Revelations Coming (The Dark Truth Novel Series) Read Free Page A

cow and placed a tiny piece into her mouth. Her eyes closed and her head tilted back slightly. Her jaw worked on the piece of meat intently and as she swallowed, she let out a small sigh. Paradise, she thought. Venus glanced up and caught Reggie staring at her with an amused look on his face.
    “What?” Venus asked a little sharper than she meant.
    Reggie just shook his head smiling and stabbed another piece of meat with his fork. Venus was sure she was setting Reggie back on his schedule. Still, she couldn't help but savor each bite.
    “Thanks Reggie,” Venus said as they walked out of the diner. He patted her on the shoulder gently.
“My pleasure,” he said still amused by her actions at dinner. When they were on the road again, Reggie turned serious. “How long has it been since you've eaten?” he asked her.
    Venus' face scrunched up. Eaten, eaten? She asked herself.
    “I've been without for a lot longer. I'm good Reggie. That meal will last me a while.”
    “What about California? Do you have family there?”
Venus had hoped to avoid this line of questioning. Reggie had been so nice to her so far. A part of her was just waiting for the devil in him to rear its ugly head. She didn't want to see it in him. Reggie waited patiently for her answer. The way she stalled, he could guess the answer was no.
    “Reggie, to tell you the truth, I don't really have anything or anybody.”
    The lack of hope in her voice sent prickles of pain throughout his body. He didn't know where this sense of protection came from but he wanted to take her home with him and make sure she was safe. It was crazy. His wife would kill him but something in his gut said that he needed to. They were silent for  quite a while. Venus glanced over at Reggie who seemed deep in his thoughts. Venus cursed herself for saying that. She had wanted to be truthful to him because he had been so nice. Now, she could feel him pulling away and that inkling of loneliness that had been kept at bay with Reggie crept back in. She put her earphones in and flipped through her IPod desperate to find a song that matched her mood. Before she knew it, Venus saw signs for Reno only a little over 60 miles away. There, Reggie would go back to his perfect family, and Venus would have to get back to her reality. She had to admit this had been nice, this break from the bad. She would be forever grateful to Reggie. As she stared out the window, she thought about the man in the SUV. Who was 'we'? Who was looking for her? She was an adult now so it wouldn't have been DFS or some other agency wanting to haul her back to her foster home. She was jarred from her thoughts as Reggie patted her on the shoulder and made a motion for her to take off the headphones. Venus quickly complied shoving them into her backpack. Reggie cleared his throat looking a little nervous. Venus wondered what was going on. Never in her wildest dreams was she expecting what came out of Reggie's mouth next.
    “We have a good sized house in Reno,” Reggie started. “My wife could use some help around the house. Wonderin' if you'd be interested? I could probably spare a few bucks and there's a finished basement that we never use.”
    Venus' mouth dropped open. Surprise and then complete and total dread flowed through her body. How could Reggie have known that his offer was equivalent to years and years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse? How could he have known his offer, which was harmless in itself would make her want to crawl in a dark, damp hidey hole and die? Reggie saw her face pale and how she bit her lip to stop it from quivering. He cursed mentally at having scared her off so quickly.
    “Just until you have some money saved up to head to California of course,” his voice trailed off because she was fighting back tears. “Ahhh, forget about it...bad idea,” he muttered.
    Venus fought hard against the waves of emotions that crashed into her. She didn't want to think Reggie had a bad bone in