Free Belonging to Them by Brynn Paulin Page A

she blinked back the tears that threatened. “No one thinks that,” he said. “I heard several guys today talking about how lucky the O’Keefes are, and how they wish a sweet, pretty girl like you had landed on their doorstep instead of ours.”
    “That’s nice,” she replied, still shaking as she held onto him. She wasn’t so sure everything would be fine. If she hadn’t been terrified of Antonio, she wouldn’t have run from town. She wouldn’t have been crossing the country to get as far from him as she could. She wouldn’t be here.
    “Rayna,” Jamie pleaded. “You’ve made me trust you. Now you trust me.”
    He kissed her nose as her guilt settled in. It wasn’t fair of her to refuse the same thing she’d made him give her.
    “I’ll try,” she promised. Nonetheless, she knew she’d do anything she needed in order to keep him safe.

Chapter Six
     
    When Jamie was injured, word had spread through Daly like wildfire. He hadn’t been able to come home immediately, but the community had gathered around him like a protective hedge. Their energy and support had strengthened him on days when he’d thought he might die. Some had traveled overseas with his brothers to visit him. Some had visited when he’d been strong enough to be transferred to the States. More had visited when he’s been moved to the hospital that served Daly and the surrounding communities. Cards and phone calls and small gifts had bolstered him and urged his recovery.
    Even deformed as he was now, they accepted him. He was one of theirs. It was outsiders he didn’t trust. Outsiders who shied away from him. Outsiders who made him feel self-conscious and doubt his worth.
    Rayna had never made him feel that way. She’d accepted him from the first minute. People here didn’t trust immediately, but they trusted Rayna. They saw her for the wonderful woman she was. Jamie didn’t have a single doubt Daly would rally around her.
    After sending her upstairs for a bubble bath—which she protested as a clichéd and sexist method of calming overwrought women—he made a few phone calls. David and Sean immediately turned around to head home and Patrick abandoned his weekly game. The sheriff went on alert.
    Jamie knew word would travel. Anyone spending time in town would be on alert for strange cars that were doing more then just getting gas or driving through. This Antonio jerk wouldn’t just sneak in. It was impossible.
    Relatively sure of Rayna’s safety, Jamie checked the locks on the back door and all the ground windows. Once his brother and cousins were home, he locked the front door, wishing they had an alarm system, but in Daly it was just unnecessary.
    A few minutes later, Rayna came downstairs wrapped in a fluffy pink robe and smelling of lavender. Jamie pulled her to sit on his lap on the couch. The other men took seats around the room.
    “Tell us about Antonio,” Jamie urged. “What’s he done?”
    “We can tell he’s a slimebucket,” Patrick added. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t be terrorizing you by screwing with your bank account access and disconnecting your cell phone.”
    “He’s violent,” she confessed. “There were little things I ignored or excused at first. Never physical things he did to me or other people. Just a maniacal streak I didn’t recognize. Looking back, I realize he was verbally abusive at times. I didn’t recognize that either. I just thought we were arguing. But he was hurtful in the things he said. I felt so stupid when I found out that that’s one of the first warnings of an abuser.”
    Jamie stroked her back. “It’s not like they wear signs.”
    “It was after we got engaged that things escalated. He wanted to script my every move, know where I was at and what I was doing at all times. Sometimes he got rough, but he didn’t hurt me. Then one night, he beat the crap out of me. I reported him to the police and broke it off.”
    “Asshole,” Patrick ground out, his fingers white on the arms