Page 26 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

He went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “My father was a changed man for sixteen days. I counted. Then something happened at work that set him off, and he brought two six-packs home. I guess my mom gave him some sort of look that made him mad. When he stared yelling, I ran out of the house. He was shouting at me to come back or else I’d be sorry. I kept running.”

“Where did you go?” Jessica asked.

“Town. I found some friends at the local burger place, and I hung out there until the manager kicked us out so he could close up. I thought about running away, leaving town and never looking back. I thought about it for maybe an hour. Then I went home. I was smart enough to know if I ran, he would track me down.”

Brady went to the fireplace and put his arm across the mantle. He leaned his head forward. She stood behind him and waited. Fear he was about to tell her his father had beat him that night almost made her speak up to stop him.

He continued in a faraway voice. “When I got home, the sheriff was there. Ambulance, too. He stopped me from going inside. I got there just in time to see them taking a body out on a gurney, and I knew it was my mom.”

Jessica gasped into her hand.

“They brought out a second body right after the first one, and I was so relieved. Can you imagine? For a minute, I thought my father had killed my mother, and I would be next. But he had turned the gun on himself. I didn’t have parents anymore.

Part of me hated my mom for dying. She shouldn’t have gone back with him. ”

“My mother was in a couple of abusive relationships,” Jessica said.

“I can’t say I really understand what you went through, but I got a taste.

This one guy was verbally abusive and called my mom names.

He tried to make her feel like no man would ever want her, so she would stay no matter how he treated her. ”

“But your mom didn’t stay with him, right? She left.”

Jessica nodded. “You met her. If anything, she had an over-sized ego, and no amount of name-calling would change her mind. Maybe your mom already had low self-esteem when she met your father.”

Brady sat on the couch, and she took a seat next to him. He took a throw off the back and wrapped it around her. That made her smile, how sweet and tender he was with her even when he was upset. He pulled her into his arms. She rested back against his chest.

She added, “There was this one guy who slapped my mom once. It was just the once, because she hit him with a frying pan the second he sat down. We left the house while his ears were still ringing. My mom was packing heat, so he was lucky she just used the pan.”

“Gun?” Brady’s eyes grew wide. “Your mom carried a gun? Seriously?”

“Yeah. She told me a girl could never be too careful.” Jessica paused before asking, “What happened to you after your parents died? Didn’t you say something about a man named Brady adopting you?”

“Sheriff Brady. He felt guilty for not stepping in and doing something about my father. That was why he took me in even though he didn’t like kids.”

“He knew what your dad was doing?”

Brady snorted. “Everyone in town knew. We lived in a tiny place where everyone knew everyone’s business.

My father was the local drunk, and people joked about it.

They knew he was violent. No one did anything to try to stop it.

Not our neighbors. Not the teachers at school.

Not the sheriff. Nobody. So that’s why he gave me a home after my parents were dead. ”

She couldn’t believe a whole town filled with people would turn their backs on a woman and child who obviously needed help. “I hope they all felt ashamed of themselves later. Someone should have done something.”

“Like what?” Brady held his hands up. “My mother refused to press charges, and she lied if anyone asked why she had a bruise. You can’t force someone to take your help.”

“They could have done something .”

Brady kissed her. “Thank you for caring enough to drag the truth out of me. You were right. I feel better. Now that you know, you know why we can’t be together long term.”

“I don’t know any such thing.”

“If I am put in the same situation my father was in, I could lose my temper and hurt someone.”

Jessica shook her head. “You are not that kind of man.”

He folded his arms. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Are you willing to risk your life on it?”

She nodded. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I am. I know there is no way you would ever hurt me.”

“Are you willing to risk your son’s life on that assumption?”

Axl? She pictured his sweet little face at the kitchen table when he’d spilled orange juice on Brady’s trousers. Brady had said a bunch of bad words, but he hadn’t yelled at her son. He hadn’t raised his hand to her little boy.

Brady took her hesitation in answering the wrong way. “That’s what I thought.”

He stormed out of the room, refusing to listen when she called out for him to stop. Instead of racing after him, she took a moment to put her clothes back on. By the time she was fully dressed, he was gone. He drove away without saying goodbye.

She wanted to kick herself for pushing him to talk when he wasn’t ready. If he didn’t come home, she only had herself to blame. She called his friend Deacon and asked him to call her back if he saw or heard from Brady. She was worried about him.

Then she hung up and waited.

And prayed for a good outcome.