“You can cry if you want to,” he said. “It won’t bother me.” He’d seen a lot worse than tears.

Izzy didn’t turn toward him. “I won’t give you the satisfaction.”

“You think I win if you cry?”

“Don’t bullies always enjoy knowing they’ve hurt someone? You didn’t win. You can’t break me.”

She raised her chin as she spoke, instinctively defying him. Good, he thought grimly. She was going to need every ounce of strength she had if she wanted to find her way back. Which was his job-to make sure she did.

“Break you?” he asked, ignoring that she’d called him a bully. He’d stormed into her life and taken her away from everything she knew. Hardly comfortable circumstances. He understood the fear of the unknown, although her unknown was a whole lot more controlled than his had been. “Dramatic much?”

“Hey, you’re the one who tossed me into the back of a car.”

“SUV.”

“Whatever. This is kidnapping. I get to be however I want.”

“Your sisters know where you are and what will happen when you get there.”

“And I should find that comforting why?” She swallowed. “Don’t even talk to me.”

He heard the fear in her voice. He could see it in the way she kept herself stiff. Behind fear was terror and while he wanted her attention, he didn’t need it that bad.

“My name is Nick Hollister,” he said, using the same tone that calmed unbroken horses. “I run a school that teaches corporate survival training. That pays the bills. I also take in kids who have suffered a traumatic loss or been victims of a violent crime. I teach them how to survive in my world. That helps them cope with their own.”

Izzy stared out the window, obviously ignoring him. He wondered how much she could actually see.

“Your sisters asked me to take you on for a few weeks, to help you adjust to being blind.”