Tank pushed the barbell back on the rack and turned his music down. The thumping of the bass distracted him. He needed silence and sweat to clear his muddled mind.

Thunder from outside boomed around his cabin as lightning lit up the night sky. The noise of the rain soothed him, but nothing helped his brain.

Usually, physical activity did the trick. Made things he didn’t understand clear. Tonight, not so much. With every chest press, his body grew weary, his mind heavier. He had to get Annie to listen to him, and see the truth—her soon-to-be husband would never stop abusing her.

“Why won’t the woman listen, huh?” he asked Alfred. The dog cocked his head to the side and gave him a blank stare. “I know, buddy. I can’t figure it out either.”

A loud banging thrashed against his front door, followed by another roll of thunder. The banging grew louder and faster. Al ran down the hall, barking and wagging his tail.

What the hell?

He raced through the house and peeked out the living room window. A car sat in the grass. Al clawed the front door, anxious to greet the person on the other side.

“Down, boy.” Tank pulled the door open.

Annie stood just outside the threshold, her hair slick against her face, her cheek colored a deep shade of blue, and her left eye nearly swollen shut.

“Annie?”

Seeing her standing there on the other side of the door freshly battered and bruised, looking like a lost puppy, sent a tremor down his spine and gave him an immediate knot in his stomach.

The bastard had done it again.

“Can I c-come in?” Her lower lip trembled. From pain or the cool of the rain, he didn’t know which.

He pushed the door open wider. “Of course.” Alfred jumped on his back legs, front paws in the air. “Down, boy,” he commanded and shooed his dog out of the way as she walked inside. “Were you followed?” The thickness of the storm made it hard to see as he glanced out the door.

“I don’t think so. I took extra turns just in case.” She stood on the floor mat in his living room, shivering. Her hair dripped water down her back and onto the floor. Blood droplets covered the left shoulder sleeve of her diner shirt, and a cut grazed her cheek, dried blood keeping the wound closed. A red line covered the side of her neck.

“Your neck?” He pointed as he shut and locked the front door.

She reached for the back of her neck. “My locket.” Her eyes widened as she moved her hand to her throat. “The chain must have broken.”

“Do you think it fell off outside?” He hooked a thumb toward the door.

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t.” Fresh tears began to well in her good eye.

He fought the urge to wipe them away. “Let me get you a towel. Do you need to go to the hospital?” He rushed toward his bathroom.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she called from the living room.

Fine? She was anything but fine. This situation was anything but fine.

Rummaging through his cabinet, he grabbed the biggest towel and headed back to her. “Here.” Unfolding the cloth, he placed it over her shoulders. “Did you bring anything else with you?”

“Just my purse. I got out of there as quick as I could, and I guess I didn’t notice my locket had fallen off.” She reached for her bare collarbone then dropped her hand. “Duke is on the night shift tonight. When I woke up, he was gone.” Her eyes gazed to the floor as if in a trance. Another rumble of thunder shook outside, and she gave a jerk. “I… I noticed the time when I got up.” She focused back on him, her words tumbling from her mouth. “His shift had just begun, so he should have been at the station clocking in and getting a detailed report of anything that happened earlier today. Oh, God, what if…what if he was already done at the station? What if he followed me here?”

“Annie.” He held a hand up. “Calm down. I just looked outside. Remember? No one is out there.”

“Right.” She nodded, her hands clearly shaking as she gripped the towel on her shoulders.

“You said you woke up. Did you fall asleep?”

“No. Well, yes, I guess I did, after…” Annie pointed to her face.

He gazed over her bruises again, his stomach churning at the agony she had to be in. “What the hell did he do to you? Did he knock you out?”

“No. He just knocked me down. I faked the blackout part, but then I actually fell asleep. I guess my body needed to recover from all the pain.”

“Damn it.” That son of a bitch. A tense yearning to pound his fist into the door tried to take over, but he controlled his temper. If he acted too harshly, she would think he wasn’t any better than the man she ran from. He didn’t want her running.

He just wished he’d been there to prevent it.

The weight of his stare must have made her uncomfortable, because she turned her face away to glance down at Alfred.

The dog licked her hand.

“He likes you,” he said to lighten the mood, if such a mood could be lightened.

