I took a left, heading down the other corner, back toward my room. Was there somewhere to hide?

  The panic room.

  There was a panic room. It was on the opposite side of the loft. Right next to the room I’d just run from.

  Fuck me.

  But there was something else down my hall. The servants’ quarters. With a private entry.

  Yes. Yes, oh my God. Oh my God.

  I ran past the suite I’d been given, down the hall to the quarters shared by Constance and Ann Marie. Constance didn’t stay on site often, but Ann Marie, the maid, did. She was visiting her niece and nephew in Scotland for the weekend, though. At least I didn’t have to worry if she was lying hurt somewhere too.

  The servants’ exit was connected to a small hallway that contained the service elevator and stairway. I could get there.

  My feet screamed in pain as those embedded shards of glass dug deeper into my flesh.

  I guess I should never have requested that pedicure. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, fatigue creeping on the edges of my consciousness. My brain went back to Constance. Was she okay? I prayed to God that she’d just passed out and she hadn’t died. Why hadn’t I done more to help her?

  You can do more when you’re safe. Now move your ass.

  My inner survivalist was having none of that bullshit. She didn’t know where to buy a fuck, because at the moment, her only concern was getting me the fuck out of here.

  I tried to open the door, but my blood-and-sweat-soaked hands slipped on the knob. When I used the hem of my T-shirt to grab the doorknob, I could hear the fabric ripping, but I didn’t give a shit. I quickly yanked it open, and I slammed it shut behind me as I entered the service hallway. I looked left and right and saw that there were two doors. I didn’t know which went where, but I knew that East’s penthouse was directly above. Would I be able to access the penthouse floor without a keycard? I didn’t know, but I had to try.

  I went left, my blood-soaked feet leaving tracks on the cement as I ran. I skittered up the stairs and heard the door to the service hallway shoved open.

  He’d be able to tell which way I went.

  Don’t stop. Keep going. You’ll die if you stop.

  If I kept going, I at least had a shot.

  Even though I slipped and banged my knee on the step, I pushed myself up, tears streaming down my face, and kept moving. I took the equivalent of two flights up to the penthouse floor. I said several prayers as I climbed, and thankfully, there was no access lock. Once again, I used my T-shirt to yank the door open, and it gave way. Maybe Constance also worked for East? I didn’t have time to think about it. I could hear Todd’s footsteps on the stairs, and I ran down the hall, past the penthouse elevator, and then to East’s door. I banged on it as I pressed the doorbell. “Please, God, East, open the door. I’m begging you, open the fucking door.”

  I kept my eye on the service door and banged again. “It’s Liv. Open up. Please God, open the door.”

  I prayed and prayed that East was home, that Ben was there, that I hadn’t imagined it. I pressed the button again, but there was no sound, no movement from inside East’s apartment. I tried the handle as the claws of the invisible boogeyman nipped at me like the flicks of a whip over the skin of my bare ass. Blood coated my hands, my mouth, and my chin, and still, I used both hands to bang on the door. On the other side, I finally heard footsteps. I could have sworn I also heard the tapping of footsteps slowing in the stairwell.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. I banged and banged and banged, and finally, the door swung open. The handsome, perpetually brooding face of Bridge Edgerton appeared in the threshold, and I fell into his arms.

  “Olivia?”

  As darkness crept over the edge of my vision, I forced the words up past my constricted throat. “S-S-Someone just tried to kill me.”

  Ben

  It was Olivia’s voice that pulled me out of East’s study.

  With a frown, I jogged down the hallway, my senses on alert, unease tripping over my nerve endings. When I rounded the corner, my feet rooted to the ground as I saw my best mate with his arms around my woman, his hands settling just above her bare ass.

  At first, I didn’t think. I couldn’t process. I just lunged for him. “Get your fucking hands off of her.”

  But something stopped me. Pulled me back. The force of it was strong enough to hold me in position. “Look at her, she’s bleeding.” East said.

  What the fuck?

