I scan the room again, faster this time, every shadow suddenly looking like a problem waiting to happen.
Then I see Wayne near the back hallway.
He’s standing there like he doesn’t know whether to move or stay where he is.
I cross the room in three strides.
“Where is she?” I demand.
Wayne’s face is pale.
“In the back,” he says quietly.
My stomach drops.
I don’t wait for anything else.
I’m already moving down the hallway.
“Rae!” I call again.
Still no answer.
Then I reach the office doorway.
And stop.
Because Rae is sitting on the floor against the wall.
And the second I see the bruise forming across her face, something inside my chest goes completely cold.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask, my voice low enough that it barely carries past the doorway, but every word feels sharp enough to cut.
Rae looks up at me.
Her eyes are glassy, red around the edges like she’s been trying not to cry for a while, and the second she sees me something in her expression cracks. Then, almost immediately, she looks away, her gaze dropping to the floor like she suddenly can’t hold eye contact anymore.
That’s when I see it clearly.
The bruise spreading across her cheek.
Anger hits so fast and hard it almost knocks the breath out of me.
I cross the room in two steps and crouch down in front of her, one hand already reaching out before I even think about it. She flinches slightly when I touch her arm, and that alone makes my jaw clench.
“Easy,” I murmur, my voice rough.
Then I slide an arm under her knees and another behind her back and lift her off the floor.
She lets out a soft sound of protest.
“Cole.”
“Don’t,” I say quietly.
The couch along the wall is only a few steps away, and I sit down with her still in my arms before pulling her onto my lap like it’s the most natural thing in the world. She’s light, but the tension in her body is obvious, her shoulders stiff and her hands fisted loosely in the front of my shirt.
For a moment neither of us speaks.
