Page 34 of Dusty and Dented
Dagger clenched his jaw and tightened the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer against him.He wanted to know who the asshole was, if nothing else he’d like to teach him a few lessons on how to treat women.In reality, he wanted to end him for hurting this beautiful, loving woman in his arms.Not that he would admit it, but he thought he might be starting to fall for her.It was too soon to tell her that, though.She was dealing with enough, and he didn’t mean just dealing with this fuckwad who seemed to think she belonged to him.
“How long?”Bear’s deep voice asked, making Dagger look up and meet his gaze.The rage he saw there let him know that Dagger wasn’t the only one affected by what the man had done to her.
“Almost two years.”Andy tilted her head up.Not to look at any of the men around the table but all the way back so she looked up toward the ceiling.This position did nothing to hide the tears that streamed down her face unchecked, but it made Dagger feel a little better, if only because she wasn’t looking at the table and hiding.“I’m not sure I would have ever gotten away if it hadn’t been for Travis.”
“What was his name?”Dagger had to know.
“Tony.Tony Montiglio.”
Dagger could tell that reliving everything she’d been through was hard, and he didn’t want to make her hurt any more than they had to.He met Hawkeye’s gaze and hoped the other man would ask what he needed to know in order to find out as much about this Montiglio as he could.At least enough so they could make him leave Andy alone.Permanently.
“Do you know this Montiglio’s birthday?”Hawkeye asked.“His address?Where he works?The more details you can give me, the easier it will be for me to be sure I have the right person when I go digging.”
Andy answered all of Hawkeye’s questions.Somewhere in the talk, while she’d been answering his questions, she had leaned into Dagger, her body pliant and warm against his.After a bit, she tilted her neck so her head rested on his shoulder.He looked down at her curled into his side and wished it was just the two of them, up in his room, without people surrounding them or questioning her.Still, he knew it had to happen, but he was glad she was accepting that he was there for her, that she wasn’t alone.He just wished he had some idea of what else she needed, what else she wanted from him.He knew what he’d like for her, but he’d never tell her.Well, maybe not never, but not now.He might be an asshole, but he wasn’t a totally unfeeling, selfish ass.
“Anything else you can think of?Anything at all?You never know what bit of information will be the key to unlock everything.”
“I can’t think of anything,” she said while rocking her head back and forth on his shoulder as if shaking her head, but too tired to hold her head up on her own.
“Okay.I’ll take this and get started.”Hawkeye stood, turned his chair back around the way it went and pushed it under the table before walking away.
“What about you?What questions do you have for me?”Andy turned her attention to Bear.
“How much trouble do you think this Montiglio is going to be for the Angels?”
Andy was quiet for several moments.Long enough that Dagger started to wonder if she was going to answer or if she’d forgotten the question.
“I don’t know.”She sighed.“I’d like to be able to give you a more specific answer, but I can’t.He’s obsessed with what he thinks is his.He will likely be wanting me back, not because he actually cares about me or what happens to me, but because he sees me as his.He thinks I belong to him for whatever twisted reason he has in his head.And my leaving, my walking away, or disappearing while he was at work, will make him look bad.If he can’t keep track of his woman, how will anyone trust him to keep track of their dealings?”
“Will he bring back-up?”
She lifted her head from Dagger’s shoulder, then turned to look at him.She didn’t say anything but looked at him for a moment before turning back to Bear.
“I wish I could say for sure, but I just don’t know.He was always careful when and where he hit me.He never said anything in front of anyone that would let anyone know that I was his punching bag in private.He may not bring anyone to back him up because then someone would see the truth, but he learned how to do what he did to me somewhere, didn’t he?Someone taught him what to say and what not to say.On top of that, he’s very charismatic.He can convince people that he’s the victim here, whether it’s by telling them that I stole something he’s trying to get back or that someone here took me from him, literally, like telling them I was kidnapped and he’s just trying to make sure I’m safe.”She shook her head.“I have no idea how far he’ll go to get what he wants.”She folded her arms across her belly, as if protecting herself.Her body stiffened as she spoke, but she didn’t move away from him.
“Do you think he would bring in the police?Do you think he would try to use the law against us?”Bear asked.Dagger was glad he wasn’t an enforcer.He liked being the one at Andy’s back instead of the one asking questions.Questions he had no doubt weren’t easy to answer.
“I don’t.Not because he doesn’t have the influence, but now that he’s hired someone to take me back to him, he’s convinced that’s all it will take, at least for now.Once he learns of their failure, I’m about ninety-five percent sure he still won’t because they might learn what he’s done and how would he talk his way out of that?”
“Ninety five percent?”
“I’d like to say I’m sure, but I can’t.It had been long enough that I thought I was safe here.I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about Tony anymore.If I was wrong about that, what else have I been wrong about?”There was sadness in her voice, as if she didn’t know if she could trust herself anymore.It made Dagger’s heart ache to hear that defeated tone.
Bear asked a few more questions, then nodded, thanked Andy, and got up and left.Dagger briefly wondered where he was going and what he would do with the information but dismissed the thought and turned his attention back to Andy.
“Want more to eat?Maybe another drink?”
She let her head fall back against his shoulder as she was quiet for the span of several seconds.
“Can I get another drink and take it back upstairs with us?”she asked.
“Sure.Want to meet me up there?”He didn’t try to watch her face—she was too close and it would only make them both uncomfortable.
“Sounds good.Want to turn on the next movie?”
“We can if you want, but I didn’t finish the last one.”
“Did you turn it off or did it finish playing while I slept?”
