"They'll deal."

"What about the speeches? I thought you wanted to stick around for those?" she asked.

"It's fine. I'm well represented."

"Okay," she said quietly, giving in, which told him she knew he wasn't just upset but that he had good reason to be.

He didn't speak again until they were settled in the back seat of the limousine, the privacy part.i.tion raised. "You had a problem, and you went to Alex," he said through a clenched jaw.

She blinked at him. "What? No. It wasn't like that. He called me after...wait. I need to start at the beginning." She pushed away from him, curling into herself close to the car door.

He gave her the s.p.a.ce she needed. For now.

You already know it's about my father," she said, not wasting time.

"The father you never speak of."

She inclined her head, looking down, as if ashamed.

He couldn't have that. Didn't want her unable to meet his gaze when she confided in him.

"Riley, look at me."

She raised her head, tears in her beautiful blue eyes.

s.h.i.t. He slid closer and cupped her chin in his hand. "Tell me."

She swallowed hard.

He waited until she nodded to release her but didn't give her any s.p.a.ce between them.

"What Alex said? About you not touching me in anger? It was...it is a sensitive subject for me. For us." She hesitated, and Ian gave her the time she needed to gather her thoughts. "You see, my father was and still is an abusive son of a b.i.t.c.h."

Ian froze, his entire body stilling. He hadn't seen this coming.

Not at all. "He hit you?"

Her shoulders sagged slightly. "When I was younger, my mother took the brunt of it. She made sure he directed his fury at her. Then, when Mom died, I stayed out of his way, and he seemed to calm down a little."

He recalled her telling him she'd been sixteen then. He swallowed back the bile rising in his throat.

"Not long after that, he had his gall bladder removed. My stepmom was his hospital nurse. He was on his best behavior while he was wining and dining her and never showed his real self until after they were married." She fiddled with her hands then drew a deep, shuddering breath. "Melissa, my stepmom, she's one tough lady, and he quickly realized he'd chosen the wrong kind of woman this time."

Ian inclined his head. "You've mentioned her. You said she and Alex were your only family."

She nodded. "I adore her. She was the role model my mother should have been. Don't get me wrong, I loved my mom, and I miss her every day. And I know she protected me, but she didn't stand up for herself. If not for Melissa, would I have learned to value myself? To not put stock in the belittling words I grew up around? I'm not so sure."

His stomach churning, Ian reached for her shaking hands, covering them with his own. "You're strong, Riley. I saw that in you from the first day we met."

She smiled at that. "I like to think so."

"Did he ever hit Melissa?" Ian asked.

She shook her head. "They fought often and loudly but...he just seemed to keep himself in check somehow. I think he knew Melissa would go to the cops."

"Your mom never did?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

"I begged her, but...no. She wouldn't."

"So what happened?" Because something had tipped the precarious balance. That much was obvious.

"Alcohol happened," Riley said in a disgusted voice. "He was always a heavy drinker, but living with Melissa, suppressing his rage, it got worse. And one night, Melissa was working the late shift. He expected me to have his dinner on the table. Not only didn't I do it, but I talked back and...he slapped me. Hard across the face."

A building fury like he'd never felt before filled Ian, making him want to lash out. But his more rational self understood that anger was the last thing Riley needed to see, and he clamped down on his simmering emotions.

"Whenever you're ready," he said in a gentle voice he barely recognized.

She nodded. "I tried, but I couldn't hide the red mark on my face. The next day, Alex saw, and he went berserk. Part of me was surprised he took it so badly. I mean, in my mind, a slap was nothing compared to what he'd done to my mother, though I hid that from Alex as much as I could. Looking back, I thought I was getting off lightly, but Alex was furious."

"Good for him," Ian muttered.

"He cornered my father. He had his hand around his throat, literally cutting off his air supply. He told my father that if he ever touched me again, he was a dead man."

Ian closed his eyes, grateful to the half sibling he'd never bothered to get to know. The man he was irrationally jealous of.

Riley's harsh laugh recaptured Ian's attention. "My father threatened to go to the cops. Can you imagine the irony? Alex told him to go right ahead. Then he followed up his words with a knee to my father's groin and warned him that was just a preview. He said I was off-limits, and he dragged me out of there."

She shook her head, obviously lost in the memory. "I know my father believed his threats, because at seventeen, Alex was ma.s.sively huge from working out for football."

"What happened next?" Ian asked.

"I called Melissa at work; she came home immediately. She refused to stay with him after that. Alex stood watch while we packed. Melissa told my father I'd be living with her until I was eighteen and if he had a problem with it, to take her to court. With Alex looming over him, he backed off. That was the last night I saw him or heard from him until I got back from Arizona."

Ian narrowed his gaze. "Which brings us to now."

She nodded. "There have been hang-ups on my home answering machine. I never thought it was my father. Then I returned to work to find out he'd left a message while I was away. He said I owed him. And then Friday night, after I got home from shopping, the phone rang, and the person was breathing into my ear. I hung up, and the phone rang again. I answered it yelling, and it was Alex. He wanted to know what was going on. I said it was nothing. He didn't believe me...so I told him."

"Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you trust me enough to let me in before now?"

He forced himself to remain calm, not to yell or show her just how frustrated and angry he really was. Not now, when he finally realized that if he flipped out in any way, he could very likely lose her for good.

"It wasn't a question of whether or not I trusted you, it was humiliating, admitting I grew up that way. Besides, I'd put him so firmly in my past, I never thought about him, talked about him, or wanted to revisit those days." She glanced away.

Once again, he gently redirected her with a touch of his hand. He wanted them communicating, not shutting each other out.

"Do you think I want to deal with my family history? But it's between us, thanks to Alex. I'm trying with him. Because of you."

If he was going to make that kind of effort, he needed to know she'd reciprocate in kind.

"What do you want me to say? I should have told you, and I didn't."

"Because you have trust issues." And here, he'd thought those issues were all his.

She blinked in surprise. "I suppose I do."

Part of him understood, as he was still working through his own. Another part wanted her to know she belonged to him. That she could come to him with anything, would come to him first, and know he'd give her everything she needed.

Him.

No one else.

TWELVE.

Ian stood with Riley in his living room, the night sky sparkling with stars visible through the large windows. Her revelations about her childhood had humbled him. She was stronger than he'd given her credit for, her relationship with his half brother something he understood much better now.

But that understanding didn't calm his racing heart. And he couldn't help the irrational fear that Alex would always come first for her. Irrational because she hadn't decided to tell Alex about her father before Ian. The timing of the other man's phone call had dictated that choice. And irrational because his jealousy over what she'd told Alex, and when, was based on the insecurities of the child Ian had been, not the man he was now. At least, that's how he should be viewing things.

His mother had begged him to let the past go. If there was ever a time to do that, it was now. The question was whether he could.

"Ian?" Riley asked in a soft voice.

He turned toward her.

She stood in her bare feet, her hair tumbling over her shoulders, her eyes wide and more vulnerable than he'd ever seen them.

She reached for his arm. "I'm sorry I kept you in the dark."

"I know."

"So you're not angry?"

He shook his head. "No, angry wouldn't be the word I'd use."

"Hurt?" she asked.

"I was." He pulled his tie off and held it in one hand. The desire to drag her into the bedroom and tether her to his headboard was strong.

She bit her lower lip. "And now you're not?"

"Now I understand you better. Which was all I ever wanted. To understand what bound you and Alex beyond basic friendship."

She swallowed hard, the soft lines of her throat moving up and down. "And now that you know?"

He walked over to her. "Now, you and I are going to come to an understanding."

"I don't want to lose you," she said before he could elaborate.

"That's not what I want either." In fact, he wanted her bound to his bed, where he'd know she belonged to him, he thought, winding the tie around one hand.

But then he wouldn't know she was there willingly. Olivia's words came back to him. His sisters and his mother all put up with his over-the-top behavior because they were related. They had to, as Olivia had so kindly pointed out. But she was right. If Ian wanted Riley to trust in him enough to come to him first, he needed to extend that same faith.

That didn't come easily to him at all.

"So what now?" she asked.

Now he proved to her he was worthy of any leap of faith he wanted her to make. "I can handle your friendship with Alex. It's an important part of who you are, and I wouldn't ask you to give that up."

She blinked, her eyes filling with tears. "Thank you."

"But...you either trust me or you don't. You either instinctively come to me first or there is no us. On that, I can't compromise." And he didn't know if she could give in on this point that meant everything to him.

"Done."

He blinked.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly, sealing her lips against his. Stunned, he couldn't move. h.e.l.l, he wasn't sure he'd even heard her correctly.

She tipped her head and looked into his eyes. "First, last, always, Ian."

He let the tie drop to the floor and released a long, relieved breath.

"Mine," he said, lifting her beneath her arms so she could jump up and wrap her legs around him and hold on as he walked them into the bedroom.

He slid her to the floor by the side of the bed. "Turn around," he said in a gruff voice he barely recognized.

She did as he asked, lifting her hair out of the way. He unzipped the gown, sliding the garment off one shoulder and letting the material pool at her feet. The s.e.xy, strapless bra came next, and he kissed the marks left by the confining material, sliding his tongue over her soft skin, working his way down one vertebra at a time.

She trembled but remained in place as his lips. .h.i.t the sweet spot at the base of her spine, just above the silken thong that settled between her cheeks. He squeezed each round globe, kissing her there, too, before gliding the panties down her long legs.

He rose and splayed his hand across her stomach, his fingertips dipping downward, toward her s.e.x. "Mine," he said once more before spinning her back to face him.

Her eyes were dilated, her cheeks flushed, and she'd pulled her plump bottom lip between her teeth.

"You make me want," she whispered. "You make me believe."

She didn't need to explain. She did the same thing for him.

Before Riley, he didn't believe in romance, relationships, women, or love. He shuddered at the word that danced around his head, tempting him with something he'd long since thought impossible. Yet she was here, by choice. Not running when she knew exactly how demanding he could be.

He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her, taking his time, stroking her lips with his tongue and reveling in her sweet taste. Not demanding anything she didn't willingly give. Instead, he was kissing her as if they had all the time in the world.