Chapter 23 #2
I gripped his jaw, turning his head back and forth so the moon could catch more of his face. Before he was dropped off in a dumping center, I’d check him more thoroughly.
By now, if he’d been working with someone else, I’d know it.
Maybe the lone gunman had thought he could handle one woman by himself. What the hell had Saige mentioned? He’d killed someone?
After wiping my face, I headed toward the house, pounding on the door several times. I could tell when she was standing just behind the door. “Saige. It’s me. It’s alright.”
As soon as she flung open the door, she jumped into my arms, wrapping her long arms around my neck.
“Oh, God. You’re safe. I thought something happened. I was so scared.”
Her warmth felt good, her body molding into mine while she was trembling, dragging the protective side of me to the surface all over again.
“It’s all right. You’re fine. You’re safe here with me.” There were two dozen questions that needed answers.
Her breathing was rapid and she was squeezing me.
“Careful, chastnaya tantsovshchitsa. I’m a little banged up.”
“Oh, no. Let me see.”
“You’re worried about me when you were the one being chased.”
She brushed her hand across my cheek. “You were the one risking your life. Not me.”
For her to be this rattled meant something else had happened.
“I don’t know about that. Come on. Let’s go inside.”
“What about the…” She backed away from me while I locked everything up, including rearming the security.
“Let’s just say he won’t be coming after you a second time.
” I took her by the elbow, leading her into the kitchen.
The lights were on over the stove, but after easing her onto one of my barstools, I moved toward the blinds, ensuring no one could see inside.
Yes, the glass was bulletproof at Kazimir’s insistence, but the last thing she needed was any additional terror for the night.
She’d certainly had her fair share and had managed to come out relatively unscathed.
With a harsh groan, she dropped her head into her hands where her breathing remained scattered. I studied her while heading to the cabinet, pulling out two glasses and a bottle of scotch.
She’d been home, her clothes reflecting that much. She had mud on her tennis shoes indicating she’d run a distance and her hair was tousled, twigs stuck in her long curls. She was fucking beautiful even after what she’d been through.
Our relationship obviously had some curse placed over us. With a light chuckle, I poured two full glasses and slid one across the island toward her.
Saige didn’t move at first, taking several deep breaths.
“Go on. Take a huge gulp. The liquor will help calm you down.” I tried to keep my voice soothing. While I didn’t want to push her, questions needed answers.
After another deeper groan, she lifted her head. “Oh, my God. Do you have a first aid kit?” She tried to stand, pushing up from where she was sitting.
“Sit. Down. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You fought with him.”
“Yes, I am and you bet I did.” Even after the shitty night and the fact I’d bruise, I could laugh. Because she was safe and in my house, where no one could touch her.
Unless they had some kind of death wish.
“Your glasses are cracked.” Her slight smile was a sweet reward. “Kind of makes you look even sexier. Now you really have that Clark Kent vibe.”
“What?”
“You know, Superman.”
The woman could make me laugh. “Never mistake me for a comic book hero, Saige. You’ll be sorely disappointed.”
“I don’t think so. Not at all.”
She continued to shake, but she remained filled with concern. For me. A man who she’d wanted to hate not long before. There was some powerful justification in longing to protect her if for no other reason than to be gifted with such a look.
“You should know better than to fight with me, Saige. My house. My rules.”
“Says the man who’d bleeding from several injuries.”
The woman was pushy as hell. I snatched a kitchen towel from the drawer, placing my drink down so I could accommodate her needs. With the water on, I barely paid any attention to what I was doing in wetting the cloth.
Her eyes were shining brightly even after another attempt on her life. Her defiance was noble and a trait I wanted to discipline out of her. I almost laughed at the thought. I held more respect for her than for almost anyone I’d come across.
“Thank you.” Her voice wavered, the light tremble giving away her anxiety.
I gently rubbed the towel under my eye, but I could instantly tell my attempt wasn’t good enough.
“Come here.” I didn’t budge just to see what she would do. “Now, you listen to me. Come here.”
