Help is on the way.
His message told her nothing about Ash’s state of mind.What was he feeling? Did he miss her? Had she hurt him? Did he understand the reasons behind why she’d left?
With a groan, she gave up on deciphering nonexistent clues in the simple text.
Her attention shifted to the hallway and the closed door of the guest room. Going to Forest would not ease his pain. Quite the opposite would happen, and she appreciated the sacrifice he’d made to keep her safe.
Her presence would exacerbate an already shitty situation. She’d give almost anything to sink into a simple brotherly hug and feel Forest’s love surround her within the strength of his arms, but that was not how their relationship worked.
She had a few minutes before Ash’s security team would arrive, so she went to her room and turned on the shower until the air thickened with billowy steam. She washed quickly, removing two days of grime, and then sat on the tiles where she hugged her knees tight to her chest, watching the steam swirl.
While she loved medicine with a passion born from a need to help others, Forest couldn’t run their empire alone. She had obligationsshe could no longer ignore.But was she ready to step into such a daunting role?
The Elsbeth Beneficence Foundation funded several charitable organizations. The Brenerkie Foster Care Initiative was their first. A fourteen-year-old girl named Ivy was a victim who had been placed into their charter foster care system. The poised Rice University student Skye had met on the flight from LAX bore little resemblance to the young girl broken by abuse.
Maybe it was time for her to take a more active role in what Forest and she had created?
A pounding on the bathroom door startled her out of her reverie. She squinted through the fog.How had Forest put himself back together so quickly?
More pounding followed. A deepthump, thump, thumprattled the hinges.
Odd that Forest would bother to knock at all. Except for the no-touching thing, they had few boundaries. If she were taking a shower, soaking in a bath, or using the toilet, if he wanted to talk, he wouldn’t have hesitated to barge in.
Had one of the reporters broken into her house?
Naked and sitting on the floor, she was completely exposed. A paparazzo could barge in, snap a photo, and run out before she could take the breath she would need to scream.
A now familiar rich voice called out from behind the closed door, “Skye, are you in there?”
She hadn’t asked Ash to come, nor was she prepared to face him, not after walking away.
“Why isn’t she answering?” That voice didn’t belong to Ash although it seemed vaguely familiar.
“How the hell would I know?” Ash’s desperation pulsed through the thin wooden barrier of the door. His voice caressed her skin, sending shivers down her spine.
She turned off the shower and dried as quickly as she could.
“Skye, can you hear me? I came as quickly as I could.” Athunksounded from the other side of the door, as if he’d dropped his head against the wood.
A gravelly deep voice roared out, catching her attention and making her jump, “Who the fuck are you? Get the fuck out of my sister’s house, you fucking perverts, before I tear you apart.”
Oh, shit. Forest.
“Sam?” The alarm in the second man’s voice rose an octave and cracked.
Wrapped in nothing other than a towel, she yanked the door open, desperate to stop the cataclysm that Forest could become.
Ash stood by the door, braced and facing off against Forest. To his left, Sam held his hands out in a placating gesture. Beside him, Bash’s eyes widened with fear.
Forest’s icy-blue scrutiny darted between Ash, Sam, and Bash, but they weren’t the only men in her bedroom. Two others stood between Ash, Bash, and her brother. They squared off against the six-foot-eight wild man intent on taking out two of Angel Fire’s band members.
She lowered the register of her voice to a tone she hoped would calm Forest’s aggression. “It’s okay, Bean.”
Forest shifted his attention between the five men, assessing the threat. Then, a transformation occurred, and she could guess what was going through his mind as he realized who stood before him. Ash and Bash were the front men of his favorite rock band, and he had them terrified.
Ash lifted a shaky finger. “That’s your little brother?”
As the rush of male testosterone dissipated, she made introductions. “Ash, meet Bean. Bean, meet Ash.”
