Swallowing her tears, she bent down and kissed his forehead.
“Hannah.”He groaned without opening his eyes.
“I’m right here,” she whispered and sat down next to him on the bed.She took his hand in hers, and he relaxed immediately.
When he was breathing calmly again, she tried to pull her hand out of his.She wanted to have a shower, put on clean clothes.But Darryn wouldn’t let go of her hand.Lifting the sheets, she moved so she was lying next to him, his hand cradled in hers.There was time for a bath tomorrow, time to talk, to explain.But, right now, she just wanted to be close to him.
Chapter Twelve
Her scent filledhis whole being, and Darryn woke up grunting.Damn, he knew it was a dream, but he could swear he felt her hand in his.
Something warm was nestled close to his side, and he looked down.His breath left his body in a whoosh.Lying next to him, on the side that hadn’t been injured, one hand tucked under her chin, was Hannah.All her glorious hair was spread out over the pillow next to him.
A hole he didn’t even know he had, filled up, overflowed, and a peace he’d never experienced before settled over him.She was here, in his house, in his bed, she was fine, and he would make sure she stayed that way, even if it meant getting another blow to the head.
He tried to lift his hand; he wanted to touch her, but the pain in his shoulder left him gasping.
Her eyes flew open.“Hi.”She smiled.“How are you feeling?”She lifted herself up on her elbow.
He stilled.If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget this sight.Hannah, not quite awake yet, her hair all over the place, her blue eyes with traces of dreams still lurking in their depths, staring up at him, her mouth half-open.His heart stopped before it started beating erratically.He loved this woman with an intensity that left him aching for her.
“Damn, woman, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said gruffly and lifted the arm he could move.He touched her face, her hair, cupped her cheek.“You’re really here.And you’re not hurt.”
“But you are.”She gently slid her hands over the bandages on his head, her eyes filling.
“I’m fine,” he said and caught her hand, bringing it to his lips.“Don’t ever disappear like that again, you hear?”He growled and, catching her hair in his fist, he brought her mouth closer for a kiss.
Thirstily, he drank from her lips, reveled in her softness, her gentleness, and thanked his lucky stars she wanted to be here with him.
Out of breath, she finally lifted her head, trailing her fingers over his face, his jaw.“He warned me to stay away from you, otherwise he would hurt you and my family.That’s why I had to leave, but then he hurt you anyway.”She swallowed, her lip quivering.
He pulled her down for a quick kiss.“I underestimated him, not something that will happen again.The man is clearly deranged—no sane person would behave like this.According to my mother, he’s been imitating me since school.I don’t know what his problem is and frankly I don’t care.We have arranged for a private detective, and Don called the police last night.”
“The police?”
“Yeah, I know they’re useless, but I think it’s vital to lodge a formal complaint.They’ll be here sometime this morning.You’re not leaving my sight until that man is behind bars.”
“She’ll need strong coffee to put up with you then,” Don said from the doorway and entered the room with a tray.“Three coffees coming up.”
Darryn cleared his throat, touched his brother’s hand briefly.“Thanks for staying.”
“You’re my baby brother,” Don said gruffly before he held the tray out toward Hannah.“I’m actually sorry White didn’t return—I was ready for him.”
*
Hannah’s throat constrictedas she watched the two brothers.Don put his hand lightly on Darryn’s shoulder, the love and worry obvious in his touch.
The Cavallos might be hard businessmen, but from what she had witnessed thus far, they were also fierce protectors, as well as loyal and caring husbands, guarding what was theirs with great ardor.
She should have trusted Darryn and told him about Stephen’s threat.If she’d done that, he wouldn’t be lying here now, literally battered and bruised.
“Don’t,” he said, reading her mind.He pushed her hair back.“It’s obvious now he would have come after me, no matter what you did or didn’t do.None of this is your fault, please know that.”
“I have a new phone for you.”Don took the phone out of his pocket.“I had to get food—this guy’s cupboards and fridge are totally empty, so I picked one up for you.”He handed it to her.“Thought you’d need to get in touch with your agent.”
“Thanks,” Hannah said.“But Karen thought her phone may be bugged and…”
“The rest of the family will arrive soon and we can discuss this again, but my feeling is we have to flush out this guy.We know he’s here, so Karen is, at least for the moment, safe.Call her.Also, I arranged for your hired car to be picked up.We’ll drop you at your place later.”
