He laughed at the serving wench comment, glad she could joke about it. Better to laugh than cry.
Once back in the suite there wasn’t much chatter. She was practically asleep on her feet. How did she do this day after day? But really, what were her choices?
He gave her a little push again into the bedroom, waiting a few minutes after the light went out to go in and use the bathroom. As he crept out, her soft voice mumbled, “Night, muffin.”
He kept his chuckle low and whispered, “Night, sweetie.”
* * * *
Chris finished brushing his teeth wondering what time Meg would get up today. It was only ten but he’d been up for a few hours. He’d actually slept late this morning too, for him. Typically an early riser, this assignment was playing havoc with his routine.
Indulging a bit, he gazed at her while she slept in the huge, comfortable bed. He could probably sleep in there and not actually touch her in any way. Seriously? Who was he kidding? If he was in that bed with her he’d have an impossibly hard time tryingnotto touch her. She was a bit addictive. It wasn’t simply her beauty either. She was fun. Her mind was as sharp as her tongue.
As he watched, she rolled onto her back lifting her arms to rest above her head, pushing her chest out prominently. She stayed asleep and he told himself he should stop gawking at her. Parts of him were already frustrated he was only gawking and they were begging him to do more. He silently stepped past but some discoloration on her arms made him pause to look closer.
They were bruises; severe ones by the looks of them. How had that happened? He eyed them closer, turning his head in different directions. Tiny crescent-shaped indentations where fingernails were marred the edges of the discoloration. Who would have gripped her hard enough to leave these? And why?
Debating whether or not to wake her up and ask, he sat on the edge of the bed. The bruises hadn’t been there yesterday at the pool. He definitely would have noticed.
His jaw clenched tighter as he lifted his finger to run along the soft skin of the arm closest to him. The thought of someone grabbing her and holding her this tightly made him see red. How did he have such strong emotions where she was concerned already? He’d only met her three days ago. It was simply because he hated to see any woman victimized, right? It had always been his downfall.
Her make-up free face, still gorgeous, began to show signs of waking. Her eyes fluttered open. She sat up quickly taking in a deep breath, looking around.
“Oh, you startled me. Why are you in here? Do I need to do something?”
“Yeah,” he huffed trying to remain calm. “You need to tell me how you got these bruises on your arms.”
Fear flickered in her eyes briefly before she masked it, brushing it off. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Meg.” He gazed at her seriously. “These are from someone wrapping their hands all the way around your arms and holding tight. Who did this? One of your customers in the back room?”
She shook her head averting her eyes. “Mr. Moreno wasn’t happy that I moved out without talking to him first. Apparently he had the landlord keeping an eye out for me, in case I tried to skip out of town.”
“Moreno did this?” His hatred for the man grew deeper by the minute. “Did he hurt you anywhere else?”
She kept her eyes toward the window and gave a shrug, though not very credible by any standards. “I’m okay. You shouldn’t worry. It’s not the first time he got upset and shook me a little.”
“He’s done this before?” Heat saturated his face and neck. “How often does he do stuff like this?”
She did look at him this time as she shook her head. “Not often, honestly. I usually try and stay out of his way when he’s in a bad mood. Dave, one of the bartenders, will give me a head’s up most of the time if he can.”
He remained silent, fuming for a few moments, his thoughts racing. “I can put you on a plane to Pennsylvania this afternoon and you can be back with your family by tonight. We can make up some story for Moreno that you were killed in a car accident when you were crossing the street. Then you don’t have to worry about him going after you or your family.”
Her expression started out puzzled then grew stubborn. “Oh, no you don’t. I’m not running away from my promise to you because Mr. Moreno got a little handsy. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with it before. You said yourself the information I could potentially get from those back room games could be the key to taking down his whole organization. Youneedme.”
“Yeah, I do. But I need youalive.”
She moved her hand to touch his clenched fist. He looked down at it. “Chris, I’ll be fine, I promise. If ever I think I’m in too much danger, I’ll scream my bloody head off and run away. There are always a ton of people around. Someone would come running.Thenyou can put me on a plane.”
Another silence filled the room. What should he make of this brave, feisty woman sitting next to him? She should be jumping at the chance to get away from Moreno. He stared at the bruises again, gritting his teeth. “Where else did he hurt you?”
“He didn’t,” she assured him. “He grabbed me and shook me a little.”
He narrowed his eyes at her statement. She seemed okay with making light of her injuries. “When I asked a minute ago if he hurt you anywhere else, you couldn’t look me in the eye. Where else did he hurt you?”
Her blue eyes flicked to his briefly then lowered again, her face flushing. “He didn’thurtme. He…grabbed my ass and pulled me closer so I could…feel his…um…” Her eyes roamed the room embarrassment tinting her cheeks.
“His erection?” He finished for her.
