Page 52 of Every Single Second

“Thanks.” She spins around and drops the bowl on the counter.

She’s nervous. She could never hide her emotions from me. I walk up behind her and brace my hands on each side of her frame. My palms land on the cool Formica as she sucks in a breath. She slides the sleeves of my hoodie up her arms to keep her hands busy. That’s when I go rigid. My body locks tight when I see the purple bruises lining her forearm. I can’t stop the next words out of my mouth.

“Who. The. Fuck. Touched. You?”

Chapter thirty-two

Laiken

“Who. The. Fuck. Touched. You?”

Crap.

I freeze, clutching a bag of shredded cheese. My silence fills the space, chills dancing over my skin at the tone of his voice.

“I’m fine,” I rush out, attempting to slide the sleeves down.

He reaches out and gently catches my wrist.

I swallow thickly as he examines my arm. I did really well this week at covering them. His closeness had me flustered and I forgot.

“Did someone do this to you?” he asks.

When I don’t answer, he turns me to face him. “Laiken?”

God, I hate lying. Which is why I can’t. Even though I want to pretend it didn’t happen.

“Rhodes came by the clinic last week,” I say, my eyes focused on his chest.

I’m too scared to look up. I don’t know what I’ll see. Anger? Pity?

“Rhodes did this to you?” He steps away, and I glance up in panic.

“He was—” I search for what information I should share.

“You didn’t tell me he came by.” His gaze is hard again. “You told me you had it under control.”

“And I do,” I snap.

“Baby, he left fucking marks on you.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m going to kill him,” he murmurs under his breath.

“No, you are not.” I step to him. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. You two have a history.” I reach out to grab at his T-shirt. “It’s already rocky between you two. I didn’t want you to do something stupid.”

He peers down at me, and a softness crosses his eyes. “What did he want?”

I let out a breath. “I think we should sit.”

Parker’s jaw could crack at any moment. I just finished telling him about Rhodes’s delusions. About getting custody of Trace. About us being afamily. I have yet to reveal that he has a new agent. I’m terrified he’s going to lose it.

“It’s not going to happen.” He reaches out and laces his fingers with mine, the touch so familiar I want to cry. “You know that, right?”

I nod. “I know.”

But do I really?

“I just…if he has a lawyer. I don’t have the money to fight him, Parker.” I run my thumb over his knuckles. “I don’t even have the money to fix my house.”

“Don’t worry about that. Whatever happens, I’ll take care of it.”