Page 54 of Lesson In Honesty

“Who’s Rory?” Mack asked.

“I am, it’s my real name. Everyone calls me Grit, but when she says Rory, I know she’s done for the night.”

“Okay then. Is there a secret handshake or all hands in the middle deal?”

Liam snorted, imaging finishing the planning stage of the night from hell with a locker room sign-off. “None of us are teenagers, Mack.”

“Speak for yourself,” he shot back with a grin and made for the door. Two steps later, he stopped and glanced back. “Um… where’s the Zoo?”

After giving him directions and sending him on his way, Liam shook his head. He really did like that guy. Everything about him was a calm, soothing balm on open wounds Liam didn’t realize were still festering from Wyatt.

“Seems a dependable kind of guy,” Grit commented. “Are you sure he can handle whatever happens tonight?”

That remained to be seen. “We only met yesterday, so I can’t guarantee it. He spent all day with Sierra in the Nursery, so he’s obviously got patience, and he doesn’t appear to get riled easily. I think if we want a calming influence, he’s our best shot.”

“I’ll take all the calm we can get. Am I making a huge fucking mistake, Liam?”

Regardless of what anyone thought about Doms, they were only human at the core. They had their doubts and insecurities as much as anyone, especially when it came down to the wellbeing of their subs. For Doms who found themselves with troubled, reactive submissives, those negativities doubled because the stakes were so much higher.

They stood to lose a hell of a lot more.

Any sub’s trust was hard earned; a damaged sub’s trust was akin to finding evidence of the Loch Ness monster.

“That’s your decision to make, Grit. You know your woman better than anyone here. Only you know how far to push her, how far her trust in you goes, but if she’s agreed to do this, I’d say she’s counting on you to have your head in the game. No doubts, no fear, no fluttering.” Liam patted his tense shoulder. “Be the Dom who won her heart. Be assertive without cruelty. Be a fucking Master.”

“You’re right. I’m not disagreeing with anything you just said, but fuck, Liam, this isTabitha. The woman who was raped at ten years old, brutalized by her father and strange men when she should’ve been a kid. I understand your opinion of her—hell, even Jasper has the same outlook—but there are places inside her that aren’t half as strong as she tries to make them appear.”

This was what his friend needed, Liam thought. A chance to vent, to blow those doubts from his system without risking them coming down on Tabitha. “Go on, get all that shit out.”

Grit lowered his voice until Liam had to bend forward to hear him. “The Irish prick we killed right through those doors? He almost bought her from Dominic when she was a kid. Would have if he’d had enough cash. Her fucking father gave him a free test ride on her, and the motherfucker sodomized her.”

It struck Liam in the chest. He’d seen enough death and destruction in the Dominic days of Avalon that nothing really surprised him anymore—the dead guys littered around the club not so long ago had been an annoyance more than traumatic. “She didn’t remember him?”

“Not until he slapped her in the face with it, bringing all those buried memories to the surface. My little tiger is damn strong, Liam. She’s a goddamn pro at repressing bad shit, but he flayed her wide open with that.”

The level of swearing should’ve been excessive, but Liam understood how impotent a man could feel when the woman he loved was suffering. Sometimes fists and violence didn’t make a mark in the depth of that helplessness, but a litany of profanity purged some of it.

“He sucker punched her. Do you think she’d be less terrified if he hadn’t raised all those memories?”

“No. He wasn’t the only one who abused her, and not all those memories were repressed. If they were, she wouldn’t be half the killer she is now. They fuel her purpose, drive her to make a difference for other victims. She’d be scared of this regardless.”

Wonderful, just wonderful. Even as sarcasm rolled through his head, Liam didn’t mean it. Sure, there was trepidation in his gut, simply because he was aware of how dangerous Tabitha was just by existing. But none of this was her fault, and what came next would hurt her.

A fighter didn’t back down, and she was top of her field.

“We’ll start slow, build the scene bit by bit. If she panics, if she fights, we’ll follow your lead on how to deal with her.”Liam walked to the door leading to the bar and poked his head through; Violet was still on duty, redirecting the women who truly needed the restroom, blocking anyone from going around her.

She spotted him, inclining her head slightly in acknowledgement.

Satisfied she was holding down the fort, he closed the door and jerked his head toward the one behind Grit. “That way’s easier. Mack has a headstart, so we better catch up.”

“What do you need from the store?”

Liam grinned. “A special kind of lube.”

Chapter Seven

Sierra

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