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“Don’t worry about me. You’d think I’d know by now not to tell your father not to do something,” she jokes, her eyes full of embarrassment and shame.
She shouldn’t have to carry all this guilt on her shoulders. I should’ve just brought Laura into the meeting with me. Then, Browning wouldn’t have hurt my mother and done God knows what to Laura.
“Focus on your girl, Alex.” She’s the only one who ever calls me that and every time she does, it makes me feel like a small child. I really wish she’d stop doing that.
I rush past her and throw the bathroom door open, finding Laura sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs, and Lucy sitting on the toilet lid, gently patting Laura’s shoulder.
Laura’s blue eyes, swimming with tears, jump up to mine and in a moment, she’s on her feet, running to me. She slams into my chest and I take her in my arms.
“Xander.” Her voice breaks as she whispers my name like a prayer, clinging to my body. She needs me. She’s not upset that I’m invading her privacy. She wants me here.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you, darling.” I smooth my fingers down her curls and feel the panic leaving me, knowing she’s safe and can’t be too hurt if she’s letting me hold her.
I lock eyes with Lucy, nodding my thanks to her. I don’t need to say anything. She returns the motion and leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
As the minutes tick by, we don’t speak. Laura stays in my arms, her arms tight around my neck as she cries into my chest, until the flow of her tears slow and the doorknob jiggles behind me.
“Occupied!” I yell, but surprisingly, she doesn’t flinch at the volume of my voice. “Tell me what happened,” I demand, but keep my voice level and unthreatening.
The last thing I want is for her to be scared of me. She’s in a fragile state right now.
“He forced me to take off my clothes,” she says, her voice affected.
“Forced you?”
“He had a gun to my head.” My vision fades to red as my muscles tense. It’s bad enough that he hurts my mother and I can’t do shit about it, but now he’s gone after Laura. She deserves way better than all this, than this life, than me. She’s good, a truly decent person. She doesn’t have blood on her hands, or hate in her heart. She probably had dreams of a white picket fence and a Golden Retriever before all this. A college degree, some dream job, and a happily ever after. There are no happy endings in my world. You live, you suffer, and you die.
Laura doesn’t deserve to suffer or die. I just want her to live.
I want to beat Browning into the ground but doing so would get me killed. He has too many people on his side because he’s the president. Then, who would protect Laura? I’m not doing that great of a job. He got to her, after all.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask.
She slowly pulls back, wiping away her tears. “Yes, but I’m okay now. I just feel really dirty.”
If he raped her, she wouldn’t be okay right now. That means he did something else, but she doesn’t look injured.
“We can leave and go back to the apartment if you want.” I offer.
“Actually, can I ask for something?” she asks, her cheek reddening, as she averts her eyes from me. She seems nervous, which is amusing as hell. I like making her nervous.
“Name it and it's yours.” After what she’s been through, I’d give her anything she wants.
This woman drives me crazy in all the best ways—ways I’ve never experienced or expected in my life. She softens me and brightens up my morbidly dark world.
Her blue eyes flash up to mine and her hands slowly touch my shirt, sending electric shocks through my skin. I reach up and run my thumb along her jaw, watching the way her pupils dilate in and out rapidly. A moaning breath escapes her, and the warmth of her skin penetrates me.
Laura is never this warm. That along with the strange action of her eyes and the way she just moaned gives me enough pieces to the puzzle she won’t complete. Browning must’ve made her take something.
CHAPTER10
LAURA
Iknow my request must’ve thrown Xander through a loop, but he didn’t react in any way other than to do exactly as I asked. Well, not exactly.
Xander locked the bathroom door and both of us disrobed, leaving just our underwear on, before getting in the shower together. I expected him to lose the skin tight boxer briefs and to push boundaries with the current situation, but he’s as respectful as ever—more than I want him to be in this circumstance.
A pleasant buzz settles over my skin as he holds me close in his arms, much like when I caught him holding me in his sleep. Every touch is electric and I want to take it further.
