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“I don’t want to go in there.” She let out a sob that shook her entire body. Clung to me even harder than before. “That’s where… he took me.”
“Fuck.” I held on tighter, wanting to cradle her in my arms. “You don’t have to. You don’t have to go. I’ll do whatever you want, Kelly. Call your parents. Take you there myself. Just tell—”
“No!” Her fists twisted in the front of my shirt, pinching the skin at my neck. “I can’t. Please, don’t make me.”
My mind raced, chasing right after my heart that wouldn’t stop thundering in my chest. Eyes squeezed shut, I tried to think of a solution. Of what I could do with her that wouldn’t cause her pain.
Wasn’t about to leave her in some random hotel, not after what she’d been through. But I couldn’t leave her here. Couldn’t call her parents. I couldn’t…
I sucked in a sharp breath. Smoothed a hand down the back of her head.
“I have a safehouse.” She stilled, her sobs stifled for a moment. “My old house. I kept it when I moved. For business. To house our clients if we need to, keep them somewhere safe and out of the public eye. You’re welcome to it. To stay as long as you want.”
Kelly sniffled. Her grip didn’t loosen, but she turned her head, her cheek pressed against my chest. “I don’t want to be around strangers.”
“Ain’t no one else there.” I ducked my head, as if I could peer down at her face, see what her reaction was. But there was no seeing her, not with the way she’d burrowed into me. I rested my cheek against her head. “Two suites upstairs. Full kitchen downstairs. Neighbors are quiet. Ain’t no one gonna bother you.”
Her fists loosened, just a hair. “You’ll let me stay?”
“As long as you want.” Forever, if that’s what it took.
After a moment, when her heavy breaths had quieted and the grip on my shirt gave enough that I didn’t feel like she was strangling me with the fabric, I felt her head bob against my chest. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
Kelly shifted her weight, backing into the cab of my Jeep, only to shiver at the cold. She wiped the heel of her palm across her nose, then brought those ocean eyes to meet mine. “Yeah. That’d be okay.”
I edged back, arms ready to catch her if she fell. Waited until she was settled in her seat before I closed the door and rounded to my side. I took her to my safehouse—a dump of a place in an even worse neighborhood. She clutched her arms around herself as she slipped from the car inside the detached garage. I snagged her bag from her—though there was barely anything in it—and ushered her up the snow-packed sidewalk to the back door.
If she noticed the change from outside to in, she didn’t show it. Not like most people did. The outside of the house, along with the mud room and the front entry, were just as shitty as the rest of the neighborhood. But past that, the living space was as nice as I’d been able to afford on my previous salary. Stainless steel appliances, nice cabinets, and high-end floors. Upstairs, the bedrooms had been decorated with my clients’ comfort in mind. And the basement, where I used to live before I’d found an apartment closer to my business partner’s condo, was a suite that was still decked out with thousands of dollars of computer equipment.
Taking her coat, I hung it on the hook in the mud room, then toed off my boots and led her inside. I pointed out the obvious—the kitchen and living room—and motioned toward the front room without bothering to show her. Upstairs I stood back and let her look into both of the suites.
“Take whichever one you want. No one’s using them.”
She peered inside the one closest to the stairs. I’d had it redone once my old friend, Mitch, moved out. It now looked like it belonged in a cabin in the mountains. Next door, the room had been done to look like a beach house.
Kelly didn’t bother speaking, just pushed through the first door. She turned when she was halfway in, next to the bed, her eyes going wide as she swung back to face me. But I hadn’t followed her in, and her obvious relief at that fact flashed across her face before she wiped the emotion away.
I dropped her bag from my shoulder, leaving it just inside the door. “Can I get you anything?” She shook her head, then wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the blank television screen. “There’s cable. Remote’s in the basket under the TV if you want to watch. Not much food downstairs, but I can order groceries if you want. Otherwise, there’s—”
“It’s fine.” She dragged her gaze back toward me but didn’t meet my eyes. “I just want to sleep.”
“Alright.” I reached for the door to pull it shut. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Wait!” When I pushed the door back open, Kelly had taken a step forward and her hands were clasped in front of her like she was saying a prayer. “Where… Where will you be?”
The tremor in her voice killed me. “Basement.” I swallowed hard. “Used to live down there. Still got stuff here, computers and such. Thought I’d get some work done—”
“Yeah.” She nodded, more like she was trying to convince herself it was okay then like she believed it would be. “Yeah, that’d be good.”
“You need anything—”
“I’ll let you know.” She flashed the barest hint of a smile that made me think that maybe, maybe this would be okay. She’d heal. She’d rebound, jump back from this, become the girl she used to be.
I left her there, quietly shutting the door and going downstairs to work. I was deep in the thick of things, trying to figure out how to move forward with everything going on, when a guttural scream rocked the house, trickling down the stairs and the air vents until the sound hit my ears. I jolted upright. Was racing for the steps when it stopped, only for it to sound again. My heart raced, pounding against my chest as I took the stairs three at a time.
The door slammed against the wall as I threw it open, my gaze zipping around Kelly’s room, looking for the threat. She was alone, thrashing in the middle of the mattress, screaming as if she were being attacked.
