Predator - A Stand Alone Suspense Romance(45)

I frown, not sure what she means. “Like what?”

When her eyes come back to mine, her chin is quivering. “Don’t be nice to me. I don’t deserve it. Be like you were when you first found me. Just be cold.”

Her eyes dart away again but I take hold of her chin, bringing her face back to me. “Look at me,” I bark and her eyes snap to mine. “What the fuck are you thinking up in that head of yours?”

Her hands clutch the harsh material of the gown and she swallows hard. “It’s all my fault,” she whispers hollowly. “You said so yourself.” I frown at this.

“What’s your fault?” I work my jaw to stay patient with her.

“Everything,” she whispers and her eyes drop to my chest. “They found me because I was careless. They beat me … they raped me because I let my guard down.” A tear slips over her cheek and for a moment I stare at it, thinking how wrong she’s is.

“No, Cara,” I say. “You might have let your guard down but it was never your fault that they beat and raped you.” I hate the words as they leave my mouth. They’re such ugly words to link to her.

She shakes her head, while her eyes are staring blankly at my chest. She’s losing it! Fuck. I wish she would scream and cry. I wish she would show more emotion and just let it all out.

“I … I brought it on myself. I didn’t fight hard enough. I didn’t … I ran away and they found me again … I killed my baby,” she gasps, every breath coming faster than the previous one.

I frame her face with both my hands, forcing her to keep still. Her hand grips my wrist and her nails dig into my skin.

“You didn’t kill your baby,” I say. My voice cracks under the weight of the sadness I’m feeling for her. “Cara …” I don’t know what to say to her. I press my forehead to hers and just hold her still. Her breaths are heavy with guilt and pain.

“Life throws these curveballs at you so you’ll grow from them, so you’ll become the best possible version of you. It sucks, but you’ll get through this, and you’ll be so much stronger.”

She lets go of my wrist and grabs my shoulder. She pulls at me and I move closer, enveloping her in my arms.

“I can’t, Damian,” she chokes on the pain that’s eating her alive. “I can’t take any more. I’m done. Fuck life. If this is what life is like, then I’d rather die.”

I press a kiss to the top of her head and just hold her tight. She’s been through hell. All I can do right now is to help keep her standing. She just needs time.

When she calms down, she pulls slightly away. “I don’t understand,” she whispers. “How did they find me again?”

The muscle in my jaw starts ticking. She can’t deal with more shit. Fuck!

Her eyes search mine and a slight frown forms between her eyes. “Tell me,” she urges more insistent this time.

I wipe a hand over my face and shake my head. This is going to kill her.

“Damian,” she whispers, her voice filled with fear of the unknown. Her mind must be conjuring up all kinds of shit.

I can’t look at her as the words come. “He knows my name. When they have to pay me, I give them my name and bank details.” I shake my head again, knowing that it was my fault this time. They found her because of me. “They must have people in law enforcement, and when the search for Weston popped up, they went to check if it was you. I was stupid. I slipped up and you paid for it.” The words settle heavy in my gut. Cara got hurt because I led them straight to her.

“You said ‘he’ knows your name? Who?” She starts to fidget with the blanket and for some reason the piece of material pisses me off. I pull it away from her. I dig in my bag for one of my shirts and I don’t think as I slip the material over her head. I pull the hospital gown down her arms and then slip one arm at a time through the sleeves. I tug the material over her chest and for a split-second I get a glimpse of her breasts.

The first time I saw her she was naked and beaten. I saw her as a target I had to get out of a shitty situation, not a woman. Not once did I think of her as a woman … until that night she walked into the kitchen wearing that damn short skirt.

My eyes dart to her face and I’m not surprised when I see her eyes are huge and her lips parted with what looks like a mixture of shock and terror. I’ve crossed the line. Shit, I shouldn’t have done that!

I quickly grab a bandage and start to wrap it around her wound. When I’m done, I tug the shirt all the way down and then keep myself busy with getting rid of the dirty bandage and wipes.

When I walk back to the bed, I know I have to say something to break the tension that’s hanging so heavy in the room.

“Who?” she says again, but this time I can feel that she’s uncomfortable with me.

“Tom.” The name falls heavy between us.

My eyes dart around the room, and then to her face. I watch as the name sinks in and then a distraught look pulls tightly at her skin. She starts to shake her head but stops and then just looks down. She wraps her arms around her in a defensive move that makes me want to hide her from the world.

I sit down on the bed and this time I keep my distance. “I’m sorry, Cara. He thinks that by giving you up he can save his own ass.” I shake my head. “He’s as good as dead. As soon as you’re dead, they’ll kill him, too. They’re just using him to clean up the last of your family.”