Page 9 of Taming Bull

Why would Stocks look guilty? Unless…

“What do you know?”

He threw his hands in the air. “What do you mean?”

I pinned him in place with a glare and made my question as specific as possible. “Do you know why Bull won’t give me the time of day?”

His eyebrows rose and his gaze swept the room like he was looking for the best escape route.

“Oh my god, you do know something.” Monica hit the table. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on us. You know how important this is to Lily.”

Stocks grabbed Monica’s hand. “Baby…”

“Don’t you ‘Baby’ me. You might as well start singing, because whatever you know… we’re gonna get it out of you sooner or later.”

“It’s not that simple. You two are asking me to roll over on one of my brothers.”

The guarded hope I felt was reflected back to me in Monica’s eyes. Without saying a word, we made a pact. Stocks really did know something, and we had to play it cool and weasel the information out of him before it was lost to us forever. It was game time.

“I didn’t say ‘roll over,’ did you say ‘roll over,’ Mon?” I asked.

She shook her head, fighting back a smile and gave him the most innocent look I’d ever seen her fake. “No mention of rolling over here. Of course, I could roll over later if you’d like.” She leaned closer to him, sliding her hands over his shoulders and to the back of his neck. “I could roll over a lot, but that all depends on you. Do you want me to… roll over for you, baby?”

Stocks swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed with the effort, and I knew we had him right where we wanted him. He’d do anything for Monica. “I feel teamed up on. We should go down to the humane society and pick up a male dog, so I have one ally in this house.”

He did know something, and it was so good he was trying to change the subject. Leaning forward, I laced my hands and plopped my chin down on top of them, giving him my full attention. “What do you know?”

Glancing at Monica one last time, he replied, “It might be nuthin’.”

Monica gestured for him to continue.

“Just drunk talk among the club brothers.”

We both stared at him, waiting.

Finally, he let out a sigh. “There was a girl.”

His words hit me like a sucker punch. “Was?” I asked.

He nodded. “They were high school sweethearts, and when Bull joined the Navy she went away to college.”

When he didn’t offer more information, I was tempted to jump across the table and strangle it out of him. Instead, I took a breath and used all of my tapped-out self-control to stay cool. “And?” I asked.

“She committed suicide while he was serving.”

Monica gasped. “What? Why?”

Stocks shrugged. “They said she was raped, turned in her rapist, and nobody believed her. I don’t know what happened. Maybe he was harassing her or something.”

I had so many questions. I’d been raped by the son of one of the most powerful men in Seattle. I’d been afraid for my life, but I’d never considered taking it. There had to be more to the story than that. Bull was in the service when it happened, but didn’t she have a family or friends to reach out to? Where had her people been? If she’d reported it, why hadn’t the cops helped her? “Did she try to contact Bull?”

Stocks shook his head, frowning. “No. They said that’s what messed him up. They’d been together for years and had plans to get married when he got out of the service, but she never even told him she was attacked.”

If I ever convinced Bull to be my man, I’d tell him everything. Even the stuff he didn’t want to know. This girl had him and had left him in the dark. I couldn’t make sense of her actions. “Why didn’t she tell him?” I wondered aloud.

Stocks threw up his hands. “Your guess is better than mine.”

“Please tell me her rapist is getting ass raped in jail,” Monica said.

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