Page 19 of Bravely Yours

My heart thumped in my chest. Was she surprised by the kiss or regretting it?

Questions flitted through her eyes as she brought her fingers up to her slightly swollen lips.

Her phone chimed from the island countertop, and for a moment, she just stared at me. Finally, she let out a breath and picked it up.

The instant she unlocked the screen, her body went stiff, and she gasped.

Stomach sinking, I stepped up behind her, and when I saw the text on the screen, it dropped straight to the floor.

You’ve always looked good in red.

Maybe I could have let her play this one off as a wrong number if she weren’t wearing a bright red sweater.

“This isn’t a wrong number.” I said over her shoulder. “Is it Drew?”

“What?” She spun around, eyes wider than before, and clasped her phone to her chest.

“Tell me, Sarah.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

Shoulders slumping, she turned and shuffled intothe living room. The moment she sank onto the sofa, I knew I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.

As Sarah recounted the story of how he’d beaten her when she was four months pregnant, landing him an eighteen-month incarceration, my blood pressure skyrocketed. Fuck.

He’d only been released a month ago, apparently for good behavior. I gritted my teeth at that last part.

“Looking back, maybe I should have called the police that night he got me pregnant instead of giving him what he wanted. But it was easier to give in to him when he got angry than it was to stand up for myself. It was the only thing that stopped him from hurting me.”

Heart cracking, I cleared my throat. “How long?” I’d probably regret asking for more details, but I needed to know. The more information I had, the better equipped I’d be to protect her.

She dropped her chin, wringing her hands in her lap. “How long were we together?”

I nodded.

“Two years. Things were okay—not great, but not bad either—until a month after we moved in together.” She pressed her lips together and inhaled a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “After that first time, when he put bruises around my neck, I learned that it was much easier to be complacent and let him do what he wanted.”

My jaw locked tighter. I’d never contemplated murder until that moment.

“After I finally left, I thought I was free.” Her voice cracked, and tears crested her lashes. “I filed a restraining order, and when I found out I was pregnant, I thought that as long as I never admitted that the baby was his, it would be fine. But he found out about my pregnancy, and when I wouldn’t tell him the truth, it made him the angriest I’d ever seen him.”

Her tears came faster then, the sight hitting me like a punch to the gut. I wrapped one arm around her and pulled her into my side. Fuck. For the first time in my adult life, I was at a loss as to what to do. Half of me wanted to sit here and hold her for as long as she needed, and the other half wanted to find Drew and throttle him.

“We should look into who’s sending the texts.” If it was Drew, we needed to take action. The guy was obviously prone to violence, and these situations almost always escalated.

She nodded against my shoulder. “I talked to my lawyer after the last text, just to be sure. All he could find out is that they are coming from a disposable cell.” She lifted her head to look at me, her eyes still shimmering with tears. “He’s trying to dig deeper, but without proof that it’s Drew, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I know someone at the police department. I can ask him to look into it too.” I didn’t mention the conversation Kyle and I had a few days ago. If she got upset about the overstep, I’d take the blame. Sarah didn’t have many friends, and Tina seemed to be the closest. There was no way I’d mess that up for her.

She shook her head. “You don’t have to?—”

I took her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. “Sarah, please stop telling me I don’t have to. I know that. But Iwantto. I want to make sure you and Nora are safe. And happy. Iwantto be here.” I swallowed hard as her eyes continued to widen with my words. “Let me do this, please.”

Maybe she didn’t want me here as much as I wanted to be here. But as she searched my face, she nodded.

Hit with a wave of relief, I pressed my lips to her forehead.

Chapter Fourteen

SARAH

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