As I leaned over, I was rewarded with a deeper infusion of her sensual scent, night-blooming jasmine that had yet to fade. She took the towel from my hand with a hard jerk, but as soon as she pressed the cloth against my eye, everything about her softened.
Her expression.
Her actions.
Even her eyes.
“You’re very lucky the cut didn’t reach your eye. You could have lost your vision. You really should have stitches.”
And her voice. So soft. So inviting. My cock twitched in appreciation even though now wasn’t the time. “Nothing a butterfly bandage won’t cure.”
There were some curse words said under her breath as she moved from my eye to my lip. Every time she blotted the blood, she darted her tongue across her bottom lip.
I had the strong urge to capture her lips, dragging her across the island.
Another desire that couldn’t be fulfilled.
Finally, I pulled her hand away, bringing her hand to my lips. As I rolled them across her knuckles, she held her breath.
“That isn’t going to work,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Trying to seduce me.”
With a light chuckle, I freed her hand and tossed the towel into the sink. “Then I guess there’s nothing left but for you to tell me what in the hell happened.”
Her entire demeanor changed, her nose wrinkling as she tried to look away. I cupped her jaw in response, refusing to allow her to slide out of telling me the truth.
Which she was famous for doing.
“Start at the beginning.”
“I don’t where that is exactly.”
“Then who died tonight?” I asked with full bluntness.
“What?”
“You said she was killed. Who was she and how do you know?”
“Tawny, my best friend, who also works for you.”
That I hadn’t expected. “What did you say?” I wasn’t going to suggest that I could remember every employee on my floor. However, I was damn good with names. Plus, I’d never seen Saige spend time with anyone who worked around her.
And I’d been paying attention.
“Well, not directly for you, but for your company. She’s in marketing. Was in marketing. Oh, God.” A single tear slipped past her lashes. An indication the two were close. How had I not known? “Why did he kill her?”
“Go on. Try and fill in the blanks.”
“She was the reason I applied for the job at the company. You’ve met her. At the Christmas party. Or maybe you didn’t, but I was her plus one that night.”
“Interesting.”
“She was so… sweet.”
I raked my memory banks, realizing on that night, as soon as I’d seen Saige, everyone else at the party had faded into the woodwork.
“Keep going, Saige. I need to know everything.”
“I don’t know what happened. She’s been acting strange and was supposed to come over after work.
She started dating someone recently. I could tell she thought the arrangement was odd.
He was odd. Pushy. Then she said something about her father making her do something.
I’d encouraged her to talk to her dad and try and find out if her suspicions were true.
Whatever they were. She must have taken my advice and talked with him because she was very upset, calling me around ten tonight.
She had to work but wanted to come over afterward so I could try and give her advice. ”
“But she never made it?”
“I fell asleep. When she didn’t answer her phone after I called several times, I…
” She tried to pull away but I refused to let her.
Her tongue licked her lip again, the tears in her eyes creating a luminous glistening effect.
“After she didn’t answer, I drove over to her apartment.
She lives in a midrise building. There were cops already there, people out on the street.
Neighbors told me that she jumped from the roof.
That she killed herself. I know better. She’s not like that.
She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t go near the edge because she was terrified of heights.
I could tell she was scared. Who would do that? ”
Tears openly fell, ever so gently down her face. She continued trembling and right now, her eyes were searching mine for answers as well as confirmation that her best friend couldn’t have died by suicide.
With an assailant after her, my guess was she was right. “The answer is the man who chased you. Where did you pick up the gunman?”
“Outside her building. I’m positive he was standing watching the chaos and there was no doubt he saw me. While he didn’t do anything overt, he made me nervous. Especially since…”
“Especially since what?”
Once again, she closed her eyes. “I think someone was following me this morning. On the subway.”
My entire body bristled. “And you didn’t tell me.”
Saige sensed my anger, wincing from hearing my words. “Maybe I didn’t because I thought I was being paranoid. After making it to my car, which I’d parked a few blocks away, when he didn’t follow, I was relieved. But he’d beaten me to my apartment. He was waiting for me. Why? What is going on?”
Did she really need to ask that question? “Likely because you were collateral damage, my little dancer. Finish the story.”