Page 89 of Protective Love

"He didn't care about being careful that night. He beat me so bad that I could hardly move afterwards, and I think that was what he wanted because he knew I'd try to run again. When he left me there, bleeding and bruised, I honestly thought that was going to be the end. I was ready to let go and give in because I thought I was stuck in that horrendous cycle with him. After trying to leave three times before and being unsuccessful, I'd lost hope, but then Killian walked through the door, and when he saw me there, grasping onto life, he picked me up and walked out with me."

She takes a deep breath and wipes her tears away with our joint hands.

"Chrissie had called Killian and told him what she suspected was going on. She asked him to come over and check on me because Nathan wouldn't let her do it herself. That was the last time I saw Danny. Killian kept me at his house for a couple days and had a doctor come and patch me up, and then he, Chrissie, and Nathan put together everything I needed to move here."

"So, the bruises you had on your face and your neck, they were from him?" I ask, the anger and disgust evident in my tone.

She nods again.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

"There's no reason for you to be apologising to me right now, darling."

"I should've told you that he's an O'Rourke though."

"I doubt it'll be a problem. I will, however, have to notify Dominic, just in case it does cause any issues."

"It shouldn't," she says. "Killian doesn't agree with Danny's actions, and he's been working on a way to get rid of him, he just can't do it blatantly because of the rules and regulations they have there."

"We'll figure it out. You don't need to worry about it, okay?"

"Okay."

Her fingers fiddle with mine as we both fall into a comfortable silence, and everything she's just told me continues to whip around in my mind, causing a stir of emotions to build up inside of me.

Chapter Forty-Six

Rory

My eyes fly open, a bolt of panic shoots through my body, and my hands clutch onto the sheets beneath me as the frightful dream I was having slowly fades away.

Frantically searching around my room, I realise Jaylen's no longer here and my panicked breathing hitches at the thought of him leaving after I exposed the truth of the last five years of my life to him last night.

Jumping out of bed, the towel that was wrapped around my body drops to the floor and a cold draft sweeps across my naked body.

My eyes widen in surprise as the events of last night start to click back together in my mind and I gasp when I realise I was naked the whole time, only covered by the small cotton towel that barely covers my body.

Jesus Christ. Jaylen saw me naked.

Swiping my hands across my face, I hurriedly walk over to my chest of drawers and pull out a set of pyjamas, shoving the top over my head and then stepping into the shorts and pulling them up my legs.

I cautiously walk out of my bedroom, my eyes glued to the short hallway so that I don't look at the bathroom, and I slowly make my way towards the living room and kitchen in search for Jaylen.

As I near the end of the hallway, I hear Jaylen's whispered words, and I stop in my tracks as I listen to what he's saying.

"Yeah, I know. I can't say much else, but I just need you to talk to Dom and Kaleb so that we can try and sort something out and avoid any issues that might arise."

My heart stutters in my chest as I realise he's talking to someone about what I told him last night.

"I can't give you many details, Soph."

A smile tugs at my lips, grateful that he's not telling her everything I disclosed to him.

"I'm fine. I promise… Yeah, I'm gonna ask her and then I'll let you know… Okay, love you too. Bye."

He ends the call, and then I hear him sigh.

"Are you really sneaking around your own house?"