"Cassie? What do you want? Do you want to stay there?"
"No!" she cried. "I want to get away from here. He'll come looking for me, Savannah. He always does."
I narrowed my eyes. "You can stay with us, Cassie. Please, don't worry."
"Savannah?"
"Yes, Giulia."
"She's bleeding and she's half-naked."
"He raped her?"
"I think that was his end goal. It looks like he tried to cut off her clothes." There was another thud, and I knew she was kicking the bastard. "Cassie, shall we get you washed up?"
"No," I told Giulia. "It's horrible, but she needs to stay like that. The sheriff needs to see the state she's in." To Cassie, I said, "I'm so sorry, honey, but please, just bear with us."
"Sheriff's ETA is five minutes," Nyx rumbled in my ear.
"Five minutes, Cassie. That’s it. I know it's a lifetime, but let's get you safely out of there, yeah?"
She didn't answer, but her breathing sounded loud in the room again.
I swore those five minutes were as long for them as they were for me.
I was just thankful as hell that Cassie lived in goddamn Jersey, in a town near enough to where Giulia and Nyx had been when they’d gotten the call.
"His jurisdiction isn't here," Giulia commented. I knew that wasn't to me, but to Nyx.
"Doesn't matter. We need him to smooth things over," was all her Old Man said.
I stayed on the line with them, even though no one spoke to me for the next forty-five minutes.
I was there when her husband was arrested, and I was there when Giulia helped her into the bathroom.
I was there as Giulia promised they were safe now and when Cassie broke down, I was there too.
I listened to it all, wishing like hell I could be with her and not Giulia, and I whispered, "I'm so sorry, Cassie. So sorry."
I didn't expect her to answer, but she did. "You saved my life, Savannah. You have nothing to be sorry for."