Page 30 of Hiding Rose
“Something is going on concerning you. Women don’t pass out for no reason after reading a poem,” he said. I opened my mouth to answer and he held his finger against my lips. “Don’t say it was hot in there. The flower and poem shook you to your core. I want to know why someone sent you a dead rose and threatened you with death.”
I finished the wine and set the glass on the table. “Too bad. I’m not telling you why. It’s none of your business.” I sounded harsh, but I couldn’t tell him what was going on. I didn’t want anyone else involved who didn’t have to be, and he didn’t have to be.
He dropped my hand and stood. “Good enough then,” he said, spun on his heel and walked out the door. When the door closed behind him I let out a sob, but in the end, he would thank me.
The door clicked open an hour later and I almost cried with relief. I had to use the bathroom badly, but crawling was out of the question. Kate walked in with my crutches and I grabbed them from her, limping to the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind me. I barely made it to the toilet before I wet myself, but thankfully didn’t have a mess to clean up. It would have been my own fault if I had. I was the one who was a jerk to Sawyer, even if it had to be done. Without him I didn’t have a way to the bathroom, or out of the apartment in case of a fire. It was stupid, but I couldn’t tell him about any of this. Kate and Gideon made it clear no one but me, Winifred, Niko, and the two of them were to know the real reason I was here.
There was a knock on the door. “Are you all right?” Kate called, her voice unhappy.
“I’ll be right out,” I promised, washing my hands and taking a deep breath before opening the door and crutching past her. I opened the fridge to get a soda and kept my head in it when I asked her if she wanted one. She didn’t respond, so I pulled my head out and she slammed it shut.
“I don’t want a damn soda. I want to know why you shoved Sawyer out the door when he was only trying to do as I asked,” she demanded, her tone hurt and angry.
I motioned at the door with my hand. “He wanted to know what was going on and you said I couldn’t tell anyone. What was I supposed to do? Lie to him? That’s going to look cool if he ever finds out the truth.” I sat on the chair and she stayed rooted to the spot. “Did he call you and tattle on me?”
She strode toward me and stopped inches from my face. “No, he was sitting on the floor in front of your door when I got here. He said you didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t want to leave you alone in case of a fire or if someone showed up to hurt you. You didn’t have your crutches or a way to fight anyone off.”
“Oh,” I said, the fight gone from my shoulders.
“Yeah. Oh. You treated him like crap, but he still stayed because he cares about you.”
I shrugged. “He shouldn’t and I didn’t ask him to stay. I was doing what I thought you wanted me to do. You and Gideon said not to tell anyone about Jarrett. That’s all I was trying to do.”
She threw her arms up and laughed sarcastically. “Sure, keep telling yourself you were being noble. Like Gideon or I would let Sawyer near you if we thought for a second he would hurt you or we couldn’t trust him.”
“He might have said the same thing,” I whispered, staring at my feet.
“Because he knows us,” she said, her voice normal and her anger gone. “He knows we help our friends and sometimes, those friends are in dangerous situations. It’s no mystery to anyone in our inner circle that something bad happened to you back home. Maybe we haven’t advertised what or with whom, but we knew eventually we would have to tell more than Niko about it. Our point was, we would tell as few people as possible until they needed to know. Sawyer acted quickly today when you passed out, and kept his cool by answering Niko’s questions about the flower. Not many guys would then turn around and agree to watch over you, without any indication of what was actually going on.”
I lifted my arms and let them fall to my legs. “I’m scared, Kate. I’m not thinking clearly and I didn’t want to talk about it with him.”
“Because talking about it makes it real?” she asked, helping me back to bed and propping my leg up before she sat next to me on a chair.
“Oh, it’s been real for months now, Kate,” I whispered.
She was quiet, her eyes running the length of me and back to my face. “Or is it because talking about it with him might mean he leaves and never comes back.” I shrugged as an answer, but we both knew she hit the nail on the head. “But you sent him away anyway.”
“At least I controlled his exit,” I answered angrily. “Sending him away now is better in the long run!”
“I see,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair. “It’s about losing someone you like to someone you hate.”
“Wouldn’t it be for you?” I asked sarcastically.
She leaned forward and rested her chin on her fist. “I would think so. I’m not in your shoes, but knowing what happened I can see where you’re coming from. The thing is, you don’t have to worry about Sawyer. He’s not the kind of guy to be scared off from something he wants because the going gets tough.”
I fiddled with the edge of my shirt. “I don’t understand why he wants me. I’ve been nothing but a hassle since he met me. Either he has to help me walk or pick me up when I fall. The cherry on top was passing out in front of him. Super sexy, and I’m sure he’s dying to take me out again.”
She smiled, nodding her head. “He is, actually. He asked me to text him once I found out if you were mad at him or just upset in general.”
“He did?” I asked, surprised by her words. “I figured he would be mad at me.”
“I can’t say with one hundred percent assuredness he’s not, but I think he’s more confused and scared. His hands were shaking and kept going through his hair out of frustration. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he knows you’re in trouble.”
“I am in trouble, aren’t I? The poem and flower weren’t a random threat, were they?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“’Fraid not.” She frowned and dug out her phone, reading a text. She glanced up at me. “It’s Niko. He said it looks like a dead end trying to find the sender, but he’s still working on it.”
“I think we know who the sender is,” I said, my body shivering.
