Page 91 of Love Me Dangerous

“Anything else you need to know? Favorite color, favorite book, my first car?”

Gently, I trace over the knotted line on his shoulder blade. “Will you tell me about this?”

He releases a slow breath.

I stroke his lower back as the seconds tick by. “Someone hurt you.”

I think maybe he’s not going to answer when he says, “My stepdad. There was a little accident involving a set of stairs.”

A shock wave of grief jolts through me. I lean back and meet his troubled gaze.

“I’m sorry, Zach. That’s terrible.”

He huffs another sigh. “That was the last time he got anywhere near me or my brother.”

Is this why he had to leave Alaska? To escape his stepdad? How does this fit in with protecting his little brother? Several thoughts come together at once, but I will myself to be patient. He’s just revealed something so personal to me. He didn’t have to. He could have kept it vague or even made up a funny story.

“I caught him trying to get close to William. I called him on it. He thought he could scare me off.” He shakes his head, the planes of his face hard with emotion.

I stroke down his arms and take his hands. What he said about his tattoo last night echoes through my mind. Is this the darkness he’s made peace with? “That sounds awful.”

His deep blue eyes find mine. “It’s what made it no longer safe for me in Alaska.”

“What about your mom?” I weave my fingers with his.

“She struggled to cope after my dad died. I think Kristov preyed on her. Got her hooked on something. Things got bad really fast.”

The image he’s painting just gets uglier, more terrifying. “Will things change so it’s safe for you to go back someday? Reunite with your brother?”

He nods, then leans in so our foreheads touch. “That’s the idea, yeah.”

Reality slides into focus, creating a heartbreaking picture.

“Let’s go back to bed,” he whispers.

Though my heart is cracking to pieces inside my chest, I stuff my feelings down because I won’t spoil what time we have left.

When it’s safe again for him, he’ll return to Alaska. Of course, he will.

I wish knowing why made it less painful.

Chapter Twenty-Two

ZACH

“That girlwho overdosed thought it was valium,” Stu says when I check in. “But the lab results show fentanyl and some other chemicals I can’t even pronounce.”

“Shit.” I run a hand through my hair. “Who’d she get it from?”

“Some guy at the party. She couldn’t remember his name.”

If we could only trace this guy. He could lead us to his supplier.

“Sheriff’s working it,” Stu says as if reading my mind. “This confirms that it’s pills. That fits with how they’re transported and relayed through the mountains. Pills are lighter, more easily concealed.”

“Think they’re cooking it somewhere?”

“I don’t know.”

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