Page 31 of Falling for the Beast

She shuddered and pressed up against Thaddeus’s back. Gavin was not going to let this go. Thaddeus was in danger, and it was because of her.

Thaddeus sped down the highway, his head throbbing, his broken ribs stabbing pain through his chest. He had to move Aribelle out of her apartment. She wasn’t safe there. He needed to keep her away from those men. Not only did they want to beat him within an inch of his life, their plans for Aribelle were probably worse.

He had lost Gavin back at the last turn, he was sure of it. For now, they were safe to go back to his house. But he wasn’t sure if he could convince Aribelle to stay away from her apartment.

He slowed to take another turn and then sped up again. How could he have been so careless? In all the years he’d been doing this, he’d never let his guard down like this before. He’d never let anyone track him. He should have heard the car following them.

He’d allowed himself to become distracted. And Aribelle had gotten hurt.

Stupid. He was going to have to get her away from those men and then cut her out of his life.

Aribelle sucked in a breath as Thaddeus slipped her boot off her foot. Pain shot up her ankle, and Thaddeus frowned. “Why won’t you let me heal you?”

“Because then you’ll have a broken ankle.” He was in enough pain already, she could tell. She leaned back on his couch, allowing him to look at her swollen foot.

“I heal faster than you.”

“But you don’t deserve to take on any more.”

He glared at her but did as she wished. “I’ll get some ice.”

“Thank you.”

He came back with a towel wrapped around a bag of frozen peas. She grinned at him. “Maybe after the swelling goes down, we can have a snack.”

“You making fun of me?” He tried to keep a glare on his face but failed.

She laughed. “Kind of.”

“Well stop it. I’m supposed to be angry with you.”

“Please don’t be.” She motioned for him to sit beside her. “I’m not trying to be difficult.”

He sighed and joined her on the couch. “All right.”

They sat silent for a moment before he spoke again. “You can’t go back to your apartment. You know that, right?”

She stared at him. “What if I get a restraining order?”

He raised an eyebrow. “A piece of paper? You think that’s going to stop him?”

“If he comes near me, I’ll have him arrested.”

“And what if he comes near me?” Thaddeus asked, his voice quiet.

She blinked. He was right. They couldn’t get him involved with the police. And Gavin would probably kill him if they showed up at the apartment. She rubbed her forehead. “Okay. We can’t go back there.”

He gently took her hand. “You’ll be safe here until we can figure out something.”

She looked into his eyes. Her heart raced, but not from the fear of Gavin. The warmth from his hand sent electric zaps through her. It warmed her whole body. She wanted to reach up and touch his face but knew he would back away from her if she did. “I know.”

She suddenly felt sleepy.

“You rest. I’ll go make us some lunch.” He let go of her hand and stood. She watched as he left the room. Was he limping? She looked down at her foot, no longer swollen. She wiggled it. No more pain.

“Hey!” She jumped up and followed him into the kitchen. “What did you do?”

He turned, a guilty look on his face.

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