Chapter 6
Chapter Six
S erenity had barely slept a wink last night, and her eyes were gritty this morning. The lack of sleep was really starting to take its toll, but she rubbed at them, trying to wake herself up enough to be useful today.
She hadn’t even bothered to put on makeup this morning. Who cared?. Let Luca see her without being dolled up. Why would it matter? It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her like that before, after all.
The real problem was, she hated that part of her wanted to look pretty for him, so instead of giving in, Serenity had rebelled. Her brain wanted to look pretty? Then she was going to go out of her way to look boring.
She adjusted her baseball cap and tightened the ponytail at the back of her head as she got out of her car and headed toward the back door.The buzz of the fans running sounded before she ever opened the door, but she still came up short because the door was slightly open.
Frowning, Serenity glanced around, but she didn’t see Luca’s truck yet. She’d arrived extra early today since she hadn’t been able to sleep. It seemed prudent to get to work. Maybe she could tire herself out to the point of sleeping from exhaustion.
But right now, she needed to know who was inside her shop.
Slowly, she pushed the door open. “Hello? Luca?”
The fans were so loud, Serenity almost needed to cover her ears, but she kept her hands down, straining to hear anything else over the noise.
“Luca?” she called out again. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and this time it wasn’t from shock, but fear. She was positive she’d locked the door last night after Luca was done for the evening.
She had a ritual to make sure everything was taken care of, and she’d definitely gone through the whole shop.
She took another step inside, but Luca’s broad shoulders and bald head never appeared. Serenity’s hands shook as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket.
Instead of calling someone, she simply kept her thumb over the screen and her eyes peeled as she slunk through the storage area. She squeaked when she noticed a couple of boxes that had obviously been torn through.
She and Luca had moved all the boxes to the front, and the old hardwood floor had been torn up so the fans could dry the subfloor. Everything should have been neat and orderly, but two boxes of t-shirts were broken and several shirts were thrown to the ground.
Serenity glanced around, then bent to pick them up, even knowing they were probably ruined. Just as she bent forward, something hit her from behind, and she cried out.
Her face slammed into the subfloor, immediately stinging, and she probably had slivers along with the scrapes. But it was the weight on her back that was most concerning. “What do you want?” she screamed, her voice still barely audible over the fans.
She tried to turn her head, but a hard point landed against her skull, and she froze.
“Where’s your money?” a voice rasped.
She was going to have a heart attack. Why had she come over early? Why didn’t she wait for help? Why hadn’t she called someone when she had the chance?
“The money!” The male voice grew louder and more agitated. He shoved the weapon harder against her head.
“I don’t have any here!” Serenity screamed, her body shaking so hard she could barely breathe, let alone think of an answer.
Hot, wet breath hit her cheek, and Serenity squeezed her eyes tighter. “The goods,” the man ground out. “Where’s the goods?”
Serenity shook her head, causing more scrapes against her cheek, which was starting to throb. “I don’t keep it here,” she whimpered. “There’s a box upstairs with a few loose dollars, but that’s it.”
The man pressed harder.
“PLEASE!” she screamed, her brain in full panic mode. “Take it and go!” Serenity’s thoughts couldn’t keep up with what was happening. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined something like this happening in her small town haven. Crime was low, and people watched out for each other. She’d never been afraid to walk alone at night and never bothered to buy any pepper spray.
Her complacency might be her downfall.
Growling, the perpetrator grabbed Serenity’s hair and slammed her head into the floor. Her vision swam, and she couldn’t breathe.
“HEY!”
The next couple of minutes were a blur, but by the time Luca pulled her from the ground and cradled her in his arms, Serenity was barely conscious.
Her head bobbled as he rushed them out of the building and into the gray outdoors. “Hang on, sweetheart,” he muttered. “It’s gonna be okay.”
Serenity wanted to lift her arms and steady herself. She wanted to cuddle into his heat and strength. She wanted to say thank you and ask what happened to the thief. Instead, she let her eyes fall shut, and the world around her began to fade.
“Seri,” Luca said, a note of panic in his tone. “Don’t fall asleep, honey. Come on. Stay awake for me, okay?”
Her mouth wouldn’t form words, but Luca had to know that she was tired. Too tired. Her head hurt, her vision was swimming, and it felt like she’d been run over by a semi-truck. Sleep was the only option. Luca had to know that.
“Serenity!” Luca barked. He’d stopped moving, but Serenity didn’t know where they were exactly. “Stay awake! You have to stay awake. The ambulance will be here any minute, okay? Can you stay awake for them? Just a few more minutes?”
“Mmm…” Serenity’s head fell away from his chest, dangling in mid air.
Luca growled, and his arms around her tightened.
With hands gentler than Serenity would have expected, he shifted her enough to pull her head back toward his neck and shoulder.
“I’m here,” he whispered against her forehead. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”
His voice began to grow farther away as she lost the fight to stay awake.
“I won’t leave you again,” Luca continued. “You’ll always be safe.”
She wanted to see his face, but her eyes wouldn’t open.
“I’ll keep you safe. I’m here. And I’m never leaving.”
Luca’s chest heaved with his panicked breaths, and he worked to calm them. He’d always been good at calm. Nothing had ruffled him on the battlefield, and he’d become known for patiently waiting out clients at the facility who had anger issues to work through.
But right now, he felt all the self control slipping through his fingers.
Serenity was hurt. Badly. Her face was scraped and bruising, a bump was forming on her temple, and she had passed out, right in his arms.