  I brought my head back to Bridge and Olivia. And… Jesus fucking Christ, she was bleeding. And she was barefoot, wearing nothing but a thin T-shirt.

  Bridge’s voice was even. “Christ, she was at the door like this.”

  The initial anger I’d felt toward Bridge rolled off of me in a dramatic sweep, replaced by fury, shock, and horror. I fought East’s hold. I had to get to her. She was hurt. She was in pain, and I hadn’t known.

  East muttered, “Easy, mate, this isn’t like your father and Lila.”

  My hands shook. “You can let me go. I’m not going to hit him. I need to get to her.”

  East released me immediately, and Bridge gently eased Olivia into my arms. She sagged into me, then a sob broke through. “T-T-Todd a-attacked me in the loft…your security guard, B-Brian, I think he’s dead. And Constance… I left them… in the loft.… I ran, and…”

  Her speech was broken, and her body racked with shivers.

  East was already hustling down the hall. A couple of seconds later, he came running back with what looked like clothes and a blanket.

  I barely managed to growl, “Bridge, take her.”

  He asked no questions, just slid his arm around her shoulder, leading her to East’s very expensive white couch.

  I charged toward the door, but Drew stopped me with a firm hand on my shoulder. “I know you want to go after the tosser who did this. I understand, mate. But let me go down. If the fucker is in this building, I will find him. I’ll do that. East will look for him on the security cameras. At least we’ll get an idea of where he’s gone. But, mate, if you find him, you’ll kill him. And she needs you right now.”

  The fury that pumped through my veins slowed its flow. My brain kicked online. Drew was right. I would kill him. If I found him, I would make him pay for frightening Liv. For hurting her. For trying to take away what was mine.

  I dragged in a deep breath. When that didn’t work, I took another. Breath by breath, I calmed down my heart rate then slowed my breathing. And finally, I forced my muscles to relax and my fists to uncurl.

  I had to calm the fuck down. She needed me now. To hold her. To comfort her. She didn’t need my fury. Didn’t need my rage. I shoved my hands in my pockets and worked to keep my voice even. “Give us a minute, lads.”

  Bridge and East got with the program. Drew lingered though. “Ben, maybe you need—”

  I snapped my gaze to him. And I wasn’t sure where that feral growl came from exactly, but I knew that if he came anywhere near her, I was going to kill him. When he finally made himself scarce, I eased back. “Hey, you’re safe. I have you.”

  From the study, Bridge called out, “Already on the line with the police. Ben get her cleaned up. East, make her some tea.”

  I forced myself to speak around the lump in my throat. “No tea yet. She’s evidence.” My gaze flickered to her mouth where blood had dried, and tears pricked my eyes.

  Fucking tears. When was the last time I’d cried?

  When my mother died? Certainly, but how often after that?

  But with Liv, everything in me shattered.

  Something had happened to Olivia. On my watch. When I was supposed to be taking care of her, someone had attacked her. Worse, it was someone I had paid to protect her.

  I strode over to the couch, picked her up, and carried her to the bathroom off the foyer to the left. Luckily, it was massive. Nearly the size of a full room. When I sat her on the counter, I stepped back and my gut churned. She was covered in blood. So much of it had caked on the T-shirt she wore. “Liv, I’m going to clean you up, okay?” She stared dead ahead, and I worried she was in shock. “Let me know you hear me, sweetheart.”

  Her little nod was nearly imperceptible, but her dark, haunted gaze met mine. I grabbed one of the fluffy white hand towels and ran it under the warm water. When I brought it back to her face, she flinched. “Ow.”

  “I’m sorry, love.” I forced myself to swallow before asking the next question, praying that the pause would help calm me. “Did he hit you?” My brain rapidly ran through a number of murder scenarios I could employ, each one bloodier than the one before.

  She shook her head. “No, but his grip, it was so tight. And when I bit him, I might have bitten my lip too.”

  I stared down at her. “You bit him?”

