Free River's End (River's End Series, #1) by Leanne Davis

Chance could react. Jack grabbed the snake from her brother as if it were nothing more than a piece of rope. He obviously didn’t fear the snake, but neither did he think it was something to torture her with.
    “What the hell is going on here?”
    Jack glared down at her brother, then glanced at her. She was on her ass in the dirt. She wiped at her tears and jumped to her feet, stepping back from where Jack stood with the squirming snake.
    Chance laughed as he started to lumber onto his feet. “Ahh shit, Rydell, I was just messing around with my little sister. Haven’t you ever messed with your brothers? All siblings do it.”
    Jack stared at her brother. “She was screaming.” His acidic tone suggested the statement said it all. She hesitated. She was about to start apologizing to Jack for the commotion she inadvertently made, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was scowling at her brother and his tone was quiet, almost lethal. Huh. Maybe he disapproved of Chance doing that to her.
    “She was overreacting, Rydell. Jesus, it was no big deal.”
    Jack one-handedly pushed Chance backwards. “Get out of here, Poletti. Get out of my fucking sight right now.”
    Chance stepped back and Jack stepped forward. Her cowardly brother suddenly turned and fled towards the south field. Jack watched him go, then turned and walked out past the house before he squatted down and gently released the snake.
    Maybe he’d simply go back to work. No. No such luck. He walked back to where she stood, still rubbing the dirt off her ass and legs.
    “What was that?”
    She glanced up into his face. He was tall, and seemed high above her. She licked her lips in humiliation. She overacted. Her screams drew not only her brother, but also Jack from his work. He probably thought something was really wrong. Instead, he found her as usual: the stupid, insipid slut whom he hated, getting hysterical over nothing. She was sure Jack thought that of her before and this only confirmed his opinion.
    She shrugged and looked at her feet. “I’m sorry. I overreacted to the snake. I didn’t expect it. I mean, I never knew they were here.”
    “Overreacted to the snake?” he repeated as he frowned at her. He pushed the tip of his cowboy hat back and shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. What was Chance doing to you?”
    “Oh. He…” Erin didn’t know quite how to word what Chance was doing to her. He was being mean to her. No, malicious, even sadistic to her, but he never quite did anything so physical or obvious as abusing her. Sometimes, his incessant humiliation felt worse. How could she explain that? Then again, she couldn’t. Jack couldn’t know that. Jack was barely letting her stay there as it was.
    Jack’s gaze was on her and when he finally spoke, his tone was quiet. “He do things like that to you often?”
    She dropped her head. She could not look up at him for the humiliation swimming in her gut. “He thinks it’s funny.”
    Jack was staring at her and she could feel his eyes boring into her scalp. “That wasn’t funny. Not funny at all.”
    She looked up after hearing the quiet tone. She expected him to be mad at her, and not, well, so kind. Jack’s hand came out and he took her arm. She jerked back at his touch and looked down to see what he was doing. His touch wasn’t like Chance’s, however. There was no pressure. No pain.
    He pushed the long sleeves of Joey’s coat up her arm. Her wrist was bright red where Chance held her while she twisted like a maniac to get free.
    “Chance often leave bruises on you, Ms. Poletti?” he asked quietly and gently. His gaze brushed over her and she stared at her red wrists.
    She shrugged. “I haven’t lived with him in years.”
    She didn’t answer his question, and he, of course, realized that. “Why would you come to him now? Here?”
    She looked up.
    “You might as well be honest with me, Ms. Poletti. I’m not quite as blind as Joey is. I see exactly what your relationship