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  “What are you trying to say, Garrett?” she asked, the fear of his answer creeping into her voice.

  “I’m so sorry, Devon. I was the one who answered your phone when Reid called.”

  Devon felt all the air whoosh out of her lungs at once. Garrett had been the one who had talked to Reid. That was how Reid had gotten to her so fast. She hadn’t gotten a chance to ask him, and likely, he would have lied anyway. It just didn’t make sense. Why would Garrett do that?

  “I know. I’m sorry, Dev.”

  He sounded miserable, but he knew nothing of misery compared to her.

  “I was trying to protect you. I was trying to get him to leave you alone. I never expected him to show up.”

  Maybe Garrett had been trying to protect her. Maybe he had answered to tell Reid to fuck off. Maybe he hadn’t expected Reid to show up, and if that were the case, he certainly wouldn’t have expected Reid to hit her. Maybe those things were true, but it was still inexcusable. Garrett was the only one who had known the whole story. He was the only one who knew what it meant to keep it all a secret.

  “Devon? Are you still there?” Garrett asked into the phone.

  “Yes. Just keep Hadley safe. Don’t let Reid inside. No matter what he says, don’t let him in,” Devon said, sticking to business. She didn’t know what Reid would do, and right now, that was more important than dealing with Garrett.

  “Devon—”

  “Do you not understand that he’s dangerous?” she asked gruffly into the phone. “Stop with the self-pity for one second, and tell me that you will do what I told you. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

  “I understand,” he said, her harsh words clearly sobering him up.

  Devon hung up. That was all the confirmation she needed. As long as Hadley was alright, then Devon just needed to worry about herself. She couldn’t think about Garrett right now. That anger would make her boil over. The only benefit from his words was that it shocked her system, keeping her awake long enough to reach her destination.

  THE CAB PULLED over, and she paid the bill. She didn’t feel too bad as long as she didn’t touch her face. She knew this was nothing compared to how she would feel tomorrow. Her head was pounding, and that was the worst part. She just wanted her headache to go away. She hoped it didn’t last that long.

  Devon stood before the door with a sigh. She reached her hand up to knock, but then she dropped it back down again. There wasn’t anywhere else for her to go or anywhere else she wanted to be. Still, she felt terrible. Her injuries went far beyond the physical. She hoped, with time, she could rectify everything in her life. Time was all she had to offer. She didn’t know if it would be enough.

  Reaching out for the source of courage that had pushed her to this point, Devon knocked on the door. A short while later, the door swung inward, and Brennan stood before her, shirtless. She sucked in a deep breath. He looked gorgeous. He was a bit of a wreck with tangled hair and rumpled shorts, but it worked for him. Everything seemed to work for him.

  “Devon,” he said softly, his mouth falling open at the sight of her. His eyes grew wider and wider as he took in her swollen eye and the blood that had fallen on her dress. “What happened to you?”

  He looked shocked, and she didn’t blame him.

  “Can I come in?” She looked over her shoulder. She was worried that Reid had somehow been able to find out where she was.

  She waited for Brennan to say something, but he didn’t. He just stared at her. Then, when she opened her mouth to say something else, he moved forward and pulled her into him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his arms encircled her waist, holding her tightly. He breathed her in as she tried to hold back the tears. Just being held had never felt this good.

  He pulled back and found her lips. He kissed her with a desperation that bordered on delirium. She returned his eager kisses and backed him into the apartment. She wanted this. She wanted him. He was the only thing that had kept her going through the entire ordeal with Reid. Thinking about Brennan had given her a reason to push forward and get away from Reid. She didn’t have to be under Reid’s hold any longer. She was better than that, and Brennan had been the one to show her that.

  Devon broke away long enough to shut and lock the door. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Brennan had his hands back on her immediately, pulling her in and holding her close. “You came back,” he said. “You left, and you came back.”

  He walked backward with her down the short hallway and turned into his bedroom. The whole place smelled so much like him that it made her dizzy. Or was she already dizzy? She didn’t know. All she knew was that Brennan felt right.

  “I came back,” she repeated.

  He bent down and brought their lips together again. She felt like everything that had happened since Reid had returned to her was just a fleeting moment in time. Each kiss from Brennan was healing the wounds, pushing all the hate out of her life. Being there with him was like starting fresh all over again.

  “You can’t leave again,” he said when they finally broke apart.

  “I’m not going to,” she told him.

  “I’m serious, Belle,” he said, brushing his lips against hers again. “Watching you walk out the door was like hearing that my dad had died all over again. I don’t want to let you go.”

  “I never wanted to let you go,” she said, swallowing back the tears. “But…I had to for your own safety.”

  The tears flowed freely then, and the pounding in her head intensified.

  God, it hurts so bad, she thought.

  “Shhh,” he said, pulling her into him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about my safety. I can take care of myself. I only worry about you.”

  “I didn’t want him to hurt you,” she blubbered through her tears.

  “That guy? Your ex?” He really looked at her and examined her swollen eye. “Did he do this to you?” He sounded equal parts shocked and angry.

