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“Who? Someone bothering you? You tell me and I’ll take care of it.”
“You can’t.”
“Zadie.” I gripped her jaw and pushed her head back. In the dark, I could barely make out the shape of her face, but if I knew her—and I fucking did—her puffy bottom lip was poking out in a pout. “I’ll give you that since you don’t know the things I’ve done andwilldo to keep those I consider mine safe.”
“And I’m yours?”
“You know you are.”
“A pet.” Her chin trembled in my hold. I pressed my thumb to the center of it, holding her like that until she stopped shaking.
“A pet I care to keep in one piece and safe.” Bending, I ghosted my lips over hers, then whispered a vow into her mouth. “You lay it on me, I’ll do what I need to do so I don’t ever find you hiding in a supply closet again, shaking like a fucking leaf because you’re so scared.”
She didn’t answer. Not that question at least.
“Why are you here, Amir?”
“Finding you. You didn’t show. Did you forget about our deal?”
A heavy sigh deflated her. “I didn’t hear from you. I didn’t think you wanted me there.”
“Julien and Marco are starved. They miss you.”
“You didn’t tell me to come.”
My thumb stroked the jut of her chin. “I didn’t tell you not to, which means I wanted your pretty ass at my house, cooking in my kitchen. Do you know how angry I was when four o’clock came and went and my pet didn’t appear?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Soangry, Zadie. I had to come find you.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I mean, I wasn’t then.”
“Are you going to tell me why you’re hiding now?”
A tremor racked her body, and even though she was already in my arms, she stumbled against me. “I need to go home.”
“I’ll take you, but you’re not leaving this closet until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
She slid her hands down from my neck to my chest and tried to shove me back. It did no good. “Please, let me go. I don’t want to do this.”
“Start talking and I’ll let you go.”
“Please. I just need to be in my room. I need to go.”
If I took her to her room, she’d be locked away and I’d never get my answers. Aside from that, I had a visceral need to keep her close until I made sure she was okay and I found a way to kill the thing that had made her this afraid.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Zadie. We’re going to leave this fucking closet, grab your things, and go to my car. Once we’re in there, locked and secure, you’re going to tell me everything, then I’ll decide if I want to drive you home or take you back to my place so you can do all the chores you’ve been slacking on this week.”
She gasped, then a beat later, slapped my chest. “I haven’t been slacking. You told me not too—”
I covered her mouth with my hand. “I’m fucking with you. Needed to see that spine of steel. It’s still there—that’s how I know you’re going to be all right.”
With little protest, Zadie allowed me to lead her out of the closet. She stuck close to me, gripping the back of my shirt while I had an arm circling her shoulders. We found her bag abandoned in one of the aisles I’d followed her down, a folded piece of paper beside it. Once she had both, we made our way out of the library to the parking lot behind it. The whole time, Zadie’s body shook, and her head swiveled right and left, checking her surroundings.
Some fucking punk had scared her tonight. They obviously had no idea who she belonged to. This would not stand.
In my car, Zadie hugged her bag to her chest and clutched the folded paper in her hand. I blasted the heat in order to warm her up and smooth out her trembling muscles.
