Page 126 of Love Him Like Water

I moved toward it, kneeling down to find her squished under it, curled into herself, hands pressed to her ears, her eyes squeezed shut.

“Mouse,” I said, reaching out to touch her knee, covered in a grayish dirt from the filthy floor.

You’d have thought I’d burned her, the way she jerked away so hard she rammed her head on the underside of the desk, her leg flying out, nearly catching me in the crotch. But I was quick enough to grab it.

“Easy, baby, easy,” I said, voice low, soothing. “It’s me,” I added, watching as the panic cleared from her eyes.

The tears replaced it almost instantly as she scrambled onto all fours, then launched herself at me, arms squeezing so tight they shook.

“It’s okay. It’s over,” I murmured, running my hands up and down her back for a bit, then wrapping her up, and squeezing tight. “You’re okay,” I told her, pressing a kiss to the side of her face. “I’m here.”

She calmed down more quickly than I’d expected, clinging to me for an extra moment before pulling back.

“I knew you would come,” she said as I wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

“Of course I did.”

“Elian…”

“At the hospital,” I told her, hoping that Rico had a good update for me once we got out of here.

“He tried to save me.”

“Of course he did. Are you hurt?” I asked, framing her face, looking at the damage up close.

“I did most of this to myself, I guess,” she said, touching the bruise forming on her face. “This, though,” she said, reaching up toward the side of her head, making my hand follow. There, under her hair, was an egg. He’d struck her on the head. “It’s okay,” she murmured, making me realize I’d snarled at finding proof of that fucker putting his hands on her.

“Mouse, I gotta ask,” I said, taking a deep breath, watching her blue eyes for the truth. “Your pants are off…”

“No,” she said, quickly. Too quickly? “No,” she said again, voice stronger. “He tried to. Michael stopped him.” Well, at least that bastard had a modicum of decency. “He said they would take turns when you showed up,” she added, voice wobbling.

Suddenly, I wished I had made Michael hurt before I’d ended him.

“Renzo, I think there are more of them,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“The driver asked about a guy named Coal…”

“I have Coal. That’s how I knew who it was.”

“But Michael was texting almost nonstop while I was here. I was about to get his phone,” she added. “When there was the bang outside, he dropped it. I was going to grab it and go in here to call Nico.”

“Nico?” I asked, the name like a punch to the gut. Her brother. Not me.

“I don’t have your number memorized yet,” she said, easing the impact of her other statement.

“Got a lifetime to memorize it,” I said, pressing her back until her ass was on the ground, then bunching up the leg of her pants, and sliding it up, then doing the same with the other. “Come on, mouse. Let’s go home,” I said, standing, and reaching down to help her up, then yanking her pants up over her ass. “I’m gonna need one thing from you, though,” I said, looking out of the office door.

“Okay.”

“I’m gonna need you to keep your eyes closed until I say you can open them,” I said, lacing my fingers through hers.

“Oh, okay. Yeah,” she said with a nod, knowing why I was asking. And not looking the least bit horrified by it.

There was steel under all that soft and sweet.

With that, she squeezed her eyes shut, and let me lead her through the room.

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