“You are a scary fucking woman, Evie,” I say, admiration clear in my voice. Declan just croaks out ‘ok’.
She slaps the button for the elevator and pats my cheek. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late. Nice haircut, Declan.”
She’s a fucking goddess.
Sure,this entire plan came together in the few days since our date, but I’m dead fucking serious about her safety. I still haven’t seen her fucking ribs, so my imagination is running wild. I need to protect her.
It’s a raging need, screaming at me to do anything and everything I can to keep her safe, including but not limited to going with her anytime she leaves the apartment. It’ll be my new full-time job, taking care of Evie.
But the longer I watch her in action, the more I’m realizing my plan might be the tiniest bit overkill. I may have thought she was a goddess before, but now, seven hours into her shift, I see I was wrong.
She’s not a goddess, up there on her pedestal, to be worshiped. No, she’s a fucking Amazonian princess, fighting battle after battle. She told me all those months ago that I didn’t know her. That there was so much more to her than the tired, weak woman standing in front of me. And holy fuck, was she right. She has handled more shit tonight than I ever would’ve imagined.
From the drunk off-his-ass-kid being way too fucking handsy, to the panicky woman holding her rounded belly. From the sickly white-faced teenage girl to the woman covered in bruises clutching her daughter to her chest, Evie has handled all of it with a strength and grace that fucking amazes me. With a few words, she had the kid apologizing and calling her ma’am. The others got the warmth and reassurance they so desperately needed from her.
Propping up a column near the center of the room, I shake my head at the organized chaos around me. Coming on 2:00 AM and there have been a dozen situations that could have turned bad, and every time the staff handled it quickly and with minimal fuckery. It’s actually pretty damn impressive.
“I’ve got a few suggestions, but there’s not a ton we can do system-wise to make things safer,” Declan says, sliding in next to me. “They’re controlling the flow of people in and out, and the security at the front is doing a pretty good job.”
“Yeah, they are,” I say, thoughts swirling. “Aside from convincing her to quit, I don’t think there’s much more I can do.”
“You don’t have to sound so sad about it. She’s good at her job, and they’re all pretty safe. What more do you want?”
“I want to follow her around every shift and make sure no one can hurt her.”
Dec groans. “Jesus, you’d run her off so fast if you did that. You have to give her some fucking space.”
I glare at him, unwilling to agree.
I still think it’s a good plan.
“Seriously, Colt, ease up. It’s not like you’ve got the safest job in the world either. You’ve been in dangerous spots before.” I have, and I hate that he’s right. But between trusting her to be careful, and shadowing her for the rest of my life, I know what choice I have to make.
“I know. You’re right. I don’t think there’s any reason for us to hang out anymore. Why don’t we bug out…Dec?” He’s not listening. Chest heaving, he’s staring towards the front doors. Following his gaze, I see what has him spinning out.
“Cara, fuck.” I push off the pole, running towards her. She’s limping, no shoes, bruised, disheveled, holding tight to the gurney being wheeled in beside her.
She sees me coming, and her face crumples. I wrap her up carefully, holding her as her body’s racked with sobs. I rock her carefully. “Tell me where you’re hurt, honey.”
She sniffs, and I use the bottom of my t-shirt to wipe her face, just like I’ve done for Mia dozens of times. She scowls at me but lets me take care of her.
Her eyes move past me, landing briefly on Declan. Her body tightens in my arms, but she blows out a heavy breath and looks past him, following the path of the gurney. She moves to pull away. “Briana. I need to be with her.”
“Ok honey, you’re limping, though. Let me carry you over.” I fully understand her desperation to get to her sister, but I’m not going to let her hurt herself more. I swing her up and make quick work of carrying her across the ER, conscious of Declan’s low growl.
I put her down carefully, keeping my arm wrapped around her as the doctors and nurses slide Briana off the gurney onto a bed. Her nails dig into my arm as we watch them assess her sister, silent tears rolling down her cheek.
“What happened Cara? Who do I have to kill?”
A watery chuckle escapes her, but there’s no humor in it. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.” There’s something in her tone that makes the hairs on my arm stand up.
“Who did this to you? What the fuck happened?” I can hear the rage in Declan’s voice. I shoot him a look. No fucking reason to upset anybody else right now. It’s for sure not going to help Cara or her sister right now.
Luckily, she’s distracted and doesn’t tear a strip off of Dec. On a typical day, she’s more than capable of it and would never tolerate the attitude.
“I was out tonight, at the club.” Declan’s mouth tightens, but she’s completely focused on her sister. “I headed home a little early, though. I could hear the screaming from the elevator. He had her pushed up against the wall…his hands were on her throat and he was banging her head on the wall.” A sob, then another tumble out, and I wrap my other arm around her, pulling her into my body.
“Finish it,” I whisper into her hair, resting my cheek on her head.
