Page 12 of Deny Me
“Becky’s fine now,” King assured her. “She’s here, actually.”
She’s here.The words filled Charlotte with so much relief that she collapsed against the couch. “Thank God.” She waited for the room to right itself. “Where?”
“She’s in the kitchen,” Wes said. “Ruth is getting her something to eat.”
“Our team lead is on the way as well,” King added. “We think it’s important that he hear her story as well as yours.”
“What right do you have to—”
Dad held up a hand, forestalling her mom’s protest.
“Ben, you can’t possibly be considering this.”
A wealth of emotion that had nothing to do with Charlotte’s accident filled the words. And based on the roller coaster the few minutes in the same room with King had generated, Charlotte agreed. She didn’t need this right now.
But who else could help? Not just her, but Becky.
Her father seemed to feel the same way. “It’s bad then?” he asked. Wes, not King.
“It is.”
Wes’s response sent a chill through her overheated body. How bad could it be? They knew who had attacked her. Pick him up and prosecute, right? What else was there to do?
The chime of the doorbell filled the room, startling her, bringing the ache of every bruise on her body to life once more. Her brain begged to shut down, sleep, forget about all of this. She wanted escape so badly she could barely stand to sit here and not scream, but she wouldn’t give in. Becky was here; she was in trouble.
Becky needed her, and that was all that mattered.
King strode toward the front hall without a word.
“I’ll get Becky,” Wes said, moving to follow his cousin out.
“I’ll do it.” Mom laid a hand on Charlotte’s arm. “I’ll get you something to eat while I’m there. I’m sure you could use that pain medicine.”
“That or an anvil,” Charlotte said, trying for a smile.
The stricken look that crossed her mother’s face stopped Charlotte’s breath. The look of a mother who’d almost lost her child. Charlotte opened her mouth to apologize, but her mom shook her head, gave Charlotte’s arm a pat. “I’ll be right back.”
Right. With Becky. And food.
Footsteps and male voices filtered in from the foyer. King. Who had news that was even worse than Becky’s father trying to kill her. Charlotte closed her eyes and prayed she’d make it through whatever came next without completely breaking down.
Chapter Six
King’s heart thumped in his throat as he entered the foyer. Him, Mr. Ice Man himself. Was it seeing Charlotte again that threatened the walls he’d surrounded himself with for so long, or knowing she was in danger?
He wasn’t certain. Wasn’t even sure it mattered at the moment. The only thing that mattered was keeping her safe. Which was why he latched on to the sight of Dain entering the front door like the lifeline it was.
His boss’s intense stare sized him up as he approached. X-ray vision, stripping away the layers of armor King used to protect himself. He needed every last layer he could keep right now, but he didn’t look away.
“Want to fill me in?” Dain asked.
“We have a potential client.”
“Someone you know, I take it?”
That was the problem. King raised a hand, ready to shove it through his hair, release some of the tension riding him. Dain’s perceptive gaze latched on to the move before he could complete it.
He dropped his hand to his side.
