Concern tugged at my instincts, telling me that something wasn’t right. Lifting my hand, I paused for a moment. Scolding myself for hovering and being a worrywart.
Then I rapped my knuckles against the door.
No answer.
That tug of concern transformed into the blare of an alarm.
“Riley,” I called with an edge in my voice. “Is everything okay?”
Still, no answer.
My mind ran through possibilities. Maybe she’d dozed off. The crash of adrenaline could have exhausted her so badly that she fell asleep in the tub. Or maybe she’d slipped and hit her head. Or maybe…
Or maybe she became so desperate to escape Kramer that she thought there was only one way to end it.
I inhaled a steadying breath at that morbid thought.
“Riley,” I said, louder this time, wrapping my hand around the door knob. “If you don’t answer me, I’m coming in on the count of three.”
Silence.
For fuck’s sake, Riley, say something. Please.
“One…two…”
Barging in on a naked client in the bath would not be good for business. But I didn’t have any other choice. I had to get to Riley. I had to make sure she was okay.
Pushing the door open, I braced myself for whatever I would find.
Riley was curled up in the bath, her lips a shade of blue, her wet hair clinging to her bare back. My gaze flicked over her, searching for any sign of injuries. Physically, she appeared to be fine. Mentally and emotionally…she was frozen in place with a blank stare in her eyes. A bruise marked her upper arm from her ex’s hand, a menacing black and blue where his fingers had squeezed.
Grabbing a towel from the rack on the wall, I knelt next to the tub and draped it over her.
“Put your arm around my neck,” I said.
She blinked a few times, turning to look at me. With a faint nod, she obeyed, pressing her face into my shoulder. I released a breath of relief, finally knowing that she was okay. Just…scared. That bastard spooked her badly.
Lifting Riley out of the water, I tried not to think about having her naked in my arms. Carrying her to the bed, I tucked the sheets around her for warmth, trying to avoid any glimpses of her exposed curves. She was shaking like a leaf. God only knows how long she’d been sitting in that cold bath.
“I just want him to leave me alone,” she whispered.
My chest tightened with sympathy. I sat on the edge of her mattress, resting my forearms on my knees.
“You broke up with him,” I said. “His fragile ego can’t take that. In order to feel like a big man, he needs to make someone feel small and helpless. That’s why he won’t back off. The more you resist his attempts to get you back, the more you prove to him that you are not small or helpless the way he wants you to be.”
Riley’s brows drew together and a shadow of worry darkened her eyes. She burrowed under the covers with a sigh of frustration.
“I’m just so tired of it all,” she mumbled.
I reached out to comfort her, then pulled my hand back. When it came to Riley, I was breaking rules left and right. My feelings for her were clouding my judgment. I was supposed to be nothing but a shield for protection.
“Get some rest,” I said softly. “We can discuss any future precautions we might need to take after you wake up.”
As I rose to my feet, Riley slipped her hand in mine. I looked down to see her gazing up at me.
“Will you…stay?” she whispered.
A beat of silence stretched between us. The right answer would be no. She wasn’t asking for platonic company. I could seeit in the darkness of her pupils and her parted lips, waiting for my response. She wanted to lose herself in a man who treated her right, instead of being haunted by that asshole who left bruises on her perfect skin.
