Chapter 64
64
Reuben watched her breathe.
It was becoming an obsession.
In. Out. In. Out.
He had two fingers on her pulse, even though there were monitors keeping track of her oxygen levels and pulse.
But he had this awful feeling that if he left her side, she wouldn’t wake up. That she wouldn’t survive.
He knew it was stupid. That she was doing well. She’d woken up once, but she was heavily medicated and had been disorientated.
However, he couldn’t stop watching her.
He’d gotten to her as quickly as he could. But he should never have let her out of his sight in the first place.
Next time, he’d reschedule his meeting. No matter who it was.
Fuck. Mrs. Merryweather.
Getting out his phone, he sent her a quick message but didn’t get a reply.
“Reuben?”
He jumped to his feet, instinctively moving to cover her from the threat. No one would harm her.
Never again.
“Hey. It’s me. Alejandro. I wouldn’t harm Faith. You know that.”
Alejandro.
He was safe.
“I’ve got Cat with me.”
Faith loved Cat.
Reuben sat and placed his fingers back on Faith’s pulse.
“Oh, Papi.” Cat broke into a small sob and Reuben tensed.
He had to reassure Cat. But he was finding it difficult to find any softness. It was all reserved for Faith.
“She’s all right.” That was all he could manage.
Cat walked over and tentatively placed her hand on his shoulder. He concentrated on watching Faith breathe. But he didn’t knock away her hand.
“I hate seeing her like this,” Cat said.
So did he.
“What did the doctor say?” Alejandro asked.
“He said that she’s doing well.”
“She’s badly bruised,” he added. “It’s only because the car wasn’t going very fast and immediately slammed on its brakes that she didn’t end up with a broken femur. Or worse.”
Dead. She could have died.
“Her left wrist is fractured from landing on it wrong,” he said. “Maybe from trying to shield her face and head. There are lacerations along her left side. Bad bruising on her right hip and the top of her right thigh. But on the whole, she was lucky.”
He spat that word out as though it were dirty.
“She’s going to be all right, Reuben,” Alejandro said.
He nodded. She would be. Because he’d make sure of it.
“Do you know what happened?” Reuben asked.
Alejandro’s face darkened, and Reuben instinctively knew he wouldn’t like what he’d discovered.
“Cops are doing their own investigation, but I had my guys looking into it too. Nighthawk tapped into the traffic cameras, but they didn’t catch the incident.”
Fuck.
“However, there was an old homeless woman there. Do you know who I’m talking about?” Alejandro asked.
“Yeah. Faith often buys her lunch. She also brought her some clean clothes and stuff for her dog.”
“Yeah, well, she saw it happen. She said that Faith was pushed.”
Cat uttered a shocked sob and Alejandro walked around to pick her up, settling her on his hip.
That was it. Faith was never going anywhere without him again.
“Who?” Reuben managed to get out.
“She said it was a woman.”
A woman? That wasn’t what he’d expected.
“Did she give you a description?” he rasped.
Dark satisfaction filled Alejandro’s face. “Even better. She recognized her.”
“Who was it?” Reuben asked. Who was he going to kill?
“She said her name is Lou and that she works at the café on the ground floor of your building.”
What. The. Fuck.
He stared up at Alejandro. “Why the fuck would she push Faith out into traffic? Faith has been nothing but nice to her. She’s always tasting the crappy shit she makes.”
Alejandro’s gaze sharpened. “Hmm. True. If she was trying to hurt Faith, then she could have just poisoned her food.”
Reuben frowned. “Faith hasn’t seen Lou much lately because we come straight up from the basement and we’ve been bringing food in with us from home. The last time Lou gave her one of her creations, it had cranberries in it. And Faith hates cranberries.”
“So that could have been her plan, but Faith hasn’t been eating her food lately. What about before?” Alejandro asked.
“Maybe she didn’t want to hurt her before?” Cat asked. “I don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Blossom.”
That hit him hard. “Because of me.”
He looked up at Alejandro, who nodded slowly.
“No one would want to harm Faith unless they were using her to get to me,” he said, feeling ill.
“And perhaps this Lou hadn’t been trying to harm her before, because she was just your assistant,” Alejandro guessed. “Once your relationship changed, then she came after Faith?”
The rage threatened to pull him under. How dare this bitch harm his girl?
“But why? Who is this woman?” he asked.
“We’re trying to track her down,” Alejandro said. “We will find her.”
“I want to know when you do. Is there anything else I need to know? Or do?”
Alejandro shook his head although there was a shadow in his eyes. “Concentrate on Faith. I’ve got a lead on the lawyer who met with Venturo in jail. And the police chief will wait. Just look after your girl.”
He would. “Charlie? Is he all right?”
“He’s out in the waiting room,” Cat said. “We’re going to take him home with us. He’s blaming himself.”
“Send him in for a moment?”
Alejandro nodded and carried Cat out, uncaring who saw them. The door opened a short time later and a stricken Charlie entered.
His eyes were red-rimmed, and he was almost breathing too quickly, but there was also determination in his gaze.
“I’m sorry, Reuben. This is my fault. I should have gone across the street to get her.” He stared down at Faith, his despair easy to see.
“No, Charlie. This isn’t your fault. This is on whoever hurt her. Tried to harm her. And I’m going to see that they pay.”
“I want to help.” Charlie stared at Reuben. “I might be a Little, but I’m not weak.”
“I know you’re not. If I need your help, I’ll let you know. But I want you to go home with Cat and Alejandro, okay? Let them look after you. It’s what Faith would want.”
“Okay. Let me know how she is doing? Please?”
“I will. She’s going to be just fine. I won’t allow her to be anything else.”