AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The words were so softly said, barely above a whisper, Nick wasn’t sure he had heard them.
“Nobody is going to take you. I’m here.”
The second he had his arm around her, his itchy feeling eased.
He brushed the hair from her face, gently tracing the streak of tears down her cheek, wiping them away with his thumb.
With no makeup, the scattering of freckles across her face was adorable. Why would she ever cover those up? He had no idea.
“Mulberry. I got you.”
“Okay,” she said. “Sorry. I…”
“Do you get these often?” Nick waved his hand, unable to find the word in any of his polyglot vocabularies.
“It’s been a while. I guess with someone breaking into my house, it all came back. Being your fake girlfriend kept me busy. My brain didn’t chew on stuff.”
“Do you need medication or something?” He felt lame for suggesting it, but he wanted to make her feel better.
She shook her head. “I’m going to check in with my psychologist in the morning.”
“Good plan” Nick rubbed her back, and slowly her breathing returned to normal. “We just need to keep your brain busy.”
“Why do you think I threw myself into that charity? I know they are small, their impact a stone in the ocean, but they were the only ones to approach me after the kidnapping. They treated me as if I was still me…how I used to get approached for sponsorships and stuff before. They were the only company not to treat me like the weird girl who got snatched out of her house” Mulberry shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know why I am telling you this.”
Her sorrowful glaze hit Nick’s stomach like a football.
She wasn’t some stuck-up, shallow rich girl. She was a woman who had gone through something extremely traumatic; somehow, despite that, she had created beautiful armour to wrap around herself.
Damn, she was the most extraordinary woman Nick had ever met.
She leaned against his chest. “Nick.”
Her beautiful eyes met his; his name was like a musical note of longing and hope in her voice.
And like a thunderclap, the phone ringing from the living room shot him back to reality. He quickly took in her soft languid expression, the pleased smile on her face.
He kissed the top of her head and then sprinted out of the room.
No good news game at four am, especially not from Xander. “Hello?”
“Nick, the Stone Security team thinks they stopped an attempt at Cassie’s friend’s house this evening.”
“What do you mean, they think?” Nick asked.
“The man claims to have been lost. They’re not buying it, and he didn’t technically do anything illegal other than walk on the property late at night, so the police can’t do anything.”
“So they are still looking for Mulberry? There’s no way this is random.”
“No. Maybe whoever is after Mulberry is getting more desperate. Stick with the plan. It’s all we can do for now.”
“Thanks for the update,” Nick said. He glanced behind him to ensure Mulberry wasn’t coming down the hall. “I think you should have a word with Grace.”
The pause that followed told him Xander had already thought about it.
“Yeah, the police went light on her, I think. They raked her dad over the coals but didn’t give Grace the same treatment. She doesn’t like talking about her personal life.”
“Someone has her daughter in their sights. I don’t think she has the right to guard it.”
