Page 33 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Stop!"

"And I think I fell in love with you over a year ago when I was listening to you practice the lines of a play. A play you never even tried out for. Because you were too scared to let anyone see you."

It was like I was truly seeing him for the first time. Maybe someone else would have been flattered by the attention of a young, undercover cop. But I wasn't. All I could think about were the times I screamed when I thought no one was listening. Couldn't he have heard that from the bug in the living room? Why could no one ever hear me when I was in pain?

He leaned forward and wiped my tears away.

I tilted my face away from him. "You could have saved me from the hell I was living in. And you chose not to." My throat felt dry. I felt like I was going to be sick. "During the blizzard at the end of 2016, did you hear me scream?"

He shook his head. "I'm not even sure I was on surveillance yet."

"Bullshit, it was less than two years ago."

"When I was first put on surveillance, you weren't at the house, Summer. It was that winter but it was definitely after the blizzard. You didn't show up until over a week after I started."

"Because I was sitting in some dingy apartment with a nurse decked out on heroin, recovering from undocumented surgery."

"Summer..."

"He stabbed me." I was choking on my tears. He killed my baby.

"I didn't know." He put his hand on my knee.

I swallowed hard. I felt the fire from his touch. It was as if I was back in Don's grip. I couldn't breathe. He took the last ounce of me. He killed me too.

"You have to believe me, Summer. I didn't know anything about the abuse. I swear to God. I'm sorry..."

"Get off of me, Eli."

He kept his hand on my knee. "I am so, so sorry."

"Get off of me!"

"If I had known..."

"She asked you not to touch her," a voice rumbled.

Eli spun around, giving me a view of the vigilante. It was probably right around 8 o'clock when he had wanted me to bring Eli to the Corner Diner, to do who knew what. And here he was, saving me once again.

"It's my job to protect her," Eli said.

"No." The vigilante cocked his head to the side and stared at me. "She doesn't want your protection." He almost asked it as if it was a question.

Was he asking me permission to save me because I had acted insane earlier today? Because I pushed him away like I push everyone away? "Please," I mouthed silently.

The vigilante took a step toward me.

Eli put his hands out. "Don't get any closer to her. I'm not going to let some lunatic..." his voice faded out as he grabbed the side of his neck. He teetered to the side and coughed.

In a split second, V was crouching down in front of me.

"You're okay, now," he said as he untied my wrists and ankles. "I've got you." He lifted me into his arms.

It was the same thing he had said when he had lifted me into his arms the last time. I had been drugged before and had fallen asleep against his chest. This time, I just didn't have the energy to move. All the fight in me seemed to be gone. The electricity had evaporated. I just wanted to cling to the one person who always seemed to just show up when I needed him.

I heard a thud and knew it was Eli's body falling into the grass. The vigilante must have used whatever kind of dart he had used against my assailant the first time he had saved me.

Eli claimed he hadn't known about the abuse. I thought about how loudly I screamed when I had the energy to fight Don off. I thought about how Don would cover my mouth with his hand, stifling my voice. In that second that I could be heard, couldn't my screams have reached the living room? I closed my eyes, remembering the feeling of not being able to breathe. Eli had been outside Don's house that whole time. But apparently I hadn't been worth helping. If that was love, I was right to not want it. Love was as evil as hate. I could have died and Eli would have let it happen. He put his career ahead of a life. What kind of person did that? He could take a thousand years trying to explain it to me, but I'd never understand. He was just as bad as Don.

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