Free Kassern (Archangels Creed) by Azure Boone, Kenra Daniels Page B

"Right before my senior year of nursing school, my boyfriend talked me into sharing an apartment to save money. He came home drunk one night after promising to stop. When I tried to leave, things got violent. I spent almost a month in the hospital, and had months of recovery after that." Just talking about it made her ache deep inside, where broken ribs had punctured her lung.
    "Was he punished?"
    Devyn looked up at the hard edge in Troy's tone. His mouth had tightened into a firm line.
    "No. He called 911, said he'd walked in on the attack. He accounted for all his cuts and bruises by saying he fought off the assailant. I was unconscious for days, and couldn't tell anyone otherwise. By the time I did, he had a rock solid timeline that put him showing up at the end of the assault. He fixed it all up to look like a home invasion, and himself the hero." Lifting a forkful of scrambled eggs , her hand trembled with the memories.
    Troy ’s gaze locked on her hand, noting the tremor , but, to his credit, he didn't say anything about it . T he angry tic in his strong jaw comforted Devyn more than anything he could have said . "An d no one countered his story, or bothered to look closer?"
    "No. There had been break-ins in the area, and everyone assumed that's what it was. The few times I mentioned it was him, to cops and to friends, I was gently reminded how severely I'd been injured, and how I must have mistaken his fighting the perps and confused it all to think he'd attacked me. "
    His fork clattered onto his plate. "Seriously? No one even considered the idea?"
    Shaking her head, Devyn fell silent for a moment, collecting her thoughts, deciding if she wanted to continue, and how much to say. "Normally, I could have just started school again the next semester, but because it happened right before midterm, I didn't maintain the GPA I had to have to keep my financial aid. I could have been awarded special consideration because of the circumstances. Unfortunately, the administrator of the nursing school was my ex's step mother. My scholarship expired. There was nowhere to turn. " Devyn pushed hair behind her ear. " I called Karly and she took me in again, but things were bad for her too."
    She stopped again, rubbing at her hand as flashes of Ellis's heel grinding her hand into the tile floor came.
    "When I couldn't find other work, I took a job dancing with her. " She gave a dry laugh. " J ust kept going downhill from there ." That was enough . He didn't need all the dirty, nasty little details and she sure didn ' t feel like educat ing him on the brutal facts of some people ' s lives . Besides, they'd finished eating. "Um, I'll clean up, then see if Karly's ready to wake up and eat something yet."
    Troy finished his coffee and nodded. "I'm off work today and tomorrow, so I need to earn my rent. My parents buy houses that need repairs , I move in and fix things up, then they rent the house out." He shrugged one shoulder. "Better than living at home."
    He had no understanding of how much Devyn would love to live at home. Nothing in his life gave him a frame of reference for her situation. Even as a grown man, if things got rough, he could go home. She'd never had that security.
    By the time Devyn finished setting aside a plate for Karly and cleaning up, Troy had returned. The grungy jeans and faded button-up shirt with the sleeves ripped out combined with the tool-belt riding his hips to emphasize his leanness.
    Oblivious to her awareness, Devyn watched intently as he started removing the cabinet doors and drawer fronts. Images of his lips on various parts of her body made her tummy flip.
    Troy looked up to catch her watching and grinned when she flustered like a teenager. " Kind of waiting for you to look away so I could have a turn staring at you. "
    She chewed her lower lip as desire burned through her. So damn odd and new for her. And scary. She tossed her thumb behind her, unable to meet his gaze. " I should go check on Karly. "