The North Charleston Convention center was massive, its wall of windows daunting. Becca stared at it with trepidation. It could hold so many people, people who would be crowding her, asking questions, demanding answers. Her hands shook, and she shoved them in her pockets. Dimitri kept glancing at her, but she refused to look at him. He needed her to do this, and, dammit, she would.
No matter what their relationship might be right now, she was determined to make him understand how much people loved not him, but the words he wrote. If only he’d read the hundreds of emails telling him how much his words had resonated with people. He’d know that yes, he was gorgeous eye candy, but it was his books that kept his readers around.
“You think they have carts or something we can use to haul this inside?” Dimitri pulled her out of her quiet determination with his aggravated question. He was staring at the mess in the Jeep with a bit of fear. His legs had to be killing him. He’d been limping when he got out of the vehicle. Realizing it, he’d straightened his spine and ignored the pain.
Idiot.
He should know better than to ignore his body’s warning signs. Pain was a clear indicator he needed to slow down and rest, but he was too much the macho man to ever admit he was anything less than the big, strong man he portrayed.
Idiot.
“I planned for this.” Pushing him aside, she dug around until she found the two rolling carts she’d bought and had shipped to the hotel as well. Thank God she’d had the good sense to put them together while he’d been out running from her feelings. She pulled them out and set them up. “See? We can load everything onto these and roll them into the building.”
“I would never have thought of this.” He looked impressed. Of course, he wouldn’t have. He’d never been to one of these things, and he never concerned himself with researching them or even bothering to read the countless emails he’d gotten. Stupid ass.
By the time they were done, everything was loaded onto the carts, aside from what had to be carried. Becca looked out over the parking lot. People were everywhere. Her eyes zeroed in on the entrance where even more people milled about. Her palms started to sweat. How was she going to do this? Her heartbeat was already speeding up with only the people hanging out at the entrance.
Nope, she couldn’t do this. Nope, nope, nope.
Dimitri’s fingers twined with hers and he pulled her close, his breath tickling her ear. “Easy, Krasivaya. We don’t need to go in until you’re ready.”
And he’d stand here all night if that was what it took. She knew it and she appreciated it, but did she appreciate it enough to force herself to willingly walk into a crowded building and risk a panic attack so severe, it might hospitalize her?
“I could kiss you until you’re so distracted you don’t even realize you’re in a crowd.”
“What? No!” She turned to face him. “You will do no such thing!”
“Why not?” He sounded so serious. “I want to kiss you.”
“Well, you can’t.” He really needed to stop this nonsense. He was driving her crazy with all the mood swings. One minute he wanted her, friendship be damned, the next he was running away from her because of how she felt about him. The man needed to make up his damn mind.
“Again, why not?” His arm snaked out, snatching her to him. “You want to kiss me, don’t you, Becca?”
“I…” Her mouth went dry at the heat in his intense stare. She wanted to kiss him very badly, but she knew it wasn’t in her best interest to give into all that heat.
“You know you want to, sweetheart, so why fight it?” He leaned closer, until his lips were a mere whisper away. “Kiss me.”
She shoved him, her heart pounding from the need to kiss him. Instead of doing what she wanted to do, she grabbed the handle of the cart and started pulling it toward the building, not even registering all the people she’d passed.
The exhibitor space was massive and one of the largest venues on Dimitri’s signing schedule. She’d worked hard to get him a spot here. No way was he ducking out. She stopped and pulled out her phone so she could pull up the email with his table number. They’d switched his table after she’d convinced Sheila it might be better so no one would be pissed if his lines interrupted their tables. He was table number five along the right wall. It was easy to find, and she took a minute once she’d found it and parked her cart beside it.
Holy hell. She’d done it. She’d walked in through all those people and not panicked at all.
That asshole. She loved him. He’d distracted her so much, she hadn’t thought about the crowds, or how they made her feel. Her only thoughts had been about him and kissing him and…she laughed.
“See?” he whispered. “All you need to do is not think about it.”
She jumped, not expecting him to be that close, but she should have known he’d be right behind her. He wouldn’t let her go into this mess alone.
“Sneaky bastard.”
He laughed. “It worked, though.”
Well, it had worked. No denying that. She knew if she let herself look around, all that work would be lost. She could hear everyone, feel the heat rising in the room from all the bodies packed into it. Best to just set the table up and get the hell out.
