My concern for her state overriding my anger at myself, I step closer and cup her face with both hands. Forcing her gaze on mine, I gently but firmly ask, “I know something bad happened that you’re not sharing, angel. Please talk to me. I’m not leaving until you do.”
Tears well up in her eyes as she stares back unblinking at me. My heart cracks at the fearful shadows playing in them.
I stroke my thumb below her eye, where a single teardrop escapes, and I whisper, “Ari.”
The brave act she was putting on splinters. In a broken voice, she confesses, “Some guy molested me on the bus while I was on my way to meet you.”
My muscles go rigid as I absorb her words. Rage like I’ve never felt before blinds my sight. “Where did he touch you?” I grit out.
Her eyelids squeeze shut as she shudders. “My breasts. The bus was packed and we were jostling. So, at first, I thought it was an accident. But then I felt his hand… squeeze and pi… pinch my…” She trails off, sniffling.
“Shhh…” I console, suppressing the need to go and hunt down the man. I pull her into my arms. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
She crumples, burying her head against my chest as loud sobs rack her slim body. I rub soothing circles on her back and kiss the top of her head. If I had a time machine, I would turn it back and stop her from getting on that bus.
I ache to take away her pain.
When her shivers don’t stop, I pick her up and wrap her legs around my waist. Carrying her inside, I walk past her living room and easily find her bedroom in the back hallway at the very end.
Her bed is perfectly made, while steam blows through the ajar door of the adjoined bathroom. Pihu, who’s perched on the sofa in the corner, lifts her head from her paws upon seeing me. Jumping down, she trots to my feet.
As if she knows I need to take care of her momma, she doesn’t climb up my leg and simply sits back on her back legs.
I sit down on the bed with Arya on my lap, turning her sideways. She clings to me, fisting the lapels of my suit jacket. Cupping and caressing the back of her neck, I press my lips against her temple.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through this, angel,” I murmur. “I’m here now. No one’s touching you.”
“I've heard stories from other women, but I’ve never experienced it… until today. I always thought I’d shout or attack if a man tried to touch me inappropriately, but I stood there frozen and mute. I couldn’t comprehend what occurred in front of so many people. I don’t think anyone saw. He got off the bus so casually and turned to look at me head-on. The… the satisfied look on his face knowing he got away, I can’t get it out of my mind.”
The bastard isn’t getting away with it. He’s going to wish he never looked at her, much less touched, by the time I’m done breaking every single bone in his body.
“Every time I close my eyes, I can feel his ugly hands on me.” Arya hiccups, jolting from the bad memories. “I’ve been showering since I came home and I still feel dirty and disgusting.”
“Hey.” I tilt her head back. “Look at me.”
Glassy and torn brown eyes blink up at me.
“He’s not here, I am.” Intertwining my fingers with her cold ones, I squeeze tightly and rub along her knuckles with my thumb. “Feel my touch. Listen to my voice. Can you do that for me?”
She takes a deep breath and nods.
I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it. “You’re not dirty. Don’t let him make you feel this way. It shouldn’t have happened and it isn’t your fault.”
“I wish men like him didn’t exist.”
“I agree.” Too sad we live in a world where good and bad are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. “Know this, angel, no man will ever hurt or take advantage of you again.”
She inhales sharply at the fierceness in my voice. “Sounds like a promise.”
“It is.”
“I’m always a damsel in distress around you,” she whispers, her lips tilting up slightly.
“You can be whoever you want to be around me.” Tracing her pulse on her wrist, I say, “For the record, I’ve never seen you as a damsel.”
“No?”
I shake my head. “Damsels are weak. You are anything but.”
