Page 70 of Karma
Liza’s mouth opened in surprise. “Dare!”
“I need to talk to you.”
More like he just needed her, he thought as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the pool house. He slammed the door shut behind them.
He glanced at Liza, who stared at him, eyes wide and uncertain. Her lips were lightly glossed, her body glistening from the heat, and thanks to the damned air, her nipples puckered through the bikini’s top.
He stepped toward her. It had been too long since he’d last seen her, and he missed her. Needed to know the distance hadn’t changed anything between them, hadn’t given her time to shore up those damn defenses of hers.
He raised his hand in the air, wanting to cup her face and bring his lips down on hers, but to his shock, she flinched.
He immediately dropped his hand in confusion. “Liza?” he asked softly, having regained complete control. “You know I wouldn’t hurt you. I just wanted to touch you.”
She blinked and started to shake. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I reacted like that. It’s just that you looked so angry, and then you dragged me in here like a caveman, and I was surprised, but I wasn’t scared.”
He remained stock-still, not wanting to move a muscle until she finished. This woman had gone toe-to-toe with him ever since he’d first met her at the police station, and he needed to know what the hell had set her off so badly. Yeah, he hadn’t been himself, but she had to know he’d never lay a hand on her in real anger.
“I was actually kind of turned on,” she admitted, and her cheeks flushed. “But then you slammed the door, and I turned around, and you had your hand raised, and suddenly I wasn’t here…”
“Where were you?” He swallowed over the nausea rising in his throat, certainthiswas tied to why she felt she owed her brother so much.Because he’s the one who was there when…“Where were you?” he asked again. “And this time, I’m not letting you get away with not telling me.”
She walked over to the oversized sofa, which happened to face a massively oversized television screen, and sat down.
He wondered if she planned on finally telling him. He watched her internal struggle and saw in her face when she finally gave in and decided to trust him.
“It was the beginning of my sophomore year of college. For my first year, I pretty much flew under the radar, but guys started to notice me the following one.”
“They’d be blind not to,” he said.
She shook her head and shot him an embarrassed smile. “Anyway, Tim was a senior, and it was beyond flattering that he’d focused on me. I was too naïve to realize that focus would later come back to haunt me.”
“What happened?” He eased himself beside her on the sofa, letting his legs touch hers but not pressuring her.
As a cop, Dare knew the signs of abused women, and by now, he also knew Liza well enough to know she hadn’t been permanently scarred by whatever had occurred. She’d gotten past it on most levels. He’d guess the stress of three traumas in almost as many days had built up her anxiety levels. And he never wanted to see that look on her face aimed his way again. He still hadn’t gotten over the notion that for a split second, even her subconscious believed he’d been about to hit her. Jesus.
He placed his hand over hers.
“At first, Tim’s possessive behavior was kind of endearing, at least to someone like me who’d never had anyone to look out for her. But things quickly changed. His behavior was classic, really. He was jealous of my friends, men or women, and controlling over the time I spent away from him. And the longer we were together, the worse it got. Honestly, I was always so used to being on my own that he was strangling me by just existing.”
Dare wasn’t surprised in the least. The woman he knew did and said whatever she wanted.
“One weekend, I went home from school, and he insisted on coming with me. After five minutes with him in my space at home, I knew I had to end it. I was planning to wait until we got back to school, but something happened. I can’t even remember the trigger.” She shook her head. “I do remember we were alone in the house and had an argument. I told him it was over. We argued some more, and he said I was his. I walked to the front door and opened it. I told him to get out.”
Dare ran his thumb over her hand, encouraging her to continue while his silence told her to take her time.
“He slammed the door hard, turned around, and slapped me.” She blinked as if still stunned.
Dare clenched his jaw tight, wishing he could wrap his hands around the bastard’s neck.
“Hey.” He waited until she turned to face him. “I may get my inner caveman on, but I will never touch you in anger. Ever.”
She smiled. “Believe it or not, I know that. It’s just that I wasn’t here anymore for a split second, from the door slam to the lift of your hand. You know?”
He managed a nod. “You’ve had a lot of stress this past week. I’m sure that didn’t help. So what happened next? How did your brother save you?” he asked, wanting the story over and done with.
She tipped her head to the side. “How did you know about Brian?”
“I put together the clues. You said Brian would never hurt you drunk or sober because he was therewhen…This had to be the when.”