Unbroken by Sienna Valentine Read Free Book Online Page B

don't know if it was true but-"
     
    "Drunk?" he finished for her.  That sounded like his father alright.
     
    Amber just nodded, her big eyes looking warily at him, likely waiting for some sort of breakdown or reaction.  If she was expecting an explosion of tears, she'd be disappointed.  He felt more angry than anything.  But why? I've wished that fuck was dead more times than I can count, why should I be angry that it's finally true?
     
    "When was this?"
     
    "Last summer," she said.  Her voice was just a whisper now.  She still watched him, but made no more moves to touch him or approach. 
     
    Joel realized his hands were back into tight balls, pressed against his hips.  The blood in his veins raced through him, pulling tension and fury to each of his extremities.  He still had no idea why this news filled him with so much rage.  Unable to determine the true source, he finally settled on focusing on Amber's betrayal as a surrogate.
     
    "You had no right to invade my privacy," he said through his teeth.  His past was his and his alone.  He wasn't proud of it, and he never chose to share any more of it than he had to with anyone.  The fact that Amber and some stranger had dug around in some computer looking up details of his life filled him with apprehension.  His parents had never had any sort of computer growing up, and his school only had them in the library.  Shelters were more concerned with food and beds than technology.  Computers were an unknown entity to him.  He hadn't ever imagined they could also be used to delve into his personal history and spill his secrets.
     
    "Joel, I'm so sorry about your father..."
     
    "Are you kidding me?" he asked, his rage flaring out as he sneered at her.  "You think I give two shits that that sick fuck is dead?  Didn't your fucking computer tell you how Darryl used to beat the shit out of my mother and me?  Didn't it tell you how they kicked me out as soon as I was 18 with just the clothes on my back, happy to finally get rid of me?"
     
    "No!" Amber cried out.  "Joel, I'm sorry.  I had no idea.  We just saw the news about your parents and I thought you should know."
     
    Joel felt his face get hot as he realized it was his own admission now that was revealing the shame of his past, but he pushed past it.  Amber needed to hear these things, needed to know that he was unlovable, even to his parents.  She was too good a person to get wrapped up in his life. 
     
    "Well, now you know.  I learned to fight because of him. I learned how to take a punch, and how to deal with pain.  Maybe I at least have that to thank him for.  He also taught me that no one can be trusted."  He glared in Amber's direction.   "That's one lesson I should have paid more attention to." 
     
    "Joel-"
     
    "I don't want to hear it!" he growled.  The look on his face made Amber take a step back, causing an instant blast of remorse to well up in his stomach.  He swallowed that feeling back as well.  "Coming back here was a mistake," he said, a bit softer this time.  He shook his head as he looked around the little apartment, purposely avoiding eye contact with Amber.  If he saw her tears, he might soften the decisions that were forming in his mind.
     
    This was no place for him.  Amber was too naive.  They had nothing in common.  She didn't get him, and she never would.  He'd been alone for years, and that's the way he needed to stay.  Otherwise someone would get hurt.  And he cared too much about Amber to let that someone be her.
     
    "I don't know if this relationship is the best idea," he said.  He stared at the floor between them as he spoke.
     
    "What do you mean?" Amber's voice was quivering.
     
    "I'm worried you're going to get hurt."
     
    "Don't you think that risk is mine to take?" she replied, her voice taking on a more defiant tone. 
     
    He lifted his eyes from the floor to meet her gaze.  She was glaring at him, her eyes red from alcohol and