Page 35 of Queen of Blades

Now that they were alone again, Paul turned his focus to Harper and assessed her condition.

Her cheek was red and raw. Tiny cuts dotted it from where she’d slid. Dirt lingered on her face. Her leggings were torn at the knees, and she had some scrapes there as well. She needed a shower.

Approaching her, he held up the disinfectant and a box of bandages. “Let me take care of you.”

With her mouth slightly ajar, she shook her head. Lifting her chin, she turned away from him. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Getting to one knee, he nodded. “Honestly, I don’t either.”

“Is there a contract out on me?”

“Yes,” he said as he blocked the opening of the disinfectant bottle with a cotton ball and turned it upside down.

“And now there’s one on you too?” she asked.

Pausing, with the cotton ball hovering over her knee, he let that knowledge settle in before he sighed. “Yes.”

He’d figure that part out. Tenderly, he patted the scrape on her knee.

Reflexively, she jerked back and hissed but didn’t make to kick him. Thankfully, she just let him tend to her wounds. His balls were safe for now.

“What’s the plan?” she asked.

Everyone wanted him to have this all figured out already, but it’d been too much coming at him at once. He hadn’t had a chance to sit and think it through. “Maybe if you didn’t try to escape, I would have time to come up with something.”

“You mean to tell me that if your potential murderer held you captive, you wouldn’t fight back?”

“I’m not—” He stopped himself. He couldn’t say that, and he didn’t want to lie to her.

This conversation was impossible right now. He was too rattled by how everything went down. He needed a moment to think.

After he stuck a bandage on her knee, he took care of the other one and moved up to attend to her face.

She was a mess, and he hated seeing her like this. Harper had always presented herself well. He should offer her an opportunity to clean up. He wanted to, but now that Eddie was gone, he couldn’t exactly leave her alone.

That was, unless he could figure out a way to make sure Harper didn’t run from him. He could tie her to the bed. She might actually like that.

Decisions, decisions.

As Paul blotted at her cheek, cleaning the scrapes, their eyes caught. Her dark-brown irises had flecks of amber, and a golden ring circled her pupils. They were truly captivating, and he may have stared into them for far too long doing nothing. The softness and vulnerability reflecting at him tugged at his chest.

This woman had far too much of a hold on him.

Turning away, he stood. He had to put distance between them. Being so close to her made him feel things he wasn’t ready to consider.

“We need to eat,” he announced and busied himself collecting the first aid items. “Eddie brought some groceries. I can make us some sandwiches.”

“Okay.” Her voice was soft, docile, and unlike her.

From over his shoulder, he glared at her with suspicion. “Don’t run.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t exactly open the door with my feet.”

He wouldn’t put it past her to try to jump through a window at this point. “Put it this way. I am no threat to you right now.”

“Justright now?”

“For the next hour.”

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