Page 65 of Erik's Redemption
Every word brought the brief nightmare back to life. Erik was tense beside her, and she could just about feel his anger expanding as she told the story.
The officer looked up from his notes. “Did he say anything?”
She shook her head, not trusting her voice with the lie.
“Do you have any enemies, Ms. Jacobs? Anyone who’d want to hurt you?”
Her skin chilled. She shouldn’t. No one should know about what she’d done to Clarence. Not a single living soul. But apparently someone did…not that she’d be sharing that with the police. “No.”
The officer closed his notepad. “In that case, it sounds like it was a narrow escape. Possibly a robbery gone wrong. He may have panicked when the alarm kept going off. We’ll dust for prints, but if he’s not in the system, we likely won’t be able to identify him. You’re lucky someone was walking past and heard your scream.”
Lucky? That was the last thing she felt.
Before leaving, Erik spoke to Jim. She watched the exchange closely. She couldn’t hear what either man was saying, but itseemed tense. Both men were so big and muscular, they looked like they were carved from granite.
When Erik returned to her, he cupped her cheek. “I’ll drive you home and we’ll come back for your car later. Ready to go?”
She nodded, all her energy suddenly gone. He led her to his car before sliding behind the wheel.
She cleared her throat, the question she’d been wanting to ask blurting out. “How long have you had him on me?”
“Since I read the note in your office.”
Her brows rose. That was over a month ago. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I guess a part of me thought you might refuse. We weren’t in the best place, and I needed you safe.”
On any other day, she’d probably be angry about that. He should have told her. But right now, she was too exhausted by everything that had happened. And a part of her knew he was right, she would have argued about it, and without his foresight, things would have been a lot worse today. Hell, she could be dead. A shudder rolled down her spine.
Erik reached out and slipped his fingers through hers. “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”
She sighed and leaned back. “It’s okay.”
The rest of the trip was silent, though she could almost hear Erik’s thoughts. Did he know she hadn’t told the whole truth to the police?
When he pulled into the garage, she’d just slipped off her seat belt when he asked, “What else happened today?”
She should have expected that. Erik knew her better than anyone else. He’d probably heard everything she hadn’t said.
She wet her lips. “There’s something I haven’t told you. A part of my past that I’ve never told anyone but Nico.”
There was a small flex of the muscles in his forearm. “What is it, Angel?”
“I told you that when I was sixteen, I did something…something that Nico saved me from.” The panic tried to swamp her, the memory of exactly what she’d done stealing her breath.
Erik’s hand came over hers. It went a long way toward calming her. “Tell me.”
“Remember the story I told you about one of my foster fathers attacking me in bed? He cut my bra off and left that scar in the center of my chest when he tried to…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
She didn’t need to. Raw anger darkened Erik’s feature. “I remember.”
“The bracelet fell off my wrist during the attack. I didn’t realize until it was too late and I’d already left.” Her gaze shifted to her bracelet, running her finger over the jewelry that used to be her mother’s. “A week later, I went back to get it.”
His fingers tightened around her forearm. “But the asshole who attacked you was in jail, right?”
Emotion clogged her throat. “I thought he was.” God, she’d been counting on him being in jail. “But he wasn’t. He’d gotten out on bail, and he found me in my old room.”
“Tell me he didn’t hurt you, Angel. Tell me the man isn’t out there somewhere, because if he is, Ineedto kill him.”
