Then he turned, presenting just enough of his profile for her to recognize him. Her mouth fell open in shock and she winced at the pain the action caused her swollen lips.
Silas.
He’d come for her. He’d saved her. Those men couldn’t hurt her anymore. How had he known?
She closed her eyes, tears squeezing from underneath her eyelids. Then gentle hands touched her tentatively, seeking a response.
“Hayley? Princess, are you all right? Open your eyes, please.”
Silas’s pleading tone penetrated the fog of pain that held her firmly in its grip. Her eyelids fluttered open and she moaned at the discomfort the effort caused. Hearing the worry in his voice forced her to acknowledge his plea, and gradually she blinked his face into focus.
His expression was at once savage with fury and full of relief and so much regret as he gathered her carefully into her arms.
“My violin,” she gasped.
He turned from her a moment, his gaze seeking the area around them, and when he turned back, there was apology and sorrow in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, princess.”
Tears flooded her eyes and she could no longer be strong. She broke into heartrending sobs, Silas’s savage curses echoing as if from a great distance away.
“This is going to hurt, princess, and I’m so damn sorry, but I have to get you home so I can take care of you.”
“The case,” she gasped out before he could cradle her more fully into his arms. “Is it destroyed too?” She bit her lip to prevent telling him why the case was so important. But it didn’t seem to matter to him. His sole focus was on her.
“It’s here,” he said softly, picking up the case that was broken at the handle but otherwise intact. “Be brave for me, princess. I’ll get you out of here and then I’ll take care of you and you’ll suffer no more pain.”
She was too numb with grief to pay attention to the horrific pain splintering through her ribs as he gently lifted her into his arms. He stood to his full height, carefully arranging her so her head was pillowed on his chest. Then he strode into the night, his step brisk, her weight seemingly negligible as his long strides ate up the distance to his building.
11
Silas shouldered his way into his apartment, carrying his precious bundle. He dropped the broken violin case on the couch and then cradled Hayley in his arms and took her into his bedroom.
He was shaking with fury, on the verge of becoming completely unhinged. Never was he anything but in control, but coming across those fucking bastards abusing Hayley on the street, threatening to rape her—theywouldhave raped her had he not gotten there when he did—the carefully constructed control that he’d held so tightly ever since he’d killed his parents had shattered. And yet he still had the paralyzing fear that he hadn’t gotten there in time. What if one of those bastardshadraped her?
As gently as he was capable of being, he placed her on the bed, cursing when she cried out in pain. Her tears were killing him, but he was helpless to know what to do to make her stop. Every single tear was a dagger to his heart, so much so that he rubbed at his chest in an effort to alleviate the pain. Pain that went deep, so deep he hadn’t a hope of touching it or removing it.
He tenderly pushed her damp hair from her face, wincing when he saw the terrible bruises already forming and the blood that ran fromher nose and mouth. He wanted to go back and kill them all. Hell, they might already be dead. He hadn’t exactly been mindful in his rage. Shit. He needed to call the boys and have a cleanup crew there before they were discovered. But that would have to wait a few more minutes while he tended to his princess.
“Hayley, I need you to tell me where you hurt. Where you’re injured. What did they do to you?”
He knew there was agony in his voice, and guilt. He should have acted sooner. He’d known something was wrong when she didn’t come home on time. He’d played it off, telling himself that she was running late, that something had come up at work or that she was at a friend’s when he knew none of that could be true. She never came home that late, and if he’d listened to his gut, something he never ignored, he would have been there before those assholes assaulted her.
She opened her mouth in an attempt to speak but gasped and closed her eyes. Even breathing seemed to be torture for her.
“My ribs,” she finally gritted out. “God, Silas, it hurts to breathe. I hurt everywhere.”
His blood froze and he instantly unfastened her shirt, pulling it away to reveal the already darkened flesh around her rib cage.
Son of a bitch!
“Princess, this is going to hurt, honey. I’m so damn sorry, but I need to see if anything is broken. Damn it, I should have gotten to you in time!”
Her bloodied lips trembled, but she nodded bravely and a surge of pride overtook him. And then to his utter shock, before he could carefully palpate her ribs, she reached up with a shaking hand to touch his jaw.
“This wasn’t your fault, Silas,” she whispered. “I won’t have you blaming yourself. How could you have known? I’m not your responsibility. Thank God you came at all. If you hadn’t, they would have r-raped me and probably killed me.”
Tears welled in her eyes again and slithered down her battered face. Rage flooded his veins and he wanted to smash his fists into the walls repeatedly, but he had to take care of Hayley. He had to calm down so he didn’t scare the ever-loving fuck out of her.