She directed Dimitri to work on getting his banners set up while she worked on getting the wooden rack put together so she could start putting his books in it. The wooden one had been more expensive, but she liked it better than the wire ones.
After a minute, she heard him swearing in Russian. Score one for the banners. At least she wasn’t the only one whose ass those things had kicked.
“Really, D. It’s just a banner.”
“It’s not just a banner, it’s a demon from hell.” Dimitri let out another string of curse words when the metal rod hit him in the face.
“You need some help there, slugger?”
That voice she knew—Sara Jane. Becca hoped she hadn’t pulled along more people wanting to meet the eye candy. Taking a deep breath to fortify her nerves, she turned and saw not only had she brought at least three other people, they were all laughing at Dimitri, who looked ready to murder the inanimate object in his hands.
“This fucking thing…how do you put them up?”
Sara Jane laughed and took the banner from him. She made quick work of it, grinning like an idiot. “See? It’s so easy my six-year-old could do it.”
“Easy?” He glared her down. “That is a fucking nightmare. Whoever invented that shit needs to be shot.”
“Is he always this babyish?” Sara directed the question at Becca. Her words froze as eyes turned to her. She clenched her fist, trying to gain control of the panic fighting to consume her. Breathe in, breathe out. Slow, deep breaths. She could do this.
“Always.”
There, she got one word out, and it didn’t sound too strangled. Well, it did, but it was her lie, and she was going to tell it. Becca needed all the help she could get right now.
“Nice to finally meet you, Becca.” Sara came over and hugged her. She went a little stiff, but managed to at least attempt to hug her back. When Sara pulled back, she saw a bit of confusion in her eyes. “You okay, hon?”
Becca nodded, the urge to dash out of the room growing as more and more people filtered in and started chatting closer and closer to their table. “Long day.”
“I get that. It was an awful drive down. We hit traffic and road work. Beast of a ride. Let me introduce these fools who wanted to meet y’all.”
“Meet Dimitri, you mean?” She couldn’t help the wry smile that was tugged out of her despite all the panic.
“Ha ha, yeah. They all want to meet him.”
Becca tuned her out as she started to introduce everyone and focused instead on the swirls in the carpet and controlling her breathing. As long as no one came any closer, she could do this. The panic was there and it could overwhelm her, but she was controlling it. No small feat.
Dimitri startled her when he caught her hand and pulled her to him. His concerned gaze met hers. He knew the panic was rising. No one else seemed to have noticed it, or at least wrote it off as being tired, but not Dimitri. He understood it, having witnessed it so many times this weekend.
“Becca here is the only reason I’m able to do anything. If not for her, I’d be stuck marketing my ass off and no words would get written.”
“You do all of his promo images, don’t you?” This from the short, dark-haired girl. She looked familiar, but Becca couldn’t place her.
She dug her fingers into Dimitri’s side, not meaning him any pain, but needing something to clutch onto as she attempted to speak with all the panic trying to ride up and choke her.
“I do. He and Photoshop are mortal enemies.”
“It’s true. I deleted the damn thing in a fit of spite after it kicked my ass.”
“Do you do work for any other authors? I really need someone who can make them for me. Mine are terrible, not at all fancy like Dimitri’s. Those promo images sell our books as much as the actual covers do. I’m not artsy, and it shows.”
“I’ve never really worked with anyone else.”
“I’d pay whatever you wanted. Your images are gorgeous.”
She noticed several of the other women were listening and nodding. She’d never really thought about it before. Graphic design was what she’d gone to school for. Maybe she should think about it, at least?
“Why don’t you guys bring Becca your business cards, and she can contact you after the signing is over?” Dimitri suggested. “That is, if I let her. She is my PA, after all.” He gave them all his sexy grin, and they reacted the same way most women did. Their eyes widened and their cheeks pinked up. And it got their attention off Becca. She was showing signs of stress, and he didn’t want her to have an all-out attack in front of everyone. She’d never forgive him.
Becca shot him a grateful look and slipped behind him to start working on the table, leaving him to chat with the ladies. He noticed Sara Jane’s gaze followed her, her expression curious. She did say something about her kid having anxiety problems. She might understand a little of what Becca was going through. He’d talk to her about it later.
Sara Jane’s phone rang and she pulled it out, her face morphing into agitation. Now, that was curious. She excused herself to take the call. He hoped nothing was wrong. He kept up the conversation with the other authors, but his attention remained divided between Sara and Becca.
