, she is beautiful. Now that all the bruises are gone, it’s hard not to notice her.
At first I just wanted to do right by her, but then I watched the memory cards and something exploded inside of me. I have to protect her because no one else will. And then I made the mistake of holding her at that motel, and once she fit so perfectly against my chest, I knew it would be hard to let her go.
She’s grown on me, and if I try to cut her out now, I’ll be carving out a chunk of me. She’s already in too deep.