Page 130 of Prey for You

“I’ll show you. I told you, Bridget. I can prove it.”

I looked at him, my insides shaking and quivering and heating up and freezing all at once. I didn’t want to listen to anything Jeremy thought about Sam. But if he was right…?

Then the words of that shrink swam back into my head and I felt sick.

“…we also see what is commonly termed, “Trauma bonding… it is observed when the victim comes to believe that only the perpetrator truly understands them… In the victim’s mind, they share intimate secrets that would turn others against them, so they protect each other. At it’s core, it’s a manipulative tactic, exploiting the victim’s need to tell themselves that they’re safe. But you can see how it would easily be twisted in a mind that is already injured.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated because I thought I might throw up again.

When I could breathe without feeling my stomach was going to revolt, I swallowed hard.

I need to know.

“Okay,” I whispered. I looked at Gerald whose expression was worried and a little dark. Then I turned back to Jeremy and nodded. “Show me.”

42. Take it Like a Good Girl

~ SAM ~

She didn’t come back. Three hours of testimony and she didn’t fucking come back.

I got it. I knew they were painting her as a victim, and me as a psycho, and it was killing her. The first time we’d ever bonded it was over the judgment of others. I got it. I did. But I fucking needed her.

I reminded myself that it could have been something else. I wouldn’t have put it past that Jeremy fucker to create a diversion to get her away and unsettle me just when things were going bad.

Whatever. I couldn’t change it. But as the Judge called it for the day, and I stood up with my lawyers, I couldn’t help but rush into the hallway in case she was out there.

Of course, she wasn’t.

I stopped outside the doors and against the wall because more and more media were picking up the story, and I feared after today’s testimony—both mineandthe Psychologist’s—we were destined to be the focus of online speculation until something more salacious popped up.

Please, God. Don’t let this turn into a circus. I don’t think I’ve got enough left in the tank for that. And Iknowshe doesn’t.

When my lawyers caught up, they both stood between me and the rest of the hall.

“We told you, Sam. You’ve gotta let us cover you at times like this. This is going to get more intense before it gets easier. So let us help you,” Stephen said, unsmiling. It had been a hellish day for all of us.

“The way you can help me is by finding out what happened to Bridget,” I muttered. “They took her out and didn’t bring her back.”

Both my guys shook their heads. “I know she’s your wife, Sam. But right now, you need to worry aboutyourselfand what’s happening inyourworld—”

“I can fill you in.”

I almost fell over when I looked over my lawyer’s shoulder to see Jeremy standing there, his jacket thrown over one arm and his sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms that saw the gym regularly.

As soon as my lawyers saw him, they both turned and backed up to cover me. “No.”

“Absolutely not, Special Agent Haines. You know the rules.”

“He is the husband of our witness and legally I have to inform him that she had a… medical event today.”

My blood ran cold. I shoved forward, pushing Stephen out of my way. “What happened? Is it her heart?”

She’d been doing so well lately, even with the stress. I thought the meds they put her on after the problems she had last year were working. But today had been hell on me, I couldn’t imagine what it might have done to her.

Jeremy’s eyes slid from my lawyer to me and hooded. “She has asked me to fill you in. Privately,” he said, eyeing my lawyers.

“No,” Stephen said again. “This goes against all—”

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