  She nodded, slowly telling me what had happened. How she’d gotten out of the bath, had been talking to Telly and then to Dex, before she heard something so she’d gone to see if I’d come back to the loft.

  All she had on was her T-shirt because she’d just been going to check out the noise. She hadn’t anticipated someone wanting to hurt her.

  “Ben, I think Brian’s dead. A-and Constance… I don’t know how badly she’s hurt. Because of me.”

  I shook my head. She couldn’t be calm right now, so I had to be calm for both of us. It didn’t matter that I wanted to kill Todd. It didn’t matter that a man I’d considered a friend was now presumed dead and another employee of mine was seriously injured. None of that mattered. What mattered was being there for her. Being strong for her. Helping her through this unimaginable situation. When she was steadier, I would react. And it wasn’t going to be some calm acceptance of shitty things that happened to people. It was going to be full of wrath and vengeance and fire.

  “I’m so proud of you for making it up here. You fought like a champ, and I am so proud of you. I want to wipe the blood off your mouth, but we need to take the washcloth and your T-shirt to the police.”

  She shook her head. “I just want to shower.”

  It killed me to deny her anything. Especially this. But I couldn’t let her get in that shower. “I know. But you’re evidence right now. I don’t want to clean you up too much, but let’s get you out of your T-shirt.”

  She shivered. “Ben, he called me a whore. Said that someone had told him I was, but he didn’t believe it until he saw for himself. Do you think he was watchi—” She cut herself off and dragged in a shuddering breath. “He’s been with me for weeks. Why now? Did someone put him up to this? Fenton? I know Fenton is creepy, but is he capable of hiring someone to kill me? He has no reason to want me dead.”

  She was asking all the questions I didn’t have answers to. Answers I wanted to beat out of Todd. “I don’t know. I don’t know what anyone is capable of. All I know is that I need to keep you safe, okay?”

  How do you plan on doing that?

  “Nowhere is safe. They were watching me. Us. He said he knew about Paris and about what I’ve been doing with you. I can’t go back to the loft. Don’t make me go back.”

  That motherfucker. I’m going to rip his throat out with my bare fucking hands. “We’re not going back to the loft. We’ll go to my house. It’s secure. Safe.” What a fat crock that was. It wasn’t safe for me to be there unless I could figure out how to outrun ghosts. “The police are on their way. When we’re done with them, we’ll get you out of here. On my life, I will keep you safe. You need to know that.”

  Watery dark eyes lifted to meet mine. “Why would someone want to hurt me?”

  My gut roiled. They weren’t after her. They were after me. And they’d gotten to her because I’d been asleep on the job. This was my fault.

  “Tell me what hurts the most.”

  She hesitated only a moment as if she was doing a mental catalog of her pain. “My feet. I didn’t feel them before. I guess I was too cold. But now…” Her voice trailed.

  I snatched another fluffy white towel from under the sink before kneeling in front of her with tweezers from the top drawer.

  First, I gently found the offending shards and pulled out the larger bits. Her feet were a ravaged mess. Bloody and cut to shreds. With each wince of pain from her, I resolved to kill Todd slowly. Then, using soap and water, I cleaned off her feet, gently before I grabbed the set of clothes that East had brought out, likely left behind by some ghost of pussy past.

  I slid my palm up the back of one of her calves and pushed her legs farther apart. I picked up the soft flannel, pulling the pajamas up her legs, running my fingertips over the soft skin behind her knees and up her thighs, then helping her hips lift so she could get them on. Then I slowly raised what was left of her T-shirt up over her head, trying not to get distracted by her breasts.

  I worked methodically, first wiping the blood off her neck and chin with one towel, setting it aside, then using another plus soap to properly clean it all off. When she was clean, I tugged the fresh T-shirt over her head and helped her arms through the sleeves.

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. You’ve done nothing to deserve this. Just know that anyone who comes after you is coming after me. And from now on, I will tear off the head of anyone who touches what’s mine. Do you understand?”

  “I’m so scared, Ben.”

  “I know.” I stepped between her legs and tucked her close. “So am I.”

