Free TamingTai by Chloe Cole Page B

I
could’ve listened when you tried to tell me the truth.”
    A couple stepped into the bar, sending them a curious look.
    “Can we go to your room and talk?”
    “Checkout is in a half hour. I have a two o’clock
flight.” She refused to look at him, despite the weight of his stare. She’d
hunted him down and forced him to see her, she wasn’t going to beg him to stay
too.
    “You’re not going anywhere. Not now. Change your flight, at
least until tomorrow. We don’t need to decide anything, but we need time to
talk, okay?”
    She nodded, too overwhelmed to trust her voice. Could he
really forgive her? And could she forgive herself? Only one way to find out. If
they couldn’t work through it, it would ruin her, but Tai was worth the risk.
    By the time they’d made it to her room and arranged for
another night’s stay, the tears had dried. They settled on the couch and faced
one another. She mustered up the courage and asked the question that had kept
her awake all night.
    “How did you survive those two years, Tai? Did they hurt
you?”
     
    Her terrified gaze cut through to the bone, like a cleaver.
He knew what she was asking. The question that hung, unspoken, between the
lines.
    “No.”
    She stared hard at him, her eyes silently begging for the
truth.
    “No,” he said more firmly this time. “I promise you. I was
young, but I was strong and made sure I stayed in top condition. One guy tried.
A couple well-placed punches to the kidney convinced him it was a bad idea.
After that, no one bothered me.”
    “Thank God for that, at least,” she whispered, trembling
with relief.
    “It was one of the darkest times of my life, but I’m coming
to the realization that I was partly to blame. I’ve replayed that night over
and over in my head, and you know what? The prosecutor was right. I did want to hurt him. It was my intent to maim. I lost control.”
    As he spoke, a heaviness that had weighed on him for the
past ten years vanished.
    “That goes against everything the art of Shotokan stands
for. I acted in anger, and I paid for that choice. I could’ve easily subdued
him without the kick. It burns my ass to admit it, but there it is. When I made
that choice I shamed myself. But I also shamed my sensei, the one positive male
figure in my life. Back when I was a kid and the dojo in Chinatown refused to
teach me real kung fu because I wasn’t “true Chinese”, Takahashi-san took me
under his wing and taught me the Japanese art despite my heritage. I repaid him
by smearing his name and teachings with a two-year stint in jail. In fact,
after this tour I’m going to pay him a visit.”
    She burrowed into his chest and held him tight. “I think
that’s a wonderful idea. And really, I hear what you’re saying, but the fact
is, if it wasn’t me and Pierce wasn’t a Ridell you never would have gotten such
a stiff sentence. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. I’m not convinced that
your useless public defender wasn’t a friend of my father’s. Who recommends a
plea on a case like that? Especially in light of my statement.”
    He brushed the hair from her cheek and remained silent. A
sick look washed over her face as she pushed away from him and sat up. “Tai?
What aren’t you telling me?”
    “I don’t know how to tell you this, Chris, but there was no
statement.”
    “Of course there was a statement. I had to recite it to the
policeman twice to make sure he got it all. They made me sign it.”
    Tai shook his head, tugging her back to him gently. “I don’t
know who that man was, but he wasn’t a police officer. When I was being
interrogated, the police told me that no one else backed my story and it would
be better if I just confessed to attacking Pierce out of jealousy. I tried to
argue for so long, but they wore me down. The public defender swore I’d do less
than six months if I pled. My mom and I decided it was the only option, so I
did. When the sentence was handed down we were