“What?” I whisper.
“Give me your scarf,” he says again, pausing between each word. “Now.”
I quickly tug my scarf free and offer it to him, all while the man who tried to steal my purse is writhing on the ground, being held in place by one of the brutally handsome man’s hands.
He flips the guy onto his stomach and skillfully ties his hands behind his back with my scarf.
The blue-eyed stranger stares at me. “Feel free to call 911 at any point.”
Fumbling my way through a thank you, I manage to press the emergency button on my phone.
“I’m… he… my purse,” I spit out between staggered breaths to the woman who answered.
The man who rescued me looks in my direction. “Tell them it’s an attempted robbery, and the assailant is subdued for now.”
I repeat each of his words into my phone and then follow that with the directions he calls out to me.
“I’m sending a patrol car right away, Ma’am,” the 911 operator explains in a reassuring tone. “Did you suffer any injuries?”
Shaking my head, I reach up to run my fingers over my forehead. I immediately feel something wet. “Oh, no. I think I’m bleeding. I broke my fall with my shoulder, but my head hit the pavement.”
“I’ll dispatch the paramedics as well,” she says. “Please stay on the line.”
Without any thought, I end the call.
I glance at my hand, and even under the dim light illuminating the darkened alley, I can tell that it is indeed blood.
“Don’t move, asshole.” The mysterious stranger gazes down at the man he tied up before he shifts his attention to me. “Are you all right?”
I lock eyes with him, but it’s so intense that I drop my gaze to the ground around me.
I realize that almost everything from my purse is strewn around me.
“My stuff,” I whisper. “I need to pick it up.”
Tugging out his pocket square, he dabs the soft fabric on my forehead. “You’re bleeding. You need to stay put.”
“I’m fine,” I insist as I start to reach for my belongings.
The guy on the ground catches my eye. “If I’m arrested for this, you’re going to pay for it.”
The mysterious stranger snaps his head toward the man. “Shut the fuck up. If you go anywhere near her again in this lifetime, I will personally hunt you down, and I promise you’ll regret it.”
I grab a tube of lipstick and my MetroCard. I try to extend my reach more, but I’m suddenly struck with a wave of dizziness.
“Sit still,” the handsome stranger instructs me in a curt tone.
Before I can argue, he’s scooped up most of my things.
He shoves them at me but holds tight to a red lanyard attached to a press pass from a concert I covered in the summer.
I watch in silence as he studies it.
His eyes dart to my face as soon as sirens approach from the distance. He hands me the press pass along with his pocket square. “It’s still bleeding. Apply pressure until you get to the hospital.”
“I’m fine, “ I whisper.
His dark hair halos his face as he stares into my eyes. He takes my hand to guide the pocket square to my forehead. “Apply pressure.”
Nodding, I manage a weak smile. “Thank you for helping me.”
He doesn’t acknowledge those words. Instead, he turns back to the man who tried to mug me. He leans close to him, whispers something in his ear, and then just as I catch sight of the reflection of the red and blue flashing lights of a police car on a window at the end of the alleyway, the handsome stranger takes off in a sprint in the opposite direction.
“Wait,” I call after him. “Please don’t leave me alone with him.”
“With me?”
I glance at the man who assaulted me as I inch away from him. I fully expect him to try and scramble to his feet to make a run for it at any second now that the police car has come to a stop and two officers are rushing toward us.
“You’re safer with me than you were with that guy that rammed his shoe into the back of my knees.”
Before I can ask what the hell he’s talking about, a police officer is pulling him up to his feet, while another asks me if I’m okay.
The reality of what happened finally hits me full force, and with a single tear trailing down my cheek, I tell her I’ll be all right. I know I will be. I’ve lived through far worse than this.
Chapter Four
Juliet
“Juliet,” Margot’s voice breaks the moment she rounds the corner to find me in an exam room in the emergency department at Lennox Hill Hospital.
“I’m all right,” I reassure her immediately with an outstretched hand. “I’m totally fine, Margie.”
She rushes to take me into her arms.
I wince at the strength of her grip as she hugs me. “I was so scared.”