“She's not one of ours,” I said, and Forrest nodded, his green eyes dark with pain and frustration.
“I didn't recognize her. I would have remembered a blond that tall. And the uniform didn't fit her right. I was just processing all of that when she whipped out a knife and went for me. I think she was planning to stab me in the back, but I turned at the last second and my ribs blocked the knife.” He winced at the memory, reaching for his ribs again.
“And you have no idea who it was? Or why she'd want to stab you?”
Forrest's face was drawn with pain, but his eyes were clear. “Royal, I don't think she wanted to stab me.”
I was still processing his words when Daisy leaned over us, scanning Forrest, assessing his wounds. With a nod, she narrowed her eyes on me. “He's in your office, Royal. And if she came up behind him, she probably thought he was you.”
Fuck. They were right. Forrest and I are about the same height and build. Both with dark hair, a little longer than it should be and in need of a cut. Someone who was in a rush could easily have seen Forrest leaning over my desk and assumed he was me.
“What were you doing in my office?” I had to ask. We had an open-door policy at The Inn for the most part, but Forest had his own office. Why was he in mine, going through my desk?
“Looking for the Williamson contract. I wanted to double-check the time frame.”
“West is on his way up,” Daisy said, setting the bag with our lunch on Penny's desk and coming back into my office to stand over us.
Forrest shoved my hands away from the make-shift bandage on his side and lurched into a sitting position, leaning back against the side of my desk as another wave of pain hit him.
“Let me see,” I demanded, pulling his hands away from the napkins to check the wound. It was still bleeding but sluggishly. I pressed the napkins back into place and let him take over holding them. “You might not need stitches, but you definitely need to see a doctor.”
“Figured that,” Forrest grunted. His eyes lit as the elevator door opened. Sterling flew across the reception area into my office, dropping to her knees beside Forrest. “I'm okay—” he started.
“Oh, my God, you're bleeding! Forrest! What the hell happened?” Sterling turned to look at me accusingly as if I'd stabbed her new boyfriend. And when had that happened? There was no hiding the fact that these two were more than casual work acquaintances.
“We're trying to figure that out,” Daisy soothed, shooting me a look that simultaneously said What the fuck? and Not now. I was right there with her on the WTF? and could grudgingly admit that this moment was not the one to confront my sister over her office romance. Especially not while she was cooing all over my new CFO.
West had followed Sterling in and stood over us, shaking his head. “Can't stay out of trouble, can you?”
“Hey, I was just coming to my office for lunch.” I explained what we knew so far, ignoring Forrest and Sterling's whispers.
Narrowing his eyes on the bloody napkins pressed to Forrest's side, West took over. “Royal, walk Daisy back to the bakery. You'll have to reschedule lunch. I'm going to get Forrest to the ER and take his statement. After you drop Daisy, come straight back here, grab Tenn, and we'll go over the whole thing with your security team, see if they found anything.”
Sterling glared up at both of us, her hand gripping Forrest's with white knuckles. “I'm coming to the hospital with Forrest.”
I thought about arguing and decided that Daisy's look earlier had been right. Now was not the time. Instead, I gave a sharp nod and stood. I took Daisy's hand in mine, only remembering lunch when we were halfway down the block. “I'm sorry about lunch,” I said, my voice sounding distant in my own ears. I was still dazed from walking into my office to find Forrest bleeding all over the place. “I should have remembered the bag. Now you don't have anything to eat.”
“It's fine,” Daisy said absently. “I'm not hungry anymore.”
“Yeah, me either.”
That was all either of us said until we reached the alley door to Sweetheart's kitchen. Once inside, Daisy stopped and looked up at me, her expression fierce. “Be careful. If that had been you—” She shuddered.
I pulled her into my arms, burying my face in her hair and taking a deep, soothing breath. Rocking her from side to side, I murmured, “I'll be careful. I promise. Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“It had better not,” Daisy threatened, her eyes worried beneath the false bravado. “I just found you. You aren't allowed to get stabbed.”