“Here, make yourself useful.” Becca shoved another banner at him. “This one is more important than your other one.”
“Why?” Why the fuck would she order two of the damned things?
“This one is your Hunter series banner. This is the series fans love. I couldn’t not design one specifically for it.”
He eyeballed the thing with as much hate as he could muster up. Damn banner.
Becca smiled when she saw his glare. “You need to learn to do it. Sara isn’t going to be at all your signings to rescue you.”
He took the box grudgingly. “Sorry, ladies, the boss is putting me to work. I’ll chat with you all later when we come look around the room.”
They all laughed good naturedly, and he turned to find Becca with her back to the room once again. “Hey, babe, you okay?”
“Yeah.”
He didn’t like the quietness of her tone. It said no, she wasn’t okay.
He stepped up behind her, his head by her ear. “You aren’t a good liar, sweetheart. Do you need us to leave? I can come back later and finish.” Not that he knew what he was doing, but he was betting he could talk Sara into helping him, unless her husband was being an ass again.
She shook her head and stepped back, forcing him to do the same. “I’m fine, D. Really. I just need to finish this, and you’re in the way. Put the banner up, please, and let me get this done so we can get out of here. Please.”
Instead of listening to her, he wrapped his arms around her, his lips ghosting over her jawline. Distraction was the key with Becca. Another thing he’d need to ask his mom about.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, and he grinned. She was getting all mad and embarrassed. Just the reaction he was hoping for.
“Kissing you?”
“Stop it!”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Dimitri Kincaid, I swear to God, I am going to hurt you!”
He laughed and stepped back. “Fine, I’ll put up the damn banner.” Several of the other tables were watching them, amused. He winked at them and went about trying to make the banner stand up. It kicked his ass so much it even had Becca laughing at him. Hell, he’d let the damn thing do it all over again as long as it made her laugh.
“You still haven’t figured that thing out?” Sara Jane stood to his left, hands on her hips, laughing for all she was worth.
“No. Help me, please.”
“Don’t you dare do it for him!” Becca looked up from arranging the bins she’d put on the table. “He needs to learn to do it.”
“Or you need to learn to do it,” he grumbled.
“Nope. I’m doing all this.” She swept her hand at his table. “Your only job is the banners. Stop being a baby and get the shit done, D.”
“Someone’s not happy with you,” Sara whispered conspiratorially. “What did you do?”
“Kissed her.” He shrugged. People would know soon enough, including Becca.
Sara Jane grinned. “’Bout time you two figured it out.”
“Figured it out?” He watched her put the banner together and growled when she pulled it apart. “Why did you do that?”
“Becca said you needed to learn to do it, so you’re going to learn. As for your first question, I’m glad you figured out that the two of you are perfect for each other. I’ve known it for over a year listening to you talk about each other.”
“It’s not that simple, Sara.” He kept a watchful eye on Becca as he lowered his voice. “I’m not the relationship kind of man, and she deserves that.”
“So, what? You’re just going to treat her like you do your other women, Dimitri? I thought better of you than that.”
The reproach in her voice was so like his mother’s he cringed. “No. I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“Then, what?”
“I don’t know. I just know that I can’t get her out of my head. Maybe try the relationship thing for real? Go into it knowing something might come out of it besides amazing sex?”
“Make sure that’s what you really want, Dimitri, or you’ll hurt her. A hurt neither of you can come back from.”
“I know that, Sara.” He rolled his head, trying to ease some of the tension in the muscles, and changed the subject. He didn’t want to talk about what was going on with him and Becca before the two of them had a chance to talk about it. “What’s going on with you? You looked pissed earlier when you took that call. Your husband throwing a fit over you being here?”
She sighed like the world’s sorrows had landed at her feet. “That was Roger on the phone. He’s pissed I brought Delia with me. My mom’s here watching her, but he’s still mad. Said she doesn’t need to be around anything that promotes sex.”
“He’s fucking stupid.”
Her laugh came out hollow. “Well, considering I filed for divorce and a restraining order in the same breath, he’s doing everything he can to make my life a living hell right now.”
“Restraining order?” What had the fucker done?
“Yes.” Sara nodded. “Roger could be abusive. He never touched Delia until three weeks ago when she didn’t put her toys away fast enough for him. He hit her, Dimitri. So hard it knocked one of her baby teeth out.”
