I made it to the couch before I collapsed.
Watson was there immediately, meowing his concern, climbing into my lap, and pressing his warm weight against my stomach. I buried my fingers in his fur and tried to remember how to breathe.
That's how Brian found me.
He came through the door twenty minutes later, gym bag over his shoulder, still in his workout clothes. He was saying something about dinner, about whether I wanted Thai or?—
He stopped mid-sentence.
"Ava?"
I looked up. I must have looked worse than I thought, because his face went pale.
"What happened?"
The words wouldn't come. I just sat there, Watson purring in my lap, my whole body still trembling.
Brian crossed the room in three strides. He crouched in front of me, his hands hovering like he wanted to touch me but wasn't sure if he should.
"Ava. Talk to me."
"Someone—" My voice cracked. I tried again. "On the way home. A man. He grabbed me."
Brian went very still. "Where?"
"The alley by the pharmacy. He—" I swallowed hard. "He told me to recant my statement. Said it was my only warning."
The fury that transformed Brian's face was unlike anything I'd ever seen.
It wasn't explosive. That would have been easier to handle. This was something else. Controlled. Focused. Terrifying in its stillness. His jaw went tight. His hands curled into fists on his knees. The warm brown eyes that usually crinkled when he smiled had gone flat and hard.
"Let me see."
I didn't understand at first. Then I followed his gaze to where my hand was pressed against my upper arm, fingers curled protectively over the spot where the man had grabbed me.
I pushed up my sleeve.
The bruises were already forming. Four distinct marks where his fingers had dug into my skin. Purple against the pale. A brand.
Brian made a sound low in his throat. His hands were shaking when he reached out, hovering over the bruises without quite touching.
"Ava."
"I'm okay."
"You're not okay. None of this is okay."
"I know." The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. "I know it's not okay. But I don't know what to do. They're taking everything. My license, my safety, my life. And I can't stop them. I can't?—"
Brian pulled me into his arms.
He didn't say anything. Didn't offer solutions or platitudes or promises he couldn't keep. He just held me, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other wrapped around my waist, his heartbeat steady against my ear.
I buried my face in his chest and let myself fall apart.
Watson meowed from somewhere below, displeased at being displaced from my lap. Brian didn't let go. He just stood there in the middle of our apartment, holding me together while I shook.
"I've got you," he murmured into my hair. "I've got you. They're not going to win this."