“He seems to.” She knelt down, placed her bag on the floor, and rubbed his ears. Almost as quick as she bent down, she shot up, her face contorting from the hasty movement.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. God.” She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry. What am I doing?” The towel fell to the ground as she grabbed her bag, and slowly lifted the strap back over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have come here. When Duke gets home, he’s going to be so angry I left. You’re not safe with me here. I-I’m sorry.” She turned and grabbed the door handle.

Tank placed his palm flat on the door and pushed the wood closed, blocking her with his body. She tensed her shoulders and jerked her hand back to her side. Fight or flight ready to take over.

“Listen, Annie.” He kept his voice controlled, low. “I’m not going to tell you what to do. You’re a grown woman, but if you go back there, if you go back to him, what will happen next time? Will he break something? Will you be hospitalized? Worse?” He didn’t want to say what that worse would be.

Her eyes flashed a pain he, too, had long ago experienced, and he fought for control not to raise his voice, scare her even more in his desperation to make her understand. He would never gain her trust by frightening her. Her fiancé proved that.

He lowered his hand on the door and stepped slightly to

the side. Her escape route clear. “Annie, please stay. Your

face.”

She held a hand to her cheek.

That cop should be in prison for what he’s done, and Tank urged to bring retaliation on the man. Instead, gently, he raised his hands and rested them on her shoulders. Her face contorted in agony as she winced. He eased his grip even lighter and stared her straight in her eyes. Green irises glanced back at him, surrounded by little red veins, her left eyelid daring more and more to close shut. The beautiful, smiling waitress he met last week seemed a distant memory to the one he saw now.

“You have a place to stay if you want. You can stay here as long as you’d like.”

“You don’t even know me. Why are you doing this?”

The million-dollar question. The pull he felt toward her didn’t make sense, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ignore it. He had to protect her.

“Because I hate seeing innocent people abused, and I promise you, if you stay here, you’ll never be a victim again.”

Her body tensed under his gentle hold, and her gaze danced around the room.

“Besides,” he added, nodding to Alfred, “we have the best guard dog in the woods.”

She let out a small chuckle. The sound of her slight happiness echoed through his walls, affecting him more than it should. The smile wasn’t much, but regardless, laughing was good.

“Okay.” She eased under his grip, pushed back a tear, and glanced down at his dog. “But on one condition.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” He placed a finger under her chin, easing her head up. Scared she might pull back, he made sure his touch was feather light. He wanted her to look at him. Trust him. She needed to see he wasn’t going to hurt her, ever.

To his surprise, she didn’t pull back but glanced up and stared.

“You tell me your real name.”

A smile touched his lips. Even in turmoil, she still had her spirit.

“Tyler. Tyler Wilde.”

She slowly extended her hand. “Tyler Wilde, I’m Annie Carter. It’s a pleasure to officially meet you.”

He took her small hand in his. “Pleasure’s all mine, Annie.”

Her lip raised, and the smile met her good eye. His heart pulsed as an even stronger and overwhelming urge to guard her took over.

“Get comfortable.” He took her bag from her, placed it on the coffee table, then picked up the towel off the floor and set it back on her shoulders. “Take a seat on the couch. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you some dry clothes.” He turned down the hall and into his room.

Nearing his dresser, he stopped and stared at the pile of letters on top. Every single one of them left unopened, all from his dad. A heavy reminder of why he was in Black Widow stared back at him with the untouched letters. No one deserved to live in fear.

Especially not Annie.

He grabbed a fresh pair of pants and a shirt from a drawer then took the pile of letters and shoved them in the empty spot the clothes had been.

When he entered the living room, Alfred jumped on the couch and rested his head on her lap. “Al, leave her alone.”

Annie smiled. “He’s fine. I’ve never had a pet before.”

“Really? Never?”

“No. My mom was allergic, and I didn’t want to bring an animal into my home with Duke because I was afraid of…well.” She pointed to her face. “Ya know.”

“You were afraid he would abuse the animal.”

“Yeah.” She glanced down at his lab and lazily scratched his black ears.

“That’s how I got this rascal here.” He sat on the other side of Alfred. “I was out for a ride one day and just happened to see the owner mistreating him. I pulled over, asked the man to stop.”

“What happened?”

“The man wanted to make something of it. I didn’t. I saw he had an empty box of beer by his lawn chair, so I told him I’d give him two hundred dollars for the dog. He could have a pretty good weekend on two hundred dollars’ worth of beer.”

Annie rubbed down Al’s back and glanced at him. “You paid two hundred dollars for him?”

