“Yet, you kept right on doing it. And you would havekeptdoing it…doinghim…if he hadn’t decided to break it off right before he died.”
Real, raw emotion had Lori’s face crumbling beneath its pressure. “I don’t blame you for hating me.”
“I wouldn’t care if you did. Now as much fun as this little heart-to-heart has been, I can’t stand to look at you another second longer. Go find your husband, Lori. Trust me. He needs you a hell of a lot more than I ever will.”
Refusing to waste another breath on a woman she’d loved like a sister, Cassie looked to Archer who guided her through the remainder of the lobby and out the entrance doors. She made it all the way to the passenger seat of Archer’s company vehicle before giving in to the overwhelming pain and sorrow.
Locked safely inside the armored SUV, she broke down into a blubbering mess. That entire time, the waterfall of tears and hiccuping sobs, Archer simply held her close, comforting her when she needed it most.
And when he took her to bed that night, the amazing man soothed her in a much different way. One that, once again, offered her an escape. A way she could forget.
Cassie did forget, too. While Archer made slow, sensual love to her, she forgot all about the lies, betrayal, and the fact that she’d almost died. Again.
But later, when she woke with silent, painful screams, her nightmares reminded her she couldn’t stay lost forever.
16
Six days later…
“Areyou sure you’re going to be okay there alone?”
Cassie held the phone close to her ear and smiled. Arealsmile, too. Not one of those forced ones she’d worn in the first days following her discovery of both Lori’s and Eddie’s betrayals.
Her best friend had been sleeping with Russ, and Russ’s best friend had killed him while trying to kill Cassie. It was like a really bad, really cheesy made for T.V. movie.
And I’m the star of the show.
But thankfully, it seemed as if the final scene on that terrifying chapter in her life had thankfully come to an end.
It’s over. Eddie confessed. Your safe.
“I’ll be just fine,” she promised her personal protector, knowing those words rang true. Shewasfine. Or at least, she would be now that the country no longer thought she was a cold-hearted killer.
“This meeting shouldn’t take long. An hour or two at the most. But the guys all understand if I need to come home sooner.”
Home.
She wondered if he’d even realized what he’d said. It probably didn’t mean anything. He only meant he could come toherhome if she needed him.
I’ll always need him.
The sweet, overprotective man hadn’t left her side in almost a week. And if it wasn’t for him, she didn’t know how she would have survived.
The attack or the nights that had followed.
But she hadn’t woken up in a cold sweat, last night. There’d been no nightmares that left her already tender throat raw with her screams. It was the first time in six days she’d slept through the night, and yet the poor man she’d woken all those times was still more concerned about her than himself.
“You have a job, Archer. Responsibilities other than having to deal with me and my drama. So please, stop worrying about me.”
“Okay, first of all…I never have todealwith you, and the drama surrounding you was not of your doing. And two, youaremy responsibility, now. Isn’t that how this whole relationship thing’s supposed to work? We support each other, no matter what?”
Cassie’s heart swelled with the love she felt for this man. “I suppose you’re right.”
“And three,” he continued, “You’re mine now, sweetheart. Which means I will always worry about you.”
I’m his.
Her chest warmed, and her smile grew even wider, knowing he meant everything he’d just said. “I worry about you, too. Which is why you need to be there, at work.”