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‘When?’
‘This morning. Well, yesterday now.’ I picked up my coat and dragged it over my arms and grabbed my keys. ‘I need to go take her to Cam’s, or ours. Just somewhere safe.’
‘Go. We’ll find him.’
‘Keep him alive until I get there.’
I’d tried her phone endlessly as I drove, praying that she’d just crashed out after the insane day she’d had. Every ring wound me tighter.
I pulled up right outside of her door, hammering at the old wood. I didn’t wait before grabbing my stolen keys and letting myself in.
The house was dark and cold, and I felt for a light switch with my hand. My fingers grazed the metal, I flicked it and squinted when light illuminated the kitchen.
I went straight to her bedroom, hauling open the door only to find her bed empty. The new mattress I’d had delivered hadn’t even been unwrapped.
The sitting room. Of course, she’d have opted for the couch rather than sleep in the room where she’d believed she’d killed someone.
My heart all but stopped when I walked into the room, a tumble of red hair spilling across the floor.
‘Katie?’ I fell to my knees beside her, turning her over gently as anger flared within me. She was covered in blood, her lip burst in two places while her left eye was swollen almost shut. Purple bruises bloomed over her pale skin, her legs bared where her trousers gathered around her ankles.
Red mist settled over me as I felt for a pulse, finding it weakly beating. She didn’t even stir.
‘Fuck baby, you’ll be okay. I’m so sorry. I should have been here.’
My voice shook as I called for an ambulance, fighting back tears as I looked over her crumpled, broken body.
‘Please, you have to be okay, Sweetness. You have to be.’
I ran a hand over her hair as I cradled her, memorising every mark so that I could repay it back double when my brothers tracked down Tommy. He’d suffer. Fuck, would he suffer.
Her breathing was shallow and crackled as I remained on the line to the dispatcher, waiting for red and blue lights to stream in through the windows.
I should have left her for the paramedics, knowing being found with a beaten woman would bring police involvement. I needed to deal with Tommy, and spending the night answering police questions wasn’t my idea of fun, but there was no way I could abandon her again, either.
‘You’ll be okay, my love. It’ll all be okay.’
When the walls finally lit up to the tune of sirens, relief washed through me. I had to let her go for the paramedics to take over, but it killed me to do so.
She was like a rag doll as the paramedics worked on her, getting her strapped to a stretcher as I gathered up her phone and purse and followed behind them.
The looks they passed between them were full of knowing. They’d likely seen abuse a million times before, but they had me pinned wrong. I didn’t care. They could judge me six ways to Sunday for all I cared.
I held her hand the entire way to the hospital, only begrudgingly letting it go when two high-vis clad police officers stepped into my way as we entered A&E.
My heart went with Katie as they pulled her away from me, my fingers dropping to my side, feeling emptier than ever.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
KATIE
My nose crinkled as the powerful scent of disinfectant washed over me. My limbs were leaden as I tried to raise my hand to rub at my eyes.
‘Whoa, Katie, slow down there.’ It was a feminine voice that met my ears, a familiar voice. It was like cotton wool filled my brain as I worked to make connections meet.
‘Hey, Katie. God, I’m glad to see you awake.’
Cam.