“Yep. Best two hundred I’ve ever spent.” He looked her in the eyes. “No one deserves to be abused, Annie. Not even a dog.”

She turned her head down to face her lap. “I know,” she replied, her voice low.

The moment was tense. Too tense. He wanted her to feel safe, not uncomfortable. “Here. I brought you some clothes.” Handing her the pile, he suggested, “Why don’t you go take a bath? I can give you some frozen peas for your eye, and you can relax for a little bit.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to intrude. You’ve done more than enough. I’ll try to figure something out tomorrow.”

 Tomorrow? She couldn’t leave. Not until they had a proper plan in place. “Annie, no one will hurt you here. I promise. You can relax.” Gently, he reached for her hand, and squeezed. Was he touching her too much? Last thing he wanted her to think was that he was looking to get something from this situation.

He pulled his hand back. “There is a lock on the door, and you can even take Alfred with you as a guard if you’d like.”

She nodded. “A bath does sound good. Are you sure?”

“One thing you’ll learn about me, Annie, I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“Okay, I think I will then, but you can keep Alfred.”

“Probably for the best. He has a bad habit of sniffing butts.”

She let out another giggle, the pleasant sound unusual in his small home. Something he could definitely get used to.

“I’ll get your peas.”

He placed a fresh towel, washcloth, and a package of frozen vegetables by the bathtub then stepped out into the hall to give her some space. “Soap, shampoo, everything’s in there. You think you’ll need anything else?”

She stood in the middle of the bathroom; her arms wrapped around her torso, and stared at the tub. “No, I think I’m fine. I must say your tub is huge.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a big guy. Gramps was, too.”

“Yeah, I remember.” She gave him a soft smile.

He stared down at the ground and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll…uh…I’ll be in the living room when you’re done.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Come on, boy.” Alfred stood beside her in the bathroom, not moving. “Al, let’s go.” The lab stared up at Annie, wagging his tail.

“Go on, boy. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Reluctantly, his dog trudged out of the bathroom.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him,” he said, trying to play off Alfred’s disloyal behavior before he closed the door. Standing on the other side of the threshold, he heard the sound of water slapping the porcelain tub. Al followed him into the living room and jumped on the sofa.

He knew what had gotten into Alfred. There was a good-looking woman getting naked just on the other side of the door. “You hound dog.” He scratched the pup’s ears.

Mercy.

What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Annie slipped off her rain soaked clothes and winced as she eased into the tub. Bruises peppered her arms and legs, some old, some new. Her head pounded, the back of her neck burned from the chain digging into her skin, and the vision in her left eye blurred. Yet, none of those things were her biggest concern.

Her most sizeable concern was the man sitting in the living room, watching television. Big didn’t even describe him. Large, giant, massive…she wasn’t sure which adjective fit him best.

Looking at him would have even the bravest of men turning to run. Yet, under all that muscle, he seemed kind, and the lightness with which he touched her, she could even dare to say gentle.

You sound like a Disney princess. Might as well break out in song.

Major difference, though, Tyler was no beast.

Still, kind and gentle didn’t justify the fact she sat in his bathtub. She was naked in another man’s house that wasn’t her fiancé’s, and she hadn’t even known the man’s real name until ten minutes ago. What was wrong with her?

She reached for the shampoo; a sharp pierce ricocheted through her ribs making her want to cry out in pain. The gold of her ring clanged against the porcelain tub as she gripped the edge and willed the pain to go away, praying nothing was cracked or broken. An intense pain coursed through her when she’d bent to pick up her purse, and a slight twinge had pinched her side when she laughed and shook Tyler’s hand, but this pain from her twisting was almost unbearable. She must have hit the coffee table harder than she remembered.

After a couple of minutes, when the pain finally subsided, she decided against washing her hair. The sharp, severe discomfort gave her the answer she’d been seeking. She stared at her hand, the giant diamond sparkling back at her. Nothing like the grim life she lived now. Loving Duke had come easy, and so had accepting his proposal. But unlike the glimmer in her ring, their love faded. Taking shelter with Tyler meant living, and facing Duke would be her death.

And despite the nightmare she’d been living for the past six months, something in the big man’s eyes gave her hope. Hope for a better life than the one she currently had. There had to be more.

Sinking lower in the water, she slipped off her ring and laid it on the tub, praying Tyler’s behavior wasn’t a facade like Duke’s had been when they first started dating.