Page 38 of Truck Stop Titan

“Mickey wasn’t a bad seed. She wasn’t. She wouldn’t let something like that happen to her daughter. Not my sister.” Although I spoke with conviction, the truth sickened me. Mickeyhadlet something terrible happen, her addiction stronger than any motherly instinct or moral compass.

Dane set his cup at his feet, sat back, ran his hands through his hair, then laced his fingers at the back of his head. “Men like Wilson Kyle prey on single women. I suspect your sister was an easy target, given her drug habit.”

The temperature in the room seemed to spike, my tongue drying, head spinning. “I’m going to be sick.”

I rushed to the bathroom, my stomach protesting the flood of hurt, rage, and disgust.

Large, bare feet came into my periphery. The water ran in the sink and he laid a cold, wet washcloth over my neck.

I shooed the hulking beast away, ashamed of my weak constitution.

Buckup,littlecamper, used to be my father’s go-to advice whenever I had a moment of self-pity. He would allow me a few minutes to pout, then tell me to pick myself up, dust myself off, and march on.

If Mim could survive her horrors, then I could certainly handle hearing about them.Buckup,littlecamper.Bucktheeff up. I pulled my shit together, brushed my teeth, thanked Dane for telling me the truth, then I crawled back into bed where Mim was fast asleep, arms and legs spread wide.

I needed to touch her, hold her, feel her heat, smell her sweaty head, and hear that beautiful beating heart. I rolled to my side, curled my arms around the sleeping beauty, and fought tears until exhaustion pulled me under.

Dane

EXHAUSTION THREATENED TO PULLme under where I stood, but fuck if I was about to back down.

“What I don’t get”—Tito threw a right hook, landing a brutal lick to my jaw— “is what that little angel likes about you.” Smack. Smack. “You’re scary as fuck.”

“My sparkling personality, dickface.” I swung. He shifted left, avoiding my right hook.

“And you fight like an old man.” His next strike came out of nowhere.

I hit the mat, blinked the stars from my vision, contemplated staying down, then shook the thought away.

Moretti stood over me, bare chested and begging for more. Tito wasn’t the kind of guy you conceded to, no matter how bad you hurt.

I pushed to hands and knees, ignoring the catch in my hip, then struggled to my feet.

If Moretti noticed my discomfort, he didn’t let on, but instead, he backed away, bouncing foot to foot, waiting for my next move. I’d never seen the guy fight, but I’d watched what he could do to a man, witnessed the depravity. He was a survivor, like me. Not trained, but honed. Street. To the bone.

When he’d asked if I wanted to join him in the gym for a spar, I figured we’d pussyfoot around each other for an hour, release some pent-up frustrations, work up a good lather.

Shoulda known better.

The guy came at me, no-holds-barred, and out of sheer survival instinct, I blocked, then stuck. Once. Twice.

He countered. Kidneys. Ribs.

Yeah. Moretti was rabid, maniacal in his approach, but I was a machine, a God damn tank. Get me rolling, I wouldn’t stop until the ground was leveled. And I was ready to roll because fuck, I hurt everywhere.

I struck, catching his jaw.

He kissed the mat and bounced right back to his feet. “Now we’re talking.” The fucker smiled. “Haven’t had a real fight in ages.”

And so went the back and forth. We ended the verbal taunts and dove straight into beating the shit out of each other.

Bloody, bruised, we continued, neither of us backing down. God. Damn. I fucking loved the adrenaline rush.

“Boys!” a husky voice shouted, drawing my attention to the curvy woman in the doorway.

The distraction was enough for Moretti to land a final blow. Somehow, I managed to stay upright, although on my knees.

Tito cracked a smile. Bent to my level. “Thanks, bro. I needed that.” He offered a hand to help me up. Before turning to face the woman in the doorway, he said, “Mim is lucky you stumbled into that cabin. Doesn’t matter why she’s taken to you. Doesn’t matter you’re a bastard. She feels safe with you, so make sure she keeps on feeling that way.”

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