Motherfucker.
“You can trust me, baby, I swear you can. Did he tell you his name? Or where he was going to take you?”
She loses the battle, and the dam breaks as the tearsstream down her face, slicing through me like a hot knife.
“You said you would shield me. You said that if it’s up to you, I won’t have to deal with those men. But not only did you send him to my house, you wanted me to get in the car with him.” She tries to pull away from me, her tear-streaked face still twisted in anger and hurt. “I don’t want to ever see you again.”
Tightening my grip on her arm and looping my fingers around her nape, I hold her in place. “Hey, hey. Look at me, baby.” I move my face in front of hers and cup her cheeks, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “I didn’t send anyone to your house, okay? The only person I’ll allow to talk to you is Swan.”
Every red flag in my head is flying high and flapping like they’re in a windstorm.
“Did he tell you his name?”
She looks to the side like she’s trying to remember, her nose is pink, and her lips are pouty. “Uhm, I recognized his voice from the call.” Her eyes snap back to mine, and her face pinches. “He looks as gross as he sounds, some guys just can’t cover up slimy, and he’s one of them.”
Trying to be patient, I rub my thumbs across her cheeks. “Focus, baby. Did he tell you his name?”
Her eyes drop to my chin, her focus fading in and out. “Mmm, his name was Sanders. He said you wanted him to check on me.”
“Did he say my name? Did he tell you it was me who sent him?”
Her eyebrows pull together in confusion, and she nods.
Goddamn it.
“What did he look like?”
She looks over my head for a moment as she almost snarls her lip, and with the tone of a high school girl, she squints her eyes. “He looked stupid. Who wears a long sleeve, thermalhenley in fucking July?” She sniffs. “I told him I wasn’t going anywhere with him and to tell you,” She tries to jab her finger on my shoulder, but it slides over the top as she sways on her feet, “ifyouwant a report fromme, the FBI can come to my house to get it.” Her eyebrows lift on her forehead, and she tries to nod like she just told me off.
I can’t stop my smile. “Good girl.”
She wobbles a bit and stares at my chest, her face goes pale as she swallows. “Rhys?”
“Yeah, baby.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” The words are more slurred, and her hand slides over her stomach.
Scooping her up bridal style, I fast-walk to the hedges against the privacy fence at the back of the club. She slaps her hand over her mouth just before I set her legs down and lean her over the greenery. My arm is around her waist, and I wrap her ponytail around my other hand to keep it from falling over her shoulder.
As she retches, I consider she came out here and drank way too fucking much because she thought I betrayed her. I hurt her, and I feel like the biggest ass in the world. I never should have let her leave my house the other day.
After she heaves her last, she stays bent over for a moment, her bare back against my chest still. “I’m sorry.”
Kissing her shoulder, I move my head next to hers, my chest squeezing like a fucking vice. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”
She huffs a laugh as she wipes the back of her hand across her nose. “Nobody likes a sloppy drunk, it’s just gross.”
Helping her to stand up straight, I keep my arm around her waist as she wobbles, and her fingers wrap around my forearm across her stomach. “Everything is spinning.”
“I’ve got ya, baby.” I scoop her up again and start the walk to my SUV.
She melts into me and rests her forehead against my neck. Her hand slides up my chest and grips me where my neck meets my shoulder as she takes a deep inhale. “I like the way you smell. When I smell you, I know everything’s going to be okay.” Her words are slurring like she’s about to pass out, but they wrap around me and burrow under my skin.
My chest warms from the inside out, and I press my cheek to her head. “Everythingisgoing to be okay, baby.”
After I walk the block to my SUV, she’s passed out against my shoulder, and I have to lean the seat back and buckle her in.
She’s not leaving my side again.
