Page 7 of Challenging Her Protector

“You okay? That was a bold statement you just followed through with.” Iron dipped his chin toward his phone still in her hands.

She nodded, wishing she felt something for all the followers she just deleted. There was a time she kidded herself into believing that the people on her social media pages cared about her, something she always seemed to be searching for, but that was silly. They followed her because of the image she projected and nothing more.

“Vivi, you were asking about the maid, weren’t you?” Hannah’s question pulled her from her hollow thoughts. “The one that brought down my dress?”

“Yes.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “She’s been my personal attendant for years. My closest…no, my only friend. She wrote that note for me to give you. Risked everything to help me. Scott said she’d been deported.”

“I doubt they could’ve acted that fast,” Iron murmured.

“I’ll make some calls.” Silver stretched back in the chair and took his phone out of his pocket. “Does she have a social media profile I can get a picture from?”

“No, none. I don’t even think she has a phone. I have a picture I can send to you though, as soon as we get back to the car. I left my purse with my phone there.”

Silver nodded. “That would be helpful.”

She let out a shaky breath. “Thalia’s twenty-two, two years younger than me.” Thalia was wise to the world in ways she wasn’t, though. “She’s worked for the family for six years, which meant they hired Thalia when she was only sixteen.”

A few curses were muttered around the room.

“Did you ask her about it?” Hannah tried to shift in bed, and Branch was instantly at her side, repositioning the pillow behind her head. The moment was filled with so much tenderness, a pang of loneliness struck her.

“I love him for you,” she said to her sister, not caring that the room was full. Branch represented all the love and security Hannah deserved and never had growing up. Her sister’s eyes went glassy, and Vivienne continued. “I questioned Father once about why Thalia didn’t go to school with me. He told me to drop it.” She glanced away and swallowed the lump in her throat. “But I pushed too hard.”

“Vivi, what are you saying?” Hannah’s words were whisper soft, but her eyes were narrowed. The men around her stiffened. The air shifted and suddenly became charged.

“It was the only time he put hands on me.” Her mother never allowed her to cancel her modeling engagements, even if she had a one-hundred-three-degree fever and was coughing up a lung, her parents forced her to walk the runway, attend the photo shoot, or film for her subscribers. This had been different. The beating was visible on her skin. The handprints on her arms and around her neck, purple. Her mother was furious Vivienne had to stay home and out of the public eye for two weeks while the bruises faded, and even then, makeup was needed to cover them. Instead of blaming her husband though, she directed her anger at her for baiting him. Thalia made Vivienne swear she’d never mention her age or how she came to be in Texas ever again. Said that her life depended on it. She’d questioned her about that statement many times in the years following, but Thalia refused to tell her anything else.

She hated the silence that followed her statement. Hated that when she snuck a glance at Iron his muscles were bunched so tight he looked like he might snap. His jaw ticked. “We need to get her out of here.” His voice was raw and angry. She was twenty-four years old. An adult and every person in this room was probably wondering why she just didn’t get up and leave. She clenched her teeth and breathed through her nose, trying to hold back the tears. She asked herself the exact same thing time and time again. It was hard to accept the reason, but it was there staring her in the face every time she looked in the mirror. She was weak. Iron moved to the door, pushed the chair out of the way, and looked out.

“Hallway’s clear.” He shut the door again and moved to her side. “Collin’s welcome to come with us,” Iron was saying to Branch, but she was barely listening. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about what was going on around her, but her feet were throbbing, and she was concentrating her efforts on not breaking down until she was alone.

“Thanks, man. We talked about it. He wants to stay with us.” Branch ran his hand over Hannah’s tousled hair.

Iron nodded and they said their goodbyes. As they were walking out the door, Hannah called to her.

“Vivi, I’m so proud of you. This is the start of the life you choose. You can do anything you want. Be whoever you want. We’ll be right here cheering you on.” It was like her sister had read her self-depreciating thoughts. For some reason, standing tall, not shattering in front of all of them was ten times harder when she was offered kind words over negativity. She’d taken the first step, so why did she now feel more afraid than ever?

Chapter Four

Iron muttered acurse under his breath. They were exiting the hospital, and up until now he’d been walking with Vee tucked into his side. He’d made note of her body language when they left Hannah’s hospital room and hesitated to wrap his arm around her. Now he was glad he hadn’t because when she lifted her dress to walk down a step, he noticed the blood staining the satin material of her crisp white heels. Why the hell didn’t he think to ask about her feet after she’d run through the woods barefoot? Her long dress had done a good job of masking her injuries. Maybe shock had hidden her pain, or she was used to physical discomfort, but her ginger movements spoke of a different story now.

“Vivienne, stop.” Her pain-filled expression gutted him. Fuck, he was an idiot, but because he couldn’t go back three hours and tend to her feet like he should have from the beginning, he slipped one arm around her waist. “Can tell you’re hurting. I’m going to pick you up.”

“You don’t—”

His other arm went around the back of her legs, halting her protest and he scooped her up. She was tiny, but still, being able to hold her and walk on his prosthetic made him feel like the warrior he’d once been.

With her in his arms, her shoes were now completely visible.

“Shit,” Silver said, mirroring his thoughts exactly. “I’ll run ahead and bring the car around front.”

Iron nodded. They needed to get her out of here and fast so he could look at her wounds. Damn, he wished she’d said something earlier. It struck him that this instant summed up what he’d learned of her life so far. She’d endured emotional and physical abuse and who knew what other unspoken hardships, but she didn’t fight back. He didn’t think her weak, but she had an innocence to her. Her submissive and insecure nature fired up all of his protective instincts and made him want to protect her from those who would use her gentle heart against her.

Part of him wanted to take her back up to Hannah’s room and demand she be seen by a nurse. The other part was all too aware that her parents had great pull in the state and were probably doing their damnedest to get back into Hannah’s hospital wing. Both he and Silver had medical training from the Teams and could treat her wounds once they found a place to crash for the night. By the time he’d made it to the front of the hospital with Vee, Silver was out front waiting. The man was fast and competent. Someone he would’ve been pleased to have on his SEAL team when he was active duty. Silver spotted them, exited the driver’s seat and jogged around the car. He opened the door and helped him get her settled in the back seat.

“Thank you for everything today.” Even hurting, she’d been gracious to all of them.

Silver smiled. “Our pleasure, darlin’. Whatever you need.”

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