Chapter 23

• Leena clung to him, how he held her so gently she didn’t know. He was soothing her when she could feel the rage shaking inside him. She wanted him to hold her. No one had ever been there to hold her. To tell her it was going to be all right. She hiccupped and tightened her hold, pushing her face into the warmth of him.
• Owen sat there rocking her, uncertain what words he should use, or if he should use any. “Baby, have you ever wondered why I lit out of here the day school let out?” He didn’t need her to reply. He just wanted to fill the tense silence with soft-spoken words and continued. “My mom told me to go and go quickly.” He stroked a hand down her hair. She had shared her worst with him, so if he told her some of his story, maybe they’d be on even ground. “My old man made me his own personal punching bag for most of my childhood, and I practically lived at Dade’s. His mom would rub stinky voodoo magic ointments all over my bruises.”
• Gasping, she lifted her tear-stained face to his. “You were just a child...”