  Truer words had never been spoken.

  2

  Olivia

  I wasn’t used to someone taking care of me. All four of them hovered.

  They had tea and broth at the ready. I’d had more than one blanket offered, and Drew kept asking if he could call anyone for me.

  None of them knew what to do in this situation.

  It was like having several annoying big brothers.

  When the police showed up, Ben spoke with them directly first and then loomed in the corner, prowling like a caged tiger, as they asked me questions. Bridge, East, and Drew made themselves scarce elsewhere in the house. When the police tried to get Ben to leave me alone with them so they could ask me more sensitive questions, he just gave them a pointed look that said, I’m happy to eat you if you upset her in any way.

  “You’re doing great, Liv. You’re doing everything you need to do. It’s going to be okay.” Ben tried to reassure me, but I wasn’t convinced there would ever be reassurance. If the police didn’t find Todd and arrest him, we’d never know who was watching me or why Todd had attacked me, and I’d be constantly looking over my shoulder in fear.

  How was I ever going to close my eyes again and not see him?

  I rubbed my hands up and down my arms and did my best to answer what I could. “What about Brian and Constance?”

  The short woman with the dark curly hair was matter of fact. “Constance Androlla is in the hospital. She had some minor injuries but is expected to make a full recovery. Brian Anderson’s injuries were more substantial.”

  Substantial was the understatement of the century. What else would you call a slit throat? “But will he be okay?”

  She exchanged glances with her partner and gave me a cryptic, “He’s in surgery at the moment, so we’ll see.”

  At the end of the question-and-answer session, Ben stepped forward. “I’ll provide all the security tapes that we have, so if someone’s targeting her, it should be apparent.”

  One of the detectives slid him a glance up and down, like she was assessing him. And then she asked, “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with the victim?”

  He opened his mouth, but it looked like he was more ready to snarl than anything, so I answered, “I’m his employee.”

  But he corrected me. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  The detective raised her brow at me. “It seems like you’re not sure, but he is.”

  I blinked at her rapidly. “It’s new.”

  She kept clicking her pen, in and out. In and out. Tick-tic. Tick-tic. Tick-tic. “Mr. Covington, can you identify where you were during the break-in and assault?”

  His brows furrowed, but it seemed like he’d expected that question. “I was here. You could ask my business partners. Outside of them, you can ask Drew Wilcox. And you can also ask Prince Lucas Winston of the Winston Isles, as we were on the phone with him at the time.”

  She angled her head. “Oh, I see. We’ll have our people verify your alibi.”

  He rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. “Or, you can stop wasting time. She was in my loft. She’s my girlfriend. I have zero desire to see her harmed in any way, and besides, do I look like I have a chunk taken out of my hand? Why aren’t you out looking for Mr. Spivey? He attacked her in my home when he should have been protecting her, and he assaulted two of my other employees.”

  “I’ll have to ask you to be calm, Mr. Covington. In cases like this, we have to explore all options, including a boyfriend and/or boss.”

  “I’ll give you whatever you want as long as you actually work on finding Todd. You can have access to me as much as you like.”

  She assessed him again. “In that case, Mr. Covington, I will take you up on that.”

  It was my turn to scowl. Was she flirting with him? “Are we done?”

  She turned her gaze back on me, and her lips tipped into a smirk. “Yes, Ms. Ashong, we are. Where will I be able to find you for more questions in case we need to follow up? We just want to gather some trace evidence and then you’re all set for now.”

  I opened my mouth to answer, but I had no answer. I couldn’t go back to my old flat because of Dexter. I wasn’t stepping foot back in the loft. I knew I’d still be able to smell Todd. The scent of cologne and sweat. No, I wasn’t going back there.

  But now where the hell do you live?

  Once the lab technicians were done scraping my fingernails and swabbing my mouth and took the tattered, discarded T-shirt, Ben stepped forward then and offered a card. “If you need to find her, I’ll give you access to her.” And then he shuttled them out.