Things Made Right by Tymber Dalton Read Free Book Online Page B

believed they were merely there for the taking. No better than worthless, disposable property.
    They also tended to breed future generations of men who didn’t treat women any better.
    “You do realize,” Sully finally said, speaking slowly and very low after a careful glance around, “that you probably were not their first victim.”
    “I know I wasn’t. They told me that much, that they’d gotten away with it before. And because they were on the football team, they could pretty much do whatever they wanted. When they threatened me they said they’d do it again, even worse next time, if I didn’t let it drop. And then there was the other girl who came to me and told me they’d done it to her, too.”
    “You also have no proof he had anything to do with their…accident.”
    Loren arched an eyebrow at him.
    “No, seriously,” he said. “It’s all circumstantial. Reasonable doubt. You don’t know what happened. Ross never admitted to you what happened.” He shrugged. “Coincidence.”
    “If I refuse to talk to this woman, it’s going to look suspicious, isn’t it? If she’s dug something up that I don’t know about and confronts me with it, what am I supposed to do?”
    “For starters, if there was anything, any evidence, it would have come to light long ago. Secondly, like you said, it was thirty years ago. Memories fade, change, get distorted. So what if your recollection differs? And thirdly, but most importantly, you don’t have to go talk to her. Or if you feel you must talk with her, then do it over the phone.”
    “I think part of me wants to see what the sister of a monster looks like.”
    “Do you want me to go with you?”
    “No, that’s okay. I need to do this myself.”
    “Or wait until Ross is back in town and let him go,” Sully suggested.
    “I don’t want to do that, either. I promised him I’d never bring this topic up to him.”
    “I’m sure he didn’t mean in a situation like this.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I don’t disobey him. And I want this done as soon as possible so she goes away. I don’t want her anywhere near him.”
    “Or you know he’ll say no.”
    She shrugged. “Maybe.”
    “Then it sounds like you’ve made up your mind. You’re not my wife, nor are you my slave. I’m not going to order you one way or the other, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
    “I…” She took a deep breath. “My college roommate, Emily, she died ten years ago in a car accident. Other than Ross, and the girl who came to me after it happened to me, no one knows. Well, and the asshole campus cop who blew me off. I don’t think Emily ever told Mark what happened. I know Ross didn’t. I’ve never even talked to a counselor about it. I was afraid to, that they might report it. I needed to get it out of me to someone I trusted. I think that’s mostly why I came here today.”
    He reached across the table and gently squeezed her hand. “Thank you for having that level of trust in me.”
    He hoped if Clarisse ever needed to talk to someone the way Loren was now talking to him, that she would go to Ross to unburden herself.
    Although in Clarisse’s case, maybe she didn’t feel even the slightest bit of guilt.
    Nor should she.

Chapter Nine
     
    Then…
     
    Emily and Mark had gone home for the weekend. It was a Friday night, and Ross and Loren had the apartment to themselves. She’d fixed him dinner and he’d promised tonight they would talk after they ate.
    It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts before he spoke.
    “If you want to be with me, there’s something you need to know,” Ross said. “And I honestly don’t know, after what you went through, if it’s a good idea for you.”
    It was two weeks after the “tragic accident.”
    Loren wondered if it made her a horrible person for feeling so at peace, especially with Ross.
    Because of Ross and what she knew deep in her heart he’d done.
    For her.
    He’d made it right, just like he’d