“Get this man cleaned up and figure out if there are any other lies they’ve told us.”
“There are none!” King bellowed.
“Raise your voice again,” Anna called from behind her closed bedroom door, “and I’ll cut out your fucking tongues with my goddamn cuticle clippers!”
King went to go open his mouth, but I stepped in. “You heard her. Move. You have your orders.”
At first, no one moved. We all just looked around at each other, waiting for the next person to pounce. But it was Doc’s head movement that caught my eye, and I turned my head to find him nodding at my hands.
“Come see me in the morning if they hurt,” he said before he slid King’s arm around his shoulders. “Come on, big guy. Let’s go get that nose set.”
“Can I come?” Charise asked softly.
“You can do anything you’d like,” King said. “You’re free to come and go as you please here.”
“Okay,” she said softly as she fell in step at his other side.
It wasn’t until the hallway ws evacuated that Cap turned to face me. “You and I will speak tomorrow.”
I just drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Boss.”
He leveled me with a look before it softened. “I get why you’re upset, but throwing hands?—”
I held up my hand and nodded. “I know. I got out of control. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Make sure that it doesn’t,” he said before he lowered his voice. “But for what it’s worth, I would have had the same reaction. No one lies to us and gets away with it. King should’ve been forthcoming with all information so we could have made the best decision for all of the women involved.”
I just slowly nodded. I didn’t trust my words, nor my actions. Anger still bled through my veins, but worry for Anna trumped all of it.
And when Cap finally tore away from the chaos, marching down the hallway toward Ariel, who waited for him, I turned toward Anna’s bedroom door.
“Don’t even think about it,” she muttered from behind it.
I placed my hand against the solid wood. “I’m sorry, Anna. But you have to understand, you are worth protecting, too. Even if you don’t believe it.”
Nothing could have prepared me for the fact that I heard the locks on her door unlock. Was she about to slug me? I could see that. Right in the fucking gut. But nothing could have prepared me for the way she whipped that bedroom door open, staring up at me with defiant blue eyes swimming with tears.
“Oh, Anna,” I murmured as I reached out with my bloodied fist, ready to cup her cheek.
I paused, however.
I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to touch her.
“I can take care of myself,” she said softly, without a bite of fight in her voice.
I took a chance and allowed my hand to cup her cheek. It practically spanned the length of her face. She was so delicate. So beautiful. So vital to me.
The revelation stole my breath away.
“I know you can,” I said as I smoothed my thumb along her pudgy little cheek. “But you guys should have been honest with us. We have a lot at stake here.”
“I know,” she whispered.
And as I watched her face gravitate toward mine, I bent toward her.
Slowly.
Surely.
