Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
I spin back just in time to see my brother rush towards us, and I realize with a punch of shock that it’s Damien beating the man, Damien, who has him on the ground with his fist, hitting the man over and over.
My brother reaches them, grabbing the other man’s hands and pinning him to the floor while he kneels over him to trap his legs, too. The second he’s completely restrained, Damien jumps up and rushes straight for me. I collapse into his arms, clinging to him as I burrow my face into his chest.
He wraps his arms around me, and I notice out of the corner of my eye the way his knuckles are scraped and bruised from hitting the man. I shiver, realizing just how much danger I was in, but feeling utterly safe now that Damien has me.
“The cops are on their way!” my brother, Gavin, calls out, and I take a shaky breath.
“Thank you,” I whisper, then clear my throat and repeat, louder this time, “Thank you, both of you. I don’t … I tried to fight, but he was just so much stronger, so much bigger than me and…”
“Sshh, pretty girl, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here now,” Damien says, stroking my hair and keeping me close.
The next few minutes are a blur of trying to breathe and stop shaking, my eyes flicking back and forth from the man on the ground, knocked out with a last punch from my brother and the men who protected me. It doesn’t take long for the cops to arrive, blue lights flashing as they pull up.
As two cops handcuff my bleary, bleeding attacker, one of them approaches me. He’s tall and wearing a sympathetic expression, a notepad in his hands. Damien leads me over to sit on the low wall nearby, sticking beside me as the cop starts asking questions.
“Do you know who the man is or why he would attack you?” the cop asks, and I shake my head. Beside me, Damien stiffens and begins to talk.
“I do,” he growls, voice rough, his hands shaking with unreleased anger. “That’s Adrian Findlay.”
The cop’s brow raises. “You know him?”
Damien nods, and I look up at him, surprised. “We work in the same industry. He considers us rivals. Recently … fuck, recently he’s been calling and texting and emailing constantly, not leaving me alone.”
“Why’s that?” the cop prods.
“He wants a building I own, and I won’t sell it to him. Really, he hates the fact I’m more successful than him,” Damien explains. His hand is still in mine, and I squeeze, trying to silently show him that I’m here, I’m okay.
“Did he make any direct threats against you or Miss Graeme in any correspondence?”
“No … wait, shit!” Damien curses. “The last call, he told me I’d regret it if I didn’t give him what he wanted. I thought it was just an empty threat, him showing his true colors. I never imagined Delaney was in danger.”
I lean into him as he wraps his arm around me, kissing my forehead, looking anguished at the fact his rival has tried to hurt me. It’s not his fault; I’d never blame him for it. Adrian Findlay is clearly unstable and insane to go to this length over what seems like such a petty business disagreement.
The cop asks a few more questions, says he’ll contact us if needed, and then they haul Adrian Findlay away in handcuffs.
“You’re safe, pretty girl,” Damien repeats as we watch the police pull away. “Nothing will ever hurt you again. I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry.”
I shake my head. “It’s not your fault, Damien,” I say, reassuring him. “He’s the one who shoulders all the blame, not you.” Something occurs to me at that moment, and I crane my head to look up at him. “How did you get here in time?”
Anger flashes in Damien’s eyes again, but I know it’s aimed at Adrian, not me. “His business partner called my office this morning, actually,” he says gruffly. “Said he was worried about Adrian, that he’d never seen him like this. He’d gone off the rails, trashed his office, and sworn something about making me pay before storming out. He was worried Adrian was going to hurt someone to get to me, and so obviously, my first concern was you.”
My heart melts a little at how fast he came to me, how much he’d needed to check on me and make sure I was okay. And thank God he had. I don’t want to think about what could have happened to me if Damien hadn’t shown up at that moment, what Adrain could have done.
Before we can talk about anything else in detail, my brother comes over to us, looking me over as though he needs to check I’m okay too.