Immediately to the right there was a small sitting room with a couch, a chair, and a massive TV mounted to the wall.Nice.
Further back lay the kitchen that resembled mine with a huge center island, stainless steel appliances and tile flooring. There was a hallway off the right of the kitchen that probably led to some bedrooms like my apartment.
To my left, there was an open office with three monitors on a massive desk. On the wall above the monitors, there were two more TVs, but they scrolled some screen saver pictures of the ocean, surfing, and baseball. Wait, baseball?
“Her bedroom is off to the left, past the office,” Jenna said.
“Um…” I glanced back to the sitting room. “I’ll put her on the couch.”
“Very noble of you, Hunter.”
“Enough with the positive affirmations, Doc.” I chuckled. Shrinks really did crack me up. I should know; I’d seen my share. “She’ll be fine on the couch. Anything I need to get her? Or…you know, like meds or something?”
“Her iPad should be on her desk, grab that and set it near her? Her friend will call her in a couple of hours.”
I glanced over my shoulder and located the iPad. “Okay, I see it.” I turned around and carried Lina to the couch. I knelt and settled her onto the soft, leather cushions. I grabbed the blanket that was bundled up at the other end and shifted it over her.
Her head tilted to the side and created a gap along the neck of her shirt. A jagged purple line curved over her shoulder. It was thick, too.
Shit, that was a mean looking scar.
I diverted my focus to the task at hand, covering her up with the blanket, but I couldn’t take back what I’d seen. Hell, it looked like the one on the side of my mother’s face thanks to my abusive prick of a father.
Standing up, I took in a deep breath to douse the angry fire in my gut. I despised seeing women abused or hurt. I’d seen enough of that to last a lifetime. Hell, I lived it daily, not knowing if Dad was going to show up or tear through some town, hurting anyone in his way, searching for us.
I snatched the iPad off the desk and hurried back to Lina. “Okay, Jenna, the iPad’s on the little table here.” I positioned the phone so the shrink could see everything. “She’s safe. I’m heading out.”
“Thank you, Hunter. You’re a Godsend. Take care.”
I tapped the call to an end and set Angelina’s phone next to her iPad.Godsend? Not even close.
Chapter Three
Angelina
“Oh my gosh, Lizzie, I’m so mortified.” I scrubbed my face with my hands as I settled into my office chair, fighting the tears once again. “I passed out in the freaking elevator!”
“Hey, it’s been three days, would you quit obsessing?” Lizzie shook her head. “Remember what you accomplished instead.”
“True.” Yeah, I’d gone further than I ever had on my quest to make it out of this damned hotel, but then I had to go and faint in front of a stranger, and he freaking carried me into my apartment.My home!
My heart ramped up again at the thought of a stranger—a man no less—being inside my home. I’d woken up to Lizzie ringing me on FaceTime. Talk about humiliating.
“You know he’s totally sexy, right? I mean, those pics you captured from the video of him at your door. Delish!” Lizzie grinned into the camera. “And that’s just on camera. In person he must be double delish.”
“As if I’ll ever find out. I’m never leaving this apartment again.”
“Don’t say that Angelina. Please.” Lizzie’s expression turned dark. “We have to…we have to get out of here.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyelids. Lizzie hadn’t left her apartment in a handful of years either. As far as I’d gone in my adventures out, she’d fallen even more into her agoraphobia.
I couldn’t let her down. My needing to get out of this place wasn’t only for her. No, it was for me. I needed it as badly as she did.
“When you say,‘we’,Lizzie, that means you, too, you know.” I brought my feet up onto my computer chair and sat cross-legged as I leaned my elbows onto the desk. The sun spilled in behind me from the big, open windows. The cool breeze felt good and fresh.
“I know.” Her voice got small. “You think I should take the meds? You think it’ll help?”
“Maybe for a while. Short term, though, to help you over the hump. What’s Jenna say?”