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Today, in the dress shop, I’d almost cracked. My body crying out for her. When I ran my fingers down her back and touched her skin, I felt things I’d denied myself for years. My heart beat normally for the first time since losing Emma and just for a second, I wondered if I could have a future with Frankie.
I’d let myself wrap my hand around her waist and press her against me, selfishly trying to absorb some of her cosmic magic. But I’d run because being around Frankie did something I swore I’d never let happen. She made me feel happy, and I didn’t deserve a drop of it.
“I’m stuffed,” she said, dragging her fingers through her ebony hair, pushing it away from her face.
“For about ten minutes and then you’ll be hungry again,” I replied, leaning forward, dragging my thumb gently over her bottom lip. Her eyes widened in a silent question. “Ice cream on your lip,” I replied, pushing my thumb between her lips, forcing down the groan growing in my chest as she swirled her tongue across it, sucking it clean.
“You ready to leave?” I asked, suddenly aware that I was being highly inappropriate with her in a very public place.
“If you are. This was fun. Thanks for coming and eating with me.” She smiled and my body shuddered.
Trying to ignore what I was feeling, I tapped out a message on my phone to the driver to meet us outside and when the waiter came to inform me the car had arrived I stood, pulling out Frankie’s chair, pressing my hand to her lower back, guiding her back through the restaurant, which had gotten much busier while we’d been eating without me even realizing because I was so focused on her.
Another reason I can’t do this with her. It makes me blind to anyone else.
I justified my hand on her back as a way to keep her safe, but the truth was, I longed to touch her. To tether myself to her, and let the warmth of her body seep into me because it reminded me I was still alive.
As we reached the car, I didn’t even ask if she needed me to sit in the back, slipping in next to her, before pulling her seatbelt across her, suspecting she might be not fastening it deliberately now.
The journey back to the hotel was filled with a relaxed silence, both of us watching the night pass by. When we stepped out of the car, there are a couple of photographers waiting, snapping pictures of Frankie. They called her name, and she smiled, offering them a pose and answering some of their questions about the tour.
As I watched her effortlessly charm them all, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. At first glance, I assumed it was a jogger, but when looked again, I noticed he was wearing jeans and shoes, rather than running gear. He also had on an over-sized hoodie and as he got closer, I saw it was a Cosmic God’s one, setting off that feeling low in my gut that something was very wrong. The hood was up, masking his face, and the sleeves hung low, hiding his hands. That’s when I saw the glint of the blade.
“Frankie. Frankie,” the man screamed, lunging toward her.
Grabbing him, so he couldn’t get any closer to her, I felt the burn of something sharp slice through my arm. I used my other arm to punch him, knocking him out cold. Unsure how long he’d stay unconscious, I dropped down, pinning him to the floor, shaking the knife from his grip, before restraining his wrists.
“Get inside, Frankie. Now!” I yelled.
Wide eyed, she looked between me and the knife before she ran straight into the private elevator to the penthouse where one of my teamshouldhave been waiting.
Fucking heads will roll.
“Call upstairs now. Get some help down here and call the cops.” I yelled at the doorman, who followed Frankie inside.
Minutes later, the red and blue flashing lights of the police appeared outside the hotel, and Addi and three of our security team appeared. Ed helped me up, while someone else dealt with the fucker who’d come at Frankie with a knife.
“Matt, are you okay?” Addi asked, looking me up and down.
“I’m fine. I just…” I held out my arm, where I thought the knife might have nicked me to see two huge slashes in my leather jacket. One on the forearm and one over my bicep. Suddenly, my arm throbbed, and I noticed the blood dripping from my fingers.
“Matt, did he cut you? Take off your jacket,” Addi demanded.
Not waiting, she grabbed my collar, peeling it off. “Fuck, Matt. We need a medic. Now,” she yelled to one of our team. “That’s a hell of a lot of blood.”
Pulling her sweater off, leaving her in just a vest top, she pressed the soft fabric over the two knife wounds. “But thank you for saving our girl. That’s twice in a week. Are you after a pay rise already? Because there are less dramatic ways to do it. Now sit your giant ass down because if you faint from blood loss, I will not be trying to catch you.”
Helping me sit on the cool sidewalk, we waited for the ambulance surrounded by a pool of my blood while I tried not to think about just how bad tonight could have been.
Lowering my head between my knees, the world started to spin as the blood dripping from my arm got worse. “I want a meeting with the whole team tomorrow,” I grunted out. “Can you sort it for me, Addi?”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.”
“Let’s get you stitched up, and I will make sure they are all there.”
Chapter 6
