Henry won’t let go of me, and I don’t want him to either. I grip onto his forearms.
It takes an hour to get cleaned up by the paramedic, and then stitched up by the plastic surgeon that Bea called in from two towns over. They don’t want anyone heading into the hospital tonight.
“I won’t let go until you tell me,” Henry says.
We watch Bea and Sheriff Muldowney speak with Michael next. His hands constantly moving. Rubbing his neck, cracking his knuckles, raking them through his hair. He isn’t emotional like I am. Michael doesn’t usually have a tell. You have to look closely. And right now, he’s freaking out. The magnitude of this, it’s already jilting, but he doesn’t have the backstory. That this wasn’t just two scumbags trying to attack a woman. That it’s so much more.
“Will she tell him the details? He deserves to know some of it,” Henry says from behind me.
“I don’t know what she’s allowed to say, but I’ll tell him. I’ll tell him everything. He deserves to know that what he did—” I pull in a jagged breath. I try to bite back the emotion that I just managed to rein in for a moment. “That I will never be able to repay him for it.”
“Are you going to be okay if I go over there for a minute? I want to be sure he’s doing alright,” Henry says, kissing my temple as I lean into him.
“Yes, go.”
Henry squeezes the hand he was holding, kisses my knuckles, and says, “I’ll be back in a minute. He looks over toward Jack just as he lets go of my hand. An unspoken agreement to keep me company, I assume.
“You okay?” Jack asks as he leans against the table I’m sitting on.
I nod. “I am. Or, will be, at least.”
“This has to do with the Cayman Island trip you and Henry took suddenly?”
I nod again. I watch as Henry talks with Michael. Henry’s hands gripping Michael’s shoulders, speaking closely, reassuring him the best he can.
“What does Ev know? Because despite what that agent over there told me, about this being a wrong place, wrong time situation, I know that’s total bullshit.”
I look up at him, swallowing hard. “Nothing. She knows nothing about my past. About what brought me here. It was always safer for hernotto know.”
He nods and looks down, thinking about what he’s going to do. Or say next.
“Your story to tell, G. Not mine. I’ll take my cue from you and her brothers on what they want to disclose. If her not knowing is the safest thing, then that’s my choice. She’s my entire world, which means making sure she’s okay is the only thing that matters to me.”
“Jack, at this point, it’s safer if she knows everything. I would like to be the one to tell her, though.”
He nods again and gives me a tight-lipped smile. “I’m going to see if they need anything else from me before I get out of here.”
Bea comes back to where I’m perched a few minutes later. “You need to get some rest. You’re going to do those therapy sessions again. No excuses.” I smile as she points at me. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re my biggest pain in the ass these days.” She waves off one of her agents. “I’ll be over in the morning to talk through where we stand.” Bea nods to Henry. “He’s taking you home.”
My stomach drops again, a shiver of dread running through me.Fuck, I don’t want to leave Strutt’s.But there’s a nagging feeling that she’s going to recommend it. I look around my shop in shambles. Broken glass, body-sized dents in the drywall, not to mention the blood splatter.
I hop down from the table and move toward the back of the shop where Henry and Michael sit talking. Henry hunched over, elbows on his knees. Michael mimicking his position. He’s been peeking up at me every few seconds. I think he’s nervous to lose sight of me right now. They both watch me as I get closer. Henry stands and pulls my hand into his and then sits back down, placing me in his lap.
“Michael.” I blow out a big breath and do my best not to start crying immediately, clearing my throat. “You saved my life tonight.” His eyes dart to mine. He’s so hard to read, but he needs to hear this. “If you weren’t here with me, I’d be dead right now.” I wipe the tears that have tracked down my cheeks. Henry wraps his arms around my middle, and I feel him rest his head on my back. He holds me tight, and it’s exactly what I need. He always knows what I need.
“You did pretty good there. More than held your own. Knocked that scrawny one right into a wall. Then you unleashed hell on him.” He laughs, breaking up the heaviness. “You gotta tell Mac. He’d be proud of you.” I give him a tight smile and nod.
“You okay?” I ask, searching his face for the truth. I watch as his hands shake slightly, his knee bouncing with anxiousness.
“I’m not sure yet. I killed someone tonight. And yeah, it was self-defense, but that, that’s not something I’d ever thought I’d have to deal with, so…” He clears his throat to stop the shaking of his voice. Henry grabs Michael’s shoulder, and I lean over, wrapping my arms around Michael’s broad shoulders. He leans in and hugs me back. I can feel him inhaling a few deep breaths, before he says, “This is so fucked, but I’m glad I was here. You’re family, G. Can’t let anything happen to you. It’s what family does. We protect each other.”
I burrow my face into his neck. I don’t think he’ll ever know how much I needed to hear that. Those words at that moment.Family. I try not to cry too hard.
“Do you want to stay with us tonight?” Henry asks him, bringing us both back to the present. I’m pretty sure we held on for a solid couple of minutes there.
“I’m going to have Callen drive me to Dad’s. But I’ll call you in the morning.”
The exact thing I was so scared of ever happening, happened. And it put my new family, the people who I’ve grown to love so much, in danger. There’s a part of me that will carry that guilt forever. The idea of exposing them to anything that could harm them isn’t something I’ll ever stop trying to make sure never happens again.