Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
“Stop!” Tori yells when Damien tries to stand up.
I look at her. She’s got the pistol in her hand, aiming it at Damien, tears streaming down her cheeks. Despite the obvious stress, she looks strong, ready to pull the trigger if it comes to that.
“You heard the lady,” I grunt, grabbing the front of his shirt and shaking him.
Damien sneers, not seeming to care that his arm is twisted at an unnatural angle.
“Don’t fucking look at her,” I growl. “Who do you think you are, you sick bastard? Did you seriously think I was going to let you hurt her? I’ll never let anybody hurt her, understand me? Never.”
Tori gasps, fear flickering into her beautiful eyes for a moment. It’s like the fear is aimed at me, not Damien. She’s more afraid of my declaration than what Damien tried to do.
“Tori, call the cops,” I say. “And give me that.”
I offer a hand for the gun. As Tori motions to give it to me, the rat chooses his moment. He throws his broken hand at my face, causing me to duck, giving him just enough space to twist out of his shirt and dart down the street.
When I step forward as if to chase him, Tori lets out a sob. It’s enough to make me stop. I don’t want to abandon her. What if the other two return? What if I lose sight of Damien, and he doubles back?
I toss his shirt onto the ground, then take the gun from Tori’s hand. Pulling her into my arms feels natural. But I sense her holding back. It’s as if she doesn’t want me to think this experience has earned me too much affection in her eyes.
She wants me to know she’s still not in this for true love.
“Thank you,” she whispers, pushing against me, distancing herself.
“I wasn’t going to let him hurt you. I’d never let that happen.”
Her eyes glisten, then she turns away as if she can’t look at me when I make declarations like this.
“I need to call the cops,” she says, taking a step back.
I nod. “We’ll both need to give statements. I need to make a call, too.” I tuck the pistol into my waistband and walk to the other side of the alley, taking out my cell.
My nanny, Catelina, answers quickly. “Dr. Whitmore,” she says.
“Hey, Cat,” I reply. “I’m sorry to do this…”
“Would you like me to stay for the night?” she says.
I almost tell her no. A few hours will be fine, but can I really leave Tori now? If I did and those low lives returned, I’d never forgive myself. “Yes, if you don’t mind?”
“No, that’s okay with me, Dr. Whitmore.”
“Can I talk to him?” I ask, familiar guilt twisting in me.
“Who… Elliot, or LEGO-las?”
Despite the mayhem, I manage a slight grin. “Come again?”
“It’s his new name, apparently. He’s not Elliot anymore. He’s LEGO-las, like Lord of the Rings mixed with LEGOs.”
“Classic Elliot. Sorry. LEGO-las.”
“He’s playing a game with his friends. But I can get him.”
I think about Elliot sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, headset on, laughing and joking with his buddies as they shoot avatars on the screen. “No, let him have his fun. Just tell him I love him, and we’ll do something together soon.”
“Okay. Goodbye. Have a good night, sir.”
“And you. Thanks again.”
“The cops are on their way,” Tori says once I’ve hung up.
“Good.”
She chews on her lip and brushes a hand through her hair. She’s clearly shaken up, but she’s trying to be strong. When I open my arms to wrap them around her, she puts her hand on my chest. Her heat blazes against the skin under my shirt.
“We need to calm down,” she says.
“I am calm.”
“You’re burning up. And your heart is beating like crazy. You went… berserk for me.”
“I couldn’t let him hurt you,” I snap. “That was simply not on the table.”
She turns away again, but I can’t stop myself. She’s trying to be numb, closed-off, and maybe I was too in the beginning. But I can’t be a grump when I’m around her. She unlocks things in me no other woman has or could.
Caressing her shoulders, I pull her in for a kiss. She gasps and pushes against me. For a tantalizing moment, she lets her lust and affection burn, sinking into the kiss.
Then she pulls away.
“Alex,” she whispers. “We’ve just had a life-or-death experience. We’re not thinking straight.”
“I haven’t been thinking straight since I first laid eyes on you.”
“Comments like that aren’t making this any easier.”
She half says this, half moans, and it feels like she’s caught between being stern and letting her desire flare.
I’m about to kiss her again when the sound of sirens cuts through the moment.
CHAPTER 13
TORI
“Icertainly do not expect you to stay,” Rowan says when the police have come and gone. They took my statement, confiscated the gun and the shirt as evidence, and left with promises to investigate. “Are the police going to give you an escort, at least? Somebody to make sure that jerk doesn’t return?”