Page 18 of Guarded from Sabotage

He leans back a little, just enough to meet my eyes. “Is that okay, Sarah? If you want to go back to your place instead, or the hospital?—”

Right now, I want to do whatever Dante suggests. I want to abdicate decision making and let him take care of things, at least for a little while, until I don’t feel as raw and aching. So I suck in a shuddering breath and say, “I want to go back to Blade and Arrow. With you.”

CHAPTER SIX

DANTE

The anger keeps hitting me in waves.

Every time I look at Sarah’s tear-streaked face or her haphazardly bandaged wounds, the anger crashes into me again. When I think about those asshole cops leaving Sarah sitting on that chair, not even offering to help with her obviously painful injuries, treating her like she was guilty and not a scared and hurting victim…

Talking to their boss doesn’t feel close to enough. I will, of course—that’ll be one of my first calls once I get Sarah settled—but what I really want is to punch both of them in the face.

And I’m not a violent guy, despite the profession I chose. Any actions we took on our missions were necessary to get the job done. We never indiscriminately hurt people just because we could. There was always a purpose. To protect innocents. To protect our country. To protect our teammates.

If anything, I want to help people. That’s why I almost went to med school. It’s why I trained to be the team medic. But those two cops I wouldn’t feel the least bit guilty about hitting.

Not that I will, of course. My priority is taking care of Sarah, and being thrown in jail for assault definitely isn’t the way todo it. So I’m shoving down my anger and focusing on trying to soothe the shaken and hurting woman sitting in the passenger seat beside me.

She’s been quiet, answering my questions in a small, strained voice, but not volunteering anything on her own. Is she in much pain?No. Does she want to see a doctor?No.Does she want me to stop and get her something to eat or drink?No, thank you. Does she want to call her parents? Hanna?No, she doesn’t want to worry them.

I’m not sure I agree with the last answer, but I’m not going to push. It’s not my place, really, but I just hate the idea of Sarah trying to struggle through this latest trauma on her own.

Although she’s not really on her own, is she? And I won’t leave her alone unless she asks me to. Whatever she needs—support, a shoulder to cry on, comfort food, just someone to talk to—I’ll give it to her.

This protectiveness I’m feeling towards Sarah is different from anything I’ve felt before. Even though logic tells meshe’s a client, keep things professional, my heart doesn’t seem to agree.

Every time I sneak a glance in her direction, my chest squeezes. She’s huddled in the seat, hugging herself, still trembling. Her hair falls in loose tendrils around her downcast face; pain and anxiety etched into her delicate features.

My heart wants me to stop the car, pull Sarah into my arms, and hold her like I did back at the office building. I want to rub her back and murmur soft reassurances until she stops shaking and the sad look in her eyes disappears.

I want to see Sarah smile again.

Shit. I remember Cole telling me about meeting his now-wife, Maya. He wanted to keep things professional, didn’t want to risk compromising her safety by getting distracted by emotion.

He found a way to make it work, but he’d been running Blade and Arrow for years by then,andhe founded the company. My team is new, not even a year old, and I’ve been entrusted with leading it. I can’t afford to make mistakes.

Still. I can comfort Sarah without crossing the line. And a quick hug doesn’t have to mean anything more than an offer of friendship and compassion.

As I make a right turn onto the long road that leads to the Blade and Arrow property, I pitch my voice low as I say, “We’re almost there. Just another mile or so.”

Sarah jolts at the sudden sound of my voice, but before I can apologize for startling her, she takes a deep breath and turns to me. “Thanks. I should have realized, since I was here before. But I was just…”

“Thinking?”

“Yeah.” Her lips twist in a tiny, wry smile. “Although it’s probably better that I don’t. At least not now.”

“Well, you don’t have to. Once we get there, I’ll show off my amazing medical skills”—I flash her a quick grin—“and I can make you something to eat, and even go on a quick tour of HQ if you want.”

“I don’t need to talk to your team about what happened?”

As we reach the perimeter gate, I lower the car window and enter the complicated code to open it, then answer, “I don’t think it’s necessary. I think we have all the information we need for now. There might be some details that we need to ask about, but that can wait.”

“Ok.” Her shoulders relax a little. “That sounds good.”

“Does that sound alright? If I clean and re-bandage your wounds? Or would you prefer to have Rhiannon do it? She was the medic for her team, so if you’d feel more comfortable having a woman?—”

“No.” Her response is immediate. “I want you to do it.” There’s a pause, and then, “If you don’t mind, that is.”

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