Rope the Moon (Runaway Ranch, #2)(83)

“Because he knew you deserved better,” Davis growls.

I nod and cross my arms.

“Three months after opening the bakery, I was closing up for the afternoon. And like always, Aiden was there. He was counting the money in the till, complaining that we were in the red. I told him he was crazy. That it was too early to worry about money. And then he…”

I pause and look into the dark.

“Tell me,” he says gruffly.

My eyes flick to him. “He slapped me across the face. Just once. Told me it was his responsibility to take me down a peg. I was so surprised I just went back to closing down.”

In the dark, Davis’s face is a mask. But that strong jaw of his is clenched, and I recognize murder in his eyes.

“There were other things,” I whisper. “Cutting me off from you. My father. Fallon. And I let him. I couldn’t just leave Aiden. He wouldn’t allow it. He’d hunt me down. He’d take my bakery. I felt like I had so much at stake, and Aiden King doesn’t lose. I didn’t want to accept the truth.”

Silence stretches through the darkness like a heavy cloak.

“I thought I could compartmentalize. That maybe, somehow, we’d just dissolve. And it worked. Until the night he broke my arm.”

Davis tenses. His fingers dig into his biceps.

“We were alone in the bakery one night. And out of nowhere, he started making all these angry demands. Sell the bakery. Stop working. I couldn’t help myself. I laughed and told him to fuck himself. And it was like I flipped that switch.” I close my eyes. “It was the real Aiden. The violent temper. The rage.”

The night sky stretches above us. Stars blink in and out. And then I whisper—

“He broke my arm with a rolling pin.”

Davis swears. A dark, violent sound.

He’s suddenly on his feet, pacing in front of the truck, as though he’ll combust on the spot if he stays still. I can practically hear the gears of his jaw grinding together.

My fingers shake as I trace them over the small scars on my arm. “He pinned me to the counter, and he brought it down. And then I passed out.”

The ground crunches as Davis moves to the front of the truck.

I slip off the tailgate. “Where are you going?

His eyes look wild, crazed. “To get on a fucking plane to DC and kill the guy.”

“No.” I hook my arms around his massive frame, stilling him. “You stay with me. I need you here. We need you.”

I feel the rage melt out of his body. Davis heaves a sigh, and then he turns, crushing me against his chest. He’s shaking. “Jesus, baby,” he murmurs, his chin sweeping the top of my head.

I sniffle, burying my face in his chest.

“What happened then?”

“He took me to the emergency room. I knew if I said anything, it’d just end in more of the same. I was in pain and hysterical. All I could do was let him take me home.”

I look up. Silent tears slip down my face. Seeing them, Davis reaches to wipe them away, but I shake my head, wanting them to fall.

“He apologized, but in the same breath, he told me it was my fault. Told me if I ever tried to leave him, he’d kill me. He’d find my family. He’d make me pay.”

A shudder rocks my frame, but Davis holds me tight.

“Aiden’s the perfect monster. Calculating and charming. You never think…men like this…”

“He’s not a man.” The frozen rage in Davis’s dark gaze steals my breath. “He’s a piece of shit. A coward who tried to manipulate a strong woman because he was never good enough for you.”

I let his words settle. Let my breathing steady. Then I say, “The next week I found out I was pregnant.”

Davis swears.

I look down at my belly. “Squish woke me up. He saved me. I stayed with Aiden for another week, getting my things ready. And then we got in that huge fight and…well, you know the rest. It all burned down.”

His hands shift to my shoulders, holding me closer. We sway in the headlights, under the glow of the moon. That last unfinished dance from Nowhere. “Tell me,” I whisper against his broad chest. “Are you mad at me? Do you think less of me for staying with him?”

“I’m fucking furious.” His voice grates out.

I look up, feeling vulnerable, but when I see the fierce flash of protection in his eyes, warmth spirals through me.

“I am fucking livid that a man thinks he has a right to lay hands on you. To take that happy from your eyes. I hate myself for not being there and protecting you.”

Tears sting my eyes at the raw rage in his voice. “I didn’t love Aiden.”

I swear he stops breathing. His massive body goes still, fingers clenching tighter around my shoulders.

The weight of his gaze on my face singes as I go on. “I thought I did, during those first few months. But it wasn’t love. It was something to fill the space. Your space.”

His big hand curls around the back of my neck. “That’s because you never should have been his.”

Butterflies explode in my stomach. “And why’s that?”

“Because you’re mine,” he says gruffly, and my heart tumbles. “And I’m the fucking fool who let you go.”

“Why did you?” The words wrench from my very soul. I’m aching to know, even if it hurts.