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"You’re a very courageous, loyal person," Donovan said, reaching to touch her cheek with the back of his knuckles

She shook her head "No," she whispered "I’ I wouldn’t have given up My mother would still be alive"

Tears had thickened her voice and shone on her pale cheeks Before he could correct her belief, she plunged forward, see off a bandage instead of peeling it slowly

"And then she died," she said, a sob welling from her throat "And I knew I knew he’d killed her It wasn’tparanoid or delusional I know that son of a bitch had killed her Who knehy? Maybe she’d finally e and had threatened to walk away Maybe she tried to walk away She would have never left Travis and Cammie there under his care She would have taken them Likely come to me for help She kneould God knows I’d offered it to her enough times"

"Jesus," Donovan muttered And yet there was more So much more

"I was shocked that he allowed me at her funeral He actedconciliatory He asked me to come over after the visitation The first time I’d been allowed in his home since that awful day I’d come with the police He said Travis and Cammie needed me That he needed me I didn’t care what he wanted or needed I was only concerned about Travis and Cammie, and I wanted to see them with my own eyes I wanted to see if he’d hurt them--if he’d ever hurt them I had to know I had to see theet them out of there as soon as I could

"Travis and Cammie were understandably quiet In shock Caely tearless the entire ti on Maybe she hadn’t accepted that our one I just remember how quiet and still the house was How ominous it was I was scared to even be there because it was a house filled withevil His presence was everywhere His sta of my mother None of her personal touches The entire house screamed Walt and his influence And then"

She shuddered and went silent, rerief When she kept silent, her forehead furrowed, her lips drawn into thin, white lines, he leaned forward, sensing that she needed more than the brief touches he’d offered

Carefully, gauging her reaction for any signs of protest, he pulled her into his arms After only aher face in his chest He anchored her against hihtly, his arainst her silky hair and breathed in her scent

She felt so soft and warile But so very precious He’d give anything in the world to slay her dragons and the demons that haunted her dreams--and her reality

"Then what, Eve?" he ainst her hair He needed to know the rest And she needed to rid herself of the poison that had festered for so long

She shuddered again in his ar sobs Had she ever cried? Even once? Or had she been too determined to put up a brave front for Travis and Cammie?

"He called me into his study It was a room strictly off limits to everyone My mother Travis Cammie No one but him was ever allowed inside Except business associates or friends he invited, but my mother had never stepped inside and neither hadso ill at ease I was devastated by the loss ofher killer I worried ould happen to Travis and Caain now that one

"I hated the feeling that I was at his mercy I hatedhim I’ve never hated anyone I’ve never felt violence toward another huun in my hand in that moment I would have killed him"

"Why did he call you into his study?" Donovan prompted softly

She shuddered in his arms and then went completely still Dread filled Donovan at her hesitation He rip around her because his eer and frustration washe wanted was to hurt her inadvertently To mark her beautiful skin It made him physically ill to even think that his hand had caused a woman pain

"He wantedHe wanted me toOh God, Donovan, it’s sick"

Tears soaked into his shirt, theda words of comfort close to her ear

"He wanted me to, for all practical purposes, replace my mother"

Her voice was so filled with horror that each as choked out as if it disgusted her to even say them out loud

Donovan stilled as her statement played over and over in his s, but he knew her stepfather’s intent was sick and twisted

"He t-touched me In a way he’d never touched me before In fact, he had always been careful to maintain his distance I wasn’t treated as family As one of his children like Travis and Cammie He was always so i at me and it made me so uncomfortable I hated when he looked at me because I feltunclean"

He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, over the soft strands of her hair, clenching his jaw in frustration that he had to sit here helpless, powerless to do anything but listen as she spilled the horror she’d endured for so many months