Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
I sat on the bed in the Emergency room while Porter stood guard beside my bed. He looked lethal, eyeballing every nurse or doctor who dared approach me. Even though my wound had stopped bleeding, the doctor still thought it warranted one stitch. I also received a tetanus shot, and now we waited for the police to come and question me.
“I’m here for the stabbing,” a female voice sounded.
“Bed three,” a nurse answered.
I turned toward the voices and watched as Detective Christensen approached us. Out of every detective in the city, she had to show up? Seriously? Porter stiffened beside me.
She paused when she saw the two of us. “Well, isn’t this interesting,” she spoke slowly, a small smile on her face.
Porter made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a growl. I didn’t speak. We both watched as she, with deliberate movements, pulled a pad of paper and a pencil out of her pocket.
“My name is Detective Christensen.” She was enjoying this. “And your name is? ”
“Beth Stirling.”
“You look pretty good for being stabbed, Beth Stirling.” She eyeballed me. “Where were you injured?”
I pointed at my neck.
She leaned in and took a closer look. “I’ve had paper cuts that were worse than that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind. Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
I explained everything I could, my voice wobbling dangerously at times, as I remembered the details of my attack.
She chewed on the end of her pencil and checked her notes. “So, you didn’t see your perpetrator, and he didn’t say anything other than to ask your father to drop out.”
“He wasn’t asking. He was threatening!”
“Drop out of what?”
“My father is running for mayor.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, do you have any enemies?”
“No.”
“Any drug deals gone bad? Any angry dealers you owe money too?”
“I don’t do drugs,” I said tersely.
“Says the person who was caught with almost half a pound of cocaine in her purse a couple of weeks ago.”
“Those charges were dropped.”
“Of course. Anything else you’d like to add?”
I glanced up at Porter, who stood there with his legs wide and his arms crossed over his formidable chest. The look he gave Detective Christensen was unnerving.
“I received a threatening letter last week. The envelope was filled with big, dead beetles.”
“Dead beetles?” Amusement laced her voice.
I glanced up at Porter. “This is bullshit.”
“I agree.”
Detective Christensen rolled her eyes. “Fine. Do you have this alleged letter still?”
“Yes.”
With boredom, she handed me a card. “When you get the chance, bring it down to the station.” I didn’t speak. Suddenly, I felt completely exposed and helpless.
The police didn’t believe I was in danger.
The drive home started out in silence. Porter reminded me of the emotionless robot I had first met at Theo’s christening.
“You know, when I was in that washroom, I feared for my life.”
His jaw tightened.
“I wasn’t sure if he was going to slice my neck open or gut me like a fish. I didn’t know if he was going to assault me.” Tears blurred my eyes, but anger hardened my voice. “And I don’t appreciate anyone insinuating that I was overreacting.”
“You’re not.”
“You’re the only one who’s taking this seriously.” I wiped a tear from my cheek. “Thank you for not making me feel stupid.”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel. “I’m sorry I let that happen to you.”
What? Why was he blaming himself for this situation?
“You didn’t let anything happen to me.”
“That should have never happened on my watch.”
“Porter, this wasn’t your fault.”
“I should have walked you to the washroom.”
“You’re not my bodyguard.”
Grey eyes flashed at me. “I’m supposed to fucking protect you, and I failed tonight.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Please.”
“Things are going to change. We’ve been half-assing this, and going forward, things are going to be different. ”
What that meant, I had no idea, but I could tell by his tone that it would make no difference to argue. “Okay.”
At the apartment, he made me stand at the front door while he walked through. When he was done, I headed straight for a long hot shower. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, hopefully with Porter beside me.
When I finished, I found him in the kitchen, standing at the island, with a fierce if not frustrated, look on his face.
“How was your shower?”
“Good.”
“You heading to bed?”
I wanted to ask him to come sleep with me. Sex was the last thing on my mind, but tonight I’d definitely appreciate having a SEAL sleeping beside me. I opened my mouth to ask him exactly that when his phone, which laid on the counter between us, vibrated.
A beautiful photo of Felicia flashed on the home screen. Felicia was calling Porter. Could my night get worse? It was stupid, but after the night I’d had, it felt like a betrayal.
While I felt all these stupid feelings for the man before me, he was getting calls from someone else. I had to remind myself that they'd been together for years before I came on the scene. I was the interloper. And Porter and I were only supposed to be friends.
I lifted my chin and gave him a steady look. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Beth.”
That word held so much meaning, but I didn’t know him well enough to be able to interpret. I walked into my bedroom and shut the door. I needed to remember that this man wasn’t mine.
He felt like he was mine. He lived with me. He kissed me. We were fake engaged, and he made wild promises about protecting me, but the fact was he remained emotionally entangled with Felicia.
She was working overtime to get him back. Even though he seemed somewhat indifferent to her overtures, it didn’t mean it was over between them. He may have been avoiding her, but he also wasn’t exactly shutting her down.
I needed to remember he wasn’t emotionally available. Which made him exactly the kind of guy I typically dated.
The kind of guy that broke my heart.