  Well, maybe he was a bit more pissed.

  Devon nodded, but that was a bad idea. “I don’t…feel too well,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder.

  “Hey, look at me.” He softly cradled her head in his hands. “What did he do to you? Do you remember?”

  “Yeah,” she said, trying to focus on the task at hand.

  “Hey, hey, now. Just look at me. Look at me.” He stared into her eyes, looking at them under the light. “Just tell me one thing that happened.”

  “He tried to rape me,” she whispered, saying it because it was the one thing that stood out.

  Brennan hissed between his teeth as his eyes hardened. He looked murderous. She had never seen him so angry before.

  “Anything else?” he said through gritted teeth. “Did he shake you really hard? Or did you hit your head when this happened?” He pointed at her eye.

  Did she hit her head? She was having a hard time remembering what happened. She had a foggy thought about a side table. Wait…yes, she had hit a side table. Stars. She had seen a lot of stars.

  “I hit the corner of a side table,” she said, her voice slurring.

  “Okay.” He scooped her up in his arms before she could collapse. “I think you have a concussion. We should get you to a hospital.”

  “I can’t go to a hospital!” she cried hysterically. “He’ll find me!”

  “Devon, please let me take care of you.”

  “No hospitals!” she repeated.

  “You’re not exactly in a condition to argue with me.”

  Carrying her over to his bed, with one hand, he pulled the comforter back on his bed and gently placed her down. He grabbed an extra pillow and stuffed it behind her head, so she would be more comfortable for the time being.

  “Please,” she said, drawing her knees up to her chest, “I’ll let you take care of me. Just no hospitals.”

  Brennan sighed in a way that showed he was going to give in. How could he deny her anything when she was in such a state? />
  “Alright. I know a thing or two about concussions, but if it gets worse, I’m taking you to the hospital. You might need an MRI to check for brain damage. I’m not going to fuck around with head injuries just because your ex might find you. Deal?” he asked.

  “Deal.” She was able to relax now that she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you some ibuprofen and an ice pack.”

  He returned with the medicine and a large glass of water, which she took without complaint. She placed the glass on the nightstand and then leaned back into the bed. He adjusted the ice pack to the back of her head and Devon winced slightly at the tender spot. She already felt much calmer and so comfortable. She just wanted to sleep. Her eyes fluttered closed. It felt nice.

  “Hey,” he said, sinking into the bed next to her. “No sleeping just yet. I want to make sure you’re alright.”

  “No sleeping. Got it.”

  Brennan found her hand and circled his thumb against her palm. “Can you tell me what happened? It might help you stay awake.”

  She nodded slowly. She had been planning to tell him that night anyway. Now, she was here, like fate had reasoned that this was their night together. Too bad fate had taken a pretty disastrous turn.

  “Yeah. Where should I start?”

  “The beginning, I suppose. Wherever is good for you.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. “I’m here for you.”

  Devon smiled and started from the beginning, the very beginning. “When I was in high school, I was dating this guy, Mason,” she began. “I’d known him all of my life. His mom was my mom’s best friend. I think they had arranged for us to be married while we were still in the womb. I think it’s how I got my nickname, Dixie.”

  “Dixie?” he asked, unable to hold back his chuckle.

  Devon nodded. “Mason and Dixie. Mason Dixon. I’m sure you get it.”

  “How Southern, Belle,” he said, squeezing her hand lightly.

  “Exactly. My mom still calls me Dixie even though I’ve told her a million times that I hate it. Anyway, long story short, Mason and I dated through almost all of high school. I was a cheerleader, and he was the quarterback. I know, big surprise. It’s really cheesy and embarrassing.”

  “That sounds like everything in high school.”

  Devon smiled faintly. “Yeah. Well, as we grew up, we grew apart. It was only natural. We weren’t the same people anymore. I didn’t want to be a country music singer or Dixie or anything related to my parents’ life, which included him, and he just wasn’t okay with that.”

  “I could see that if you had been together all your life,” Brennan said.

  “We had this abandoned house that we used to meet up at.” Devon’s cheeks flushed. “I’m sure you can imagine what for. Anyway, I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore. He freaked out and slapped me. I started crying and swore I was going to tell everyone, but he apologized and then freaked out even more. It never happened again, but I think it was part of the reason I chose to go to Wash U,” she whispered. “When Reid hit me the first time, I just thought that he was like Mason …that he wouldn’t do it again, but he did…”

  “You made the right choice by leaving,” Brennan said, drawing her closer.

  Devon shook her head. “I’m not sure my choices were ever right. If I’d made the right choices, then I would have outted Mason. I would have outted Reid. Then, maybe all of this would have turned out differently.”

  “And maybe then, I never would have found you,” he said, softly kissing her swollen cheek.

  “I would have found you,” she whispered.

  “Good. I wouldn’t have wanted another life that didn’t include you.”

  “Me either.”

  He smiled. “Tell me the rest of the story.”

