Page 25 of Tyler's Rule
My breathing came shakily. Tyler had watched those men assault me. There wasn’t a single other person I could trust with that knowledge.
Silence fell, and I knew from his expression that he was reliving what he’d seen. Just as I’d done on the nights when I couldn’t sleep. Which was most. But honestly? This bullshit just joined the queue of trauma I fought to cope with. Still, I prayedthat he wouldn’t ask me to walk through the details. There was no need. We both knew them.
Tyler’s fists clenched. “Want to know what I did next?”
Oh, I liked that. He was angry, not full of pity.
I pushed my hair behind my ear. My hands shook, too, so I shoved them between my thighs. “Tell me.”
“I drove to Sullivan’s house.”
My soul shrank, but I held my chin high. I hated that name. “Did you hurt him?”
“I did.”
The tremor reached my words. “Is he dead?”
Was it bloodthirsty of me to want it? Sullivan had been vile. I never wanted him to hurt another girl the way he’d threatened to hurt me.
“Not yet, and for two reasons. First, and of least importance, his name came up in part of the investigations that Mila and Lovelyn are carrying out. Second, because it’s your choice. When he dies, it should be at your hand. Or at least your command. I wouldn’t take that away from ye.”
I exhaled in a rush.
Tyler continued. “The way I see it, a whole lot of people caused ye harm. Not only Sullivan and his cronies, who will also be handled, but others. They drove ye away from your home. One by one, we’ll make sure they can never do it again. I promise that.”
I wanted to ask for more. I wanted his protection and for this possession of me to not wear off. I hated how much I didn’t want it to fade.
Couldn’t let myself be that insane. Crazy girls didn’t live long in my world.
Tyler’s eyes glittered. “Ye come first.”
“That a fact, hun?”
The very air between us became weighted with something new. Something warmer. In the days I’d been in Tyler’s company, he’d touched me precisely once. I’d felt that press on my arm like a brand.
The way he was looking at me disturbed the unpleasantness of my memories. Chased them away. For several moments, he didn’t hide his deep attraction, letting me see it. Bask in it. A nonphysical touch that heated me up from my bare toes to the top of my head.
God, that felt good.
One of the worst things about my experience with Sullivan and his men came at the end. Before they let me go, they’d rejected me, horrified at finding the scar on my neck. It had made me feel so worthless, which was such a contradiction after everything they’d done. An insult to add to the injury, and something no one would understand.
Since I’d been with Tyler, I’d barely thought about it.
He kept up his wonderfully exposed stare.
One look, and I would follow this man into dark places. It was so strange. Before I properly knew him, I’d wanted him. Except it hadn’t been real. I’d never considered that he, one of the most senior members of the skeleton crew with responsibilities and a dangerous job, would be serious about a girl like me. Just another sex worker.
His behaviour said otherwise. He’d taken ownership of me. Made up rules to protect me.
In exchange, I let myself take stock of him. Same as me, he was barefoot, somehow making this all the more intimate. I skipped over the dangerous outline area to where his t-shirt sleeves clung tight to his biceps. He had inkwork I’d stolen glimpses at. Now, I examined each piece. A Celtic design outlined a graveyard, tombstones on his forearm. Bands woundaround, going higher up his arm until they disappeared from sight.
Maybe the graveyard meant something. Maybe I wanted him to lose the shirt so I could see more. He’d stripped in front of me two nights ago, but I’d been too upset for detail. I wasn’t now.
My lips moved by themselves. “Take off your t-shirt.”
“No.”
I held his gaze. “Do I have to ask again?”
