“Ask us why we’re angry, Lauren,” Liam continued. “If you want the truth, then ask us.”

“W-why are you angry?” she stammered out.

“Because we care about what happens to you,” Noah said. “And while we were off looking for the wrong guy, Joel Knight could have gotten to you. He could have hurt you and we would have never seen it coming. We’re pissed because we were put in a position where we couldn’t do our job. And our job is to make sure nothing happens to you.”

Liam shook his head impatiently. “You aren’t just a damn job to us, Lauren. Use your head. You have to see that we’re attracted to you. That it makes us fucking insane knowing what this asshole did to you and when we think of what could have happened because you didn’t tell us the truth, it makes me crazy. What if he’d come after you? Did you ever think about that?”

She glanced rapidly between the two men, her mind in such turmoil that she couldn’t even comprehend the meaning of what Liam had just blasted her with.

It was crazy. All of it. But even crazier? She’d thought that she was alone in her fascination with these two men. She’d been bewildered by the fact that she could even look at Noah and Liam and entertain the thoughts she’d had.

He was wrong. She hadn’t seen it. She hadn’t even entertained the notion that they were attracted to her. All she’d seen in their eyes was pity and rage, two things she would have thought they would feel for any woman in her situation. They were honorable men. Their job was to protect people. Whoever hired them. Why on earth would they feel anything more for her than anyone else they were assigned to protect?

She shook her head, denying it even as they sat in front of her, bluntly laying it out. She’d allowed a man to walk all over her. She’d allowed Joel to manipulate her, dictate to her. How could anyone look at that woman she’d been and feel anything more than disgust?

She was an intelligent woman with a college degree. She had common sense, had always prided herself on being able to stand on her own two feet. And it had only taken Joel a few weeks before he’d completely taken over her life.

What shamed her most was that she’d so easily fallen into the life that Joel had built for her. Before, she would have laughed at anyone who would have told her she would fall into a relationship with someone who controlled her every movement down to what she wore and what she ate.

Everyone around her had been able to see the truth of her relationship with Joel, but she’d been so rooted in denial that she convinced herself they were wrong. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget the humiliation of having that veil lifted away and finally being able to see herself for what she was.

Gullible. Naïve. Stupid.

It pricked her pride. It gutted her and made her feel the kind of worthlessness she never wished on anyone else.

“What the hell are you thinking?” Noah asked in exasperation. “What kind of hell are you putting yourself through right now? I can see the shame in your eyes. It’s in your body language and written clearly on your face.”

“You can’t possibly understand what I’m thinking or feeling,” she said.

“Then make us understand,” Liam challenged. “What could possibly motivate you to lie about the man who did this to you? If you weren’t protecting him, then who the hell were you protecting?”

She surged to her feet, her fingers fisted into tight balls. She honest to God wanted to hit someone, something. Anything to vent the rage building inside her. But that made her no better than the monster who’d done the same to her.

“I wasn’t afraid for me!” she yelled. “I was afraid for Max. I was afraid for you!”

Chapter 4

LIAM exchanged glances with Noah before rising to stand in front of Lauren. She wasn’t angry, as her tone might indicate. She was terrified. It was evident in her body language and in her eyes.

He took a chance and reached out to her, his hands sliding gently down her arms and then back up again to cup her shoulders. Finding no resistance, he tightened his grip, and then he simply pulled her into his arms.

For a moment she was as stiff as a board. He couldn’t even feel her breathe. But she didn’t fight him or try to push him away. And then she finally relaxed, melting into him all soft and sweet.

He wrapped both his arms around her, enjoying the feel of her so close. He could smell her, could feel the warmth of her skin right through his clothing.

“Tell me why you were afraid for us, Lauren,” he said gently. “Who is this man you think you need to protect us from?”

She pulled away and glanced warily at him, and then in Noah’s direction. Noah was scowling, and Liam didn’t know if it was because Lauren was in his arms or if he was still pissed over the idea that she was trying to protect them from Joel Knight.

She looked as though she was still waging the battle with herself over whether to divulge the information they needed.

“If you want to protect us, then tell us what we’re dealing with,” Noah cut in.

She sank back into the chair, slumping in defeat. She looked miserable, and Liam hated that look. Lauren had a beautiful smile. Full of warmth and vibrancy that just made others stop and stare when she laughed. Liam wanted her to smile again, and he’d do anything it took to make that happen.

“Joel is a pimp,” she said with a visible shudder. “He’d never call himself that. He’d likely kill anyone for insulting him that way. But it’s what he is. No matter how he sugarcoats it, he’s a glorified pimp.”

Liam frowned, dread skating up his spine. His stomach went immediately sour and the meal he’d had hours before churned.

“Did he force you to . . .” He couldn’t even choke the words out but Lauren immediately understood what he was trying to ask.

Lauren looked up, horrified. “No! I didn’t work for him. God no. But others did. He called them his girls.”

Liam immediately looked over at Noah. “Suki,” he muttered.

Suki had said she was one of his girls, but at the time they hadn’t known what it meant.

Noah settled back on the love seat and gazed over at Lauren. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, honey. Tell us everything you know. How you got involved with him. How you know about what he does.”

For a moment, Liam thought she’d refuse. Her cheeks tightened and her eyes went dull with shame. He reached for her hand, determined that she not feel that way with him and Noah.

“We aren’t judging you, Lauren. We just need the facts. Tell us what you know, okay?”

Whether she intended to or not, she curled her fingers tightly around his, gripping as she glanced back at Noah.

