Merrick nodded. “Yeah, in that we’re agreed.” But then his gaze met Cade’s. “Don’t let this fuck us up, man.”
“Yeah,” Cade said quietly. “I hear you.”
C H A P T E R S E V E N
ELLE FLINCHED, AND A SMALL whimper emerged from her throat. Fear knotted her insides, and she strained to see her pursuer. She could feel him, could feel how powerful he was. Knew he was right there, waiting. But she couldn’t pierce the thick cover of shadows to see his face.
She ran faster, even knowing it was inevitable that he would catch her. She felt the sweat that drenched her shirt, felt the heat enveloping her. The sun.
She tripped and fell face first in the dirt, her hands sprawling out to break her fall. And when she turned, he was there, looming over her, but the sun blinded her.
As he moved, the sun’s rays caught on something clipped to his side. It was a badge. He reached for her, and she let out a scream, knowing it was her last chance to escape.
“Elle, Elle, wake up. You’re safe. It’s okay. Open your eyes, honey. You’re safe.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and confusion filled her. None of her surroundings were familiar. She had no idea where she was, and then her gaze found the owner of the voice.
A man was a mere foot away, and she was still so ensconced in the terror of her dream that she couldn’t differentiate it from reality.
She rolled away with a cry of fright, ignoring the stabbing pain through her body. She fell off the bed on the other side, and she hastily scrambled upward, trying to gain her footing so she could flee.
But the man blocked her pathway.
He didn’t make a move toward her, though. He just stood there, his expression calm, but his eyes were murderous. She shivered at the darkness in his gaze.
“Elle, take a deep breath and calm down, honey. Remember where you are. You were having a bad dream, but that’s all it was. You’re safe here. Remember last night? You’re here with me and Merrick, and we’re going to take care of you.”
She stared back at him as the previous evening came back in bits and pieces. Cade. His name was Cade. He’d helped her. He and Merrick. They’d found her in the shop she’d broken into, and instead of turning her into the police, they’d taken her to a friend for medical help and then they’d brought her home.
“Cade,” she croaked out.
“Yes, honey, that’s me. Cade. I’m not going to hurt you. I came to see if you wanted breakfast. I made pancakes, and if you don’t hurry, Merrick’s going to eat them all.”
She blinked at the lighthearted joke, and some of the shadows clinging to her mind melted away as she stared at the man standing a few feet away.
Where before he’d seemed so menacing, he now appeared gentle and kind. He was a big man. Tall, lean but very well muscled. He and Merrick were both dark-headed, but Cade had lighter brown hair where Merrick’s was nearly black. Cade’s eyes were blue, and she frowned as she tried to remember what color Merrick’s eyes were.
Brown. Dark brown. Adding to his dark appearance. He had shoulder-length black hair, chocolate-brown eyes, and he was rugged and tanned. He was broader and taller than Cade, which said a lot because Cade was no small man.
Her rescuers should by all rights scare the holy hell out of her, but they’d been nothing but kind and gentle with her, and she desperately needed someone to trust.
Her past was a scary blank sheet that made her break into a cold sweat every time she tried to look back and remember. Someone had tried to kill her. According to Dallas, she’d been raped.
The mere thought of something so horrific happening to her and not being able to remember was a blessing and a curse all wrapped into one.
That she’d been violated made her stomach clench into a ball. Panic swamped her at the image of being so helpless while a man held her down and forced himself on her.
The other part of her was relieved she couldn’t remember because she wasn’t sure she could deal with the horror of a rape on top of everything else she’d endured.
“Elle, are you all right?”
She glanced back up and realized sweat had beaded her forehead and that her breaths were coming in rapid spurts.
“Dallas said I’d been raped,” she blurted.
She recoiled in disbelief that she’d just put it out there that way, but her thoughts were a scattered mess, and that was the one thing prevalent on her mind. She’d been violated, couldn’t remember it, but she knew it had happened.
Cade’s eyes grew stormy again.
“I know, honey,” he said in a soft voice. “He told us too. I’m sorry. I’d like to catch the son of a bitch who did this to you. I’d cut off his balls and shove them down his throat.”