A Man to Trust by Cheryl Yeko

your life.”
    His blood thickened when her full, tempting lips pursed into a brief pout before she spoke. “I met him right after my mother’s death.”
    He waited, then sighed when she didn’t continue. Getting her to share information wasn’t going to be easy. He knew her mother had died of cancer right before her marriage to Beebe. It must have been a fast romance if they’d married just after her death.
    “Why the rush?”
    She blushed a lovely shade of pink. “That’s a rather personal question.”
    He said nothing, just quirked a brow and waited.
    An uncomfortable silence filled the room. When she finally spoke, he had to lean in to hear her softly spoken words.
    “I thought it was because he loved me.”
    “Are you saying he didn’t?”
    She blinked away tears that clung to her lashes. He silently cursed, hating that he was the cause of her pain, when he only wanted to protect her. He steeled himself against the guilt. The best way to accomplish that was to discover her carefully guarded secrets.
    Anger flashed across her face. “No. He just wanted to possess me.” Then the anger dropped away. Replaced by that haunting sadness he’d glimpsed before, flowing across her face like a spring tide . . . there, and then gone. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely he would have missed it.
    He fisted his hand at his side and swallowed his anger, taking a steadying breath. “Could you explain that statement just a little bit?” His voice was low, steely.
    She stood abruptly and began to pace. Jake had to strain his ears to hear her when she spoke.
    “As you can imagine, I was devastated when I lost my mother. My father died when I was younger. After mom died, it was just me and my grandmother.”
    She paused at the kitchen. “I met Scott at my health club about a week after her death.” She gave a soft laugh that ended on what sounded like a sob and began to pace again. “He swept me off my feet.”
    Jake grimaced. Scott had been nearly ten years older than her. She’d been young and vulnerable.
    She continued. “I—I had this romantic notion that I wanted to go to my wedding bed . . . untouched.” Her voice broke on the last sentence and she stopped to stand in the middle of the room, her head bowed.
    Jake clamped his jaw tight to stop the curse that hung there.
    She’d been a virgin?
    There was a moment of silence. “Angel?” he prodded.
    She glanced up at him, her eyes filled with pain. “Let’s just say it wasn’t the night of my dreams.” She turned away.
    Jake could stand it no more and leapt to his feet and reached her in two quick steps. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against him. She trembled. Whether from desire or fear, he didn’t know.
    “Tell me.” He tried to soften his tone, but his voice sounded harsh.
    Dammit .
    It was the best he could do with both anger and lust clawing at him.
    “He showed me that I belonged to him, and no one else.”
    Jake felt the tears that dripped onto his arm and tensed. His teeth gritted, filled with the urge to either fight or fuck, to release the pent-up emotions that burned through him.
    But this wasn’t about him. This was about Angela and her pain. His imagination managed to create an all-too-real picture of that night in his mind.
    “He hurt you?”
    “Yes.” Her voice shook.
    She straightened and stepped away, forcing him to release her. His arms fell to his sides.
    “Then he made sure I’d never forget that he owned me.”

CHAPTER 7
    J.D. braked in front of a white colonial style home with blue and gray shutters, nestled under a forest of trees at the end of a cul-de-sac located in an upscale neighborhood of Port Washington. The boutique business must be doing very well, he mused, eyeing the new, bright red, GTO Mustang that sat in the driveway.
    Rick had asked him to speak with Angela’s friend, Stacey, and see if he could learn anything that might help with the case. He exited the car and made his way to the