Safe at Last (Slow Burn 3)

“We’ll work this out, Gracie,” he said in a low, anguished voice. “Now that I’ve finally found you I’m not letting you go. If it takes the rest of my life I’m going to make you understand.”

Understand what? The question tugged relentlessly at her lips but she pressed them together to prevent the words from spilling out.

She didn’t want to understand why he’d done the unthinkable. She just wanted him to leave and never see him again.

Was that too much to ask?

NINETEEN

ANNA-GRACE had dozed off after a sleepless night when she was awakened by noise in her room. It had been impossible for her to sleep with Zack propped in a chair in the corner. She could feel his gaze on her even when she wasn’t looking at him.

Conversing with Wade had been impossible, and so the room had remained awkwardly silent until the two men had finally drifted off to sleep. She had spent the entire night agonizing over her situation and wondering if there was a way out.

From beneath slitted eyelids she watched as Zack tiredly rubbed his face and walked out of the room. Her heartbeat accelerated and she hurriedly glanced around to find Wade, who was awake and using his laptop by her bed.

“Wade,” she called softly.

His head yanked up, and his eyes narrowed in concern. “You okay, Anna-Grace? Do you need anything?”

“I need your help,” she whispered.

His brow furrowed and he got up and walked to her bedside, sitting on the edge so that he faced her. He picked up one of her hands and held it in a comforting manner.

“You know I’ll do anything I can,” he replied.

She licked her lips, nervously glancing at the door to make sure Zack hadn’t returned and would overhear her conversation.

“I need to get out of here. I mean now, before I’m discharged. He is insisting I leave with him, that I stay with him.”

She couldn’t even say Zack’s name and choked when she referenced him.

Consternation wrinkled Wade’s features and he sighed as he gripped Anna-Grace’s hand tighter.

“You should go with him, Anna-Grace,” he said in a low voice, shocking her with his response. Her mouth fell open but before she could respond—how did she respond to that?—he continued. “You’re in danger. Until the animals who attacked you are caught, you shouldn’t be alone. Zack can protect you. It’s what he and his associates do. He has the resources necessary to ensure your safety.”

She had to force herself to suck in a breath. She’d been unconsciously holding it and had begun to get light-headed and dizzy. Wade’s features swam before her, blurring, his face stretching and yawning ghoulishly.

“Do you forget what he did?” she said in an incredulous voice. “Do you honestly think I could stand to be in the same room with him? And certainly not alone with him, staying God knows where for an indefinite period of time. Who’s to say I don’t have more to fear from him than I do the men who did this to me?”

She gestured at the bruises on her face in agitation.

“He could do anything at all to me and who would know? You’re the only person I know, the only friend I have. I could disappear forever and no one would even bother looking for me.”

Her chest was heaving with agitation and her voice had risen to the point of shrillness.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Wade said, his tone soothing.

He gripped her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles in an attempt to dispel her rising hysteria. Like that was going to happen.

She could admit that she didn’t feel threatened by Zack right now. Or at least she didn’t sense any danger from him. He’d been nothing but . . . gentle. Like the man he’d been when they were together, and that was the worst because it was like teasing her with what could never be again. But his current demeanor didn’t matter. She couldn’t afford to trust her instincts because she had never dreamed twelve years ago that he was capable of orchestrating such a horrifying crime. And yet, after what he’d done, he’d chosen a career in security? Protecting others from the very sort of people he’d coerced into doing his dirty work for him?

It was a joke. The irony was laughable. Maybe he regretted his choices. Maybe this was his way of atonement. But for Anna-Grace it was just too late. He could seek restitution and assuage his guilt by his own means. She’d be damned if she were the instrument by which he made peace with himself. Some sins were forgivable. This one was not.

“I want you to listen to me,” Wade said in a firm voice. “You know I care about you. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you, don’t you?”

She inhaled sharply, her lips quivering, dreading what he was about to say. But she nodded, agreeing that he wouldn’t hurt her, even if it was hard for her to trust anyone. It was obvious she couldn’t trust her instincts. And in no way would she ever allow herself to be that naïve sixteen-year-old girl who looked at Zack with adoration. A girl who thought he looked at her the same way. How his friends must have laughed as she cried. The truly humiliating part of it all wasn’t the fact that she’d been violated repeatedly. No, what mortified her the most was that she’d been more devastated by Zack’s betrayal and the knowledge that he didn’t return her love.

“I think you should go with Zack.”

When she would have launched an immediate protest and denial, he put his fingers to her lips to hush her.

“Let me finish,” he admonished. “I also think you should listen to him, Anna-Grace. You might be surprised to hear what he has to say. You should confront him, talk to him, tell him everything. And then listen—really listen—to all he has to say.”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at Wade in stupefaction. What on earth was going on? He had been furious when she’d confided what had happened. Wade had very nearly taken Zack apart when he’d walked in on Zack and Anna-Grace in the studio. And suddenly Wade was taking up Zack’s cause? Had the world gone crazy? Or was it some male code of honor? Men sticking up for the brotherhood?

“Wade, you know what happened,” she said. “How can you even suggest that I listen to anything he has to say? There is no excuse, no apology, no forgiveness for what he did. Do you have any idea how terrified I am to be trapped somewhere—anywhere—with him?”

She was shaking violently. Her skin felt damp and clammy and she recognized the signs of an impending anxiety attack. She could feel her heart beating frantically in her chest, could feel her chest constricting, her throat closing off her airway.