Page 79 of Need

“And you will never see her again,” I said continuing to glare at him. “If I ever find out that she has so much as seen you again, I will find a way to make sure you regret ever laying eyes on her. Do we understand each other?” The man looked me over then glanced over my shoulder at Brianna. “No,” I snapped. “You look at me.”

He seemed to change his tune, acting as if he was trying to shrug it off. “Yeah, whatever. It wasn’t like she was that good anyway.”

I took another step forward, and he frowned again, but this time he continued to backpedal as quickly as he could without tripping until he finally turned around and disappeared in the crowd.

Pent-up energy was still coursing through me. I’d not felt so out of control for years. Then again, Brianna brought out feelings in me I’d never imagined. It helped knowing they’d not had sex, but I was still dealing with the knowledge Daren had played with her. By the way that man had been eyeing her, I had little doubt that he’d been one of those who’d raped her. I just didn’t know where on the abuse scale he ranked, and that didn’t comfort me much.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down before returning to Brianna. We’d drawn some attention, but once the man left most people went back to whatever they were doing. There wasn’t going to be a show today, even though I wouldn’t have minded putting my fist against his face.

Brianna was visibly shaking by the time I got back to her side. Lily was holding her, but it wasn’t doing much. I quickly took her into my arms, letting her touch calm me as well. “Shh. He’s gone.”

Her tiny hands dug into my sides as she clung to me. Logan and Lily stood by in silence and watched as I comforted her. Thankfully, we were off to one side and out of the way of traffic. Although we got some looks, no one bothered us.

It took a long time for her to calm down, although I was glad she didn’t go catatonic on me as she had the last time. Finally, I heard her voice float up from where she’d buried her face in my chest. “He’s really gone?”

“Yes,” I whispered into her hair.

She hugged me tighter, and I returned the gesture. “Thank you,” she said.

“Anytime, sweetheart.”

I glanced up at Logan and Lily. He was holding her, too, and I wondered if maybe we should call off this shopping trip. It seemed that every time we turned around, another obstacle was thrown in her path. No wonder she was fearful of the outside world if just going to the mall could bring with it confrontations such as this.

Another five minutes passed before Logan suggested we get something to eat. It was a good suggestion. Brianna needed to eat something, and it would help me to assess how she was doing emotionally.

She stayed glued to my side when we walked up to one of the vendors to order. I didn’t bother to ask her what she wanted. I just ordered for her. When I needed to let go of her hand in order to carry the tray, she began to protest and Lily asked if she could carry it for us. I glanced over at Logan, who quickly gave his okay and nodded to Lily, handing over our food.

Lunch was quiet. Brianna picked at her food and never let go of my hand. It made eating challenging, but I was willing to make the sacrifice if it gave her what she needed. I thought back to our conversation earlier when she’d asked me to put her on a leash. I turned to Logan. “Do you know if there’s a pet store here?”

He looked at Lily. She knew this mall better than either of us. “Yes. It’s one of those fancy ones that sells outfits to dress up your dogs, and they have doggie treats that look like cookies you’d buy in a bakery.” I nodded, and went back to eating and making sure Brianna was doing the same.

When we were finished, Lily cleaned up the wrappers and took our trash to be disposed of. “How are you feeling?” I asked Brianna.

“Okay,” she said, but her voice didn’t hold any confidence.

“What number?”

“Three.”

I nodded. “Are you okay to continue shopping?”

“You’ll stay with me?”

“Of course.”

“Then, yes.”

When Lily returned to the table, we all stood and exited the food court to start our shopping. I was choosing our first stop, however. Lily’s shopping would have to wait. “Where is this pet store you were telling me about?”

Brianna

I stayed as close as possible to him as we walked through the mall to the pet store. Lily and Logan stayed behind me, almost boxing me in. It made me feel better... safer... than I had earlier, even though I knew Stephan was right and he wouldn’t let anyone harm me. He’d more than proven that when that man spotted me in the food court.

As soon as I saw him, I knew who he was. He was one of Ian’s friends, and he was one of the worst ones. His goal was to see how loud he could get me to scream, and it had nothing to do with sex. In fact, he was the only one of Ian’s friends not to have had sex with me. He was all about torture. The cigarette burns on my breasts were courtesy of him.

A shiver ran down my spine as we came to a stop inside the pet store. Lily had been right. There were outfits hanging up on tiny hangers that would fit dogs of all shapes and sizes. Bins of toys lined the middle section. The front counter held rows of dog biscuits that looked prettier than most cookies I’d eaten.

Stephan stood scanning the store for several seconds before strolling to the back wall covered with various collars. I knew why we were here. At least, I hoped I did.

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