The Bodyguard's Catch

Chapter 4

So half an hour later, they were standing awkwardly in his living room. It was still a bit too early to go to bed, and he wanted—no, needed—to tell Jordyn why he'd disappeared that night; get it over with so it wasn't hanging over his head. Maybe when she knew the truth, it would put up a barrier so his stupid heart would quit hoping for something more. Then they could both move on. He needed to tell her all of it too. So any lingering feelings she had for him would be obliterated. If they weren't already.

He blew out a resigned breath and stiffened his spine. Maybe the reality of her knowing would help him move on too.

"Sit down, Jordyn. Let's get this over with."

She made herself comfortable on his studded leather couch. Well, not his really. The house was tastefully furnished in a rustic motif courtesy of Max. Thankfully, now that Jordyn was actually in his home, it wasn't the rundown apartment in the low-rent district of North Hollywood.

"I'm tempted to say it doesn't matter anymore. Water under the bridge and all that, but I can't. I need to know why you disappeared. I thought you were dead, Remo, because I knew you wouldn't leave without saying anything to me. When I finally made myself ask someone in the school office about it, I realized what a fool I was. They told me you had moved and were no longer enrolled."

He quickly sat next to her and took her hand in both of his, ignoring the buzz of electricity that shot up his arm at the contact. "You have to know, if I had any choice, I wouldn't have hurt you like that. You have no idea how hard it was to not let you know I was leaving."

"Not as hard as not knowing, I can guarantee that."

Her voice had a strangled sound to it and a tear hung on her lashes. She looked quickly at him, then away, blinking rapidly to get rid of the tell-tale moisture. The pain in that look sent a dagger through his heart because she was right, and he hated that he'd caused her such distress.

He ran a finger down her cheek and whispered, "I am sorry, Jordyn. I truly am. If I could change anything in my past, it would be that. I wanted to give you the world and all I gave you was pain."

She swallowed and turned those brown eyes on him. The emotion in them caused his breath to catch.

"Good God, Jordyn, don't look at me like that. A man can only take so much. I wish I could fix it all for you. But I can't. At least, not any more than telling you the ugly truth about my childhood will do."

"I know you had a hard childhood, Remo. You didn't give me details, but you said enough for me to make a pretty good guess. You know, I really admired you for trying to rise above. For getting the scholarship to my school and working hard to make your life better than your parents'."

"And in the end, I merely proved I was no better than my father."

"What do you mean? Enough dancing around the subject. What happened to make you leave everything you'd worked so hard for?"

He sighed, letting go of her hand to lean forward and rest his elbows on his knees, and threaded his fingers through his hair. "My father liked to use my mother as a punching bag. When he started feeling sorry for himself he'd get drunk and take his frustrations out on Mama."

"Oh, Remo, no. So your mom finally had enough and decided to leave, which meant you had to get out fast and couldn't tell anyone?"

He forced himself not to squirm and covered his face with his hands. This was the part he didn't want to tell. Did he even have to tell it? What good would it do at this point? What she knew now was enough to put the past to rest for her.

He jerked his head in acknowledgement. "Pretty much. What pushed her over the edge that night was my father turning on me for the first time." He removed his hands from his face and threaded his fingers together in his lap.