Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Lottie
Bright vests, gloves, someone’s voice right in my ear.
“Can you hear me? Miss? Can you tell me your name?”
I blinked up, light flashing, but all I could see was Walker, crouched so low he was almost on the ground, one huge palm cradling the back of my neck.
“Lottie. Charlotte Mallory,” I managed. “M’fine. Please, don’t…”
Walker’s voice cut through everything. “She’s diabetic. Check her blood sugar.” There was a command in it. Like he was the one running the whole scene.
The paramedic was already on it. Little click of the lancet, blood on my fingertip. I kept my eyes on Walker, needing to. His free hand found mine and held tight.
“Ninety-two,” the medic called. “Blood sugar’s fine, no obvious injuries.” She looked at me. "Did you hurt yourself?”
My body was shaking, but it wasn’t from the impact. It was too much panic, too many people, too much noise. I tried to slow my breathing. “No. Just…embarrassed,” I croaked out. "I tripped."
She smiled, softening.
Walker’s hand clenched on my shoulder. I could feel every muscle in his arm, the tension winding tighter. “Is there any reason she needs to be seen in the ER?” His voice was like gravel.
The paramedic hesitated a beat. “We’d always recommend it after a shock like that, but if she’s got someone to monitor her, and she can walk, and her sugars are okay, she can see her own doctor for follow-up.”
Walker’s jaw flexed. “She does. I’ll take care of it.”
The medic looked at me, double-checking. “You sure you don’t want to get checked out?”
I shook my head. “Please. I just want to go home.”
Walker didn’t wait for a second opinion.
He helped me stand up, hands steady on my ribcage, slow and gentle.
“Go easy,” he warned. But then he scooped me up, didn’t even hesitate.
I heard someone mutter “Jesus” under their breath, but Walker ignored it.
He carried me all the way to his car like I weighed nothing.
I recognized a guy from the club as he opened the back door of Walker’s car and Walker simply slid in with me on his lap.
“Doc’s on his way to yours,” the other man said.
“Gideon’s going to close everything down. ”
I buried my face in Walker’s neck. Tried not to cry. Failed.
He didn’t say a word until the car doors were shut. “You’re okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe, princess.”
I nodded, but it was like my body didn’t know what to do with safety.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and I couldn’t stop crying.
“Easy now.” Walker’s voice was softer, and he pressed my face into his chest, blocking out the lights, the people, the mess.
“Just breathe for Daddy. That’s it. In…and out…
I’m right here, princess, I’ve got you.”
I tried but it was hard. I was scared if I let go, I wouldn’t find my way back.
But Walker didn’t let go. Not for a second. He just kept his arms around me, his palm cupping the back of my head, thumb smoothing slow lines down my neck. It was almost embarrassing, how fast I calmed down when he touched me like that.
The car rocked and someone else got in the front. I heard the low murmur of voices. Didn’t care.
Walker just kept talking. “You’re safe. Nobody’s ever going to get to you. Not now.” His hands were steady, holding me together even when my body went loose and shaky.
By the time we pulled into the driveway, my face was wet, but I wasn’t crying anymore.
Just…empty. Like someone had wrung all the fear out and I was just tired down to my bones.
Walker didn’t put me down until we were inside.
Didn’t even make me walk. He carried me through the front door, straight to the couch, and settled me in his lap with a blanket.
I heard the door. A man’s voice, low and urgent. Then Doc’s. He crouched in front of me, gentle hands checking for hurts, a little penlight in my eyes, but he didn’t ask annoying questions. Just worked.
Walker answered for me. “She tripped. Bounced off the curb. No head impact, no loss of consciousness. Blood sugar’s been steady.” He squeezed my hand. “I was on the phone with her when it happened.”
"I just tripped," I mumbled, mortified Doc was here.
Doc nodded like nothing surprised him. “Any pain, Lottie?”
“No.” My voice was pathetic, but Doc smiled.
“No dizziness?”
“No. I really just tripped. The car tipping the trash cans was just a shock.”
His eyes flicked to Walker. “Keep an eye on her for the next twenty-four hours.”
Walker’s grip tightened. “She’ll be watched every second.”
Doc patted my knee, packed up, and left me alone with Walker.
The man I recognized from the club came in with another snuggly blanket he draped over both of us, and a beaker and a straw. He hunkered down. “Hi Lottie, I’m Maddox. I’m sorry you got banged up, sweetheart.” Walker took the beaker from him.
“It’s water.” He also held out a pill bottle for Walker to see, and I blinked, trying to focus. The inside of my head felt fuzzy and small.
"Where were you heading?" Walker asked.
“Just the crosswalk,” I admitted. “Uncle Stephen was parked on the corner. He called saying he had a letter for me, and he’d tried to park outside the shop but he couldn’t. I just wanted to get it and come back.” My voice shook and I hated it.
Walker’s body went still behind me, like he was holding himself together through pure force of will. “You didn’t see the other car?”
I shook my head, miserable. “I saw his. I thought I was just…going to get the envelope. Then you called and I paused to answer and then it was just…noise. The car came out of nowhere.” The memories hit hard, each one making my stomach twist tighter.
“I didn’t even look until it was too late. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be stupid.”
I could tell he was angry. I'd done the one thing he'd asked me not to.
Walker growled under his breath. “Shhh.” His hand trembled once on my shoulder, then steadied. “You listened when I told you to stop. You weren’t stupid. You’re never stupid.”
I almost started crying again, but Maddox reached in with the beaker. “Here, Lottie. Doctor’s orders. You need fluids.” He winked at me, but it was softer than I’d imagined from a guy so big.
