Page 144 of Crossed Wires: The Complete Series

“He hurt her?”

Andrew’s chest rose and fell, his breathing coming harder now. She’d never seen him out of control. Her dominant lover never lost his cool. He didn’t speak and the silence grew unbearably long.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have pried. Shouldn’t have agreed to this life swap. I didn’t know…”

What? She didn’t know what?

“It’s okay, Amy. Harper needs someone like you in her life. God knows you’re probably better for her than I am.”

She shook her head, hating the sudden desolation in his eyes. “No. You’re wrong. Your sister loves you.”

“I have no idea why. She should hate me.”

Amy frowned. “Why? Why would you say that?”

“Because I left her alone with that man. She called me and asked for help and I brushed her off.”

Amy walked to him and took his hands, led him back to the table, to his chair. “Sit down. Start at the beginning.”

He followed her command, his head bent. Amy’s heart ached for him.

“I’ve never told anyone about this. I was too…” He paused. “I was too fucking ashamed of myself.”

She returned to her own chair then clasped his hands in hers. “Tell me.”

“Remember how I said Harper went to live with her mother after our parents divorced?”

She nodded.

“Her mom remarried pretty soon after that. The guy, Ross, was a slimeball. Harper hated him almost instantly, but I figured she was at that age where she resented having a new father. After all, I’d had those same feelings when my dad married her mom.”

“That makes sense. She must’ve been what? Eleven, twelve?”

“Ten. Anyway, Harper lived with them for nearly a year. She sort of started withdrawing, getting quieter, more sullen. Like a dumbass, I chalked it all up to early puberty.”

Amy gave him a sympathetic smile. “That’s a rational assumption.”

Andrew’s grip on her hand tightened. She sensed he was trying to draw strength from her. She was happy to give it. “I was wrong. She called me one night. I’d just turned twenty-one a few months earlier and I was enjoying the newfound privileges, getting ripped with my friends every weekend. I’d planned to do some serious club-hopping that night. Harper asked if I would come get her. If she could spend the weekend with me and Dad.”

Andrew swallowed heavily and Amy suspected this was where the story would get tougher. She gave him an encouraging smile.

“I guess you said no.”

He nodded.

“You were young with fun plans. I don’t think there’s an older brother on the planet who would have given those up willingly just so he could babysit his kid sister. Where was your dad?”

“He was out of town on a business trip. I should have gone to get her right then. I could hear in her voice she was scared. She said her mom was out for the night and she didn’t like to be alone with Ross. I told her to just go to her room and watch TV.”

He closed his eyes, but not before she caught the flash of pain there.

“I went out, hit a couple of clubs, but I couldn’t shake the idea that something was wrong. Really wrong. I ditched my friends, grabbed a cab and headed over to check on Harper. No one answered the door when I got there, but I could see Ross’ car in the driveway. Then I heard Harper call out.”

Amy tried not to cry. Her tears wouldn’t help Andrew, but his story was tearing her apart. “What did you do?”

“I kicked the door down.”

Jesus. She’d seen snatches of his incredible strength over the past few days, but she could only imagine the force he’d produced to break down a door.