She focused with effort.
“I’m going to take care of you.” I cupped her face with both hands, my thumbs gently wiping away tears and blood. “Whatever happened tonight, whatever you did or didn’t do, I’m going to protect you. But you have to trust me. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Good girl.” I pressed my forehead to hers for just a moment, breathing her in beneath the copper scent of blood. “If you fall, you fall into me. Always. Remember that.”
Now I just had to figure out how the hell to save her.
4
RYKER
As I stared at Faith’s blood-covered body, a wave of protectiveness crashed over me like nothing I’d ever experienced. The criminal defense attorney in me, the man who’d taken the bar and dedicated his life to respecting the law, screamed to call the police. Get her to the station. Now. Start the process.
But the primal need to shield her from whatever hell had unfolded tonight was fiercer. Reckless. And winning.
Blake’s car engine rumbled outside,a low countdown timer that reminded me we didn’t have long.
I stared down at her bare, muddy feet. “Faith, how did you get here?” If she’d driven, she wouldn’t have been clutching that knife, would she have?
“I ran.”
“You ran,” I repeated.
She nodded.
“From where?”
“The forest.”
I mentally cataloged the area around the mansion. We were in a wealthy enclave of legacy estates, where new money rubbed shoulders with old. To separate this exclusive community fromencroaching suburbia, dense woods circled the properties like a protective moat.
How the hell had she ended up in those woods, covered in blood?
“Blake gave me this address,” she said, shifting to reveal shorts beneath that sundress. She pulled her phone from her back pocket before I could stop her.
I stared at the device in horror.Jesus. Cell towers. GPS tracking. Once she got on their radar, they’d place her at the scene of whatever crime had occurred, and police would follow that digital breadcrumb trail right to this mansion.
If I didn’t get my arms around this situation, all of us could be dragged down with dangerous implications.
I needed to hurry.
“Stay here,” I commanded.
I jogged down the hallway, my shoes echoing against hardwood floors. In the bathroom, I rifled through cabinets until I found what I was looking for: a red first aid kit that looked like it hadn’t seen action in years.
When I returned, Faith sat exactly as I’d left her: eyes unblinking, staring at absolutely nothing. A beautiful, blood-soaked statue.
Jesus Christ.
I squatted in front of her, the first aid kit crinkling as I opened it. Blake would be better suited for this wound care, but as I’d explained, he couldn’t be here while I questioned her. And I sure as hell wasn’t asking questions without at least slowing the flow of blood.
“Faith.” Her eyes didn’t move. “Look at me.”
Finally, those green eyes met mine, and my heart slammed against my ribs. Terror. Pain. And trust. So much goddamn trust that it nearly knocked me over.
“I’m your lawyer now. Do you know what that means?”
