CHAPTER 22
GRANT

The chair was fucking murder on my back, but I didn’t care. She chose me. Theresa chose me over everyone else. She stood up to her father and her brother, and I was damn proud of her. I knew she was in pain, and I knew she wasn’t feeling well, and she still chose to stand her ground instead of rolling over and taking it. Theresa was a marvelous woman, and she never ceased to amaze me.

And I wasn’t going to let some dumbass thing like a chair stand in my way of abiding by her decision.

I watched her fall asleep before my eyes fell to her neck. The bruises were turning all sorts of awful colors, and it made me want to kill someone. My vision dripped with red as I clenched my fists. Ike was a fucking dead man if he ever got out of jail. I’d be waiting for him, and I’d take pleasure in beating his face in until he was no longer breathing.

Men who laid hands on women like that were nothing but fucking cowards. Scum of the earth. Bullshit excuses for men.

With each bruise that appeared on her body over the course of her hospital stay, I grew more irate. The insides of her thighs had massive black circles, and I almost blew through the fucking roof. Not even jail could’ve kept him safe had he taken advantage of her like that.

I wasn’t in the mood to sleep. I watched her all through the night, my ears on alert for any sound that was off. If her father or Hollis came back, I was stopping them at the fucking door. She needed to rest uninterrupted, and I was going to make sure that happened.

No matter the cost to myself.

I dozed off a few times but woke up each time a nurse came in to check her vitals. Her heart rate was holding well, and her blood pressure was normal, but there were a couple of moments when she began to thrash. They ended as quickly as she started, and it only served to make me angrier. On top of the pain and the bruising and the concussion, she was suffering from nightmares.

I wanted to get in bed and hold her, but I wasn’t sure if that would make things any better.

The morning sunlight streamed through the one window of the hospital room, illuminating her face. She began to stir, and a smile trickled across her cheeks when she saw me sitting in the corner. My heart expanded at the look in her eyes and her unadulterated elation at the sight of me. I thought my chest was going to crack open with the light that filled its cavity. I was irrevocably dedicated to Theresa, hooked on her and addicted to her in ways no other woman had ever pulled me in.

I loved her.

At that very moment, I knew I was in love with her.

I always had been but from afar. In my dreams. In the memories of her. Her giggle and her glasses and her wild, beautiful hair. But I didn’t have anything to offer her then. I was struggling through college and living off debt trying to get my business off the ground. I had nothing to take back to her to prove myself worthy of her time or her affections. But as I sat in that chair and watched her eyes lock with mine, I knew I could give her what she deserved now.

With my business in a good place and her choice verbally made, I knew I could provide the life she deserved.

I would work my hands to the bloody bone to give this woman any damn thing she wanted for as long as she would have me. And I hoped against hope that would be a long fucking time.

I got up from my chair and walked over to her side. I could tell it was still hard for her to swallow. I took her hand and bent down, then brushed a kiss across her forehead. Her fingers curled around my hand as she stroked my skin with her thumb, sending electricity flooding through my veins.

“You need anything?” I asked.

“I want to go home,” Theresa said.

“You can’t. It’s still a crime scene.”

“How do you know?”

“Hollis sent me a text.”

She furrowed her brow, and I kissed the wrinkles on her forehead.

“It was information he wanted me to relay to you,” I said.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” she said breathlessly.

“I know you don’t. But we have to make sure you’re all right. We can’t get you discharged until this swelling is under control.”

“And what if my apartment still isn’t ready to go back to?” she asked.

“I have an answer to that.”

“I’m not staying with Hollis,” she said flatly.

“And you think I am? I’m putting myself up in a hotel room for a while. Figured I would take you with me if you wanted.”

The smile that crossed her face slammed my heart against my chest. I brushed some hair away from her face as her eyes connected with mine. She gripped my hand and brought it to her lips, then kissed my knuckles one by one.

“I’d like that,” Theresa said.

“Then I’ll get it set up. As soon as the doctors spring you, I’ll take you away,” I said.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. “Knock-knock. Time for your morning checkup,” the doctor said.

I released Theresa’s hand and went to sit back in my chair. While the doctor ordered tests, had the nurse draw blood, and scheduled a scan of her head, I took out my phone and booked a hotel for us. A nice hotel suite with a massive bed, a flat screen television, and a small kitchen to stock with food. I wanted her to feel comfortable and safe. But most of all, I wanted her to stay with me. I wanted her to never want to leave my side. I wanted to show her what I could provide for her without a second thought.

Then I called my second-in-command.

“How’s the weekend going?” Matt asked.

“I’m gonna be here a little longer than I thought,” I said.

“With the way you lit out of here needing to see your girl, I figured you wouldn’t come back too soon. Need anything?”

“I need you to keep things running smoothly. We’ve approved six new projects that all start this month.”

“You won’t be back before the month is out?”

I looked over at Theresa as she followed the doctor’s finger. I watched her head move side to side, and the doctor seemed pleased with the outcome. I didn’t know what the two of them were talking about, but whatever it was it made Theresa happy. Her eyes filled with glee, and she looked like she was about to bounce right out of the damn bed.

“I might not be, so I want to prepare for all outcomes,” I said.

“Is everything alright?” Matt asked.

“It will be.”

“Okay. You sure you don’t need anything?” Matt had gotten very good at reading my tone of voice over the years.

“I need you to make sure these projects get off the ground. The schematics are very detailed, and the outlines are in my desk. Just pull out that flat drawer underneath the main part of it and pull out the six folders. That’ll get you started.”

“Sure thing. Let me know if you need anything else, though. I’ll call you if we need you,” he said.

“I’m sure you will. I’ll check in with my laptop as much as I can. I’ve got it synced to my main desktop, so make sure to keep everything updated.”

“Then I’ll leave the paperwork to you.”

“Sounds good. Keep in touch and try not to fuck things up too much,” I laughed.

“How about this? Don’t relegate yourself to a time frame. I’ll deal with on-site shit and the foremen, and you take care of the paperwork and the emails. If any meetings come up, I’ll be prepared to deal with them because I’m in the trenches, and you can video in if necessary. That way, you’re still the go-to guy, but you can stay wherever you are and ride out whatever’s going on”

“I knew I hired you for a reason,” I said.

I hung up the phone and watched as the nurse came back in with discharge papers. I furrowed my brow as Theresa took them from her, a massive smile on her face. I stood up from the chair and walked to her side, then placed my hand on her shin.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Her blood work is great, and she’s passed all of her tests with flying colors. She has full mobility in her head, no nausea, and the fluid buildup at the base of her skull is gone,” the nurse said.

“If the scan I have in a few minutes comes back clear, these are my discharge papers.”

Theresa handed them to me, and I looked down at them.

“When’s the scan?” I asked.

“Now,” a tech said as he walked in. “We’ll wheel her out, it’ll be a quick test, and I’ve got a rush on the results. We should know within the hour whether she can leave or not.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “I got a place reserved for us when she gets the all-clear.”

I handed the discharge papers back to the nurse before I looked over at Theresa.

“Don’t give the technicians a hard time,” I said.

“No way, I want out of here as soon as possible,” she said.

I smiled at her and leaned over to give her a quick peck on the cheek, then I stood there as they wheeled her out. In an hour, she’d be in my care. In an hour, I’d be able to show her what I could provide for her.

In an hour, I’d have her in a place where her father and brother couldn’t find her.

And that was the best way for her to finish her recuperation.