Chapter 2

Keegan POV:

“Not all the men are like your husband,” I said unnecessarily defensively. It was stupid of me because it would be better if she hated me and I sounded like one of those guys who claim to be nice but are buttholes in reality. “You just happened to meet the wrong one.”

She laid her bag on the bed, barely looking around before returning her attention back to me. She brushed past me and locked the door. “Well, look at what the wrong one did to me.” She lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it at me. I caught it unceremoniously before my eyes caught sight of her body. The entire left side of her torso was covered in yellow and black bruises.

Seething, I turned away, unable to look at her. I threw the shirt back at her. “I will do an assessment of your injuries later. I am going downstairs to make lunch.”

“Well, let’s get another thing straight. Don’t undermine my authority with my daughter. I didn’t say anything back there, but don’t do that shit again.” She turned her back on me, her back riddled with bruises as she struggled to put her t-shirt on.

“Shit,” I whispered, taking a step closer.

Vianne whipped her head around but winced before she could say another word. She quickly covered it up by tightening her jaw. “Don’t come any closer,” she warned through clenched teeth.

I ran my hand through my hair. “Look, I understand. But putting that t-shirt on won’t be easy. Why don’t you go up to my room and grab one of my button-downs?”

She nodded and used her t-shirt to cover her chest. “Thanks. That would help,” she said in a low voice.

Before I left the room, I swore she looked at me with curiosity and confusion. I took a peek into Claire’s. She was in the middle of her bed, sucking her little thumb, asleep. I walked further into the room, grabbing one of the throws and covering her up. She turned slightly, opening her eyes just a bit. Her thumb popped out of her mouth.

“Why did the monster hurt mommy?”

I sighed, brushing her hair from her eyes. “I don’t know, Claire.” I wasn’t sure why I was compelled to comfort her. Perhaps it was the emotions her small features tragically portrayed. She was an innocent that had seen too much. Maybe it was because she was a lost pup who needed comfort and the wolf in me wanted nothing more than to preserve her safety.

“I don’t want the monster to hurt mommy anymore.”

“I don’t either, sweetie,” I replied.

“Mommy is sad when the monster hurts her. Always sad.” She sighed.

I wiped a tear from her cheek. “I will help take the sadness away, okay?” After the words were out, I regretted them. What was a promise that I couldn’t keep?

She nodded and her long lashes fluttered closed again. Her thumb quickly found its way back into her mouth and a finger started playing with a curl of her hair.

I walked back into the hallway and I stood there, debating whether or not to tell Vianne that her daughter knew a lot more than she thought.

I didn’t want to upset her and told myself that if there were more references to the monster, I would tell Vianne. I went back downstairs and checked the perimeter of my home with the security equipment I had in my office. Everything looked good and I decided to get started on lunch. I walked into my kitchen where Vianne was already going through my fridge.

I leaned against the doorway and watched her for a few moments. I noticed that she was wearing one of my favorite shirts: an olive green button-down with black stitching. It reached mid-thigh, with the rest of her legs exposed. I was able to make out a pair of cut-off sweats underneath. They were still obscenely short for that body of hers.

“If you keep staring at me like that, I will make sure to give you a shiner to match mine.”

I chuckled. “You can try. But you will fail.”

“Ah! But that is why I am here.” Vianne closed the fridge, her arms full of condiments of sandwiches. “Can you grab some bread?”

I walked over to the breadbox in the pantry, pulling out some wheat and white. We worked together to make some sandwiches. I sat on a stool at the kitchen island, while she jumped right up on the counter.

I tried to dispel the urge to grab her and take her right then and there. I was having difficulty controlling myself. And I needed to be a chauvinistic asshole.

“Claire will be asleep for a couple of hours. Clement said that you have a gym. Can you show me?” she asked before taking a bite of her sandwich. I nodded.

We cleaned up after lunch and Vianne made a beeline upstairs to check on her daughter. I followed her up and waited at the staircase. I guided her up and turned on the lights, allowing them to illuminate the large gym.

“This is where we will spend most of the day.”

She took in her surroundings. Her hand glided over the free weights near the wall of mirrors. She walked over to the treadmill and leaned in to look at all the buttons, shaking her head in confusion.

“We will need to make a place for Claire to play,” she commented.

“Yes. We need to go into town and buy her some toys.”

“You don’t need to do that, Keegan.”

“I have no problem with it. Clement is paying,” I retorted cheekily.

Vianne looked at me, seemingly ready to snap at me again. But she snapped her jaw shut before she said. “It’s the least he can do.”

I scratched the back of my neck, unsure of how to address what I needed to do next. Thankfully, she saved me the trouble, “So, are you going to do that assessment you were talking about earlier?”

I looked up at her and nodded hesitantly. “I need to since you refused to see a doctor. It will help me come up with a schedule.”

She walked over to stand in front of me. She slowly removed each of the buttons of my shirt. I tried to breathe normally but I was failing miserably.

The shirt fell from her shoulders and I noticed that her eyes were closed. She quickly stepped out of her shorts and tossed them aside. My breath hitched as I looked over her body, clad only in her undergarments.

“So?” she asked.

I took my time since she couldn’t see me, and allowed my eyes to roam over her body. The right side of her torso was bruised, as was the left, but not as badly. Her breasts had a few scratches but they seemed to be healing from what I could see. My eyes trailed down the softness of her belly to the curve of her hips. There were thin, long, and dark bruises on either side of them and along her thighs. I walked around her, noticing the same marks along her back and sides.

“Vianne, did he…” I trailed off, horrified.

“No,” she whispered. “I managed to take a lamp to his head before he could and we escaped.”

I nodded, aware that she was watching me in the mirrors. “I need you to tell me where the most pain is. Tell me to stop if you feel uncomfortable at any time.”

I pressed my hand on the small of her back and asked her to bend down. She barely managed a little before wincing. I had her stand back up and pressed my hand to the middle of her back asking her to bend from there. The movement didn’t seem to make her uncomfortable.

I tried to ignore the unwarranted arousal at the sight of her. I was a Grade A scumbag for being aroused while she was clearly uncomfortable about her battered body. What woman wouldn’t be? The seething anger I felt after seeing them for the first time in her bedroom returned with full force, reminding me why she was there. And that was to learn to protect herself and Claire. Not for me to ogle and seduce.

I took one of her arms, noticing the bruise on her shoulder. I lifted it up and noticed no physical distress from Vianne. I rotated it. She winced slightly before I allowed it to rest along her side. I stood in front of her, trying to avoid looking at her chest as I slid my hands from her arm to her ribs. I noticed her breath hitched.

My eyes snapped back to hers. “Do you want me to stop?” I asked.

She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and shook her head. I continued and pressed lightly on her ribs. She didn’t seem to be in pain, but when I applied just a little more pressure, she bit her lip harder and hissed.

“Sorry,” I whispered before testing her left side.

My eyes ascended from her belly button to the bruised sides of her body to her breasts. I could see her nipples hardening through the fabric of her bra and her chest rising and falling quickly.

“Vianne,” I whispered.

“Clement is going to kill me,” she mumbled.

“Why?” I asked, looking back up at her. What I was there was a little surprising.

She grabbed the back of my neck and brought my head down to hers. “Because of this.”