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His tongue was a delicious invasion, and I moaned loudly. God, I’ve missed this, I thought, as his hand came up to cup my cheek, his thumb tracing back and forth over the delicate centre of my throat. A rough gust of breath escaped him as his other hand left my waist to grip my arm. I winced and gasped, momentarily breaking the kiss as a sharp sting of pain shot through me.
Shay drew back, his eyes dark and questioning. My arm felt bruised. I hadn’t noticed it until he touched me, but it must’ve been from when Mrs Reynolds grabbed me and dragged me down the hallway.
Shay signed something. I suspected it was a question along the lines of “What’s wrong?” or “Did I hurt you?” His features were etched with worry and concern.
I cleared my throat, still feeling upset over the whole thing. “Mrs Reynolds was mad at me for knocking into that man. Supposedly, he’s some bigshot film director. She got a little rough with me just now, but don’t worry. I stood up for myself and told her she had no right to grab me. She seemed shaken when I used the word assault—”
Before I could finish, Shay was typing into the app on his phone.
“She fucking grabbed you?”
Glancing up at him, I saw how wild his eyes were. He was furious.
“Yes,” I answered. “But I’m fine. No harm done. Well, not much, at least.”
Without hesitating, Shay shoved his phone back in his pocket and gently began rolling my shirt sleeve up to inspect my arm. I glanced down, surprised by the bruise already forming. Shay inhaled sharply, his fingers tracing the tender area before his expression hardened. He unrolled the sleeve and fixed it back down for me. I couldn’t read what he was thinking, but then he took my hand, unlocked the door, and led me back out into the party.
I had no idea where he was taking me. The guests were much louder and more jovial now that Clark, the guest of honour, had arrived. Shay never let go of my hand as he led me out to the garden. Rhys stood by the back wall, his tall, broad shoulders straight as he scanned the area. Shay approached him, only dropping my hand so he could sign something to his cousin.
Seeing them together, the family resemblance was striking. It was pronounced in the way Rhys’ expression darkened just as Shay’s had when he discovered my bruise. His eyes, which were blue as opposed to Shay’s grey-green, landed on me. They travelled over me intently, as though searching for injury. It was clear Shay had just relayed my encounter with Mrs Reynolds.
“Maggie, are you okay?” Rhys asked.
“I’m fine, honestly,” I replied, though my voice sounded brittle.
His thick eyebrows drew together, obviously not convinced by my answer. I wasn’t either, to be honest, but I hated being scrutinised, especially with how delicate I was feeling.
“I should get back to work,” I said, turning to leave, but Shay caught my hand, his warm palm sliding against mine as he shook his head.
“You’re shaken,” Rhys said. “Shay’s going to take you home, and if Sariah Reynolds comes looking for you, I’ll tell her she’s lucky I haven’t taken my people and quit after hearing how she treats her employees. I won’t be accepting any work from her again after this.”
I was surprised by his vehemence, his protectiveness and the fact he was going to refuse working for her in the future just because of me. His anger on my behalf, which almost rivalled Shay’s, was strangely validating. Most of my life, I’d had to swallow abuse, suck it up and move on. Having those two men acknowledge what had happened and defend me had my throat wobbling with emotion.
I just about managed to hold it together as Rhys tossed Shay his car keys, which Shay caught easily. He still held my hand as he began leading me away from the party. We were almost at the exit when Mrs Reynolds suddenly appeared.
“Maggie,” she exclaimed, her eyes going from me to Shay. “Where are you going? There are empty glasses that need to be collected, and—”
Shay tucked me behind him, his shoulders tensing as he glared at Mrs Reynolds. The way he didn’t hesitate to get in her face had my stomach doing somersaults.
His glare clearly had her frazzled when she sputtered, “And you. Aren’t you part of Rhys Doyle’s security team? You should be working, too.”
Something hardened within me. Maybe it was the way she tried to dismiss Shay like he was nothing. She could talk down to me all she wanted, but not him. A burst of defiance shot through me, and I stepped around Shay’s tall, intimidating form before addressing her, “I won’t be going back to work tonight. In fact, you can consider this my resignation. I quit.”
