Page 24 of Saved By Two

“Mason’s sister, Jessica.”

Her eyebrows pull up. “Oh, I didn’t know you were close.”

Fuck it. I get up and close my office door before returning to my desk.

“We’re not, just between us. She turned up on our doorstep pretty banged up.” And that's putting it lightly.

Wendy straightens in her seat. “Shit, what? Was she in some kind of an accident?”

I shake my head. “Boyfriend—ex-boyfriend.” Soon to be hung, drawn, and quartered.

“What the fuck?” She covers her mouth with her hand. “Is she okay?”

Her bloody and bruised image comes back in vivid detail, and I have to force down my anger.

“No, not really.”

“Fuck, what did the police say?”

I shake my head, scrubbing my palm over my jaw. “She didn’t want them involved. She’s terrified. It doesn’t help that Mason is unobtainable, either; it’s why she came to us. She had nowhere else to go.”

Wendy’s eyes go wide. “Shit, do you think it’s a coincidence?” Any other time I’d laugh; Wendy loves a conspiracy theory.

I glance out the window overlooking The River Thames—not a cloud in sight, the weather so calm and still. It’s a complete contradiction to the storm brewing inside me, waiting to erupt.

“No, but Noah is on the case.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Well, if you need anything, you know where I am.”

As much as I appreciate her offer, I don’t want her involved in any way, shape, or form. It’s clear this prick Curtis is unhinged, and if he’s capable of hurting someone as amazing as Jessica, who knows what else he is capable of?

ChapterTwelve

NOAH

I left Jessica to rest whilst I checked my emails and touched base with my team, though the urge to keep checking on her was driving me hard. But the last thing I want to be is overbearing. I don’t want to suffocate her. She’s already been through enough.

The sound of the front door has me out of my seat in a flash, and it's only when I make it to the hallway, I see Maggie hanging up her coat on the rack.

She turns, not seeing me standing there, and I startle her. She stifles her scream, covering her mouth with her hand, dropping the carrier bag, the sound of glass breaking, echoing.

“Shit, sorry, Maggie.” I rush forward. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Bending down, I grab the carrier bag off the floor, touching her forearm. “Are you okay?”

“Better than those pickles from the sound of it.”

I cringe. “Sorry.” She waves me off, taking the bag from me and rushing toward the kitchen, but comes to a halt as I almost walk straight into her.

“What on Earth?”

I see Jessica standing there, her face ashen, her arms wrapped around her waist, and her body visibly trembling.

She opens her mouth to speak, but only a strangled sound escapes her. I move around Maggie and hold up my palms facing Jessica as I approach, blocking her view from Maggie.

“Jessica?”

Her bottom lip wobbles, silent tears falling from her one good eye and before I can think better of it, I gently pull her into my chest, her body stiff, shaking beneath me.

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