Yes. “Do you have a best friend?” he asked, changing the subject before he broke down. He didn’t want her to see him that way.
“I . . . well . . . hmm.”
Surely she did. She was so lovely, so kind and perfect. People had to flock to her.
Although, she had grown up in an abusive home and such an upbringing could warp a person’s mind. It had John No Name’s. Solo had watched, helpless, as the happy, loving boy he’d met for the first time in Michael’s office all those years ago had quickly become quiet and withdrawn. And then the outbursts had begun. Anytime anyone had touched him, John had reacted with a cutting rage even Solo had not displayed.
Solo had no idea what had been done to the boy John had been, but, as many criminals as Solo had studied over the years, he could guess. And even after Michael had pulled John from the home and placed him somewhere safe, the boy hadn’t relaxed his guard. In fact, he’d become more determined to remain aloof.
John trusted no one, believed in no one, and believed the worst of everyone he encountered. That was no way to live.
Yet it was exactly how he had been living, Solo realized.
Solo wasn’t sure what was worse. His and John’s determination to remain alone, or Blue’s determination to have a partner, any partner. Over the years the male had plowed through women as if they were disposable tissues. He had lived with a woman for a year and was now engaged to another, but he had not been faithful to either one, choosing the job over romance, always doing what Michael told him to do.
They all had.
“You want the truth?” Vika asked, hesitant.
He pulled himself from his mind. “Always.”
Softly she admitted, “You’re the only friend I’ve got.”
The knowledge floored him. Humbled him. “I consider that a privilege, Vika.”
She patted around until she found his hand, and then she twined their fingers, shocking him, delighting him. He’d never held a woman’s hand, not even Abigail’s.
He brought her knuckles to his lips, kissed each one. “You would like John and Blue, I think. We’ve known each other since the age of five, and we’ve always looked out for each other. They’re big, like me, and they’re fierce, but they would protect you with their lives.” Just because he asked.
Her features softened, becoming wistful. “Once, I had friends like that. They were the animals I used to tend. The lions and apes and bears.”
This little fluff of nothing had handled dangerous predators? “Did they ever hurt you?”
“At first, they were quite leery of me. We soon got to know each other, however, and everything changed.” The wistfulness vanished, replaced by a dreamy haze that even saturated her voice, and he would not have been surprised to learn she had actually stepped from a storybook and the animals had followed, licking at her feet.
“You loved them?”
But even the dreamy haze vanished. “Yes,” she said flatly.
“What happened to them?”
“They died. The end.” The words, so sharply uttered, told him far more than she’d probably intended.
“Vika,” he said. For this, he would push. He had to know. “I’m willing to forgive you as easily as you forgave me, and you won’t even have to apologize.”
Her brows furrowed. “For what?”
“For . . .” Making my body ache and my mind crave an impossible future—
“. . . interesting me in your past, and then holding the stories hostage.”
Her lips curled in a sensual grin. “You want a story?”
“I do.”
“Give me one first. How were you captured?”
How much to tell her? “An explosion injured me. A man decided to sell me to Jecis, while I was too weak to fight back. Now, how did your animals die?”
A shiver moved through her, and she nervously licked her lips. “My father.”
Thought so. “He killed them.” A statement, not a question.
“He did . . . right in front of me. He even made me shoot my lion, One Day.”
One Day. Why were those words so—ah. He got it. The words made her think of her pet, of what she’d lost, of what she’d had to do.
Solo could feel the bones in his fingers curling, knew it was only a matter of time before the nails in his left hand dug into her pretty cheek and the nails in his right dug into the top of her hand. He withdrew both, flattening his palms beside her temples.
The action shouldn’t have been arousing, but it was. He surrounded her, was all that she could see.
“I’ve known people like your father,” he said. “If you stay at the circus, Jecis will eventually kill you.”
Twin spots of pink painted her cheekbones, and whether they were born of shame or anger, he wasn’t sure. “He wasn’t the one who beat me this time.”
“I know. Matas was, but your father has beaten you. Yes?”
She meshed her lips together, refusing to answer.
“Yes,” he answered for her. “You don’t deserve what they do to you, Vika. You need to leave them.”
“I will,” she said with the determination he’d come to expect from her. “And I told you, I plan to. I’ve been selling everything of value that I can, saving and hiding the cash as quickly as possible to buy a new identity and to be able to support myself. I have to be able to support myself. I don’t have any skills, and I cannot place myself under another man’s control.”
She wanted out, which he’d known, but she was wisely trying to achieve her goals, which he hadn’t known. Good girl. He was proud of her, and utterly relieved. “You nearly sliced off my balls when I grabbed you,” he reminded her. “I’d say you can protect yourself.”
“I also stabbed Matas,” she whispered, with just a hint of shame.
“I’m glad,” he replied, clearly startling her.
The suns began to rise, and the monsters began to back away. Perfect timing.
“You lack confidence, however, and I can remedy that.” He stood, held out his hand, and waved his fingers in her direction. This is dangerous. If you handle her, you won’t be able to mute your body’s reaction. Hunger will consume you. You’ll push her to do something she’s still not ready for. “I will teach you everything you need to know.”
Twenty
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.