The endearment escapes from some unknown place as her silky locks slip over my fingers.
“He…he wanted…he was going to…”
Sliding my hands up her arms, I pull her almost into my lap, close enough to feel her soft curves against my chest. “Evianna. Are. You. Injured?”
My sharp tone gets her attention, and she sucks in a deep breath. “I…I cut my cheek on something. He…slammed my head against the desk. But…I didn’t…black out.” She coughs, takes a wheezing breath. “He tried to…strangle me. But I’m okay.” Her body relaxes slightly, and fuck. Even with the adrenaline racing through me, I can’t ignore how good she feels.
Get your head on straight. Assess the situation and get Evianna somewhere safe.
I tap the Bluetooth that’s somehow still seated in my ear. “VoiceAssist, call Vasquez.”
“Yeah, boss?” Vasquez replies after only half a ring.
“You better be fucking close. Get to the back of Evianna’s building. Someone broke in and attacked her. He just left.” Sliding my arm around her back, I worry at the sharp tang of blood in the air. “Can you describe him, darlin’? Did you see which way he turned when he ran out the door?”
“A couple inches taller than you. Solid. Kind of…fat? Dressed in black. He had…really dark eyes. Like…Johnny Depp really let himself go. Smelled like cigarettes. And…um…he went left. Uh…south.” Her raspy voice tells me she’s barely holding it together, but she still manages to give a damn good description.
“You get all that?”
Vasquez lays on his horn. “Got it. A block north of you now.”
As soon as I disconnect the call, I help her up then take a half-step back. I need the distance to think. She’s a client, for fuck’s sake. But her breath hitches, and she grabs my wrist, then lets go like I just burned her. “I’m…sorry. Shit. I just needed—”
“Never touch a blind man without an invitation.”
I’m an idiot.
“Come here, darlin’. Hold on to me as long as you need. But can you turn on the lights? I had my driver call the police. They should be here soon.”
“The lights? How—?” She intertwines our fingers, holding on like her life depends on it.
“I’m not completely blind. Very few people are. I can tell light from dark. See a few muted colors. Where’s the switch?”
“Alfie, turn on the downstairs lights.”
Nothing happens.
“I…don’t understand. Alfie controls everything, and I checked her alerts in the car. She was operating fine. Nothing on the motion sensors.” Evianna hesitates, then bends down, never letting go of my hand. When she rises, she presses my cane into my free hand. “I can…there’s a manual switch by the door.”
My shoes crunch over a few pieces of broken glass as she leads me back down the hall, but seconds later, light floods the small space, with dark shadows I think are other rooms up ahead.
“What now?” she asks.
“We get you into a chair and you tell me how bad that cut is.” I want to hold her, to have her pressed against me again, but she’s shaking and breathing too quickly for my liking, and I won’t take advantage of her. “Do you have a first aid kit?”
“Kitchen.”
The one-word answer worries me, but Evianna hooks her arm through mine, guides me deeper into the house, and flicks on another light just before we step into a larger, open space. “You can sit,” she says, her voice flat as she curls my fingers around the back of a chair. “I’ll get…”
Years of training and service in the worst conditions in the world taught me more than I ever wanted to know about human behavior. Her tone, her cool skin, her mechanical movements…they all point to an impending adrenaline crash. “No. You’re sitting down. Right now.” Digging a clean handkerchief out of my pocket, I brace my cane on the table and take a chair across from her. “Show me where the cut is.”
Her hand shakes as she guides me to her cheek. There can’t be too much blood, as I don’t feel any dampness against my fingers.
“S-sorry,” she whispers as she starts shivering. “Don’t know what’s wrong.”
“You’re losing adrenaline. Fast. This is normal. Do you have something sweet? Coke, orange juice, lemonade? It’ll help.”
“There’s juice. In the fridge.” She starts to get up, but her knees must give out, because her ass hits the chair, and she grunts softly. “Dammit.”