“Motherfucker.”
“I slipped one of my sleeping pills into his dinner. Once he was out, I grabbed Delia and drove to the ER. My mom picked us up. I filed the restraining order the next day. The judge took one look at Delia’s face and granted it. The only problem is Roger won’t leave us alone. He keeps harassing me, showing up and violating the order. He does it when there are no witnesses and I can’t prove he’s violating the order. I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt us. It’s why I brought Delia with me to this. I don’t want her out of my sight.”
“My brother owns a security company. He can provide you with a bodyguard, help you catch this motherfucker in violation of the order and get his ass thrown in jail.”
“I can’t really afford private security…”
“No, you need this, Sara. I’ll deal with the cost.”
“You will not deal with the cost.”
“Yes, buttercup, I will. No arguments. That fucker needs to be taken care of. No one hits a kid and gets away with it.”
“Let him do this for you.” Becca made them both jump when her quiet voice startled them. “Sorry, your whispering carried over to where I was. Your soon to be ex sounds dangerous, Sara Jane. Let Dimitri help you and your little girl.”
Sara looked torn, but Dimitri was pretty sure the thought of her daughter was what made her say yes. “Okay, thank you.”
He pulled out his phone and called his brother for the second time today.
“Hey, brat. Something happen?”
“I’ve got another job for you. A friend of mine’s ex is causing her problems. Motherfucker needs to be put in his place, and she can’t catch him breaking the restraining order where there are witnesses around.”
“Yeah, the police’s hands are tied in those situations. Witnesses have to see him. How dangerous is he?”
“Very. He likes to use his fists.”
The low growl that sounded over the line could be heard by both women standing next to him.
“Hit their kid. It’s what made her leave. Sara’s a friend of mine. You bill me with the cost. She needs the help.”
“She can’t afford us?” Viktor asked.
“No, that’s why I’m paying. She’s a good friend.”
“Tell me she’s not one of your exes.”
“Fuck, no. I don’t mess around with married women.”
“You said it was her ex…”
“She filed for divorce…how long ago did you file?”
“Two weeks. He’s fighting it tooth and nail.”
“That her?” Viktor asked.
“Yeah. Can you send someone out here to help her? Her ex is harassing her, and she’s afraid he’ll try something. She has their daughter with her.”
“Yeah. I’ll get the first flight out.”
“You?” Dimitri asked, surprised.
“I won’t charge you a damn thing since she’s a friend, and I can’t abide a man hitting a woman or child. I won’t ask the other guys to work for free, either, so I’ll handle it myself. Should only take a few hours to get down there. I’ll book a hotel room and meet you and this woman for breakfast? Sound good?”
“Sounds great. Thanks, Vik.”
He didn’t even bother to say goodbye, just hung up on him. A bad habit of Viktor’s.
“Looks like you’re going to get the services of the CEO himself.” Dimitri grinned, thinking about what Viktor was going to think of Sara. The man was always after his forever kind of love, searching and testing the waters on a regular basis. Sara Jane wasn’t his usual type, but he had this nagging feeling fireworks were going to soon explode. Romance writer’s instincts kicking in and shouting, “New book idea coming soon!”
“I appreciate it, hon. Thank you.”
Dimitri gave her a quick hug. “You set up yet?”
“Sure am. I’m way back there in the corner.” She pointed off to the side, snickering. “I swear someone hates me, sticking me back there where I can’t find an air vent. I’m going to burn up tomorrow.”
“Everyone loves you, doll.” Dimitri looked over the room, noticing it was really starting to fill up. Best to get this shit done and out of here quickly. “Hey, you wouldn’t know where we can get some good seafood, would you? I’ve been dying for fresh seafood since I got here.”
“It’s the Cali in him. He’s forgotten what it’s like to eat anything but fish.” Becca stood back to assess the table. She’d purposefully done it in tones of silver and blue, with lots of black to make it look sexy, yet manly. None of his swag was too over the top, and the black jewelry boards showcased all the charms she’d ordered for him as well. It looked damn good.
“Wow.” Sara Jane came to stand beside her, ogling the table. “This is gorgeous. Where did you get the cloth banner?”
“Small shop on the south side of Chicago. I gave them the logo graphic, and they worked magic. I wanted this to be a table banner that didn’t cover the front, but was draped over the middle of it instead. They did a great job.”
