Page 66 of Entice

“It is,” he admitted. “I may not like this, but it is a solid plan. At least this way, he won’t be with Sage or with either of us. Okay, let’s get him moved.” He lasered Crystal with his gaze. “And then you and I are going to talk.”

Crystal quivered at his tone. Well, it didn’t matter because Brady was the important one here. She could handle Jordan.

* * * *

“I should paddle your ass for the stunt you pulled,” Jordan said when they arrived at his house.

The car ride had been filled with tension. Crystal nodded, but he had to understand this was the best way. She couldn’t let Brady go home, not knowing what had happened and her own history with her family. A tremor shook her.

“I know you don’t fully agree with me, but I do know where Brady is coming from.” She wasn’t going to back down on this. It was the right thing to do.

“Really?” Jordan pulled a bottle of beer out of the fridge and waved it at her.

Crystal shook her head. “Alcohol is not the answer.” She kept her gaze on him.

The refrigerator door slammed shut, and Jordan glared at her. “You’re right; it’s not.” He held two bottles of water in his hand.

“Let’s go sit down.” Crystal waved her hand toward the living room.

“I still want to paddle your ass.”

“Maybe later.” She was handling his anger with a determination she didn’t know she had. Seconds later, it hit her. She trusted Jordan. He wouldn’t hurt her like her family had. He was a good man, and once he stopped thinking like a lawyer, he’d get it.

His brown eyes flashed with desire. Crystal sat down on the sofa, curling one leg beneath her, and she turned so she could face Jordan. He faced her when he sat down.

Crystal took a deep breath. “I’ve told you a bit about my family.” Jordan nodded. “I understand what Brady is going through because I’ve been through it myself.” Well, at least she got the words out. Her stomach was churning, but it had to be said. She wanted Jordan to understand why she’d done what she did.

“What do you mean?” He frowned.

“I mean, when I was younger, my father beat the crap out of us kids for not doing what they wanted us to.” She hadn’t mentioned the beatings to him before. Now was the time to come clean and put her fears to rest.

“They fucking abused you.” Jordan’s voice grew hard; his body tensed.

“Yes.” She wasn’t going to sugar coat it anymore. Seeing Brady and what happened to him today had opened the floodgates. “It’s one of the reasons I left at eighteen.”

“What about your brothers and sisters?” Jordan shifted toward her.

“They seemed not to care.” She shook her head. “Maybe they did. I don’t know. I learned to hide who I was and how I felt.” A quake shook her body.

“Baby.” Jordan took her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I wasn’t ready, but seeing Brady and his determination, I knew I wouldn’t hide it from you anymore.” She paused for a breath. “I was taught to submit to their ideals. To adhere to a strict belief system I never could understand. But because of it, I’ve been afraid of my sexuality since I was a teenager. If they thought I was having impure thoughts, they’d throw me in the sin closet. I was taught sex was dirty and nogood girlwould want to have sex.” Everything from her past had come to the forefront. Time to exorcise some personal demons.

“Pure rubbish.”

She gave him a small smile. “But I didn’t learn that for a long time. In fact, it still affects me.”

“And the boyfriends you had?”

“I froze up on them. The old tapes played through my head.” She pulled her hand from his and stood up. She couldn’t sit still and tell this.

“But you didn’t freeze up with me.”

“No.” She tilted her head as she looked at him. “You got under my skin from the first time we met.”

“I could say the same about you.”

“Anyway, today when I saw Brady, I also saw me.” She took a deep breath. “I was fifteen, and a boy at school kissed me on the cheek. It was so sweet, so pure.”

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