Page 140 of Prey for You

She wriggled and twisted like a cat, and it became clear that during our hunts she’d neverfullyfought me. Never given everything she had.

She did now.

She hissed, and screamed, and bowed her back, kicked me with her heels and swore like a fuckingprisoner.

But finally, finally, I had her curled up and locked in my arms, pinned over the back of the couch, and unable to free herself no matter how she struggled.

We were both panting.

“Bridget… please. You have to listen to me—”

“I’m not listening to a word that comes out of your mouth, you fuckinglied to me!”

I went still, hating myself. That time with her over Christmas was such a blur. At first she’d seemed too fragile to hear it. Then so much time passed I was worried she’d be angry—again—because I hadn’t told her. Then the Court case…

“I’m sorry,” I breathed in her ear.

She struggled again, grunting and screeching, trying desperately to get out of my grip. I dropped my face into her crook of her neck and waited for her to tire. “Babe, I’m sorry.”

“Don’tcall me that!”

“I panicked when you disappeared, and I thought he had eyes on you and could tell me where you were. But you were right, Bridget. He was only interested in manipulating me. Toying with me. I never went back. I swear.”

“Did you two plan this whole fucking thing?” she rasped, her voice growing tight because she was fighting tears. Shit.

“No.”

“They told me you were there with him when you were in prison. I’m such an idiot—”

“No, Bridget!” I growled. She had her back to me so I couldn’t make her meet my eyes, but I pressed my face to the side of hers and forced her to listen. “I didn’t know you were his daughter when we met. He wasn’t anyone to me except a well-known prisoner… I knew who he was, Bridge. We were never friends. I wasn’t working with him. He doesn’t share my faith. He’s just a sick old man.”

“Yeah, he’s sick—and you went to see him and didn’t tell me!”

“I didn’t know where you were!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?Why didn’t you fucking tell me, Sam!”she wailed, then all the tension went out of her body as she sobbed and collapsed over the back of the couch like a deadweight.

“Bridget…” I breathed.

But she shook her head and buried her face in the pillows. “I can’t trust you. I can’t trustanyone.You’re all the fucking same.”

“No,” I said emphatically, my voice dark. “No, Bridget. I amnotlike them. I swear—”

“Then why didn’t you tell me? It wasn’t even two full days after I told you not to even ask other people questions about him!”

“Because you disappeared and I was terrified! No one else knew where you were—or if they did, they weren’t telling me.”

“I don’t care! I don’t care! You should have told me later! Why didn’t you tell me?!” She turned her head, craning, looking right at me from the corner of her eyes. “Why, Sam?”

With a curse and a prayer, I slowly let her go. Poised to catch her if she attacked me again, but she didn’t. I straightened and she found her feet and turned to face me, arms folded tightly and eyes shining with the tears trickling down her cheeks and she spat at me.

“Why?”

I sighed, because the only answer had to be the truth. “Because… because you’d already disappeared once, and I was terrified of losing you. I was terrified ofthis.”

Her eyes narrowed and her face screwed up. She snarled through her teeth.

“You should have been.”

---