“No!” I shot out of my chair to pull her into my arms. “You are not the reason.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Please.” I smoothed her hair back. “Please don’t apologize.” Cupping her face gently between my palms, I took in her black eye and vowed, “We’re getting you away from him.”
“When I got your voicemail last night … something in me snapped. We got into a huge fight”—she gestured to her eye—“he warned me not to leave the apartment today. But I can’t stay. I’m afraid if I stay, I’m going to kill him or he’s going to kill me.”
“That’s not going to happen. We are going back to Scotland. And if you want to, you can work at the B and B with me.”
For the first time, I saw hope in London’s eyes. “I want to get away, to come with you, but … I don’t have my passport. He locked it in his safe along with all my credit cards, my driver’s license, and my old phone. He doesn’t know about the new one. I asked Cynthia to get it for me. I still owe her money for it.”
It made my stomach churn that she’d been forced to ask her friend to buy her another phone. I wondered if Cynthia had kept that from Laurent, considering Laurent’s blasé attitude. Maybe not all of London’s friends had abandoned her after all.
The fact that the asshole had locked her passport and driver’s license in a safe … How much I wanted to hurt Nick was on par with how much I wanted Halston Cole to suffer for eternity.
The passport issue was certainly a problem, but one I was determined wouldn’t stop us. “Let me figure out a plan. Tonight, you stay with me. Does he know I’m here?”
“No.”
Something occurred to me. “Hugh might tell him. I bumped into that prick today.” I worried my lip. “Okay, we’re safe at the hotel for at least a night, but if we haven’t figured things out by tomorrow, we’ll move hotels.”
“I’m sorry I’m putting you through this when you’ve been through so much already.”
“You’re not putting me through anything. I love you. We protect each other. We always have.”
Her lips trembled. “I love you too.”
A few minutes later, at London’s request, I called down to see if the adjoining room was available. I understood she needed some alone time to decompress, but I worried about her, even with only a wall between us. However, for the past six months, everything she wanted had been taken from her through threats and violence, and I wouldn’t take even the slightest thing from her merely becauseIneeded her close.
Thankfully, the room was available, and I hurried down to the lobby to collect the key card and the key for the adjoining door.
After London disappeared inside her room to shower, I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to figure out how the hell we could get into Nick’s safe.
When the knock sounded on my hotel room door, my pulse instantly raced. Fear made my knees shake as I crossed the room on tiptoes to peer into the peephole. All I saw was darkness, and I realized a body was covering it.
The darkness disappeared as the person stepped away from the door, frowning at it.
Confusion and relief burst through me with recognition.
I fumbled for the door, throwing it open. I stared up into Ramsay’s rugged face, those piercing eyes looking right into my soul. For a moment, I wished I could throw my arms around him and hold on tight.
Because he’d made me safe.
Even now, after everything, he made me feel safe.
I kinda hated him for that too.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I covered my wealth of emotions with what I hoped was calm blandness. “What are you doing here?”
42.Ramsay
Icould see right through Silver.
Knew every nuance and flicker of emotion in her eyes and across her gorgeous face.
She was as relieved to see me as she was belligerent and confused.
That gave me hope.
