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Cain didn’t join me on the bed. Instead, he crouched down in front of me, his hands on my knees, giving me little reassuring squeezes as I brought my breathing back under control.
“Babe? Did he grab you?” Cain asked as his finger stroked over the underside of my wrist.
“Yeah,” I said, exhaling hard. “He somehow knew I would have a meeting with my lawyer and ambushed me there. Then followed me and grabbed me when I wouldn’t stop.”
“Did he hurt you anywhere else?” he asked, his finger still caressing my wrist.
My pride, maybe.
“No. A couple of girls came to my rescue. Brought me to She’s Bean Around and into the back.”
“A redhead and a brunette, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s Jazzy and Gala’s girls. They own the coffee shop.”
That made sense.
“They got me out the back and I ran here. But Perry was chasing me.”
“Did he see you coming in here?”
“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I lost him. Why?”
“Well, it might not look great for you if he and his attorney found out you were hanging out here.”
“I don’t care. I already told him I don’t want anything from him. It doesn’t matter what they dig up on me.”
“Then this whole thing was just…”
“His inability to lose control or lose.”
“Would I be right in assuming that this,” he said, tapping my wrist, “is not the first time he’s put his hand on you?”
“He only hit me once,” I said.
“Once is once too many.”
“Yeah. I agree. That was when I left. It was what finally pushed me over the edge.”
“Well, I’m glad you got out. But I have a feeling there was a lot leading up to that, yeah?”
My gaze slid down to where he was holding my hand now.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re almost free of him. And I’m even more glad you thought to come here when you were in trouble.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “Now, what do you need from me right now? Do you want me to drive you home? Call the police to file a report?”
“Could you just… maybe… no, never mind.”
“I’m sure I could,” he said. “Try me.”
He always made everything so easy.
“Could you just hold me?” I asked, my voice so small I wasn’t sure he could even hear me.
“I can absolutely do that,” he agreed, reaching down to slide the zipper down on my boots, then pulling off my shoes. He toed off his own shoes, then sat down on the bed, wrapped an arm around me, then lowered onto the mattress, taking me with him until I was resting on his chest.
