Free Capturing Callie by Avery Gale Page B

weird, you know?” Mitch knew she was struggling to get her feet under her, because this whole situation had blindsided her.
    “Sure, I’m a retired Navy SEAL whose specialty was communications. I am one of two husbands in a polyamorous marriage, and we live in Colorado. My wife Rissa is expecting soon, and she is a fireball. Both Bryant Davis and I are Doms, and Rissa is our submissive as well as our wife. Well, at least she lets us believe she’s submissive. Quite frankly, sometimes it’s a bit difficult to determine who’s running the show—especially right now.” He laughed and was relieved to hear her soft laughter. He heard her thoughts clearly now, and he was glad to know she was relaxing and had decided he was genuinely a nice guy who seemed to have her best interests at heart even if he was a pal of Ian’s. “How about this? I know it’s hard to start, so why don’t you tell me about the incident yesterday that prompted Ian to call me?” He saw her glance down at her hand, and when she returned her eyes to his, he could see the unshed tears.
    “Well…I got lost in the memory of something that happened to me in high school. And if I was a betting person, I’d bet you already know all about this or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” She took a deep breath, and Mitch could see her gathering her resolve. “At the end of my junior year, I went to a beer party down at the river outside of the town where I’d grown up. I didn’t drink, and that made some people think I was being a snob. That wasn’t it, I just didn’t like the taste of beer and I had driven so I knew I couldn’t drink. Anyway, when I was walking back to my car, I was ambushed by a couple of drunk guys who were home from college for summer break. They were several years older than I was, but I knew who they were because their families were big shots in our small town.” She took several deep breaths, and he could see she was thinking about her next words. He waited patiently while she fiddled with the hem of the shirt she wore. “They raped me, Mr. Grayson. And one of the things I have regretted the most in my life is letting my mother talk me out of pressing charges against them.”
    Mitch had never wanted to hurt a woman like he wanted to hurt Callie Reece’s mother. How any woman could treat her daughter so callously was lost on him. But to do so because of possible damage to your perceived social standing was even more incomprehensible. He waited a few seconds so she wouldn’t feel his words were trite and spur of the moment, it was important that she understood he had really been listening and his words were the result of the information she’d just given, not hours of previous research. “Callie, first of all, please call me Mitch. I’m curious, why do you think your mom would do that?”
    She laughed, but it certainly wasn’t a sound of joy. “My mom knew if I reported it, her social standing would be forever damaged. And trust me, Mitch, that was and always will be much more important to my mother than justice for me. She isn’t a very nice person, let’s just leave it at that. Anyway, I moved in with relatives for my senior year, and they were wonderful to me. For the first time, someone cared more about me than they cared about whether or not they were going to be invited to the Snow Ball at the Country Club.” Mitch was relieved when the waves of anxiety that had been coming from Callie during the first part of their talk changed to warmth and love as she spoke about her time with her aunt and uncle.
    “Tell me about the family that you moved in with.” He wanted to give her a chance to regroup a bit and spending time recalling that time was obviously filled with happy memories and a great way for her to relax.
    As she related stories about her time with a family that obviously treated her well, he listened as much to what she didn’t say as to what she did. Not once did she mention a visit from her