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Acheron downed the rest of his brandy in one gulp. "I can't."
Before Alistair could ask why, a suddenly uneasy-looking Wickham interrupted them then, saying tensely, "There's something you should know, Mr. Simonides. Earlier, I was trying to tell you—-"
"Ah, yes." Acheron did recall Wickham making several attempts to call his attention to something, but in his concern to get Amelia away from prying eyes, he had told the other man to keep a lid on it until he had his ex-lover safely settled in his apartment. "What was it you wanted to say?"
"It's Ms. Jones, sir."
Acheron stiffened.
"Since I had left strict instructions that you were not to be disturbed, security had been intending to see Amy out when she started causing a disturbance. Ms. Jones witnessed their altercation—-"
Acheron could feel the blood draining from his face."Are you saying Pippi's seen Amelia?"
"It's more than that." Wickham's tone was heavy. "Ms. Jones chose to intervene on Amy's behalf, and it was she who called me. She said...a woman who had introduced herself as your girlfriend——"
FUCK.
He excused himself from his friend, and he already had his phone out and was dialing Pippi's number even before he reached his study. But it was as he feared, and his call went straight to voice mail once more.
GODDAMMIT.
The sickening feeling in his stomach was disturbingly familiar now, and cold sweat enveloped his skin as he thought of all the things he had to make up to Pippi. If she ended up asking for his head, he'd gladly serve it on a silver platter.
Right now, all he needed was to have her back.
****
IT WAS ALMOST EIGHTin the evening when Pippi got off the bus, feeling emptier than ever but thankfully dry-eyed, which was all she cared about. It hadn't been the case when she left the office, and the hurt had just kept swelling inside of her that she had found herself running to the nearest alley.
And then she had bawled like a child.
I should've known he was only messing with me.
I should've known.
I should've known.
And with her tears showing no signs of stopping, she had decided to send Astrid a message and lied about having overtime. After that, she had walked aimlessly around town, walking and walking until she had run out of tears to cry.
The only thing left to do now, she thought,was to make sure she could act like everything was okay.
But when she went around the corner, Pippi realized there were other bigger things she had to worry about than keeping her family from realizing how heartbroken she was.
Things like...an ambulance blocking the main road leading to her house.
She rushed towards the paramedic standing next to the van's back doors, heart beating mad and mind racing with all sorts of heinous possibilities. She could see her home from here, and the lights peeking out of the edges of the bay window gave her a modicum of relief. That meant they were okay. That this ambulance hadn't anything to do with them.Right?
Pippi came up to the paramedic standing next to the ambulance. "Excuse me. Sir?" The man was tall and powerfully built, with his uniform emphasizing the impressive breadth of his shoulders.Definitely a shoo-in for Sexiest Paramedic Alive,Pippi thought absently.
When the paramedic finally turned to face her, Pippi had to crane her neck to look into his eyes, which were the only thing his surgical mask didn't cover. "Is anyone seriously hurt?"
The paramedic stepped close, and she had the strangest feeling that he seemed awfully familiar. His height, his build, his hair—-
Oh.
Her eyes widened, and almost as if this had been the cue he was waiting for, the paramedic took another step closer, near enough for Pippi to hear him ask behind his mask, "Could we talk?"
Pippi shouldn't have been shocked, but she was, and it made the next few minutes a blur. Somehow, she ended up following Acheron into the back of the ambulance and collapsing in the paramedic seat while Wickham shut the doors close before taking the wheel.
