Page 79 of Daddy's Heart

“Work. My damn phone died and the charger—fuck, just tell me what’s going on.” He dragged his hand through his hair.

“She’s sleeping. Finally. That girl can really put up a fight when she wants to,” George said, but no humor touched his words.

“If I have to ask—”

“Randall showed up at your apartment with Anderson.”

Ryder blinked. “I thought Anderson was her lawyer.”

“He was.” George grimaced. “He’s an old friend…was an old friend. He’s working with Randall, trying to get his conviction overturned. They came to force her to retract her statement—the one that put him away in the first place.”

Ryder’s insides squeezed together.

“From what she told us, she refused at first.”

“They hurt her to make her sign?”

“No.” Kendrick’s word dropped between them hard. “Randall hurt her after she signed. Punishment for going against him in the first place.”

Ryder’s jaw snapped shut. “She was supposed to be safe at my place.”

“If it wasn’t for Anderson, she would have been. Anderson brought Randall,” George explained. “This isn’t your fault.”

“My phone died a little after she texted me. I should have come home on time.”

“That wouldn’t have mattered,” Kendrick said. “My guys showed up to install those cameras. They found her.”

“And Anderson and Randall? Where the fuck are they?”

George lifted a shoulder. “Probably back in Indiana by now.”

Rage built inside him, boiling at the surface.

“How hurt is she?” He gripped the curtain with his hand.

“Plenty of bruised ribs, but only one broken. She’s got a large bruise on her jaw, but nothing else is broken,” George said. “The doctor gave her some pain meds that mad her sleepy. They’re waiting for the last of her bloodwork results, then they’ll let her go home.”

Ryder listened, but all he could imagine was her laying hurt on the floor in the hallway. She’d been alone. Randall could have killed her.

He yanked back the curtain and marched to her side. Subtle beeps from the machines played in the background. He picked up her hand and looked over her sleeping form. Her swollen jaw twisted his stomach, but it was nothing compared to the pain shooting through him when he lifted her gown to see the marks on her stomach and chest. The asshole had kicked her. Repeatedly.

“Oh, baby.” He leaned over the railing of the bed and kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“Ryder?” Her hushed voice drifted over the beeps.

He dragged his gaze up to her face, meeting her sleepy eyes.

“Samantha,” he breathed out her name, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Are you hurting?” He lifted up a bit to keep from touching anything that would give her more pain.

“No, not really. The drugs they gave me feel good.” She smiled weakly.

He brushed the hair from her forehead. “Don’t move too much,” he said when she started to wiggle.

“I’m itchy,” she complained.

“It’s probably the gown.”

“Ryder…I signed the paper. I lied…” Tears welled in her eyes and fell easily down her cheeks.

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