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H aving Talia in his space was heaven and hell. She was everything he wanted, and yet he couldn’t have her. Not until she healed. Even then, he knew he would be bad for her. Guys who watched porn would come onto base and assume things about her, just like her idiot landlord had.
She needed his protection, but having her close would open her up to comments that were totally unacceptable. She wasn’t a toy for horny guys to use. Even if she’d gone into porn on her own volition, that wouldn’t give guys the right to cross her boundaries. He didn’t want to bring on trouble, but he feared that staying with her was doing exactly that.
After breakfast, she lay down for a nap, and he contacted one of his buddies who was into computers. The guys on his team were better friends with Thario than he was, but he got along with the guy.
“Hey, Zip, what do I owe this pleasure?”
He stepped outside, not wanting Talia to hear him discussing her life. “I have an issue.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m seeing someone who has a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
He glanced around and ducked his head, lowering his voice so none of the neighbors could hear. “If you ever meet her, you can never say anything.”
“This sounds serious.” Thario’s voice was flatter, less friendly, more business-like.
“Just promise you won’t ever hold this against her.”
“You have my word.”
“Okay. So her family trafficked her into porn when she was a teenager. People recognize her. I don’t know if there is anything that can be done, but I don’t like it. She was attacked by her new landlord. He tried to rape her.”
“Fucking mother fucker. Give me the details, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Zip blew out a breath. “Is there really anything you can do?”
“Maybe. She was a teen, right?”
“Yes. She was thirteen.”
“Fuck. Let’s get to work on it. I can’t destroy physical copies, but I can find shit on the dark web and go nuclear on it. I can also make anonymous reports about people viewing it. It may take a few months, but I’ll scrub as much of her footprint from the web as I can.”
Zip breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. And listen, don’t tell her.”
“You’re thinking of not telling her what you are doing?”
“I don’t want her to know because I don’t know how she will take it. I don’t want her to think I’m ashamed of what she did because I’m not. I don’t care about that. I just want her to be safe, and she can’t be safe with idiots thinking they can get a piece of her because she did something when she was younger.”
“I get it. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. It gives me something to do. And Zip, don’t be a stranger. Frog would love to meet her.”
“We’ll come by, maybe next weekend.”
“Awesome. I’m looking forward to it.”
Zip went inside and heard Talia stirring. He hoped she hadn’t heard his discussion with Thario. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad about her past. She’d experienced enough trauma with that to last a lifetime.
After she showered, he helped her place new bandages, and they headed out to the store. She had on a hat and sunglasses, which she said were because of the black eyes and scratches, but he knew she didn’t want to be recognized.
They were on the frozen aisle when someone came up behind them. “Hey, I thought it was you. How are you doing?”
Talia froze beside him, but she didn’t need to worry. It was one of the SEALs who’d retired recently and they were talking to him.
Zip turned and shook Wolf’s hand. Talia still looked wary, so he gently put his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Wolf, this is Talia.”
Wolf’s eyes narrowed an almost imperceptible amount as he took in Talia’s injuries. He recovered fast and shook Talia’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Caroline is coming around the—there she is.” He waved his wife over, and she didn’t bat an eye as she shook Talia’s hand while Wolf introduced her.
“It’s nice to meet you. Have you and Zip been together long?”
“Um…”
Talia didn’t know how to answer that question, so Zip changed the subject. “Did you two enjoy your trip?”
Wolf and Caroline both nodded. “Very much. Why don’t you all come over next weekend?” Caroline asked.
Zip hadn’t ever been invited over to Wolf’s house. Caroline wasn’t just smart, she had emotional intelligence and the desire to care for injured women. He’d heard about how she took different women under her wing and helped them. It would be something special for Talia. Plus, being invited into Wolf’s inner sanctum was special.
“Sure. That would be very nice of you,” Zip said. He wasn’t sure Wolf wanted him over, but he knew the man trusted his wife.
“Thank you. Are you sure?” Talia asked.
Zip knew her hesitation was more about protecting strangers from her past than a lack of desire to go.
“Yes, very sure,” Caroline said.
“I’ll call you this week with the details,” Wolf said.
Zip pulled out his phone. “I don’t know that you have my number.”
Wolf chuckled. “If I don’t have it, I can get it.”
Zip didn’t doubt for a moment that Wolf could get everything on him in a matter of hours. The man was a legend, and everyone wanted to work with him or be friends. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know it was always best to stay on Wolf’s good side.
“Awesome, we’ll see you next weekend.”
He finished shopping with Talia, and they were in the car on the way home when she spoke up.
“So that guy, Wolf, he said he could get your number. How can he do that?”
“He used to be a SEAL, and he’s friends with a lot of people.”
“So you don’t think he’ll try to get a background check on me, right?”
They were almost home, so he waited to answer until they pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. “If Wolf ever found out, I can guarantee he would never hold it against you. He’s not that kind of man.”
Talia scoffed. “Most guys are that type of man.”
“Well, Wolf isn’t. He would never hold your past against you even if he couldn’t tell you were too young to have consented to that stuff.”
She sighed and shook her head. He reached over and turned her head so she was looking at him.
“Trust me.”
Her shoulders dropped before she nodded. “Okay. I’ll trust you. But it’s going to be difficult if any of them say anything.”
“I know. And they won’t. They’ll all behave.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being decent.”
A little piece of him died inside. She’d been through so much shit all because of her sister. It was time Talia experienced something good. And he wanted to be the man to deliver it to her.