I sat in the living room, waiting for Abi to finish her shower. She had dismissed Belinda almost as soon as I had sent her in. I realized maybe she just wanted me out of the room. Could I blame her? If she didn’t have her full memory from yesterday things had to be confusing for her.

Until I spoke to her it was going to be difficult to work on capturing her attacker. The police had visited this morning, but while Abi was unconscious there wasn’t much they could do. I wanted to speak to her first.

I hadn’t visited the cabin in Big Bear in over a year. It was far from L.A. and there was no reason to think the paparazzi would be able to find her here. Keeping her safe meant keeping her off the public’s radar. As far as they knew, she was at her Malibu home recovering.

I flattened a large map on the coffee table and circled the locations of Abi’s timeline for the seventy-two hours prior to the shooting. Ralph reluctantly forwarded her schedule to me. He had threatened to ride up to Big Bear if Abi didn’t call the minute she awakened. He was the only one who knew where she was. I had to use the location as a bargaining chip to take her from the hospital.

The door creaked open and I looked up. God, she was gorgeous. I had tried to forget how soft her lips were. How the sunlight made her eyes look like Caribbean water. I avoided her movies. I turned off her interviews. For two years, I built a security empire without a single glimpse of Abi Lawrence’s breathtaking body. But I was fucking idiot. The lines of her body had been seared into my hands. I knew every curve and freckly. I couldn’t forget her even when I drowned myself in bourbon and brunettes.

“How was the shower?” I asked.

Her hair hung in damp tendrils on her shoulders.

“Good. I needed it.” She walked toward me. “Where did these clothes come from?”

“I had a few things sent here while you recuperate.”

“I feel fine. I’ll call my driver to come pick me up. Or Ralph. I’m sure he’d rather do it himself anyway.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Where is my phone?” She scanned the dining room table and the kitchen counter.

“Abi, you aren’t going anywhere. You’re staying here.”

“The hell I am.” It was the first glimpse of the spitfire I knew. I let out a deep breathe, relieved she wasn’t different. That two years hadn’t changed her.

I rose from the couch. “Someone tried to kill you yesterday. Until I find him, you’re not leaving.”

I saw the fear flash across her eyes. She took a step back and gripped a chair.

“Abi?”

She sank into the seat.

“What is it?” In one long stride I was next to her. “Are you in pain?”

She shook her head. “I-I remember pieces of it. I didn’t before, but it just…I had a memory of yesterday.”

I wanted to pull her into my arms. Keep her safe. Tell her I’d kill the sick bastard who tried to hurt her. I’d never let her go again. But one thing at a time. Catch the killer first.

“What do you remember?” I took the seat next to her, trying to give her space to breathe.

Her eyes darted back and forth.

“I was leaving the gym with Javier. It was barely light out. The sun was starting to come up and I teased him about how evil he was for making me work out so early.” She paused, staring at her bare feet. “He told me it would all be worth it once I started the award circuit. He said, ‘you’ve got this’.” She held her breath. “And that’s when I heard the gun. I screamed and I don’t remember what happened next.” Her voice cracked. “I think. Maybe…”

“What, Abi? What is it?”

“Javier? Did he? Is he ok? Where is Javier?”

“He’s still in the hospital. He jumped in front of the gunman. It’s why the bullet grazed under your arm. I’m also anxious for him to wake up. I need to interview him.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “It went through him?”

I nodded. “It did. But the doctors say his surgery was a success. He’s being watched carefully. I’ll have the first call,” I assured her.

“I want to see him. I need to thank him.” She jumped from the chair. “I have to go to the hospital. He has to know he saved me.”

The pain circled my ribs, suffocating me. She was on the verge of hysteria. The shock began to settle in. Her brush with death. The memories of yesterday morning. It was starting to catch up to her.

“You can’t go.” I looked at her. “I’ll make some calls and get an update on Javier for you. But this is the safest place in the world you can be right now. If you go anywhere near that hospital the press will be all over you. You can’t risk it. I won’t allow it.”

“You can’t hold me here against my will, Reid.”

“Want to test that theory?” I taunted.

I wasn’t letting her out of my sight. She didn’t need to know I slept in the chair in her room last night. That for twenty-four hours I hadn’t been more than twenty feet away from her. That I was holstered and ready to shoot at the first sign of danger.

There would be time for that. Her life came before anything else.

“You can’t be serious.” Her eyes flared.

“You’re not leaving.”

She crossed her arms. “And I was almost going to say thank you for the hot shower and soft bed, but I’ve changed my mind.”

I arched my eyebrows.

She stormed across the great room and to the bedroom.

“And this T-shirt isn’t even designer,” she said, slamming the door in her wake.

I smirked. That was a hell of a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.