22. Silas
CHAPTER 22
SILAS
“ G wen!” I shout her name as worry consumes me.
“I’m okay, just a little banged up.”
I gingerly pull her into my lap, and once I do, she bursts into tears and it quickly evolves into hysterical sobbing. I hold her close, stroking the back of her head, and press my cheek to her forehead. “Shh. Shh. You’re okay. You’re okay,” I repeat until her sobs lessen slightly. I know she’s overwhelmed emotionally and physically from her ordeal. It doesn’t help that the initial adrenaline dump is over and she’s feeling the after effects.
She tips her head back, resting her chin in the center of my chest. Tear stains streak her cheeks and her silver eyes shine up at me. “Thank you for saving me.” A sob slips from her.
“I’m always going to save you, Gwen. But I think I should point out, Little Miss Dangerous, that you did a great job at fighting back. You bloodied that bastard’s face up good.”
She nods, sharing a tremulous smile. “I did, didn’t I? I fought back this time.” Her face crumples like a ruined soufflé and she starts to sob all over again.
“Shh. Shh,” I soothe, rubbing my hands up and down her back.
“You don’t understand,” she wails. “These are happy tears.”
“They are, huh?” I smile.
She sniffles, nodding. “I’m proud of myself.”
“You should be. You did fucking amazing. Do I know how to pick appropriate nicknames or what?”
She laughs, which is exactly what I was hoping for. “Yep, you do. Who knew I could be dangerous?” she asks.
I point to myself. “This guy, that’s who.” I get to my feet with Gwen in my arms, carry her to the living room couch, then call 911.
“What about Perry? What if he wakes up?” she asks.
“He won’t any time soon. But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll check.” I walk to the hallway and find him exactly as I left him—spread-eagle on his back. I forcefully nudge his ribs with the toe of my sneaker and he doesn’t react. Satisfied, I start to turn away and stop myself. This fucker came here with the intention to kill my woman, and I wish I’d done more than knock him out. I raise my knee and stomp between his legs with all my might.
I return to sit with Gwen. While we wait for the police, I make a few phone calls for her. Demi has sent a string of text messages, so she has me reply with an apology and that she’ll call her later.
“How’s Dove?” Gwen asks.
“Shit. I haven’t even thought about her. I’ve been so worried about you.”
“I’m okay. Go check on her.”
Dove is still lying on the kitchen floor, but she’s starting to stir, which is great news. I want to move her to her bed in the living room, but I don’t want to alarm her. If she’s still not fully aware, it could startle her. I softly stroke her head. “You’re such a good girl, Dove. Daddy loves you so much.”
I hear the sirens as they grow closer, so I’m there to meet them at the door. I introduce myself and relay the basics of what happened. The EMTs tend to Perry while one of the officers asks to speak with Gwen. I escort them to her and head back to the kitchen to give them a chance to get the details of what happened from her, but she’s been through a lot and I don’t want them making her feel worse than she already does.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and bring it to Gwen. She presses the cold plastic to the bruise on her forehead with an audible sigh. I can tell she’s running out of steam.
“Are you almost finished? She’s been through a lot,” I say.
The officer rises. “Yes. If you think of anything else we need to know, give me a call.” He hands his card over to me.
“Would you like the EMTs to check you out?” he asks Gwen.
“No. If I need to, I’ll go to the hospital later. Right now, I just want to be here with my boyfriend.”
I nod. “Will do. Let me walk you out.” I lead the way to the entry. Perry is on a stretcher and being lifted into the ambulance. I thank the officers and close the door.
When I return to Gwen, she’s drinking down the water like she’s been in the desert for weeks.
“We should probably get some food into you also,” I say.
“I don’t feel like eating yet. My stomach is still nauseous. The last couple of hours seem surreal. I can’t believe Jerry had a twin brother. And even more so, I can’t believe he came after me.”
“You had no way of knowing. There’s nothing you could’ve done differently to prevent this from happening.”
“We better ask the police to check if there are any more siblings we don’t know about. I don’t want to seem paranoid, but I’m not having this shit happen again.”
I scratch my head. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“Anyone home?” Gavin calls out from the entry.
“Yeah, we’re here,” I answer.
A few seconds later, Gavin and Caleb appear.
“What happened?” Caleb asks, looking concerned. “We saw the police and ambulance.”
“The guy who assaulted me at college had a twin brother I didn’t know about. I was unaware that he’d been stalking me, wanting revenge for the death of his brother,” Gwen explains.
“Whoa, you killed a man?” Caleb asks.
She shakes her head. “No, the police did.”
“Then why’d he come after you?” Gavin asks.
She throws her hands up. “That’s what I wondered too.”
“Are you okay?” Gavin asks. “You’re not injured at all are you?”
“No, I’m fine. Still a little shook up but that’s all.”
“What’s going to happen to the guy?” Caleb asks.
“He got arrested. Hopefully, he’ll go to jail for a long time,” I say.
“You’ll be fine no matter what. By the time he gets out, you’ll have been taking self-defense for years,” Caleb states, as if it’s a matter of fact.
“I’m continuing my training, for sure,” she says, glancing at me.
I nod. “I’ll train you for as long as you’re willing. You’ve barely scratched the surface so far.”
“I want to learn everything you can teach me,” she says.
“You guys should’ve seen the dude’s face. Gwen bloodied him all up.”
“It was actually a frying pan that bloodied him up,” she corrects.
“You were the one swinging it. You did awesome,” I remind her.
“Aww.” Caleb pats me on the shoulder. “You’re such a proud teacher.”
“You’re right, I am. She’s worked so hard to face her fears and overcome them.”
