Invidious Betrayal by Shea Swain

the phone. She sat on the sofa with her knees pulled to her chest and her chin rested on them. Ian heard enough to know she had called home and had spoken to her mother. That comforted him.
    “I know everything sucks right now, but we’re going to get you through this.”
    Aria eyes lifted. “Why are you helping me?” Her voice was muffled due to her resting her chin on her knees.
    Ian sat at the far end of the sofa, leaving the middle cushion between them free. “I just want to do the right thing, keep you safe. It would be easier if you let me take you to the hospital and call the cops.”
    Aria pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “I can’t,” she sighed. The cut on her lip must have hurt because she grimaced, then let her newly moistened lip free.
    Ian took a deep breath. Aria’s strength was unparalleled as far as he was concerned and her beauty affected him deeper than any woman he’d ever come across. He’d touched and tasted her but that hadn’t dulled his fascination. In short, Ian felt he must exercise extra control of his body when he was around her.
    Only her .
    It had taken him by surprise when the waitress kissed him—both times—but he’d felt nothing. The earth didn’t tremble, the stars hadn’t sparkled brighter, and his heart hadn’t stopped. But when his lips had touched Aria’s…
    Ian forced the inappropriate thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of the events of that night as anything but wrong. Only a first-class asshole would think about touching her again so he focused on her words.
    “Would you have admitted the part you played if I had gone to the hospital?”
    “Yes,” Ian said with no hesitation. “I would have.”
    Aria sighed. “Then you would have gotten in trouble.”
    Ian shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. “So you were protecting me?”
    “Not entirely.” Aria closed her eyes and sighed. “My dad is kind of a cop. Well, he’s the sheriff of Land’s End Township, Pennsylvania, and he never cared for Gail. He’s sort of verbal about it, too. My dad’s verbal about a lot of things.” She chuckled but there was no humor behind it. “I went with her yesterday even though he wasn’t happy about it.”
    “So you refuse to get medical attention because your dad was right about your so-called friend.”
    “If you say it like that, then it sounds dumb, but you don’t understand.” Aria opened her eyes, but she didn’t look at him. “My dad is very protective of me.” She sat up and nervously rubbed her hands over her knees. “Do you know why I went with Gail in the first place?”
    “Why?” Ian asked, hoping he didn’t sound as eager as he felt for the morsel of information.
    Aria took a deep breath then exhaled. “Guys in my town don’t treat me the way they do the other girls. My first kiss when I was ten was identical to the one I had at Glen Howard’s party last month. Neither had the passion a kiss should. I later found out that my dad had been intimidating them all, all of the guys I knew. The word around town is, ‘don’t ask Aria Cole out on a date unless you plan on marrying her.’ I wanted to go somewhere he doesn’t have any control. Guess I got what I was looking for, huh?”
    “Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that,” Ian said, through clenched teeth. Anger was something Ian felt was useless; most emotions were, so it surprised him that he was so angry—had been on an emotional rollercoaster since meeting her—that he wanted the men who hurt her to suffer severely. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. And your dad would be more concerned with your health than saying ‘I told you so.’”
    “That’s not the only thing I’m worried about,” Aria admitted. “My dad was raised on old-school justice. Instead of an eye for an eye, my dad takes two. He wouldn’t rest until all of you were dead or suffering daily. Because there’s little evidence of what happened, he’d take your