Hostile Home Front [Black Ops Brotherhood 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Bella Juarez Page A

remember?” Gavin said with a smile.
    Amy pulled on a sweater and let her chocolate tresses down from the clip she had used for her shower. She started to put her hair up again when Gavin stopped her.
    “Leave it down,” Gavin requested.
    “It’s a mess and I don’t have time to straighten it.”
    “Leave it down. It’s perfect the way it is, just brush it. Better yet, let me,” Gavin said, sitting at the edge of the bed.
    “Gavin…”
    “Get a brush,” Gavin ordered.
    Amy sighed and turned to her dressing table where she retrieved her brush. She handed the brush to Gavin, who motioned for her to sit on his lap with her back facing him. He reached up and brushed her long, soft hair. It fell down past her shoulders. He finished and told her to stand up and turn around. He stood and took her hand.
    “You look perfect. Are you ready?” Gavin asked.
    “I need to get my shoes on.”
    “Okay, hurry up,” he said, giving her sexy butt a pat.
    They drove to a local seafood restaurant that Amy liked. It was hell getting that out of her. Amy kept telling Gavin to go where he wanted. They almost got in to a fight.
    “Amy! What is your favorite restaurant? Surely you have one. Honey, I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want you to pick,” Gavin said impatiently.
    “Pelican’s Warf.” Amy sighed.
    “Okay, that’s where we’ll go.”
    “But if you don’t like seafood, I understand. We can go somewhere else,” Amy quickly added.
    “Honey, I ate your pussy earlier and we ate seafood on our second date! I’ll eat seafood,” Gavin quipped.
    Despite the fact that Amy should have been embarrassed, she started giggling and then laughing. Gavin smiled at her. That was his Amy! He loved that little giggle. They pulled into the parking lot and he could sense a change in her. He asked the waitress to seat them in a far dark corner of the restaurant. He wanted her to have some sense of privacy. They were seated, ordered drinks, and Gavin flipped through the menu.
    “What’s good here? I’ve never been here,” Gavin said.
    Amy was looking at the menu but not reading it. She looked off into the distance. He reached across the table and took her hand. She looked at him, uncertain, almost afraid.
    “Amy, what’s good here? I’ve never been here.”
    Gavin could tell Amy was really getting stressed about their little talk.
    “Um, the fresh catch of the day is usually good. The scampi, it depends,” Amy said, looking back down at the menu.
    The waitress returned and Amy ordered the fresh catch of the day. Gavin followed suit and ordered the same.
    “So? Talk to me,” Gavin said.
    Amy looked out the window. “I’ve had a really rough few years. When I met Tim, I was finishing up my master’s degree at Syracuse University. Cheryl, one of my friends, had just married and I came home for the wedding. I met Tim there. He was a friend of the family.”
    Amy looked down at her hands. Gavin said nothing, choosing to remain as neutral as he could.
    “I came home to do my PhD, and I went to Austin. He was always coming up to Austin to visit. He would take me out and it got to be a routine.”
    Amy looked away and Gavin could tell this was really getting difficult for her.
    “I knew Tim drank before I married him and he could be a little critical. I guess I just overlooked it. I should’ve gotten a clue when he spent our wedding night passed out drunk,” Amy said quietly.
    Gavin was making every effort he could to remain impassive and unemotional. He wanted Amy to trust him. He was positive he wouldn’t like the outcome of this story. In fact, he was certain he would be downright pissed at its conclusion.
    “He never touched me before we were married. He never really liked me in bed, and I guess my body wasn’t all he expected. And he pretty much told me that on a regular basis. Then other things started happening. He took control of everything. He took control of all our money, even what we ate. He wouldn’t let