“Hey, listen.” He became serious once again. “Thanks for looking into all this for me. I’m sure the guy in the car was probably nothing, but just in case, you should probably?—”
“Watch my six,” Lucky finished for him. “Don’t worry, brother. I will. Just make sure you watch yours, too, you hear?”
“Always do.”
Chase ended the call and set his phone down on a nearby end table. The sound of soft footfalls moving somewhere up above him reached his ears. It wasn’t long before Scottie appeared at the bottom of the carpeted stairs.
Barefoot and fresh out of the shower, she’d dressed in a pair of loose, light gray athletic-style shorts and an oversized t-shirt with what appeared to be a faded rock band’s logo on the front. Her hair was still damp, the thick strands hanging loosely around her neck and shoulders, and her face was completely void of makeup.
She looked younger, somehow. More like the teenage girl he remembered. Yet there was a sort of wisdom shining in her gorgeous green eyes. Knowledge only those who’d been licked by the fires of violence and evil possessed.
He hated that for her. Fucking hated it. But as much as he wished he could, Chase knew re-writing the past was an impossible feat.
All he could do now was focus on the present, and the woman currently staring back at him from a few feet away.
“Hey.” Chase walked toward her. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a magnet for psycho jerks.”
Her smile was small, but at least what was there didn’t look forced.
“You hungry?”
She moved closer, crossing her arms at her front. “Not really.”
“Thirsty?”
Scottie shook her head but said nothing.
Sensing she needed something else, Chase stopped walking and held out his arms. “Come here,” he offered softly.
And then, he waited.
His heart filled, and his worry lessened when she obeyed the soft order, willingly moving into his welcoming embrace. A stretch of time went past, but he wasn’t counting the seconds or minutes ticking by.
Instead, Chase relished in the bittersweet moment. He hated the reason for his presence in her home, but was thankful she was allowing him to offer comfort the best way he knew how.
“You’re safe with me.” He kissed the top of her head. Resting his cheek against her cool, damp hair, he closed his eyes and savored the stolen moment.
“I know.” Scottie’s voice was slightly muffled as she spoke with her head tucked neatly beneath his chin. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for tonight.”
She was snuggled up close with her cheek against his chest and her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Holding her like this felt natural. Right. But as much as he wished he could keep her wrapped in the warmth and safety of his embrace, Chase slowly began to pull himself away.
“Look at me,” he whispered, not fully breaking his hold. When Scottie did as he’d asked, he stared deep into her eyes and told her, “You don’t ever have to thank me for that.” A curt shake of his head. “Not ever. Got it?”
“Got it.” She nodded, her weary gaze shimmering with unshed tears. “I’m so glad you were there. I wasn’t even supposed to be the one taking out the trash, but I was already heading out that way anyway, and it seemed silly to waste time searching for Bruce when I could just as easily toss it in the dumpster myself while I was waiting for you, and?—”
“Hey.” Chase cut her nervous rambling short. “Not a damn thing that happened tonight was your fault. Tommy Gallo cut the power to the gate, which he’s since admitted to doing. And then the son of a bitch forced his way onto the property and assaulted you.”
It took everything in him not to reimagine those infuriating moments, but allowing Scottie to see how pissed he still was—or how badly he wanted to race to the police precinct and talk Knox into letting him have five minutes alone with the fucker—wasn’t going to do her any good.
“Are you hungry?” She switched topics, toying with one of the buttons on the front of his shirt.
“Not really.”
When he’d first left the office, he’d been positively starving. But after seeing the woman he loved getting attacked by an abusive prick, Chase’s appetite was pretty much non-existent.
The woman you love? Don’t you mean…loved? As in past tense?