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She was sleepy and disheveled in the track pants and one of the hoodies he’d purchased for her and he had to fight against the urge to pull her into his arms, smooth her dark hair, the burgundy streak faded after her long weeks in captivity.
She would smell like clean sheets and herself. He would bury his face in her hair, hold her close enough that no one would ever dare hurt her again.
“How are you feeling?” Mat asked her as Pavel hurried to the kitchen, making himself at home as he bustled around making Ruby’s coffee.
“Better, I think. Thank you for getting me out of there last night.” She looked at each of them. “Thank you all.”
They bobbed their heads, murmuring their responses, making light of the rescue like they’d carried her groceries instead of getting her away from the men who’d been guarding her.
The boss is the one who said not to touch her yet.
Roman couldn’t think about what would have happened if they hadn’t found her, if they hadn’t gotten her out. The images that came to mind tripped the wire on his fury, made him see red, want to rage and destroy.
There would be a time for ruin, but right now, he needed to be smart.
Pavel brought Ruby her coffee and Roman turned his attention to his men. “I’ll give our discussion some thought. We’ll meet again tomorrow.”
The men stood. The meeting was over.
Max led them out of the loft and closed the door behind him. He didn’t need to be told to leave. He knew Roman better than anyone, would know Roman wanted to be alone with Ruby, but he would be just outside the door, an imposing last line of defense if anyone got past the men stationed in front of the building.
The silence left by their absence weighed heavily in the room and Roman moved around the table and crossed to the living area where Ruby sat on the sofa, clutching her coffee with both hands like it was a life preserver in the middle of a violent sea.
He took one of the chairs opposite the sofa.
“You should have woken me.” Her tone was accusatory, and he had a feeling it would be a long time — if ever — before she spoke to him without it. “I need to call my dad and Brooke.”
It was afternoon, the winter sun slanting toward the horizon and casting the loft in gold light.
“You needed sleep.” She’d been through a terrible ordeal and the conversation with her father and Brooke would be better had when she was rested.
“You don’t get to tell me what I need,” she snapped.
He nodded, unbothered by the outburst. He took full responsibility for the situation, hated that he’d put her in it. It would take time for the anger to work its way out of her system.
As luck would have it, time together was something they would have a lot of.
She took a deep breath, as if trying to compose herself. “I’ll call my family. Then I’ll be out of your way.”
He stared at her. “You’re not in my way.”
She took a nervous drink of the coffee. “Still. It’s not like I can stay here.”
“Where will you go?” He studied her, waiting for her to come to the conclusion herself.
She slammed the coffee down on the coffee table and stood, then paced to the window. “You can’t keep me prisoner here.”
“You’re not a prisoner.” It wasn’t entirely true. He wouldn’t let her leave on her own. He couldn’t. Not after his father had made it clear he would use Ruby as a pawn in their war. But it would be better — for Ruby, for both of them — if she came to the logical conclusion herself. “I’m simply asking a question."
She stared at the city, glimmering like a beacon on the other side of the wall of glass, her back to Roman. “I’ll… I’ll go to a hotel.”
“Without any protection?”
She spun to face him. “You can… you can assign men to protect me there. It’s the least you can do.”
He frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t. I have very few men right now, a handful chosen from my father’s army to help me fight him.”
“You just want to keep me here,” she said.
