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so many times before.”
    “ And for all that he only got twenty-five years?”
    She
shook head. “It was the deal he made. He had to allocute to the rapes, and they wouldn’t offer him any less prison time.”
    “ So when you’re forty-eight, he gets out.”
    “ Yes, but he’ll be sixty-eight.”
    “ That’s still young enough to start up again.”
    He
said it under his breath, but she hugged herself just the same. That wasn’t
something she allowed herself to think about.
    “ Why did you stay at your job? That couldn’t have been
easy.”
    “ Because I love what I do and I wasn’t going to let him
take that from me. Brenda told the staff what had happened, but it never made
the news. I asked for my name to be kept out of the media. I didn’t want my
father hearing about it because I knew he’d leave the Storm Troopers and track
down the man. I never wanted him to go through that, or to have to leave the
job he loved.”
    “ Do you regret that now? Not telling him?”
    “ No, but when we find him, I’m going to tell him. It’s
the right thing to do, isn’t it?”
    “ Only because he loves you so much and would want to
help you in any way he could.”
    “ I know. I realize that now. Addison, I’ve hidden from
this for so long. Thank you. Thank you for listening.” The words were
inadequate. She couldn’t describe what she felt. It was as if she’d been
carrying around a large boulder all her life and suddenly it was gone.
    “ I wish there was more I could do.”
    She
shook her head. “I wish you knew what this felt like. You did more than you
will ever realize.”
    “ I’m here to listen anytime, Nadine. If that’s all I
can do, I will keep doing it until you feel safe in your own skin again.”
    She
swiped at the tears trickling down her cheek. Safe in my own skin . That was how she felt. That was exactly what
she was experiencing. He’d nailed it, just like that. Who was this man?
    He
couldn’t possibly understand the violation she’d experienced, not really, but
yet he did understand the fear, the anger, and the way it had left a stain on
her soul. He understood all that, and he was still here, looking at her like
that.
    She
swallowed hard as she stared into the depths of those chocolate brown eyes.
He’d told her he’d always had a thing for her. That was a certainty despite
what she’d just told him. He was her chance at a normal life. A life where she
had intimacy with a man that didn’t leave her bleeding, in pain, and afraid.
Four years was a long time to push down normal needs. Too long.
    The
perfect man to change all that for her was sitting right in front of her. He
always had been. Nadine knew that now, as sure as she knew they would find her
father out there. All she had to do was take a chance on Addison. This was in
her hands and no one else’s. He would wait for her to say or do something
because she also recognized that he was a gentleman. He’d proven that ten times
over in the last hour alone.
    She
took a deep breath. “There is one thing you can do for me.”
    He
wiped her tears gently. “Name it. Anything.”
    Don’t chicken out. “That kiss you started before
lunch, the one Lee interrupted? You can finish it.”
     

Chapter
Seven
     
    Addison
thought at first he’d imagined her words, but knew from the look on her
face—part fear, part desperation—that he’d heard her correctly. The trust she’d
shown him today blew him away. He didn’t deserve it, but he was grateful for
it.
    Before
he lost his nerve or she changed her mind, he bent his head and pressed his
lips to hers. They were as soft and yielding as he’d always pictured, and her
sigh as he deepened the kiss sent his hormones spiraling to the damn moon. The
anger he’d felt listening to her story abated somewhat, but he still held onto
a part of it. He wanted to. He would avenge her somehow. It mattered not that
the bastard was in prison. She deserved closure on this, and prison was too
good. It