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“Fine, if you insist on bumming in Kentucky a little longer, then you can do me a favor,” his father finally growled, his tone darker now, assuring John that whatever was coming was serious.
He waited, knowing it would take a moment for his father to perfect his pitch.
“It’s Sierra, John. She’s in trouble. ”
John froze.
He didn’t want to hear her name, he didn’t want to talk about her, hell, he refused to think about her. She had made the decision to run from him, not the other way around.
“Last week, someone broke into the house and attacked her. She was hurt, John. Hurt bad enough that for a few days we wondered if she was going to come out of it. ”
Shock resounded through him. John stood perfectly still, fighting to take in the information, to control the rage tearing through him, threatening to release itself with such a wave of violence that for the first time in his life, John frightened himself.
“What did they do to her?” Fury pulsed through him now.
His father breathed out roughly as John waited. And waited. It seemed to take forever for his father to speak.
“She was nearly raped. Bruised severely and strangled. She would have been killed, but her new roommate arrived and scared him off. The girl was terrified. After the guy escaped through the bedroom window, she was certain Sierra was dead. ”
Every muscle in John’s body tightened. Rage began to burn in his gut as he imagined the petite, fragile young woman being strangled, attacked.
A wave of possessiveness tore through him, a distant thought that someone had dared to hurt what belonged to him tearing through him.
“You didn’t call me,” he snarled. “Why?”
For a moment, his father was silent before he answered heavily.
“Because I knew something bad had gone on between you two before you left. I didn’t know if you wanted to be involved, John. I wanted to wait. But I need to get her out of town until I figure out why she was attacked. It doesn’t make sense. Hell, Sierra’s temperamental, but she doesn’t poke her nose in dangerous stuff. And it’s rare for a damned decorator to make the kind of enemies that attempt to kill you in the middle of the night. I have a bad feeling about this, John. I want her safe while my investiga
tors check it out. ”
Someone had tried to harm Sierra. It was almost too much for John to attempt to take in. He couldn’t believe anyone would dare touch her. It was common knowledge that she was all but family to the Walker and Evanworth families. And John Walker Sr. had established that he took care of his own decades before.
John himself had always been incredibly protective of her as well. And Sierra simply didn’t get into that type of trouble. She was nosy as hell, but only where her friends were concerned. She didn’t tolerate bullshit well, and liars even less, but still, that didn’t necessarily place her in harms way. “Serial attack?” he asked, wondering if perhaps Boston had acquired yet another serial rapist.
“Not that my investigators have dug up,” his father shot that idea out of the water. “Don’t worry, I’ll find the bastard, John. But she needs to get out of Boston. Like I said, my gut is rolling on this one. I don’t think it’s over and I don’t think she’s safe. ”
Which meant she wasn’t. His father’s gut was notoriously right when it came to warning the man that something was wrong. It was a warning his son knew to heed. If he said Sierra was in trouble, then there wasn’t a doubt in John’s mind that Sierra was in serious trouble. Sultry, innocent, determined. She had seen to the breakup of his engagement when she’d caught his fiancée cheating. She had looked out after him, and despite her refusal to speak to him after that night, he would make damned certain he protected her now.
“What does she think about this? She’s not exactly speaking to me at the moment. ” Not that he cared what she thought. If he had to go to Boston and force her into his protection then that was exactly what he would do.
“You’re the only choice,” John Sr. barked. “Dammit it John, she cried for you in the hospital. She was beaten, bloody, bruised to hell and back, and out of her mind with fear. When I got there, she was begging for you. They called me because they couldn’t find you. ”
His teeth clenched, his fingers wrapped so tight around the controls of the houseboat that he wondered he hadn’t broken the column. Pure, almost mindless fury surged through his brain at the knowledge that he hadn’t been there for her.
“I’m not asking what went on with you, Marlena, and Sierra,” his father sighed. “I never asked. I figured if you wanted to talk, you’d come to me or your mother. But whatever happened, whatever Sierra did, she did because she felt it was right. ”
She had done it because she had believed herself to be in love with him. John knew the reasons why. He didn’t fault her for it now, but he had faulted her for it then.
“Does she know you’re asking me?” he repeated roughly.
“Not yet. ” His father’s tone was filled with sudden weariness. “She’s terrified, John. She won’t leave the house, and your mother and I have to head to Europe next week. Sierra won’t let me hire a bodyguard, and she’s threatening to run. She’s my goddaughter. I can’t let anything happen to her. ”
John stared around him, his jaw clenching at the thought that Sierra was threatening to run rather than coming to him. Damn her. She’d refused to see him after that night, wouldn’t talk to him. She’d went so far as to leave town for months. He’d taken the message and left her alone, hoping time would heal whatever he may have said to her.
That night was a little sketchy. He’d been pissed, he remembered that clearly. Just as he remembered kissing her. After that, things were a little hazy and mixed with fantasy more than reality.
“Do I need to drive in to pick her up?” he finally asked. And he would. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to allow her to face more danger without him at her side.
