They’d fucked. He’d fed off her emotions. Now, he treated her like a stranger.
She was fiercely glad about that fact. Giving him an equally impersonal nod, she turned to Billy. “Looks like you’re not done here anyway.” Then she left, walking stiffly from the room, through a crowd of men she’d never met. More of the team from San Antonio who’d been observing the prison through the security system’s cameras from afar.
Thank God, they couldn’t see into her mind.
Which got her wondering if they actually could. She shivered, hoping they just hadn’t been all that interested in Gabriel’s sly trysts to care.
The drive home was over before she knew it. She must have been on autopilot, because it seemed liked she’d just slammed her car door shut and was suddenly there. She went through the everyday motions—picking up the paper in the driveway, unlocking her doors and slinging her bag and keys on the counter, stripping as she headed toward her bedroom, turning on the faucets to get the steam going and spilling half a bottle of bubble bath in the swirling waters before she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her body was a mess. Bruises from McPh
ee’s rough shove to the floor marked her knees and one hip. More bruises encircled her wrists and smudged the side of her face from where Ames had hit her jaw.
Her hair was straggling from her bun, mostly down, and she slowly reached up to remove the pins and rubber band, wincing at a dull ache that throbbed in her shoulder and her scalp.
The bathwater, so hot her skin tingled when she submerged her body, soon eased her aches. She drifted, exhaustion pulling her under. Just a quick doze, then she’d drag herself out. The cooling water would wake her.
A hand cupped her chin. Warm lips gently smoothed over hers.
Her eyes shot open to find Billy sitting on the edge of the tub, bending over her. She jerked back and hit her head against the tile. “What are doing here?” she said, her voice tight. “And how the hell did you get in?”
Billy’s chest, still clothed in blue, rose around a deep sigh. “Had to see you. Make sure you were okay. I knocked.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“I got worried and picked the lock.”
“Not something they teach you at the Academy.”
He shrugged, the casual gesture at odds with his dark expression. “I’ve picked up some unusual skills along the way.”
She gritted her teeth against the urge to scream. “As you can see, I’m fine. Now, get out.”
“I can’t. Not until we talk.”
Her blood pressure spiked, pounding against her temples. “Is that a euphemism for have sex?” she said acidly. “Because I can tell you right now, I’m not up for it. I want to sleep.”
“I’m leaving today.”
A deep ache seeped into her chest, which angered her. She was not going to miss him. “Have a safe trip,” she bit out.
“Gillian, enough,” he said, anger flaring in his eyes. “I’m not leaving until we get things straight between us.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. You used me. Both of you did. And every man in that room—hell every man in that prison—knows it by now. You have no idea how that makes me feel,” she said, her voice roughening toward the end.
“I think I do,” he said evenly. “You’re a proud woman. You’ve survived a lot of heartache. This can’t be easy for you.”
“Well, I certainly don’t have an ounce of pride left.” She drew in a big breath and shouted, “And I don’t have goddamn job—because there’s no way in hell I can ever look those men in the face again. I don’t have control over myself or my own destiny. Everything’s changed.”
Billy’s eyebrows raised. His hands tightened around the rims of the tub. “You can’t close the door and pretend everything’s as it was. I know. I’ve been where you are. When the marines buddied me up with Gabriel, my whole view of the world was turned on its head. Upside down. And there was no going back.”
“Thanks for letting me know it’s going to get so much better,” she said bitterly.
“I’m sorry.”
She jerked her head down. “All right, you’ve had your say. Would you leave now? Please?”
Hands plunged under the water, and he lifted her in his arms.