“I won’t bore you with the details of my relationship with Joel. Let’s just say that I was forced out of denial when I saw him rough up one of his ‘girls’ one night. I had no idea he was involved in anything like prostitution. I assumed he was the businessman he professed to be. Legitimate business.”

Noah frowned. “You said you saw him rough up a girl. How rough are we talking? Did he kill her?”

Lauren paled and shook her head. “No. But he beat her. I mean he was so cold about it. He accused her of pocketing money and holding back on him. He reminded her that she worked for him and that she was nothing without him. He kept going on and on about all he’d done for her and all the girls, and he was pissed that this was the way she repaid him.”

She closed her eyes for a long moment and swallowed visibly. Her hand shook in Liam’s, and this time he was the one to squeeze her fingers, offering her reassurance.

“Her nose was bleeding. Her lip was split. And Joel was pissed because he’d lost his temper. Her face was a valuable asset. She wouldn’t be on her back doing her job if a man had to put a paper bag over her head. His words, not mine,” she added hastily.

Noah nodded. “Go on. You’re doing fine.”

“When he calmed down and realized what he’d done, he had Ron, the person I thought was his business partner, break three of her fingers. On her left hand, so she could still give a man a hand job. Oh God,” she sobbed. “He broke fingers on her left hand so it wouldn’t interfere with her pleasuring a man.”

Liam raised her hand and folded his other one over the back so it was completely encased between his palms. He rubbed gently, silently urging her on.

“I was so sickened by what I saw, but what hit me the hardest was that I realized that I was that woman. That I’d just been watching a cold-blooded man ruthlessly hurt another woman, and that I’d allowed that and more behind closed doors. No, I didn’t ‘work’ for him, but I was as solidly under his control as those women were. If I was so outraged on her behalf, then why the hell wasn’t I upset over what I’d allowed him to do to me? I was heartsick. Scared. Angry. So many things. It was like flipping a light switch.”

“What happened next?” Liam asked quietly.

“I confronted him.” She broke off laughing a dry, hoarse laugh that made Liam’s chest tight. “Like an idiot, I confronted him. What I should have done was gotten out of there as fast as I could and never look back. But I was so pissed and so ashamed, that I was compelled to confront him. It was as if I had to let him know that I wasn’t that stupid, cowardly woman he’d been pushing around for so long. It was so dumb of me, but I wasn’t thinking logically. I wasn’t smart.”

“Is that how you got the bruises you had when Max hired us?” Noah asked with a growl.

She lowered her eyes in shame. “No, that didn’t come until later. I was so stupid,” she said with a sob. “He told me that I was nothing but a dumb bitch and that I’d better keep my mouth shut and forget what I saw. I was so afraid of what he might do if I pushed him that I kept silent. And I stayed with him. Even after that. How foolish was that? I lived in constant fear of him, but I didn’t know what to do. So I stayed. At least for a little while. It wasn’t until a short time after that episode that I finally wised up and got out.”

“Jesus,” Noah muttered. “And you wouldn’t tell us about him, why?”

Liam didn’t like the darkness in Lauren’s eyes or the knowledge that whatever pushed her to that final decision must have been bad. He wanted to ask her what the hell the bastard had done to make her finally snap, but now wasn’t the time. She was tortured enough relating what she was. But Liam wouldn’t forget. He’d find out exactly what had happened to push her over the edge. And he knew he damn well wasn’t going to like her answer.

She sucked in a deep breath, almost as if she were trying to hold on to the last thread of her control. Liam sent Noah a dark look, silently telling him to back off, but Noah’s lips were set into a fine line. He was well and truly pissed off now. Not at Lauren, but at Joel Knight.

“I heard the things he said to the woman he hurt and to Ron, his enforcer. What I never realized is that Ron is sent in to fix situations so that Joel doesn’t have to get his hands dirty. Except Joel wanted to set an example of this woman. He wanted to scare her, and so he handled it himself. He has cops on his payroll. He didn’t say who. But he taunted the woman with the fact that if she went to the cops, nothing would happen because she was just a whore nobody cared about and he had enough people on his payroll to make any problem go away.”

Her voice had lowered to a whisper, and a tear slid down her soft cheek. Liam reached up to wipe it away and she flinched away from him. Not in fear, but in shame. It bothered her that she’d cry in front of them.

Rage made his hand shake and he pulled it away so it wouldn’t upset her more.

“He talked about ‘others’ he’d had taken care of. So I knew when I finally got the courage to call Max for help that I couldn’t tell him the truth. And then he called in you two, and it got so complicated. Max wanted to swear out a warrant. He wanted to punish whoever hurt me.”

“Understandably so,” Noah said tightly.

“And let Joel murder my brother?” she asked in horror. “Or you and Liam? How is that supposed to make anything better? How would I be able to live with myself knowing that I got one of you killed? I’ve made stupid decisions, but wanting to keep my brother and you two alive isn’t one of them.”

Liam sighed. There was no way for him and Noah to win this argument or sway her from the belief that she’d done the right thing. He wanted to shake her, but that didn’t solve anything.

He wanted to ask her why the hell she ever got involved with Knight anyway. What on earth could she possibly have seen in the smarmy asshole?

Before leaving New York City, they’d pulled Knight’s record. Squeaky-clean. Not even a parking ticket. Which would certainly lend credence to Lauren’s assertion that he had influential people on his payroll.

He made frequent donations to charity. Hosted political fundraisers, though he never officially allied himself with either the Democratic or Republican Parties. He was more into causes. Causes that elevated his own profile and made him look like the all-American good guy. Hell, looking at his merits, he had all the traits of someone looking to get into politics himself.