Page 7 of Constant Risk
It had been the hugest of deals.
She would never forget the look in Jeter’s eye when she completed his little coding puzzle and turned the laptop back around toward him with time to spare.
Until that moment she’d been nothing to him. Just another kid who, with the right guidance, would probably grow up to do pretty advanced programming, or maybe even start her own business.
But once she’d turned the laptop back around to him and he’d seen what she’d done, she had become something much different to him.
Much more interesting.
From that day forward, until the day her mother had finally broken them out, there wasn’t a single day that Bree could remember that didn’t have Michael Jeter in it.
“Were you aware of his illegal activities at the time?”
She let out a sigh. “I was eleven. And for the first time being challenged to my fullest potential. To me, it was all a game. In the beginning at least.”
“And when did things take a turn for the worse?”
She stared at the screen, almost unable to focus on Gregory’s friendly face. She tried to force words out of her mouth—once, twice—but they wouldn’t come. Panic bubbled inside her.
All she could see was Michael Jeter.
All she could hear was his voice.
All she could feel was when her leg had been broken at his command.
The room began to close in on her, the past threatening to swallow her whole.
“Hey, freckles.”
Tanner. She felt his hands on her shoulders, his strong thumbs moving gently up and down the back of her neck.
The terror faded. He was here and would help hold her demons at bay. She leaned her head back against his abdomen.
Without taking his hands off her, Tanner crouched down so Gregory could see him in the screen.
“Hey, Tanner.”
“Hi, Greg. Looks like we might need to take a break for tonight.”
Frustration floated over the lawyer’s features. “Being able to talk about this on the stand will make a difference in the case. Bree’s already written it all out, so it’s just a matter of being able to say it.”
Tanner’s voice was calm but firm, and his fingers never stopped rubbing her neck. “You read it, so you know what sort of trauma we’re talking about. You’re going to have to be more patient. Bree will get there, but it’s going be on her timetable and nobody else’s. And besides, if she decides she doesn’t want to talk about all this, you’re going to have to find a workaround. You’ve got plenty of other stuff.”
Bree rubbed her eyes. She should be able to do this. “I’m sorry, Gregory...”
He held up a hand. “No, Tanner is right. You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. God knows you’ve done enough to take the Organization, and Jeter, down.”
“Some days it’s easier to process the past than others.”
“Well, like Tanner said, we’ve got plenty to go on even if we don’t include details from your childhood.” Gregory’s voice dropped, and he gave her a sympathetic look. “But what he didto you so very clearly proves he’s a monster. If we can use that to our advantage, I think we should.”
Bree gave a tight smile and a nod, standing up and walking away from the table, as Tanner talked a few more moments with Gregory. She moved over to the front living room window, wrapping her arm around her midsection. She couldn’t see anything in the darkness—dark came early here in the heart of winter—but her mind could perfectly envision the beauty of Tanner’s ranch and the Rocky Mountains behind it. But right now the beloved scenery didn’t help.
She knew Michael Jeter was a monster. She just didn’t know if she could bear to relive it all.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she leaned back into Tanner’s strength once again. He didn’t say anything or ask her to try to voice her feelings. And she loved him more for it.
“Seems like it’s always one of our pasts coming back to haunt us,” she finally said.