“You have to give me the name of the place. I’ve wanted one of these for a good year, but every place I tried, it didn’t come out right.”
“Sure. I’ll message you later.” She straightened the wooden rack to the right angle so the books were the first thing people would see when they entered the door.
“See? You wanted me to try to do this by myself?” Dimitri eyes widened in the most exaggerated way. “It would have looked nothing like this.”
“Hush, you would have suckered Sara into helping you out, and you know it.” She shoved him playfully, purposely keeping her back to the crowd. That was helping more than anything, but tomorrow? That had her nervous.
“I would have too. I’m a sucker for that smile.” Sara winked at Dimitri. “Now, seafood…Mom and I were going to try Hyman’s Seafood, but I got pulled into lunch with the girls. Now, I’m so tired, all I’m going to do is go order some takeout and relax until tomorrow.”
“Becca and I will check it out and let you know. Vik will be here in the morning and wanted to meet you at breakfast. That cool?”
“Yeah, as long as he doesn’t mind my six-year-old. I promised to take her out to breakfast in the morning.”
“That’s fine. You get some sleep and stop worrying. Kincaid Security and Investigations will get you sorted. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Becca watched him from beneath her lashes. Strangely, when it came to Sara, she felt not a twinge of jealousy. She never had. His other women were an entirely different matter. She’d hated them, and upon occasion had printed out a photo just to shred it. She’d been best buds with the little green monster for a long time.
“You ready, babe? Or do we need to do anything else?”
“I’m set. All you have to do is sign books when we get back to our room.”
“Our room?” Sara’s eyebrows did that wiggly thing and Becca felt heat blooming onto her cheeks.
“I wasn’t supposed to come this weekend, and there were no more rooms available, so I got stuck bunking with the crybaby.”
“Crybaby?”
“Yes, the crybaby who pitches a fit until he gets what he wants. What would you call it?”
“Temper tantrum.” Sara winked. “Delia does it all the time.”
“I swear. I can’t take you two anywhere without you trying to make fun of me. You get gone, and you and me,” he pointed at Becca, “we’re going to eat and talk.”
Sara laughed and started walking back toward her table. Becca’s nerves started to fray thinking about what Dimitri wanted to talk about. Not a discussion she wanted to have. He was going to tell her while he wanted to fuck her, that was all it would be. He didn’t do relationships. They could have fun, but it wouldn’t go past fuck buddies.
And, honestly, she might give in. She’d wanted him so badly for so long, and her body betrayed her every time he got close, so why fight him? It would hurt her like a train wreck, that’s why, she told her subconscious. But it might be worth the heartache to have those memories.
“Becca?”
Startled, she found herself surrounded by three guys, two of whom she knew. Models. The third one was a model as well, but she’d never chatted with him on Facebook before. Kyle Moore, Henry Dawl, and Mr. Biceps. Gorgeous eye candy, all three, but none of that mattered to her right this minute.
She took several steps backward to ward off the trapped, closed-in feeling. It didn’t prevent the tremors from starting, though, or the sweat from beading her forehead. A sick feeling began to churn in her stomach, and the walls felt a little tighter. Closed in.
“Hi, Henry, Kyle.” Three little words, but the hardest three she’d had to speak in years.
Henry rushed her, wrapping her in a hug, and she fought not to scream, not to choke on the lack of air getting into her lungs. This was too much, too much.
“We didn’t know you were coming, baby girl. You should have told us, we’d have taken you out for lunch.”
“Let me go,” she gasped, working and failing at stopping the panic from stomping her in the gut.
Henry let her go, confused. Concern replaced the confusion when he got a good look at her. “You okay, Becca?”
“Don’t fucking put your hands on her again.”
Dimitri looked ready to hit them, his eyes ice cold, his entire body primed to fight. Becca struggled to pull air into her lungs. She knew he was going to hurt someone. Because of her.
“Chill, dude. We’re friends.”
“Don’t fucking care, dude.” He stepped over to where Becca stood and made her bend over a little, grabbing her purse off the table and digging until he found her inhaler. “She’s mine. Don’t touch her.”
“What-the-fuck-ever.” Henry ignored him and stepped closer. “What’s wrong with her?”
“None of your fucking business.” Dimitri’s entire tone went hard and as cold as the ice in his eyes.
Becca took several long pulls of air into her lungs once the inhaler started to work. She concentrated on the carpet and counted to twenty, scared Dimitri would explode before she could stop him.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” She wheezed a bit, but there was no help for it.
