Page 31 of Savage Promises

I hold up my hand. “I’m not accepting any delays. Especially not from you.” Next, I’m invading her space, circling her like a drill sergeant. “Neve has a voice, does she not? If she wants a delay, have her ask your father for one.”

Lennox goes white as a sheet.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, reaching for her.

“My father is consumed with worry about Garrett,” she whispers and looks up at me through her dark lashes. “I worry he’ll hurt Neve.”

“Hurt her how?” I ask but then cover my mouth. “Has your father ever...laid a hand on you, Lennox?”

Her eyes slip closed. “None of your business.”

“Wrong. If my future wife will be in the presence of a man who would strike his daughter, I need to makearrangements for her safety. And send Connor to let your father know—”

“He never hit Neve. Just...me,” she blurts, a deep blush coloring her cheeks.

“Why?” I go rigid. “When?”

She hesitates, her lower lip trembling. “The night of my birthday.”

The room tilts, narrowing down to the way Lennox’s fingers dig into the fabric of her dress like she’s trying to hold herself together.

“Youreighteenthbirthday,” I clarify, my voice like gravel. “The night you were withme?Whathappened?”

Lennox shakes her head violently. “Forget it, Shane. It doesn’t—”

“Tell me.”My biting voice cuts through the space between us.

Lennox swallows hard, her breathing shallow and uneven. “When I got home, I smelled like your cologne. I should have taken a shower. I didn’t. I went to bed thinking of that kiss and fell asleep. When I woke up, my father’s hands were around my throat and...”

Everything inside me snaps.

My rage is instant, molten, an inferno ready to blow. My fingers twitch with the need to break something and I might put my fist through a wall. I want to strangle the man who raised a hand to Lennox. All because she had beenwith me.

I move before I can think, gripping Lennox’s chin gently but firmly, forcing her to look at me. Her pupils blow wide, her lips parting in carnal invitation. She’s bracing for my reaction, waiting for me to explode.

But I won’t.

I can’t.

Not at her. Never at her.

“Lennox.” Her name is raw on my tongue. “Tell meexactly what he did.”

She closes her eyes. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“The hell it doesn’t.” My chest heaves, rage pushing against my ribs. “You think I’d hear that and do nothing?”

A tear skates down her cheek and something inside me fractures. I realize I’m furious because she’s the woman I care about. Going after Richard Donnelly for something he did six years ago to a woman who I’mnotmarrying will make me look out of control.

Controlis my suit of armor.

I drag her gaze back to mine. My voice drops, low and lethal. “If anyone ever lays a hand on you again, they won’t have that hand anymore.”

I hug her because I want to fix how broken she looks. She sinks into my embrace, and the way she feels in my arms, her body molded to me, I’m a goner.

A throat clearing behind me pops open my eyes. I gently release Lennox and turn around. My mother’s imposing but flawless presence in the foyer makes even Lennox stiffen.

She collects herself. “Mrs. Quinlan. Hello. I’m just here to help with the plans.”

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