  And so she did. She told him everything she had told Garrett that night she had mistakenly decided to trust him with her secret. It hurt just as bad the second time. She hoped that the pain would dampen over time. She also hoped that she wouldn’t have to tell the story that much. She knew at least two other people who needed to know—her mom and Hadley. Maybe if she was completely honest with them, they would be able to forge a better relationship again. She knew it would take time.

  When she finished, she found that her tears had dried up, and Brennan had his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t feel like he was trying to control her. She only felt that he wanted to comfort her…be there for her in any way that he could. She turned her face up to him, and then she felt his lips land softly on hers.

  “Belle,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Yeah?” she asked.

  He said stared down at her intensely, and she found herself gripped in his gaze.

  “I think I knew you were running the first time I saw you,” he said. “Those big stormy eyes telling me you were lost with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. I just didn’t know what you were running from, but I think, all along, you were running toward me.”

  SLEEPING THROUGH THE night and much of the next morning had been a surprise to wake up to. More ibuprofen waited for her on the nightstand. She smiled and then immediately winced from the pain in her face.

  After taking the medicine, she padded into the bathroom to take a look at her face. One of her eyes was swollen shut, the other eye had a large black circle under it, and her face looked like hell. The spot on the back of her head where she had fallen and hit the side table had a huge knot.

  Devon swallowed back tears as she stared at the damage to her face. She felt even more defeated than she looked. How had she let Reid get to her again? She had left St. Louis. She had thought she was safe, and still, he had managed to break her. It was even worse this time because she had finally started feeling like herself again. Running away from him was the best thing she had ever done. It was the only reason she had retained her sanity.

  She couldn’t let this keep happening. She had to do something. She didn’t know what that was, but she had to figure it out to move on with her life.

  All she really knew was today was going to be roughhh.

  Devon walked out of the bathroom and sat down heavily on the bed. Brennan appeared in the doorway with a smile. His smile faltered when he got a good look at her face.

  “Oh, Belle,” he said, walking over and taking a seat next to her on the bed. He kissed her temple next to her swollen eye, like he intended to kiss away the pain. “It’s good to see you’re awake. I’ve been checking on you off and on to make sure you are doing alright.”

  “I can’t believe I slept for so long,” she said, leaning into him for support.

  “Injuries like that require a lot of rest. It’s good that you slept.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you mind if I take a look at you?”

  “Go ahead.” She didn’t even want to look at herself.

  Turning her face toward him, he examined her more closely than he had the night before. “Are you sure we can’t take you to a hospital to get this looked at?”

  “I never went before, and I recovered just fine,” she said, wanting nothing to do with hospitals.

  Brennan winced. “I hate that you’ve ever gone through this before, let alone all by yourself. I’m not a doctor yet. I want to take care of you, but I don’t know how serious this all is.”

  “No hospitals, Dr. Walker,” she said, poking him gently.

  He laughed at the nickname and nodded. “Alright, I got it.” Then, he stared down at the bruises on her face, and his smile slipped again.

  “Give me your best assessment,” she said, straightening.

  “I think you’ll live,” he said with a sigh. “At least, it doesn’t seem like the brain damage has affected your sense of humor.”

  Devon giggled and swatted at him playfully. He grabbed her hands before they even made contact with him and pulled her in for a kiss. She wanted to give him more, but even the kiss was hard to manage with her face so messed up.


  “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. He reached out for her hands and laced them with his. “And I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

  “What is it?” she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. What more could possibly go wrong in her life?

  “I think you should file a restraining order against Reid,” Brennan said.

  “What?” she asked, snatching her hands back. That hadn’t been what she had expected. “No. No. No. I can’t do that.”

  “Devon, I said you wouldn’t like it, but it’s a good idea. Then, if he comes near you again, you can take legal action against him. I think you’re within your rights to press charges for assault and battery after what happened last night. The least you can do is stop him from doing it again.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head and ignoring the pain. “No hospitals, no cops, no court. I should have made myself clearer.”

  “I already agreed to no hospitals. I can’t agree to your other two. You’re terrified that this guy is going to come after you for a reason. He’s dangerous. He could hurt you. I couldn’t live with that, and I can’t be with you twenty-four/seven to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” he said, scooting closer to her. “If you don’t get a restraining order, which I still say is the very least you should do, your distaste for hospitals won’t keep you from ending up in one.”

  Devon looked away from Brennan, tears pooling in her eyes again.

  “He’s applying to med schools in the fall. A record could keep him from getting accepted,” she told him. She didn’t know why it mattered so much to her, but Reid had mattered for so long. Old habits die hard.

  “You want this guy to become a doctor?” Brennan cried. He was beside himself. “Are you out of your mind? Go look in the mirror, and tell me you want him treating patients!”

  “No,” she said softly. She didn’t, but it felt wrong admitting it. “No, alright, I don’t.”

  “Belle, don’t cry.” Facing her, he kissed her softly. “I didn’t mean to yell. I just don’t think someone without a shred of compassion should be working in the most selfless job.”