Page 223 of Cross the Line
I know what she’s doing. That she’s trying to ease the tumult of hisemotions. Even though I’m freaking out on the inside, I know she’s right. Finley’s doing the right thing.
“Tomorrow morning, I’m going to call Summer and ask if she can get Salem a suite at the hotel under a different name. She’ll be safe, and I can help her figure out her next steps without it affecting us.” Finley continues filling the silence. Every word, easing the heaviness, a syllable at a time. “This is our home, our safe space, and Salem doesn’t belong here.”
This is why Finley kept her out in the hallway until we came home. It’s why she was hesitant to bring her in. And why she was quick to settle her in the spare room out of sight.
Because of us.
Because of Eli.
Our girl was trying to protect him.
“Salem knows,” Eli states with a guttural sob that coils his body tighter around itself.
Fuck.
“She knows about Presley. About that night…”
“No. Presley would never tell her.Anyone… No…” Finley sputters; it’s the first chink that shows on her armor. Even so, she pulls her shoulders back, sitting taller.
“She said she knows,” Eli chokes through a wet cough.
Blue eyes narrow on mine as she asks him, “How?”
“I don’t know. I freaked out and… I… I didn’t ask. I just walked away.” He sounds panicked, and every cell in my being is urging me to fix this.
Pushing to my feet, I start for the open doorway while Finley scrambles after me. “JJ! Jayden!”
“What?” My bark comes when she blocks the entrance to the dressing room.
“Not now. Not like this. It’ll make everything worse.” The devastating plea in her stare is the only thing that stops me from picking her up and setting her to the side, out of my way.
“We need to know how she knows.Elineeds to know.”
“I’m aware,” she barks back between clenched teeth. “But you go out there, all guns blazing, and Salem will run. She’s scared enough as it is. Distressing her more won’t help us.”
“That girl is the least of my concerns.” Finley takes a step forward, her hands grasping mine at my sides. “Eli’s what’s important, not her.”
“We’re on the same page, Honey,” she tells me, fingers pushingthrough mine, and with a hard clench, she adds, “But you’re listening to your protective heart instead of the logic in your head.”
The thing is, my head is telling me I need to figure this out for Eli. My logic says that if I don’t, tonight will be one of many timesthe habitcomes back to haunt us. I can’t have that. I can’t allow that to happen.
“First, we make sure our man is okay. Then, we figure this out. Okay?” When I don’t give her a verbal reply, she tugs me forward, into her, while she rises up on her tiptoes. Lifting a hand to my face, she tells me, “Eli needs us more than he needs to know the how or why.”
I can’t argue with that. The same way I can’t resist her gentle pull, guiding me back to the bathroom.
CHAPTER 62
FINLEY
Everything happens for a reason.
Do I earnestly believe that?No.
A lot of things in life happen without fathomable reason. My brother raping my boyfriend is one of those abysmal events. The only comprehensible reason for it is that Presley is a sociopath.
A wife-beating piece of crap who has no regard for anything or anyone. And the longer I sit here listening to Salem tell me what happened between them, the more agonizing the scorching feeling becomes.
“He told me if I know what’s good for me, I should kill myself,” she says, focusing on the steeping tea in front of her. “If I don’t, he’s going to make me watch him drown my spawn in a hot bath. Like an unwanted kitten.”
