Six Degrees of Lust by Taylor V. Donovan Read Free Book Online

lobby.
    No sense in dwelling over something that was now out of his
    hands.
    § § § §
    Bruised knuckles hurt like the devil, especially when the skin
    was cut open. After two days the swelling should have gone down
    a little, if only he’d taken a moment to put some ice on them right
    after he’d hit the stars out of that piece of shit known as his
    brother in law. But he hadn’t had the head for it as, at the time, a
    few possibly broken fingers were the least of his concerns.
    Sam emptied his bathroom sink and, after moving his fingers
    carefully, lifted his hand for a closer inspection. Significant
    36 Taylor V. Donovan
    swelling, a few open cuts, and early scabbing. He’d live.
    He gulped down some ibuprofen and walked into his bedroom,
    shaking his head when the events that went down on Wednesday
    crossed his mind. He hadn’t been so close to domestic violence
    since his days in uniform and, albeit disturbing, none of the calls
    he ever responded to had touched him in a personal way. This
    was completely different.
    He lay down on his bed and absently rubbed his fingers up
    and down his stomach. A knot of apprehension had formed
    there the moment he arrived at his sister’s house, and it hadn’t left
    him since, even though he had effectively removed both her and
    his nephew from harm’s way. Now that he’d sent that jerk off
    to jail and brought Sandy and Nicky home with him, he needed
    to figure out what the heck he was going to do. He had to find
    a way to make it up to Nicky for not realizing earlier the hell he
    had been living in.
    God, he’d been so blind. His nephew, a normally chipper and
    outgoing kid had been introverted and bashful the last time Sam
    had been over to visit him a few weeks ago. He should’ve known
    there was a reason, other than Nick getting older, that he hadn’t
    hugged Sam the way he always did, a reason why Nick seemed to
    be walking on egg shells and behaved like a miniature grown up
    even though he was only twelve. The signs had been there and
    Sam had managed to miss them all. Granted Sandy living upstate
    didn’t make it exactly easy for Sam to be around them enough to
    observe much of anything, but he’d tried his best.
    Despite his crazy busy schedule at work, he stopped by to
    see his mother and called his sister and nephew at least twice a
    week, refusing to allow his emotional impairment to extend to
    his immediate family. He might have no problem staying away
    from relationships, and the responsibility and emotional turmoil
    that were invariably attached to them, but he still cared for a few
    individuals. Sam had been certain that they knew he would always
    make himself available if they needed him, but apparently he
    hadn’t been that clear.
    That would certainly explain why his sister failed to mention
    six DegRees of Lust 37
    her husband was physically abusing her. It would also explain
    why she seemed to be more withdrawn every time he talked to
    her; why she kept quiet even when the abuse extended to her
    own son. It’d only taken a fifteen second phone call from his
    terrified nephew to get Sam to drop everything and run to the
    airport to catch the next flight to Buffalo.
    That he’d failed to make her understand she could count
    on him no matter what. Yeah… that had to be it, because the
    alternative would be Sandy knowing she could call and deciding
    against it. That was something he couldn’t even contemplate
    when his own guilt was so overwhelming it felt like a ton of
    bricks lying heavily on his chest.
    Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself out of bed and
    threw on some sweats and a t-shirt. He was so emotionally and
    psychologically drained that his body felt like he’d gone ten
    rounds with a heavy weight champion. He needed to get some
    sleep, clear his mind enough to figure out what he was going to
    do now that his house had transformed from a bachelor pad into
    a shelter overnight. But first he needed to go check on his guests.
    He