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Someday, maybe I could too.
My body ached, the pulsing of my blood in my veins a betrayal to what I was. I shifted on the bed, only to stop. A heavy weight held down my hand, and for one terrifying moment, I thought I was back on that boat. Thought I was tied to that bar on the hard, hard floor. Thought Rhys was coming for me again, coming back for one last speck of my soul.
Forcing my eyes open if for no other reason than to prove to myself it wasn't him, it wasn’t Rhys, that I wasn’t about to get raped by the man I’d pined after for far too long… I looked down at my hand.
Wrapped up in warmth that shouldn’t have existed in the hell I’d been thrown into.
A hand the size of a baseball glove covered mine. Cradled mine. Like I was something precious. Like I was something to be cherished rather than trash to be thrown away. That hand was attached to a man.
A beast.
Red hair, the color of mine.
Thick arms and shoulders.
Freckles covering his tortured face.
It was the man who’d saved me. Who’d murdered Rhys and saved me.
Don’t leave me.
The man who had covered me and scooped me up into his arms. Carried me. Held me.
I gotcha. You’ll be safe with me.
He was asleep, head resting on the bed beside my leg as he held my hand, as if he could anchor me to this world and keep me from moving on from one hell to the next.
Lee.
I pulled my hand from his. Turned my back on him. Curled into myself and willed it all to go away.
3
LEE
My lack of sleep—coupled with the stress of a third major police investigation in the past year, the weight of informing Brendan’s parents of his death on my back, and the frustration that my friend was severely ill because of my inability to keep him from jumping out of the damn chopper—had my energy levels so low it was a wonder I was even upright. I was barely functioning yet unwilling to stop just yet.
I’d spoken to Kelly’s parents briefly on the phone, in between meetings with the police and my men and the few early morning hours I’d been at her bedside the last couple days. My conscience wouldn’t let me escape this chance to meet with them. It was as much to appease my guilt as to offer my services. Whatever I could do to make up for my failure.
Rushing from Vinny’s hospital room, I raced down stairs and through bustling corridors. I’d missed a turn and was just coming into the proper hallway when I saw a flash of red hair disappearing through her doorway. My heart lodged itself in my throat, and I quickened my pace, bowling past one of the nurses walking my way.
Quiet voices trickled out of the room, and I paused to take a breath.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay?” Kelly’s mom asked.
“Quit asking if I’m okay.” It was the first time since she’d begged me not to leave her in that room on the boat that I’d heard her voice. It felt like the knife already buried in my gut had been twisted and jabbed in even harder. I pressed my palm into the door jamb, hanging my head. “I told you, I’m fine.”
“Kelly—” Erin’s voice cut off, and there was silence in the room.
A nurse passed me in the hallway, her disapproving stare prompting me to move from where I’d stopped. I knocked a single knuckle against the wood of the partially open door and peeked inside.
The man who rushed to the opening smiled the moment he saw me, extending his hand as if I were a friend instead of the man who hadn’t been enough to keep his daughter from getting raped. “You must be Lee.”
Nodding, I shook his hand. “Donovan?”
“Yes, yes. Come in, please.”
Erin rushed from the foot of the bed, her brown eyes welling with tears as she gripped my hand, then threw her arms around my waist. “Thank god, you’re here.”