“You are not fine, baby girl. What’s wrong?”
Becca closed her eyes, and then opened them when she heard the growl leave Dimitri. Henry had inched closer. “I am, promise. I’ll message you tonight and explain it, but I just need to get out of here right now.”
Henry didn’t look convinced, but did move back when Dimitri pulled her to him and moved her quickly through the building and out to the Jeep. She was shaking so badly, it felt like her teeth were chattering. She could breathe, but barely and the nauseated feeling wouldn’t stop. Bile rose, and she barely managed to get the door open before hot liquid went spewing.
“What do you need?” Dimitri fussed as soon as he was in the driver’s side. “What can I do?”
She shook her head and closed the door, turning the AC on full blast and aiming it right at her face. She hugged herself, her nails biting into her arms, to try to calm her shaking hands. It was a bad idea. She knew it before she walked in. Why had she thought she could do this?
Dimitri felt helpless watching her misery. He shouldn’t have asked her to do this, dammit. He’d seen what just the thought of it had done, but he’d stupidly thought since she’d handled the last couple places he’d taken them and seemed to be handling the small crowd in the event room, she’d be okay.
Wrong. All it took was getting cornered by three people while he’d stopped to chat with the author at the table beside them. He hadn’t seen the men until it was too late. Didn’t matter if she knew them, she didn’t trust them like she did him. That was why she freaked, and he’d had his back turned, thinking she would grab her purse and join him. He should have known better than to turn his back in a room full of people she knew better than he did.
He started the Jeep and pulled out, heading back to the hotel. She was in no shape to try a restaurant. He’d get her calmed down then go find food for them both.
“Where are we going?”
Her quiet voice startled him. “Back to the hotel.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shot a glance her way and saw her hunch in on herself. No way in hell was she going to blame herself for this.
“You don’t have a fucking thing to be sorry for, sweetheart. I do. I shouldn’t have asked you to come when I knew what might happen. I’m a selfish bastard who doesn’t deserve you.”
“You deserve someone who can go to things with you, be in the spotlight. You love being the center of attention. You need someone who can share that with you.”
The sadness in her voice set off alarm bells. She was going to say no before he even had a chance to ask her to see where this could go. All because he’d pushed too hard, too fast. Fuck. He had to get her back to the hotel room where he could hold her, make her understand the only thing he cared about was her.
The fucker in the back of his head whispered, What if you can’t be happy with someone who’d rather be at home instead of out doing things?
Then he looked at her. His beautiful, sweet woman who would do anything for him. The least she deserved was someone who would do the same for her, and if that meant finding a way to work with her anxiety, then he’d damn well do it.
But how to convince her?
When he pulled up to the hotel, he got out and threw the keys at the valet attendant before opening Becca’s door. She sat huddled in the seat, her eyes wide, nostrils flared, and doing her best to get control of her anxiety. He didn’t even ask her to try to walk. He tossed her purse in her lap then scooped her up in his arms, ignoring the stares as he strode through the lobby and to the elevator. Much to the credit of the staff, one of the desk attendants ran to catch up and hit the elevator button.
“What floor, sir?” The young man looked at Becca, clearly concerned, but she refused to look at anyone. She’d buried her head under his chin the moment he’d picked her up.
Fuck if he could even remember.
“Third floor,” Becca whispered, her voice hoarse.
The attendant rode all the way up with them and used his key card to open the room door for Dimitri. The kid didn’t even wait for a tip, just closed the door. He’d have to remember to look him up later.
He sat on the bed, keeping her in his lap, his arms locked around her tight, and rocked her. He didn’t know if it would help, but he didn’t know what else to do. She hiccupped, and to his horror, he realized she’d started crying. What the hell was he supposed to do? Crying females usually sent him running in the other direction.
“Don’t cry, baby, please.” He kissed the top of her head. “It cuts me deep.”
She only cried harder. He did the only thing he could, he held her tight and rocked her until she cried herself to sleep. And still he held her when her breathing evened out. She looked so lost. He swore then and there, she’d never look like that again, but he needed help.
He stood and laid her gently on the bed, using the soft throw she’d brought with her to cover her. He needed to make some calls. He turned out all but the bathroom light and let himself out quietly. He needed to find food, call his brother, and then come back and sign everything. If he didn’t, she’d only stress more, and that was the last thing he wanted.