Page 19 of Catching His Runaway

She’s so vulnerable, and it’s the perfect reason why she’s clutching her towel as her body is curling together.

Fuck, I need to walk away. Ineedto.

My eyes are trained on another loose droplet of water on her skin, and without thinking, I reach out to swipe it away with the tip of my thumb.

Valeria inhales sharply, but she doesn’t speak. Hell, I’m not even sure she’s properly breathing. Her body is still, like she’s waiting for something terrible to happen. I haven’t exactly given her a reason to think otherwise.

Seeing how soft she looks, and how warm she feels against my fingers, doesn’t make me feel like I want to do anything bad. There is one thing on my mind, and I can’t shove it away.

“Tommy.” Her voice wavers as she mutters my name, and something tells me I’ll be hearing it again and again, haunting me like a recording playing throughout my mind. There’s no fear there, or anger for locking her up. As she tilts her head back to look at me, I watch the way she swallows like she’s nervous.

She’s got a faded line on her throat, and I blink. The haze clears as I stare at the faded scar. “Who held a blade to your throat, Valeria?”

I know a blade cut as well as the back of my hand. Hell, I have them marked all over my body.

As soon as the question leaves my lips, she jerks away from my touch, and the hesitation in her eyes burns hot enough to make it disappear completely. I’ve hit a soft spot.

“None of your business,” she hisses before using her foot to try to shove me away. I don’t budge.

There is so much about this woman I don’t understand, and it’s beginning to eat at me. I don’t like being in the dark, and not knowing how to deal with her is leaving my mind reeling.

As my hand cups the back of her throat, her fingers dig into my wrist as I take in the thin line.

I don’t like it. Despite promising to bring her pain, someone’s beaten me to it. They’ve filled her with enough fear to leave her with night terrors.

“Elijah Sutton?” Recalling his name, I feel her pulse race beneath my thumb.

She’s terrible at holding a straight face. I can’t tell if I’m jealous of the man or loathe him for making her feel this way.

“Don’t,” she starts softly, like I can see all of her secrets spilling from a small scar, like it’s an opening to see what makes up the source of her fear.

I’ve got a talent for interrogating men to get the answers I want. I know how to push and how to make them squirm.

When I invade her space like this, she is bound to squirm. However, I can’t think when she’s wearing nothing but one of my towels. Damn thing hardly covers much.

The weight of all the questions I want answers to grows heavier as I see her emotions swimming behind her dark gaze.

With her siblings, I’m not used to seeing what I see in hers.

Gritting my teeth, I jerk my head and turn away. I’m bound to find out, eventually. If I have to wait a little longer, but it is what it is.

“Get dressed,” I order, leaving her before I accidentally do something I can’t take back.

“I would have if I didn’t get locked in here to begin with!” She calls out, her words bouncing off my back as I leave my room before she considers using her body against me again if that was her plan to begin with.

At this point, I don’t even know.

8

Valeria

No news is good news, right?

I haven’t sought out my brother to figure out what is going on. Rather, I’ve been avoiding anything that deals with my past, if possible.

If Tommy had any information, I’m sure he’d be happy to be the first to let me know Elijah knows well enough where I am.

Is it too late to start looking around corners, expecting some hired hand to get me before the man attached to me gets the chance?

---