Read Online Yours to Keep part 3: Billionaire CEO Romance (Captured and Claimed) by Cathryn Fox - Free Book Online Page B

When I left I swore I’d never look back.” She stepped away, but Quinn took her hand. It was a small thing, so often taken for granted, but that touch, his presence, his support helped her go on.
    “Sweetheart, you can’t move forward until you look back. You have things you need to deal with and overcome.”
    He stepped inside and she hesitated. She looked over her shoulder to see a car turn the corner. Not wanting to get caught hovering on the doorstep like a convict, she darted inside, shut the door behind her and leaned against it.
    The second she saw the door to the basement, she became overwhelmed with anxiety. Panic gripped hard and she clutched her chest. A noise sounded in the kitchen and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
    “It’s just the cat,” Quinn said.
    She nodded and noted the way he was watching her with great care, the way he always watched her.
    She looked at the basement door again and pinched her eyes shut, her mind going back to when she was thirteen. She was so angry when she’d first come to live here. She’d been so good at the previous home—did her homework, washed the dishes, and always did as she was told. When those foster parents tossed her aside when she hit her teen years, it left a bitter taste in her mouth and a huge hole in her heart. She’d acted out here at first, but had quickly learned that her disobedience came with severe punishment.
    Her gaze went to the heavy lock dangling on the loop, and under her breath she said, “It’s still there.”
    Quinn turned and followed the direction of her gaze. He stepped away and touched the lock. “This?” he asked.
    She nodded, unable to get the words past the lump in her throat.
    “What happened here?” he asked, his voice soft.
    She swallowed and managed to get out, “I don’t like the dark.”
    He pointed to the cellar. “She put you down there, didn’t she?”
    She didn’t need to answer. Her shaking body said it all.
    “I’m going down,” Quinn said.
    Her hand darted out and she grabbed him. “Don’t. It’s full of rats and God knows what else.”
    “I’m not afraid of rats.”
    “I am.” A sob caught in her throat as she recalled the sounds of the rats closing in on her. She brushed at her clothes and hugged herself. It took all her mental strength not to lose it back then. Rebecca glanced at the front door, then back at Quinn. “What if she comes back?”
    He held the lock out in his palm, then squeezed it. “She can’t hurt you anymore. Not if you don’t let her.” Quinn reached up and pulled a chain dangling from the ceiling—one she could never reach as a kid—and the light to the basement flicked on.
    She took a tentative step forward and squeezed his hand hard as he led her to the dank, musty basement, the smells instantly taking her back in time. Her heels clicked on the cement floors when they reached the bottom, and she looked around. Besides the washer and dryer there was nothing in the basement, nothing for her to be afraid of.
    Her ears perked at the squeaking sounds, and she practically jumped into Quinn’s arms. “I can hear them,” she cried out.
    He cupped her face. “Rebecca, sweetheart, what you hear are the pipes. This place is old. There are no rats down here, nothing at all to hurt you.” He waved his hand. “Look around, and when you realize that it’s not scary in the light of day, you’ll know you have nothing to fear in the dark of night.”
    She brushed her clothes again. “I could feel them. They were trying to bite me.”
    “Here.” He lifted her hand and held it over a vent. “This is what you probably felt. You were a child, and in the dark, the mind can turn anything into a monster.”
    “She told me one of these days the rats would eat me alive. I lived in fear. I used to curl up and recite the alphabet, just to help me focus on something else.”
    Emotions flashed in Quinn’s eyes. He pulled her to him and hugged her. “You were young, afraid, an innocent