She stretches her hand out to me and I take hold before sitting down next to her. Her head turns as she looks at me. “I couldn’t have made it through the events of today without you. Because of your help and your confidence in me, I’m emotionally and physically stronger.”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t you know by now that I’ll do anything for you?”
She nods, her eyes shining with emotion. “I really do.”
The doorbell rings. Gwen turns to me and groans. “Please tell me that’s not my parents.”
“I wish I could but I think it might be.”
“Didn’t you tell them I’m all right?”
“This is our cue to get out of here,” Caleb says. I barely blink before they take off, heading toward the rear of the house to sneak up the backstairs.
“I better let your family in.” I get up from the couch and walk to the entry. The doorbell rings again before I open the door.
A man who must be her dad stands there with a younger blond woman. I immediately notice how he and Gwen share the same light-colored eyes. “Come on in,” I say.
He doesn’t bother with niceties, so I lead them directly to Gwen.
“Hi, Dad. Hi, Maeve.” She stands, and he hugs her as if she’s fragile and might break any second. When they part, she pats him on his arm. “Dad, I’m okay. I promise. By the way, this is my boyfriend, Silas.” She smiles awkwardly.
Maeve smiles. “Boyfriend?”
Her dad narrows his eyes, studying me. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-three, sir.”
“Dad, don’t even say anything derogatory about him being older than me.” Her eyes slowly flick from him to Maeve and back again, making her point, and he rolls his eyes.
“We heard you had a little excitement today,” Maeve says.
“You could say that. Is Mom coming too?”
My dad nods. “I would assume she is.”
She groans. “Dammit. I’m not in the mood for her drama.”
“Your dad’s here to run interference if needed,” Maeve reminds her.
“Thanks. I’m grateful for that.”
A few minutes later, I let her mom in. “Hi. I’m Silas, Gwen’s boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend? That’s new. I’m Claire, Gwen’s mom.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Let me take you to your daughter.”
“Is she okay,” she asks, her voice wavering with worry.
“She’s fine.”
When Gwen sees her, she gives her a tight smile. “Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, Gwen.” She hurries over to hug her and then she frames her face between her hands. She presses a kiss to Gwen’s forehead, avoiding the tender lump. “That’s a painful looking egg, but you still look beautiful.”
Gwen gives her a tired smile. “Thanks, Mom.”
“So what happened?” her mom asks, ready to get all the information.
“Why don’t we all sit down,” I jump in. Gwen looks like she’s worn out enough to fall over at any moment. I wrap an arm around her and guide her down onto the couch. Gwen explains everything that transpired over the course of the last couple of hours, and I’m surprised by how well they all listen without cutting in with questions. There’s no interruption and then when she’s done, we’re both bombarded with questions. But, hey, that’s to be expected. It’s not every day that a psycho tries to kill their daughter.
Although, for them I’m sure it’s starting to feel that way.
“Now that we know what happened, can we talk about the elephant in the room?” Maeve asks, her blue eyes filled with mirth.
“Maeve, how could you?” Gwen asks, her lips forming a pout.
She smiles. “I know, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. Besides, I’m thrilled for you and want all the details about the man who saved my stepdaughter.”
“Twice,” she says.
“Twice what?” Maeve asks.
“He’s saved me two times now. We met when he saved Demi and me from a mugging.” Her lips stretch into a grimace. “I know this is the first you’re all hearing about it, but I didn’t want you to freak out. It happened when I’d only been home for a few days.”
“Jesus, Gwen. You shouldn’t keep stuff like that from us,” her dad says, raking his hand through his hair.
“I know, but as I said, you would’ve freaked out and locked me in my room,” she says.
“I wouldn’t have locked you in. I’d maybe just implore you to stay there,” he corrects.
She laughs. “Same difference, Dad. I know you’re all annoyed I didn’t share what happened with you but think of all the worry I spared you.”
“You need a bodyguard,” her mom states.
Her dad pulls his phone out. “Let me contact Larry, and he can take care of it.”
“Dad, do not call Larry. I’m serious. I don’t want to live like that. Besides, unless there’s a triplet I don’t know about, all the bad guys are gone.”
Her dad frowns. “Don’t joke about it, Gwennie.”
“Who’s this Larry guy you mentioned?”
“Head of security for the Charleston Coyotes hockey team,” her dad answers.
I glance at Gwen next to me and she looks uncomfortable. “Am I missing something?” I ask.
She presses her teeth into her bottom lip. “Umm, I may have neglected to tell you my dad owns the team.”
“The team?” She can’t possibly mean…
She nods. “The Coyotes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.”
I bark out a laugh.
“Why is that funny?” she asks.
I smile and shake my head. “Because only you would think that’s not a big deal.”
My fingers stroke through Gwen’s hair as we recline side by side on the couch. We’ve been sitting in silence for a while, just trying to process everything that transpired.
“That was really nice of your dad to take Dove to the vet for us,” I say.
“When can we bring her home?”
“They told me to call in the morning, and if she’s doing well, she’ll be able to come home.”
She angles her head on my shoulder, looking up at me. “Why do you sound upset? Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s great. I can’t wait to bring her home. It’s just that with everything going on, I feel like I didn’t do right by her.”
“You were a little busy stopping a madman from killing me. But since I’m her favorite dog walker, I think she’ll forgive you.”
“I’m sure you are her favorite. I know you’re my favorite everything.”
One side of her mouth arcs upward. “How convenient, because I happen to think you’re pretty fantastic.”
“What if I were to tell you I love you?”
“I’d say it back.”
I lace our fingers together and press a kiss to the back of her hand. I stare down into my favorite pair of eyes. “Gwen Ledger, AKA Little Miss Dangerous, I love you.”
She blinks away the sheen of tears. “Silas Landry, AKA my hero, I love you.”