Page 16 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)

“I told you I don’t care,” Teresa said with fire burning in her chocolate brown eyes, and a determination that told him she was going to survive this ordeal if he could just keep her alive long enough.

“I care.” More than he’d realized. For a decade he’d been positive that he’d moved on, that he hated Teresa for betraying him, that even if he ever saw her again, it wouldn't change anything.

But he’d been wrong.

It changed everything.

Seeing her reminded him of what they used to share, and he wanted that again. If he could let go of his anger, then he didn't see why he couldn’t learn to trust her again.

When it all boiled down to it, being confronted with her imminent death, he knew he’d rather find a way to have her in his life than hold onto his wounded pride.

“I don’t want them to hurt me, but more than that, I won't let anyone make me a victim ever again,” Teresa vowed fiercely.

“Not asking you to be a victim again, I'm just saying that you can't …” Micah trailed off, her words clicking. “Wait, what do you mean you don’t want to be a victim again? You mean after they almost abducted you the other day?” His gaze roamed the healing wound on her cheek and the bruise on her forehead.

As much as he hated the marks marring her perfect skin, they were vivid reminders of her ability to fight.

She hadn't given up then, and he prayed she didn't give up now.

“You know I don’t, Micah,” Teresa answered, an edge to her voice that confused him. She sounded angry with him, but he had no idea why.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said honestly. Had she been hurt sometime within the last twelve years? Was that where she learned to harden her heart a little and distance herself from her emotions?

“Don’t do that,” Teresa snapped. “Don’t pretend anymore. I can't take it. You’ve spent the last few days acting like we didn't break up because you left without a word.”

Seemed like they were going to have this conversation now.

There couldn’t be worse timing. They had more important things they needed to focus on, only … was there really anything more important than clearing the air with the girl who had tangled herself up in his heart, and he wasn't sure it was possible to get her out?

They might die there.

Just because he would do anything he could to save her life, there were no guarantees.

Prey would be looking for them, and while he believed in them, they weren't miracle workers.

If they were going to die there, he didn't want anything left between them.

No bad feelings, no anger, no hurt, no betrayal.

He wanted to get rid of all the bad so only the good remained, and there had been so much good.

“Leaving the way I did was the wrong thing to do,” he admitted. “But what did you expect me to do after what I saw?”

Her brow furrowed. “What you saw?” Now she was the one who seemed confused.

“That weekend I came home to surprise you.”

All the color drained out of Teresa’s face, and if she hadn't already been lying down, he was pretty sure she would have fallen. “Y-you w-were there?” she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath of air.

He was hurting her, and it wasn't what he wanted, but Micah also knew they had to have this conversation.

It was better to just do it and get it over with.

“The door was open when I got to your place.

When I saw … I didn't stay. I got in my car, drove right back to college. A couple of days later, I decided to join the military. My parents were shocked at my sudden decision, but I never told them it was because of you.”

“Y-you were th-there,” she stammered once again. “And y-you didn't s-stop them.”

“Stop them? Did you find out I was coming? Did you want me to see it? Were you trying to get some sort of message across?” That didn't sound like the Teresa he’d known, but what else could she mean?

If she’d wanted him to see and stop them, stop her, then why hadn't she come after him? She’d have to have been watching for him, and he’d seen her on the couch with the four young men, there was nothing stopping her from having seen him in the open door.

“You l-left me w-with th-them.” Teresa’s eyes filled with tears, and she sounded so heartbroken that his heart cracked along with her, but he still wasn't sure why she would want him to see her having sex with other men.

It made zero sense, and he hated things that didn't make sense.

“I didn't know what else to do.”

“Didn't know what else to do?” she hissed, anger shoving away the devastation. “How about stopping them? How about calling the police? How about doing something to make them stop hurting me?”

The bottom dropped out of his world.

It felt like it literally disappeared, and he was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Finally, everything clicked into place.

All the pieces snapped together to form a picture.

A terrifying picture.

What he’d thought he’d seen was wrong.

So very wrong.

He hadn't walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him with four other men, he’d walked in on his girlfriend being gang raped.

“Tell me it’s not true,” he croaked.

It couldn’t be.

Because if it was, he’d wasted the last twelve years being angry with the woman he loved for no reason. She’d done nothing wrong. He had.

Teresa hadn't betrayed him, he had betrayed her in the most sickening of ways.

“It’s true,” she whispered, looking away.

Micah couldn’t breathe. All the air had been sucked out of his lungs, and he couldn’t seem to find more to drag in.

What had he done?

Why had he ever believed for a single second that Teresa would cheat on him?

It had always felt wrong, the opposite of what a girl like Teresa would do, but he’d never considered another possibility.

Why hadn't he considered another possibility?

“They raped you,” he said, the words tasting bitter in his mouth.

Teresa’s gaze moved slowly back to his. “You didn't know?”

“Hell no! If I’d known, I never would have left.”

It was clear from her expression that she didn't quite believe him, and he couldn’t fault her for that.

She’d needed him and he hadn't been there. Not only that, but he’d blocked any way she had of contacting him, and he’d never even opened the letter.

The letter.

Did she tell him everything in it? If he’d just not been a coward and opened it all those years ago, could he have avoided more than a decade of pain for both of them?

“Simon,” he growled as another piece of the puzzle clicked. That’s why she’d been so freaked out at the possibility that he mentioned Simon when he went with her to visit her mom and Arthur.

“Drug money,” she said softly.

So many emotions swelled inside him. Rage, unlike anything he had ever felt before was directed toward her heartless brother. How could Simon have pimped out his own sister for drug money? And how could he be so ruthless at just fifteen years of age?

The rage wasn't just directed at her brother, though.

A large portion of it was directed at himself.

He’d thought the worst when he saw Teresa and those boys that night, he could have stopped her assault, could have saved her at least some of the pain she must have suffered.

He could have been there beside her every step of the way, holding her hand, cradling her in his arms while she cried, and reminding her every day how strong she was.

Been there with her during the court case because he knew her brother had been charged, convicted, and imprisoned for his crimes.

It was cold comfort to know that she had her mom and brother, because he knew Teresa would have done everything she could to downplay her own trauma so as not to be a burden.

No wonder she hated him, no wonder she’d been so angry with him.

How was he ever supposed to make this up to her?

How was he ever supposed to make things right?