I sipped, grateful for something to do that wasn’t falling apart.
Walker tucked the blanket tighter around me, his breath warm against my hair. “I should’ve gotten there faster.”
The words punched a hole in my chest, but I shook my head. “You did. There was so much noise, and then you were just…there.” I clung to his sleeve, needing to feel him solid under my fingers. “I wasn’t scared when you were holding me.”
He let out a shaky breath, and I realized his knuckles were white where he gripped the blanket.
Maddox glanced at Walker. “Gideon’s talking to the cops. You want to see her uncle?”
Walker’s voice went cold. “Not yet. If he’s smart, he’ll stay away.
” It made me shiver, but not in a bad way.
I didn't remember seeing him after it had happened, but that didn’t surprise me.
Walker smoothed my hair back repeatedly like he’d done the other night, and I relaxed almost immediately and shut my eyes.
Walker kissed the top of my head, his touch so gentle it made my throat ache. “You okay to sit up a little?”
“M’not dizzy,” I promised. “Just tired.”
He nodded, his jaw locked tight. “We’ll take it easy. No moving around unless I say, understand?” He arranged me on the cushions so I could stretch out, but he didn’t stop touching me.
I opened my eyes. “Stay?”
“I’m not going anywhere. Now be a good girl and close those eyes.”
That made me smile a little. “Yes, Daddy.”
Walker
I watched as Lottie relaxed and fell asleep.
Maddox got up and put some instrumental music on the TV, low enough to soothe but loud enough so if we spoke quietly, it wouldn’t wake her.
I put my head back and tried to slow my heart.
“If she hadn’t stopped to listen when I called, the car would have struck her.
” I’d cried once in the last fifteen years, not when Gran had died, but when I’d begged her to leave my grandfather when I signed up, and she wouldn’t.
I was close to making it a second time. I heard the door open and a moment later Gideon strode in.
“The cops have got the car.”
Maddox grinned in satisfaction and pumped the air. “Yes.”
“Guy’s name is Rick Harman. Rented the car under a fake ID, and the plates were replaced with fake ones. Cops got him when he nearly wiped out two traffic cams driving away. T-boned a mailbox and they got him four blocks from the bakery.”
Maddox grunted. “Anything on motive?”
Gideon shook his head. “Not yet. Said he was swerving to avoid a dog, but they have him running a red. He’s not talking now. Just lawyered up. They’re running every database, but so far nothing except the fake license. Out of Tampa originally.”
I sat back, staring at the wall, letting it settle in. Could have been worse. Way worse. Lottie could have been—
No. Not thinking it.
Maddox slid a glass of water closer to me, his eyes never leaving Lottie’s face. “She’s gonna be okay.”
I nodded.
Gideon’s mouth twisted. “You wanna talk to the uncle?”
I looked at Lottie, curled up in the blanket, tiny and breakable, and I wanted to block the world out. “Tomorrow. After she’s rested.”
He nodded. “Works for me. Cops don’t know why Lottie was there, and the uncle had already gone when we arrived.
The cops want a statement from her, but they have two other people who saw the whole thing so it’s not urgent.
” He hesitated. “Eric ran Lottie’s calls, and she had three from her uncle this morning.
One of them was why you couldn’t get through originally.
” He hesitated again. “She also had one yesterday while she was at the café—same number. He also called last week just after she moved out of the apartment too, but it could have been when the screen was cracked before you replaced the phone.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
Gideon scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, all of you had front row seats while I screwed up with Abby so badly that rat bastard landlord abducted her.” His throat worked.
“It was because she didn’t trust me. Yes, our relationship happened quickly, but in the end I didn’t share.
I treated our relationship like a campaign. ”
“But—
Maddox sighed. “You didn’t know it was her birthday tomorrow, Walker.”
And fuck, he was right. If she had faith in the two of us, trusted me, she would have told me. I hadn’t even told her what I did for a living. Hell, she hadn’t even met all the guys or Clare and Emily.
Gideon’s gaze dropped to Lottie and he smiled. “I’m knocking off early and going home to hold Abby for a while. I’ll call the second Eric gets in touch.”
Maddox was quiet, too. He stretched out on the armchair, phone in his hand, scrolling for updates until he finally stood, stretched, and headed for the door. “I’ll check in tomorrow. Take care of her, Walker. Let me know if you need anything.”
That was the easiest order I could ever follow.
I watched her sleep even as guilt gnawed at my insides. Another step, another second, and the car would have hit her.
I watched her. Every so often, she’d make a little sound, a twitch, like the shock was still working itself out. I tucked the blanket tighter around her. Checked her blood sugar, gentle, barely waking her, and she didn’t even flinch.
I woke her for an easy meal of eggs, but she was still half-asleep so I carried her upstairs.
She barely woke, just blinked at me, then wrapped her arms around my neck and let me settle her on the bed.
I didn’t try to strip her down, just peeled off her pants and left her in the hoodie, and socks. I didn’t want to let go.
She squirmed closer when I got under the covers, her head tucked under my chin, Mr. Snuggles wedged between us. I held her. Listened to her breathe.
After a long, long time the knots in my chest loosened. Just a little. I texted the team. “I need a birthday cake and surprises for tomorrow.”
“On it,” Gideon texted back.
I thought about what he’d admitted. I knew if I asked Lottie she wouldn’t know when my birthday was because I hadn’t told her. I hadn’t shared anything. No wonder she worried our relationship might be temporary. The one time she’d asked I’d shut her down.
But that stopped now. Starting tomorrow, no, starting right now.