Page 26 of Tyler's Rule
Tyler worked through some internal battle then sat forward to strip the offending item. He dropped it to the floor and rested back on cushions, firelight gleaming on his beautiful skin.
He didn’t say a single word more, letting me get back to the important business of scrutinising him. The circles continued up the bulge of his muscles then stopped. On the front of his left shoulder, under his collarbone, a round mark puckered his skin.
He touched a finger to it. “Bullet hole.”
My breath hitched. “You were shot?”
His fingertip tapped his side where tighter skin scored back in a line. Then he turned his head and indicated to the side of his right ear. An indent in it.
“I’ve got more scars than I can count.”
A burst of unhappiness had me twisting my fingers together. “I don’t like that.”
“It’s part of the job.”
I knew what he did was dangerous. I knew his muscles didn’t come from a desire to pose in the gym mirror. What he did was important. He risked his life to save others. Until now, I’d had no idea how much.
I unlocked my hands and pointed to the underside of my breasts. “Teeny implant scars. Can’t even see ’em.” I gestured to my head. “Messed up from all angles. Like nutso.”
Tyler’s lips curved at my attempt at humour. The smile died when I touched my throat. The silver line that nearly ended my life and had me in hospital for weeks.
“Hideous.”
He shook his head slowly. “That mark shows ye didn’t let someone else bring ye down. Like mine.”
All of a sudden, I couldn’t stop myself. From vowing never to share my ridiculous thoughts with anyone, I spilled them. “Sullivan and his men rejected me because of this. They were going to rape me, but they saw that and decided I was defective. Not even good enough to abuse.”
Tyler’s grey eyes turned steely.
“Know what’s worse?” I tapped my chest. “I judged myself on their reaction. On how revolting I’d become. My body was my career. My livelihood. I let the opinion of those three men guide how I thought of myself, and… And…”
“They will die knowing that.”
I shut my mouth, the tremble taking over me once again.
Tyler watched me, taking in everything. “It’s important for ye to know you’re attractive, aye? Not just for work but in your heart.”
As shallow as that might seem, I couldn’t deny it. I nodded. “Pretty much all I’ve got, hun.”
If he disagreed, he was too polite to contradict me. “And they made ye feel the opposite. Will their deaths change that?”
I considered the question but shook my head. If he killed them, that made other women safer. But it didn’t take away the sting of their taunts.
“Then what will it take?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do ye want to return to your old job?”
There was no judgement in his question. I’d never felt looked down upon by him because of what I did to get by.
“No. Not in the way I used to do it.” I didn’t think I could ever be locked in a room with a stranger again, which was a daily occurrence in my career as a sex worker. Nor did I want to go back to the alternative work Cassie had given me. The task of researching the men my killer friend wanted to take out had given me fresh trauma, and I’d felt such a failure for hating seeing their faces.
“Ye miss some parts of it.”
“Not much.”
“The part that made ye feel sexy.”
