Page 60 of Fierce Love
“Which you’re going to do,” I say, swinging my attention back to Hollyn.
“I just need a minute,” she says. “I just need a minute to figure out what makes the most sense.”
“They assaulted you, and at least one of them uttered threats,” I say. “What’s there to think about?”
“You don’t know her,” Hollyn says, glancing at Kinsley, who’s within earshot with another officer. “I have to figure out what won’t make this worse. It’s not just me I have to worry about.”
“If you don’t want to press charges and you’re concerned about the threats,” the officer says, snapping his notebook shut, “you should consider whether there’s another place for you to stay. You should definitely get the locks changed.”
“She has a key?” I ask in disbelief.
“My aunt must have given her one at some point,” Hollyn says, her tone weary. “I think they’ve been in the apartment before when I wasn’t there.”
My blood pressure rises along with my level of concern. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nate,” she says, and when she meets my gaze, I see exactly what this morning has taken out of her.
“I’m not helping,” I say, running a frustrated hand through my hair.
I know how I can help, but it makes me nervous to even suggest it. Offering her another place to live will show all my cards—not that I have been holding many back, but there’ll be no doubt how obsessively I’ve thought of her over the years.
“Whatever you decide to do,” I say, trying to even out my tone, “you’ll need protection. I know a place you can stay. Gated, with security.” Of course, right now it’s only electronic surveillance and security. I’ll need to make some phone calls to get human security too—both the kind Hollyn will see and the kind that’ll subtly trail Hollyn and Kinsley around Bellerive until I’ve managed to neutralize Mickie and Niall.
“We’re leaving the apartment?” Kinsley asks. The female officer is beside her as Kin steps into the little circle we’ve all formed.
“You can’t stay at the apartment after this,” I say, and my focus latches on to the bruise blooming on Hollyn’s face. I want to eviscerate Mickie Davis.
“We can change the locks,” Hollyn says, rubbing her forehead.
“I know of a house,” I say. “It’s empty. Mickie and Niall won’t know where you’re staying.”
“Well, they might,” Hollyn says, giving Kinsley a pointed glance. “Mickie follows your social media. Didn’t we talk about adding people you don’t know?”
“I didn’t know I added her,” Kinsley says, her cheeks flushing with color. “I don’t even know who she’s pretending to be.”
“Cal’s brother, Weston, is in IT. I can have him figure out which of your followers is Mickie in disguise,” I say. “And his other brother, Owen, just left Bellerive’s military to start his own high-profile security company. He can consult on what we need to make the house as safe as possible.”
“I’ve never lived in a house before,” Kinsley says.
The male officer rips a page out of his notebook and passes it to me. “Officer Foster says to call this judge, and you’ll be able to get your restraining order.”
Hollyn has her face in her hands, and I run my palm along her back in slow circles. The motion used to soothe her when we were kids and something her parents or her aunt had done caused her pain. For all the neglect I experienced as a child, my parents never deliberately hurt me. Hollyn can’t say the same.
“I just don’t know what to do,” she whispers. “This is why I didn’t want to stay.” She drags her hands down her face and looks at Kinsley. “I never wanted you to see this.”
“I’ll delete her,” Kin says. “I’ll be more careful about who I add. I promise. And I think…” She glances at the police and then at me. “I think you should press charges. She shouldn’t be allowed to do this.”
Hollyn and I both know exactly how much Mickie got away with before anyone put a stop to it when she was a kid, but Kinsley must not.
“You’re not a kid anymore,” I say to Hollyn, careful to keep my tone soft. “And you’re not facing this alone. You’re not alone, Hols. I’m behind you. I’m beside you. I’m wherever you want me to be. I won’t allow anything bad to happen to either one of you.” I don’t tack onno matter what I have to do, but I hope she knows there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her and Kinsley.
We lock gazes for a beat, and I can almost see her assessing how much I mean that statement, as though she’s weighing whether she really can put that kind of trust in me again. But just like her, I’m not a kid anymore either. There are things I can do now that would have felt impossible at seventeen. And while I’m not normally one to straddle the line between legal and illegal, I’ll happily not just walk that tightrope but fall right off in the wrong direction if it means Hollyn and Kinsley are safe.
“You really know somewhere we can stay?” Hollyn asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a small smile. “I think you’ll love it there.”
ChapterThirty
