Liam’s hand balls into a fist. “That fucker is still alive?”

“Yes, that’s all I have left. I left him alive. I didn’t even think that night he’d be dead. I knew he was still breathing. When that nice couple picked me up, the husband called it in, giving a location of where I ran from. Aiden was still at the cabin when police arrived. He was arrested. We went to trial.”

“Please tell me he’s on death row, in jail for life, something.”

I sigh. “Seven years for kidnapping, sexual assault, and battery.”

“Not long enough,” Liam hisses. I can feel the anger pouring off of him in waves.

“I know,” I whisper.

Liam and I are silent for a few minutes, both processing what is happening, what has been spilled. I’m wondering if we’re both still here. If he’ll be here when each piece of me is left on the floor. I’ve been in a trance most of the night, and I haven’t worried too much about him leaving or stopping me, telling me that’s enough, that he’s done and doesn’t want to hear more.

The part I am most worried about is yet to come. What will he think of me then?

“I moved here a year after the attack. I barely left the house. I couldn’t be around people, especially men. I covered every mirror, so I wouldn’t have to see his evidence on my body. I decided to get a tattoo.”

“And, that’s where you met James,” Liam says, surprising me.

“How do you know?”

“I might have tried to get James to tell me some information on you. Don’t worry, he didn’t spill anything.”

I smile. “I wasn’t worried. I know he would never.”

Liam sighs, like he wants to say something, but stops. I don’t want him to be jealous of James, he’s always only been a friend. He’s extremely important to me. “James was there the first time I went to the tattoo shop. It took several times before I even uttered a word. The first few times, I just ran out the door. I told myself one day that it was now or never. Thankfully, when I went in, it was just two guys, Dex and James. I didn’t want to be in a room alone with a man I don’t know, so I raised my shirt and showed him my scars. James was behind me, trying to give us privacy. He held my hand when I started to cry.”

Liam sighs again. “Sometimes I really want to punch that smug bastard in the face, but fuck, he makes it really hard not to like him.”

I laugh, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. After all, it was James’ heart of gold that gave me the courage for everything I am today and everything I have planned.

“Dex, the artist, asked me to give him a few days to come up with a drawing. I left. James caught me out in the parking lot and offered self-defense classes. Something in my gut told me to take him up on it. I met him after hours, shaking like a leaf knowing it would just be the two of us. He taught me every single night for a very long time how to defend myself, how to fight back.”

Liam lays a kiss on the top of my head. I keep going. “After the first week, I trusted him. I never told him everything, but he saw the scars because I asked him if he would sit with me during my tattoo session. It was hard getting through those. Having something sharp hit my skin was just a reminder of everything that happened not too long before. He sat there hour after hour, holding my hand and reminding me how strong I am.”

I turn toward Liam, cupping his face in my hand. “You have no reason to be jealous of James. He was always a friend, but I need you to understand. He’s more like a brother to me. He gave me back a piece of myself in that boxing ring. I rose from the fucking ashes with each jab I threw at him. I was so scared after the attack. I had my groceries delivered. He got me in that ring and made me angry for everything that happened to me. That anger fueled my drive for my safety. And one day, I didn’t cry anymore. My nightmares stopped.”

Liam breathes in heavily, cupping my face right back, bringing our foreheads together. “I do have a reason to be jealous of him. I wish I knew you back then. I wish I helped to bring you back, but I owe James my life for being there for a girl I didn’t even know at the time. And, I’m so thankful he taught you how to fight. Not only because you can protect yourself, but because you look sexy as fuck when you’re hitting that bag.”

A laugh escapes my throat. It feels as if it’s been years since I laughed, instead of mere hours. The noise sounds husky and raw. I kiss Liam on the lips. He hasn’t told me his decision, but I need to feel his soft lips against mine.

“There’s just one more thing,” I tell Liam slowly, pulling back from his embrace, so I can see his face as I lay this on him. He only nods, letting me know he’s ready. I think he feels it, too. The importance of what I’m about to say.

“When Aiden was being dragged from the courtroom after his trial, he vowed to find me again when he’s out. He was still yelling that I was his when the door slammed in his face. When he’s released, he will find me, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will try to kill me.”

“Fuck,” Liam hisses. “I will never let that happen. I—”

I press my fingers against Liam’s lips, needing to say this, needing to spill the last part of me. The core of me on the floor at his feet.

“In that ring, I made my own vow. I let him live in the cabin. I’ll never make that mistake again. He will come after me. He will try to kill me, but I vowed I will kill him first.”

There it is. My truth. My vow. I’m standing before Liam, heart ripped out of my chest, bloody from every slice of honesty’s blade, showing him all of me. I’m wholly bared to him. My heart is at his feet. I just hope he picks it up.