Part 208 (2/2)

exception. You want to sit up here all alone. That's fine.” He picked

up the phone and ripped it out of the wall. ”You just sit up here.” He

threw the phone up against the wall before he strode out, slamming and

locking the door behind him.

She sat curled on the bed, breathing hard, too numb to ache from the

cuts and bruises. It was a nightmare, she thought. She'd had other

nightmares. Painfully, she remembered the slaps and shouts she'd lived

with for the first three years of her life.

Spoiled little b.i.t.c.h.

Was that Jane's voice, or Drew's?

s.h.i.+vering, she reached out. The little black dog from her childhood sat

on the pillow. Curling her arm around him, she cried herself to sleep.

WHEN HE UNLOCKED THE DOOR the next morning, she was asleep. Standing in

the doorway, Drew studied her dispa.s.sionately. The side of her face was

swollen. He'd have to make sure she didn't go out in public for a

couple of days.

Stupid to have lost his temper, he thought, rubbing his palms on his

thighs. Satisfying, but stupid. But then, she was always pus.h.i.+ng him.

He was doing his best, wasn't he? And it wasn't easy. A man might as

well take a dead fish to bed as sleep with her. And she was always

talking about her G.o.dd.a.m.n show, sneaking off for hours in the darkroom

instead of taking care of him.

It was his work, his needs, that came first. It was time she understood

that.

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