Night Is Darkest by Jayne Rylon (books recommended by bts .TXT) 📕

reached around her torso. The screen flashed as he pulled up the offensive directory, preparing to transfer it temporarily to Rob’s old computer. As the files copied over, the content metadata flashed across the screen, sealing her fate.

OSPD-Report-2005-215437.pdf now transferring.

Tyler’s legs went rock hard beneath her ass when every muscle in his body clenched simultaneously. Beside her, a fierce growl emanated from Mason’s behemoth chest. Both men recognized the standard naming convention of a state police report.

“Open it, Tyler.” Mason barked the order.

“No!” She would have rocketed off Ty’s lap but his forearm banded around her waist, pinning her in place.

“What’s this about, Lacey? Tell me or I’ll open it, I swear. If someone’s giving you trouble we need to know the facts.” Tyler had an iron will when it came to those he loved. He would never back down if he thought she might be in danger.

“It’s ancient history guys. Look at the date.” She pointed to the file name. “This is nothing relevant to either of you.”

Lightning didn’t strike her on the spot because she crossed her toes while she lied.

“Open it,” Mason repeated.

“I’m sorry, little one.” Tyler sided with the other man. He reached out to select the file.

A huge sigh of relief deflated her when the password protection box popped up, blocking Ty’s attempt.

“Tell him the password, Lacey.”

She refused to obey Mason’s command.

“If you don’t, I’ll call down to the station and have someone pull a hard copy of the records. Then we won’t be the only ones who know your secret.”

“It’s a state record, not local. You don’t have jurisdiction,” she argued but she’d already lost. They’d never let it go now.

“You think they won’t give us the information? Everyone knows we’re like family,” Mason persisted.

“I wish you’d trust us, sweetheart.” The hurt note layered in Ty’s voice convinced her to do things the easy way.

She twisted in his arms to cup his cheek in her palm. “Promise me it won’t change things between us.” They’d come so far this evening, she didn’t want him to retreat now.

“What did I tell you about that, doll?” Mason interrupted the moment. “No one can ever promise something that ridiculous.”

“Shut up, Mason.” Ty drew her attention back to his reddened face. “Nothing’s going to keep me from you.”

“EatShitAndDie.”

“What?” His head snapped back.

“My password for this file. It’s EatShitAndDie. Capitalize the first letter of each word. No spaces.”

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose while Mason attempted to disguise a laugh with a cough. However, the mood didn’t last long. As soon as he typed in the code and hit enter, the damning document polluted the screen.

“Mother fucker!” The viciousness of Mason’s snarled curse caused her to flinch more than the gory photo pasted to the top of the scanned paperwork. She’d seen the reminder of her stupidity enough times to be numb to the shocking sight.

“Please tell me that’s not you, little one.” Tyler crushed her to his chest. She squirmed in his hold, which threatened to crack her ribs. Instead of reading the text for the millionth time, she watched their horrified faces as they leaned in to peruse it. The words were burned into her memory.

“It looks worse than it really was. I sort of passed out by the time the officer with the camera got up the stairs.” She could guess what they were seeing but, in her mind’s eye, she remembered how grateful she’d been for the darkness that obliterated her mortification after her rescuer informed her she was safe and that Rob was on the way.

An industrial space with exposed pipes and vents painted midnight black, illuminated by hundreds of dripping maroon candles. Her limp body hung at an awkward angle from four shackles. The two affixed to the floor had ensnared her ankles while the two on chains bolted to the ceiling gouged her wrists. Bright blood matching the wax oozed from the lacerations she’d made in her wrists as she thrashed in the bindings, fighting to escape the lash of Jackson’s whip. More crimson stained the skin of her back which had been sliced to ribbons beneath the cat-o-nine-tails.

“The hell it does! Who did this to you?” Tyler’s entire body shook with rage.

“I only knew him as Jackson.” She swallowed then turned away, ashamed of her naiveté. “I met him through an online chatroom.”

“Why weren’t we aware of this?” Mason broke his silence with a flat monotone that scared her.

“I begged Rob not to tell you. But, the way you two treated me like a leper all those years when I could sense your desire… I thought he’d spilled for sure.” Moisture gathered at the corner of her eyes. She focused on the ceiling and blinked a few times to clear the tears. She refused to shed a single drop more today.

“Rob threatened to destroy us if we ever touched you. Said we were too wild for you.” Ty’s deep sigh rocked her forward. “I thought it was just standard big brother overprotective crap but Mason always swore there was more to it. I should have seen it, too.”

“You turned skittish that summer you were home from school.” Mason looked mad enough to spit nails. “I thought it was because we crowded you, so we backed off. Way off.”

“All I ever wanted was for you to come closer.” So much for her no-more-tears resolution. “It hurt so bad to see you give all those women what I needed. D-Do you remember my eighteenth birthday party?”

Ty groaned. “I couldn’t accept your offer. Mason and I promised each other we wouldn’t touch you until you turned twenty-one, no matter how hard it got. You weren’t ready.”

“I know it was stupid.” She hung her head not wanting to add to their guilt but, now that they’d started sharing, it felt cathartic to get it out in the open. Enough time had passed to dull the ragged edges of her pain and fear. “But I thought I’d show you both I could handle your needs.”

“What