“Don’t worry, it’s all good. I’m alive.”
She suddenly gasped. “Oh! That’s what I wanted to tell you! So is Cassidy!”
Her face lit up, and I found myself grinning with relief.
“Seriously? How do you know?”
She sat beside me for a minute, nursemaid duties forgotten in her excitement.
“She phoned me earlier today! Said she’d had to get away. Shacked up with some guy called Ben.”
Ben? Oh… I get it. Smart move.
“What did she need to get away from, did she say?”
She looked suddenly serious. “Yes! Apparently Harvey was stalking her! I’m so shocked. But then that explains why he rang work looking for her. Sneaky bastard.”
Wow… I wondered if that discussion had been planned with the brothers. And why the hell didn’t any of them mention it, when I woke up there after Seb gave me a kicking? Or did she call after?
I rubbed at my forehead with my good arm. If such a thing existed right now.
“Have you spoken to Jeff?”
She looked away. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. It’ll break his heart. She literally warned me to stay away from him. Told me he’s dangerous. Oh my god… maybe he burned down his own shop! Maybe it’s all some ploy to try and get to her somehow. Thank god her boyfriend is keeping her safe. She could have been kidnapped, or raped, or… my god… I was ringing him for help, and all the time he was what she was running from.” Kidnapped, huh… talk about irony.
The poor girl looked like she’d been through the ringer. And fuck it… could I even manage to hug her right now? I decided to try, reaching for her with my good arm, and pulling her closer.
She actually resisted, and maybe it was for the best, because just trying to pull her toward me was painful enough.
“Jesus… I’m sorry. Fuck… Fucking Seb!”
She frowned at me. “Who’s Seb? Is that who hurt you?” Me and my big mouth! I shrugged.
“Just some guy, my little angel, that’s all. We settled things.”
She stood up, slipping free of my hand, which had still been on her arm.
“Well, I hope he looks as bad as you.”
Ha, as if! “Worse, I’m afraid. He doesn’t have my rugged good looks.”
She giggled, wandering off to the kitchen, where I could hear her fussing around with stuff. I couldn’t figure out what she was doing at first, but then I could hear a knife against a chopping board, and a rush of warmth ran through me. She was cooking. For me.