Chapter 32
Lydia
I could feel his bare skin on my back, the warmth from his chest penetrating my shirt.
His arms engulfed me, and one of his legs was between mine.
I couldn’t tell the time. The sun was up and the room was quiet, so Becca was probably still asleep.
I tried to get up, but Daniel’s hold tightened, pulling me back down.
“You’re awake.” He grumbled. His nose nuzzled into my neck, sending goosebumps down my arms and legs. “Are you ok?” There was fear in his voice. Was he still worried about me, or about how I felt waking up like this with him?
How did I feel about that?
“Yes. I need to get up.”
He kissed the back of my neck so softly I barely felt it, but it was enough to make me shiver. When he lifted his arms, I went straight to the bathroom and shut the door. It was in the bedroom, so I didn’t lock it in case Becca woke up and had to come in.
There were a lot of toiletries.
Thank god for luxury hotels.
I used one of the tiny disposable toothbrushes and then took a slow shower, taking my time burning the previous night off my skin with the hottest water I could bear, and scrubbing multiple times with different soaps.
I had to wear the same underwear, bra, and shirt I had on before, which sucked, but it was better than walking around naked in a robe.
When I got out, Daniel was just closing the main door to the suite. He held two shopping bags and handed me one, his neck red again.
“I had the concierge buy us a change of clothes.”
“Daniel.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m too tired to guess why this is making you blush.”
He put his hand on the back of his neck and smiled. “I had to give them your ruined clothes as a size reference and I…uh… looked at your bra size.”
I shrugged and looked in the bag. “Thanks. I’ll change here while you’re washing up.”
When I heard the bathroom door click, I took out the clothes: black skinny jeans, a dark green t-shirt that felt incredibly soft, a pair of black briefs similar to what I wore, a simple black bra with a little bit of lace at the top, and a bundle of three pairs of white socks.
It all fit me perfectly and felt extremely nice and expensive.
I tossed everything I wore the night before in the bag, still unsure if I’d ever be able to wear it again.
My old jeans and t-shirt were in a small bag by the door. I was surprised the concierge brought it back. The t-shirt was cut at the front, and the jeans were cut on both sides. I tossed them in the trash and sat on one of the kitchen stools.
Daniel came out looking a lot more like his usual self in a tight black t-shirt and blue jeans. He walked up to me and hesitated, staying a step back.
“Were the clothes ok?”
I looked down at what I was wearing and back at him. “Yeah. Can we order coffee?”
He nodded, picking up the phone near the couch.
After what I hoped was him ordering us coffee, he sat on the stool beside me.
I lost track of time, again, and shook my head to clear it when Daniel got up to open the door and bring in a cart with pancakes, eggs Benedict, yogurt, fruit, bread, croissants, butter, jam, scrambled eggs with bacon, a pitcher of black coffee, and a large cappuccino.
“I didn’t know what you wanted,” he said, smiling sheepishly.
You could have asked. Was I making him nervous?
I grabbed the mug with a smile. The first sip was heaven—as was the second, and third.
I didn’t even add sugar, which I usually did to cappuccinos.
Coffee in all its forms was beautiful, and this was perfect.
I finished it wanting more, but decided food should probably come first. Leaning toward the cart for the eggs Benedict, I caught Daniel staring. "
“What?”
“You really like coffee.”
“Why? What did I do?”
“Nothing.” He smiled and took the plate with the scrambled eggs. We ate silently, though I could feel him looking at me from time to time. When I finished, I refilled my mug with black coffee from the pitcher and sweetened it.
“Jake found the guy you, uh… hit.”
I looked at him, leaning back on the stool’s tiny backrest. “Did Cole get anything out of him?”
“He bled out by the time Jake got him.”
I nodded. Good. Fucker. “And the other guy?”
Daniel smiled, shaking his head. “Are you ever going to stop surprising me?”
“Am I supposed to be sad the man who tried to either rape me, kill me, or both is dead?”
For a second, I saw that rage again on his face. “No.”
He grabbed the front of my stool and pulled me closer to him. “Cole was still talking to the guy when Jake called. They were hired to target Becca.”
“Target how? And by whom?”
“Don’t know and don’t know.”
“You think it’s Langford?”
His eyebrows shot up. “I thought it was because of my investigation. You think—”
I shrugged. “Brad was fired and she gets attacked on the same day? He had all day to call Langford and tell him that she found him out. You tell me. Langford runs in the same circles your family does. If you or your brother wanted to hire someone, is that enough time?”
“Yeah, more than enough. I just didn’t think Langford had it in him.”
“Becca said that when she fired Brad, he told her Langford really hated her. Maybe there’s more to this than what happened with Howard. He didn’t lose the investment when she left, he just lost an employee. Why hate her so much?”
“She was important. She improved the designs at Condukt and now her company could be a serious competitor with this new deal.”
“So she’s a threat.”
Daniel nodded and put his hand on my thigh.
“Lydia, what you did with Becca…”
“What?”
“The guy that attacked her, you told her to take it back.”
“He choked her. He punched her in the stomach and either slammed her on the wall or hit her in the back. I saw the bruises when I helped her change. And he told her…he told her something she wouldn’t repeat, but I saw the way she looked at me when she heard it.
He didn’t just hurt her body, Daniel—he took her power away and she needed to take it back so it wouldn’t break her. ”
Daniel’s hands were on both of my knees. He tightened his grip. His arms were shaking, like he was struggling not to hurt me in his anger.
“Then why did you stop her?”
“I stopped her when she lost control. I would have let her kill him if I thought it would help. She’ll be okay, Daniel.”
He stood up and took a step closer, standing in front of me between my knees.
“You’re incredible. Violent and caring and smart and beautiful and just fucking incredible.”
He put one hand on my neck and the other on my cheek and leaned forward, kissing me softly on the lips before stepping back.
“Oh.” My voice was barely a whisper.
Oh? That’s what came out.
“Lydia?” Becca’s voice called out from the room. I jumped out of my chair and ran to her. She was sitting up on the bed and looking around, frantic.
I sat in front of her and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Oh god, Lydia! You… you…” She grabbed me, pulling me into a tight hug.
“Becca?” Daniel whispered. She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked up at him for a few seconds in silence. When she pulled back, I could see the marks on her neck were already dark red, almost purple.
Becca sniffed and straightened her back, just like she did that day at Daniel’s house when we talked about what happened with Howard. “Thank you.”
I nodded. “Do you need help washing up?”
She shook her head and smiled before slowly getting out of bed and walking into the shower.