Page 107 of Love Undercover
“Sadie.”
Every part of her melted at that voice. “Chase?”
54
Hold My Heart
Chase lifted Sadie from the floor and brought her to the bed, setting her down on the edge. He knelt in front of her, wedging his body between her knees so that he could be as close to her as possible. Brushing all the wild, loose strands of hair that stuck to her sweaty face, he checked her over with frantic attention to detail.
Her eyes were glazed over like she couldn’t believe he was there. Or like she was about to pass out.
There was an angry, swollen mark along her cheekbone, and he was careful of it as he cradled her face.
“Breathe, Sadie.”
She flinched as if his voice was a blow against her skin. And then she took a breath, more even than he’d expected, and her eyes flashed to Greg’s unmoving form in the corner.
“Keep your eyes on me.”
She obeyed, her head swinging back to him. “What if he gets up?”
“He won’t. Not for a while, anyway.”
Not after Chase had thrown him across the room with enough force to knock him out.
The swarm of people was just as chaotic as it had been earlier in the day, though it felt worse because the space was smaller, and his tenuous grip on control was slipping.
It reminded Chase how much he hated crowds, hated feeling boxed in. It was one of many reasons he’d chosen the house he had—isolated and distant without being so far there was no civilization to be found. He wasn’t a complete hermit.
But crowds always made him jittery.
As the last of the feds left Sadie’s apartment, she leaned against her counter with her arms wrapped around herself, looking so small and alone. Her left shoulder was exposed through the rip in her shirt. Smooth, tan skin peeked out of the thin gray cotton, and anger stirred inside him to think about how it had happened. Not as enraged as he was about what had left the mark on her cheek.
By the time she’d gotten to that part of her story, the other agents had filed into the room and taken Greg, who’d only begun to revive.
Lucky break for that bastard because Chase would have gone full berserker on the guy, and being thrown across the room would be the least of his worries. The sizzle of the fury still spiked Chase’s blood.
The rage dragon would sleep for now, though, calmed enough by her presence and the fact that she was alive and unharmed.
Mostly. His eyes shot to her again, his gut twisting at what could have been.
The whole situation hadn’t been his fault, but the weight of the guilt settled into his bones because she’d been at the apartment alone, and it took so long to make it there once he’d figured out Greg was more of a threat than anyone realized.
He wouldn’t blame her if she held him responsible for all of it. If she wanted to call the whole thing off, tell him to get out and never contact her again, Chase would do it if she asked.
But until she said those words, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away from her. Not with the way his body, his hands, his heart sang for her.
He went to the kitchen, making sure she knew he was there before he touched her, and she practically melted into his arms, nuzzling against him like she wanted to meld their bodies into one. He winced in anticipation, but she managed to miss his stitches.
His eyes landed on the pizza box sitting on the counter. “Breaking some rules?” he asked with a smirk.
“I was hungry and didn’t want to cook,” she said against his chest, voice muffled. “It’s probably cold by now.”
“We can reheat it,” he offered, attempting to pull away to do just that, but she gripped him tighter. That did slice him with pain, but he’d rather pop his stitches than make her stop.
“Don’t let go,” she whispered. The words nearly broke him, the fear in her voice creating little fissures in his heart, stirring the rage. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
He took a deep breath, a glimmer of hope igniting in his chest. “Where should I take you?”
