of you that can’t help but dispense the truth. You’re an honest guy, Liam, but...knowing you think that of me, believe I could be anything like my father...” Fuck, this was why she didn’t talk about her feelings. “It made me feel dirty. Like I’ve been tainted all these years. Like maybe I’m not so far removed from them after all.”
“That was never my intention, Bodie. You’re sweet and kind, which immediately gives you a headstart on your bitch of a mother, not to mention smart, talented, and compassionate. Abraham can’t hold a candle to you, baby.” His fingers flexed on her head as though he was thinking violent thoughts. “Tell me what I need to do to start rebuilding your faith in me.”
How did one go about rebuilding what was crumbled and unstable? Was it better to demolish what was left and relay the foundations, or try salvage the remnants and recreate what had been there before?
Head beginning to throb with stress, Bodie closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t have all the answers—hell, she was struggling to come up with just one. “Ask me something else, Liam. I never thought I’d be in this position with you.”
“Me neither.” His sigh was as heavy as hers, just as mournful. But he pressed his lips to her forehead in a brotherly kiss. “I’ll find a way to fix this, Bodie. I promise. Right now, I’m just grateful you’re talking to me, even if you can’t forgive me yet. Why don’t I get you some food? You can eat, then take a nap and get rid of that headache.”
Her stomach chimed in noisily, giving him an affirmative before she could say anything. It amazed her how he could read her so easily, down to the brewing headache. He was still the same Liam, she told herself. Still the same soft-hearted, caring guy she’d known for years.
“Put that money somewhere safe before you lose it,” he continued, stepping back reluctantly. “Braun doesn’t make grand gestures often, so you’ve made an impression on him. I know you’re not sure about working here, Bo, but if you take the job after tonight, you’ve landed on your feet with him. He’s a stubborn bastard, strict, but he takes cares of his employees.”
The sudden change of subject threw her for a moment. As her sluggish brain switched gears, she watched him head back behind the bar. “It’s not him I’m worried about.”
“Hmmm. I know what you worry about, baby, and it always comes down to sex.” Liam stroked his hand down her arm before heading back behind the bar and busying himself with gathering things from places she couldn’t see. “Sex is something you’ve always shied away from discussing, and it still baffles me. Not that I blame you after what your fucking mother did to you.”
Bodie shuddered at the memory. She never wanted to feel that helpless again. Chained and padlocked by her wrists and ankles to the construction site fence, cold and naked and exposed, she’d barely stopped herself from screaming broken pleas for help. Even as the wounds from her mother’s cronies bled crimson onto the dirty ground, she’d held her tongue until her rescuer arrived the next morning.
“I don’t talk about that,” she reminded him in a sharp tone born of fear. Fear that her weakness would be revealed, and that people would see her for the scared, pathetic little girl she was. This façade she wore was well-worn, fitting her like a second skin, but the person beneath still lurked.
“And I understand why, although I stand by my opinion that you should have gone for counselling. That shit can fuck with your head in ways you can’t imagine.” He glanced at her over the sleek wooden top. “It can affect your future relationships, how you think about certain things, react to different stimulus.”
Her eyes dropped to her hands as she rolled the money between her fingers. He didn’t suspect, did he? No, he wouldn’t have any reason to. Just because she’d been single for an extraordinary amount of time—like, forever—it didn’t mean anything. She knew plenty of people, women and men, who preferred their own company over that of a lover.
“You know, we have some amazing clients who come in here on a regular basis. Everyone from doctors and EMTs to cops, politicians, and ranchers. Braun will require you to fill some standard paperwork out before the doors open tonight, but once that’s done, we have a lovely psychologist who I