After the Storm (KGI #8)(55)

She tensed but didn’t pull from his grasp, a fact that gave him great satisfaction. But her gaze lifted, seeking information from him with that silent stare.

“Eve, we need to talk,” he said gently.

She flinched, but didn’t look away, instead facing him bravely, resignation written in the lines on her face. He hated that look. So defeated. Confiding in him wasn’t conceding defeat, and he didn’t want her to look at it as failure on her part to protect her siblings.

“I don’t know how much I can tell you,” she whispered.

He tightened his hold on her hand, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “You can tell me anything. Everything. I need to know it all so I know what we’re up against.”

Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement and she looked at him in utter bewilderment. “You said we.”

The confusion in her voice made him ache. Clearly it baffled her that he’d included himself in her problems. Well, she’d better get used to it, because he was inserting himself.

She shook her head as if to clear her senses. “You aren’t up against anything, Donovan. I am. I can’t involve you with my problems. It isn’t fair. You don’t know me. You don’t know Travis or Cammie and you don’t know what their father is capable of.”

Well, they were getting somewhere at least. With those words, she’d confirmed Cammie’s statement that it was her father who’d hurt Eve and who had likely done something to hurt those children. Something bad enough to make Eve cut and run, sacrificing everything in her bid to keep them safe. It also confirmed his suspicion that Eve, Travis and Cammie didn’t share the same father. Which left her mother as the blood tie. Unless Eve had lied about Cammie and Travis being her siblings, something he didn’t believe. He’d seen the love for them shining in her eyes. Had seen how fiercely protective of them she was.

“What did he do?” Donovan asked, trying to keep the anger from his tone. She needed gentleness and understanding. She didn’t need his rage.

This time her gaze lowered and her head bowed as she stared down into her lap. He picked up her fingers so he could curl his around hers and he pulled gently to get her attention once more.

“Eve, you can trust me.”

She stared into his eyes, hope stirring in the depths of hers. Just as quickly, she shut it down and her gaze dimmed, vanquishing the brief light that had shone just seconds before.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Donovan. You’ve been very kind. But I can’t afford to trust anyone. There’s too much at stake. All it takes is one wrong decision on my part, one wrong move, and Travis and Cammie suffer as a result.”

“And not yourself?”

She flushed, color rising rapidly up her throat and into her cheeks. “I don’t matter. They do. They’re so young. Innocent. They have their entire lives ahead of them and Travis has already sacrificed so much of his. I want them to have normal lives. I want them to be happy and secure. I just want them to be safe.”

Her voice ached with emotion. It reflected so much need and desire that it made him ache.

There was so much wrong—and right—about her statement that he had to take a few moments to figure out which part he wanted to address first.

“You matter, Eve,” he said, taking on the most important part of her declaration. “Never think you don’t. Yes, your brother and sister should have all those things you mentioned. But so should you. You’re young. You have your entire life ahead of you. Just how old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-four,” she murmured.

Donovan sighed. Not much older than Rusty, and yet in other ways, probably a hell of a lot older. While Rusty had definitely had a not-so-great childhood, those days were behind her now. She had a life and a family. She could take on the world now, because no one around her would ever let her fall. He wanted that for Eve. The knowledge and confidence that came from knowing she was safe.

“I told you a little about me. My family. What my brothers and I do. You’ve seen where and how we live. We help people like you every single day. I could regale you with the impossible, horrible situations we’ve gotten people out of, but I don’t want you to even contemplate some of those scenarios. Because if nothing else, you’re safe now. And you’re safe here.”

Her breath caught in her throat and she went so still that he could see her pulse in her neck. She stared back at him, eyes wide and so full of the hope she’d extinguished earlier that it was like taking a fist to the gut. He could tell she was waging an inner war to end all wars. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she gave him another look filled with consternation.

He should press his advantage right now and go hard at her. She was wavering and he could easily pull her in. But he didn’t want her trust that way. He wanted it because it was what she gave freely. He wasn’t sure why it mattered so much, but there it was.

“You make it sound so easy,” she murmured. “And God, I wish it were. As if telling you, as if accepting your help, would make it all be okay.”

His grip tightened around her hand, this time picking it up so he held it firmly in his grasp. A silent message to her that it would be okay. Unable to resist and praying he wasn’t making a huge mistake, he brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the softness of her palm.

Her eyes widened, the shock of the sensation registering every bit as much with her as it did with him. They both sat there, frozen in silence, staring at each other, awareness flowing like a current of electricity between them.