Read Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book 3 for Free Online Page A

of losing us altogether, she’d take a week off and do something nice to lure us back in. To make us think that we could be happy. That we could be a real family.”
    Of all the things—the beatings, the verbal tirades, the solitary confinement—that had been the worst.
    The hope.
    My guts churned with shame as I remembered how many times I fell for it. I didn’t need to count, because it was all of them. Every fucking time, until she left us. I would have forgiven it all if she’d ever really tried to change.
    Needing the connection, I ran my fingers through Liv’s hair, marveling at the softness as she burrowed into the crook of my neck. I could feel her hot tears coursing down my chest, and although I hated making her cry, saying it out loud with her there felt like I was ridding myself of a poison in a way, so I pressed on.
    “I’m not telling you this to make you sad. I’m telling you so you understand the bond I have with my brothers. No matter how many times she punished us—all three of us—we stuck together, and believe me when I tell you, Matty got the brunt of it. He was the oldest, and wanted to protect me and Reid, so he’d cop to stuff he didn’t even do to keep her away from us. He took quite a few beatings on my behalf. So tonight, I took one on his, and we’re still not close to even.”
    I shifted in my seat and shrugged, not sure what else there was to say. Either she got it or she didn’t.
    “That’s it. That’s the story. And that’s the guy you’re with.” I set her back so I could look into her face, hoping to see understanding and acceptance there. “I won’t lie to you again, but I won’t change, either. Not about this. If I love somebody and they love me back, I’ll take a bullet for them. That includes you.”
    She met my gaze with tear-filled eyes and nodded slowly. “Me too,” she murmured and pressed a kiss to my jaw.
    I wanted to question her. To ask her if she meant that she loved me too, or that she’d take a bullet for me, because I sure as fuck didn’t want the latter, but my train of thought got derailed as she swung her legs down and stood.
    “What happened to your mother? Is she still alive?” Judging by the look on her face, she was willing to rectify that, and I nearly smiled. She was small but so were wolverines, and I’d be honored to have a scrapper like her in my corner any day. One more person who gave a shit whether I lived or died, making for a grand total of three.
    I’d take it.
    I ripped off the last of this particular Band-Aid in one yank, finishing the tale because she needed me to. “About six months after my dad died, she left us. No explanation, no plan for who was going to take care of us. No money. We lived off what little food was in the cabinets for a while. It was only after we didn’t show up for school for a week that anyone even came checking. We were put into foster homes from there, Reid and Matty together, me separate. Some of the families were nice and I wasn’t mistreated for the most part, but the only real family I ever really had was my brothers.”
    She nodded slowly and blew out a long breath. “Okay. Well, I guess it’s my turn for a confession, now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way.” She gave me a shaky grin and swiped the last of the tears from her pale cheeks. “You stink. Like, for real. It’s just foul.” She pinched her nose and waved a hand in front of her face. “If you go take a shower, I’ll get in with you and wash your back.”
    I wanted to jump up and kiss her for that. She knew how tough it had been for me, and even though she was clearly still affected by my words, she was giving us an out. A way to back up and regroup and not dwell on the bad stuff.
    I might do dumb shit sometimes, but I was nobody’s fool, and I grabbed the offering with both hands. “I will definitely take you up on that,” I said, and reached down to grip her hips and pull her closer. “And maybe, once I’m