Luca had never known fear until he heard her scream as he walked up to the back door this morning. He hadn’t even bothered to assess the situation before barrelling in and taking the perp down.
The graze on his arm was starting to sting, but he didn’t even look at it. Serenity was all that mattered at the moment. If Luca had been smart, he’d have taken precautions to make sure she wasn’t even close to the gun when it went off, but instead, he’d been too worried and rushed in, getting himself sort-of shot in the process.
He closed his eyes and sent a prayer heavenward when the sirens finally blared. How long did it take to get an ambulance in a town this size? It should have been here ages ago! And why didn’t Serenity have an alarm in the shop?
When he was done taking care of her, he was going to wring her neck for going inside alone and for not having better precautions in place.
Luca’s boots made heavy noises as he stormed toward the alley entrance so the ambulance knew where to find them. Gravel crunched under his feet, and his eyes were glued to the street where cars were pulling over to get out of the way of the approaching emergency vehicle.
Slowly, the ambulance turned the corner and lumbered over the edge of the parking lot, coming to a halt when it was fully facing Luca. Several first responders jumped out.
“Sir? Are you alright? You’re bleeding.”
“Her,” Luca demanded, indicating Serenity. “You need to take care of her first. She’s unconscious. The guy smashed her head into the floor. She’s got scrapes and a bump on her temple.”
A man held up his hand. “Okay, sir. We’ve got this. It’s alright.” He held out his arms. “Let me put her on the gurney, and we’ll take care of you both.”
Luca shook his head vehemently. “I’m fine,” he insisted. “You have to take care of Seri.”
“We will, sir,” the guy insisted. “We will. Let me have her.”
Luca realized his hold on her was tightening, instead of loosening as it should be. He grit his teeth, trying to make his hands obey, but he couldn't do it. He’d dreamed of holding her again for years. He couldn't let her go now. “I’ll put her on the gurney,” he said, his voice low.
The worker opened his mouth, then paused and nodded. “Fine. This way.” He turned and led Luca around to the back of the vehicle where two other workers were dropping the wheels to the pavement. “Just here.”
It still took an insane amount of control to get his arms to let her go, but it was easier to set her on a bed than to give her to another man. Finally, his hands slipped free, and the loss of her hit so keenly his lungs refused to work for a moment.
“Let’s take a look at that arm,” the emergency worker said.
Luca shook his head. “I’m fine. Really. It just grazed me. You need to take care of Serenity.”
“Your girlfriend’s in good hands,” the man said in a calm tone. “But I need to see how deep that cut is.”
Luca rubbed the top of his head, not bothering to correct the man about Serenity being his girlfriend. It wasn’t worth the effort, and she wasn’t awake to be offended by it.
Instead, he stood still while the man cut off Luca’s sleeve and inspected the wound. While that was happening, the police began arriving, and Luca started spitting out the story as he knew it.
“Where’s the intruder now?” a man by the name of Officer Montoya asked.
“I knocked him out,” Luca said. “Tossed him out the door and kicked the gun to the corner of the shop.”
Several officers took off, pulling out their weapons as they ran around to the back of the building.
Officer Montoya looked Luca up and down. “That was pretty brave of you.”
Luca shrugged, his gaze glued to where they were still inspecting Serenity.
“Military?”
Luca’s head snapped around. “What?”
Officer Montoya raised a dark eyebrow. “I asked if you were military.”
“Ex.”
The young man smirked. “She’s lucky you were there.”
Luca pinched his lips together. He wasn’t sure Serenity would feel the same way. He’d saved her, yes, but he’d also hurt her beyond repair. One didn’t negate the other.
Luca held in a wince when the officer slapped his shoulder. “We’ll need a full statement from you, but I’m sure Boardman here is going to insist you get your stitches done first.”
The emergency worker poking at Luca’s arm grunted.
Montoya grinned. “We’ll follow you.” He walked away, pulling at the radio at his shoulder and speaking into it.
“Come on,” Boardman said. “You need stitches, and your girlfriend needs her head looked at. Let’s take you in.”
Luca hesitated only briefly. He really didn’t care about his arm, but if he let them take him in, he’d get to stay with Serenity, and if he didn’t say anything about them not really dating, then they wouldn’t keep him out of her hospital room, either.
He mentally added this sin to his tally when it came to Serenity and hopped into the back of the ambulance after they’d hefted Serenity inside.
Boardman slammed the doors shut, then presumably went around to the front.
“Here.” The middle aged woman who’d been helping Serenity held out a large piece of gauze. “Hold that to your cut to slow down the bleeding. I need to focus on her.”
Luca gladly complied. He watched as the woman put a monitor on Serenity’s finger and checked her eyes with a small flashlight, then began cleaning up her shredded cheek.
Before he could think better of it, Luca reached out and grabbed Serenity’s hand. He needed to touch her. Her hand was cool, but not cold, and he sent another prayer toward the cloudy skies. He hated that she was unconscious and the scrapes on her cheek would take a while to heal, but at least the worker didn’t look panicked or upset. Luca took that as a good sign.
“Keep holding her hand,” the woman instructed. “Even unconscious, we know the touch of our loved ones.” She gave Luca a grin. “It’ll help.”
Luca gave the woman a curt nod. Serenity didn’t love him, not even close, but he loved her. And maybe that would be enough to help her heal, at least a little, from this experience. He wasn’t opposed to trying. Not by a long shot.