Page 42 of Sheltering Lawson
She made a soft sound in her throat, her eyes welling with tears. She didn’t respond right away, then said, her voice barely audible, devoid of any emotion. “He’s the DA for Atlanta and my father-in-law is a district court judge.”
I jerked at that news. “What about friends?” She lifted her shoulder in a small defeated shrug. “He’d already paid off some dirty cops to harass my good friend. I didn’t want to get anyone else involved and have him do something even worse to them.”
Her face ashen and her hands visibly trembling, she rested her hands in her lap, not a trace of animation in her. She twisted and wrung her hands. Her attempt at a smile failed. “It’s been quite a bitch, Ethan.”
I had forced myself to remain disengaged during her telling—not allowing any kind of feeling to surface. But now, as she sat there, her animation gone, the vibrancy beat right out of her, I experienced a rush of rage. She was homeless, penniless, and her privileged life in shambles. She was a total mess of a disenfranchised princess. I wanted to kill someone.
Fuck! A DA and a judge…that pissed me off these lowlifes were supposed to uphold the law and he was breaking it in private. He’d terrorized Haley, stole from her, and ran her out of her home. He definitely had to pay.
She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, and I could see tears gathering in her lashes. Her despair cut me to the quick. And something gave way inside me. I hauled her across my lap unable to watch her crumbling against the onslaught of these memories that she had most likely buried deep to keep herself going.
My heart aching, my anger boiling, I said in a strong, gruff voice, “I know this is hard and scary, but you’re not alone anymore. He can’t intimidate me, Haley, and has no jurisdiction here.”
“He has a considerable amount of money. People do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
“He can try, but the sheriff, Mike Dalton is as pure as the driven snow. Money doesn’t really mean that much to me. I have plenty to get by.” At her skeptical look, I reassured her. “I mean it. Mike is incorruptible, his wife has money.”
She huffed out a laugh, the tears thick on her lashes. Her voice caught when she whispered, “Oh, Ethan.” And then she grasped the back of my neck and dragged my head down to hers. She kissed me so hard, but so tenderly.
A rush of emotion jammed up in my chest, and I wanted to give into it, but I had to keep my perspective. And I had to do right by her. Because she needed me right now, and I had every intention to be right by her side every step of the way.
“I feel like I’m dumping this in your lap.”
Holding her gaze, I managed a lopsided smile. “Consider it in my lap, sugar.” Her eyes grew wide as if my words set off hope in her. I cuddled her to me.
“My motives are simple.”
“Your motives,” she said, the wariness back.
I grinned. “I only want you for your body and scones.”
She cuffed me, laughing. After that we finished the coffee and unabashedly polished off the scones. Transferring my clothes to the dryer, we took a shower and I used the last remaining condom with enthusiasm, taking her warm, slick, wet body like a man starving. Yeah, her problems were now mine, in my lap to stay, just like she was in my heart.
Later as we got dressed, both of us sharing private looks and satisfied smiles, I said, “Let’s go take a look at your car.”
She froze for a moment, then her expression softened. “You trust me that much?”
“Come again?”
“Knowing that I could still run, you’re choosing to fix my car?”
“Yeah, your choices are your own, babe. I don’t want you to go, and I trust you won’t, but ultimately you get to decide.”
I believed every word I said to her, but everything inside me shouted for her not to leave, but as I said, Haley was in charge. I just hoped she would trust me enough to stay and give us a chance at finding the kind of relationship that would last…forever.
Chapter 15
HALEY
“Sugar,” Brax said as he pulled yet more cake out of the oven. “You going to help us taste all this?”
“Cake? Made by you? Hell yeah,” I said, setting a load of breakfast dishes in the sink. I yawned blaming Ethan for keeping me up last night. It was still early. The kid Brax had hired to do the washing came in the back door from taking out the trash.
Last night had been so hard. Telling Ethan everything had drudged up the whole awful mess and I was still handling the fear every time I thought about what I was going to do. Ethan said the decision was up to me, but I needed a few more days to fortify my courage. My first step, I thought would be to contact my lawyer. She must have thought that Brad had done me in. The next step would be going to the bank and seeing about getting access to my funds. He might try to shut me out, but my name was still on those accounts.
Ethan had been so freaking adorable. He’d gotten in under the hood and before I knew it, I had Boone, Chase, Rory and Jake under there all looking at the engine. They all agreed that I needed an overhaul—carburetor, spark plugs, battery—and God new what else. I was pretty sure by the time they finished, greasy and content, I had gotten a new engine.
Thinking about Brad again, made me realize I had thought I’d loved him, but in reality, I was just going through the motions. At the time, I’d been naïve about what deep, true love was. After meeting Ethan, there was just no contest.
