Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
When her head swam from the motion of the curves, Steele helped her shift to drape over his lap, so his bulk supported her head as well and didn’t move. His hand stroked over her back to comfort her as she relaxed, savoring the contact with his warmth.
“Last turn, Little girl. You can sit up.” Steele assisted her as she rose from her position.
Smiling at the sight of her car waiting for her, Ivy was happy to have a bit of normalcy in her life.
Storm parked in front of the sedan and Steele hopped out and turned to help Ivy slide off the high seat. She automatically looked toward the large plate-glass window in the back of the bank and noted several familiar faces assisting patrons visiting the drive-thru. She raised a hand to wave, but no one responded.
In her mind, Ivy made a bunch of excuses for their lack of acknowledgement. Maybe they’d been slammed with bank traffic earlier or the glare through the glass didn’t allow them to recognize her.
Steele wrapped his arm around her as if he felt her distress. “It’s okay, Little girl.”
“They aren’t even looking at me,” she whispered.
“Do you want to start the car before I leave, just in case?” Storm asked from his seat in the idling truck.
“It will be fine. Go ahead,” Steele answered and closed the door.
Storm nodded and headed out.
“I think we need to go into the bank,” Steele proposed, watching her face.
“I don’t know if I can go in there,” Ivy protested, moving closer to him as she turned away from the back entrance where those horrid men had kidnapped her.
“What’s going to be easier when you return to work—going back for the first time alone or having me with you now?”
“You,” she whispered.
“I have some checks to deposit. Come with me while I take care of business.”
Taking her hand, Steele led her around the building to the front entrance. She caught sight of her reflection in the window. Her jeans and T-shirt were not the perfectly pressed suit that had become her work uniform throughout the years.
She dragged him to a stop. “I’m not dressed right to go in there. I could just wait by the car.”
“You’re not leaving my sight, Little girl. Do you really think everyone believes you wake up in those formal clothes? Someone has seen you in jeans before.”
A few random encounters with bank employees outside of work popped into her mind. They knew she wore other things. She looked back at her image and grimaced at the large vivid green-and-purple bruising on the side of her face, wishing for makeup to disguise the damage she’d suffered.
Her gaze flew to meet his when Steele wrapped her fingers around the frayed vest he wore. She latched onto it with a fierce grip that made her knuckles white. Instantly, her anxiety diminished and Ivy’s shoulders lowered from a stressed position around her ears. She nodded at Steele to let him know she was ready.
As they walked into the lobby, Ivy paused to look around. The familiar feel of the financial institution calmed her further, but she didn’t let go of his cut.
“Ivy?” The woman at the front desk rose and rushed over to stand in front of her. Her hand lifted as if her first impulse was to touch the bruising staining her boss’s face before she caught herself and dropped her hand to her side.
“Hi, Virginia. I’m afraid the doctor hasn’t released me to come back yet. Steele had some banking business to do, so I came to pick up my car,” Ivy explained.
“The doctor? Mr. Harris told us you were on vacation,” Virginia whispered.
“On vacation? No!” Ivy shook her head and swayed when a rush of dizziness swooped over her. Steele wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
Squaring her shoulders, Virginia glared at the tattooed biker and asked her boss, “Do you need me to call the police, Ivy?”
Not understanding why she’d ask that, Ivy stared at Virginia.
“Ivy, I believe Virginia believes I injured you,” Steele said in a bored tone that expressed that this was not the first time people had assumed he was a criminal—or a woman beater. The rigid tension in his body next to Ivy was the only indication of his indignation at being stereotyped so harshly.
“Oh, no!” Ivy looked from him to Virginia and repeated her vehement rebuttal of that assumption. “He saved me. Those guys that abducted me when I left the bank tied me up and threw me in a dumpster like garbage.”
“Someone abducted you? From here?” Virginia covered her throat with one hand.
“I was in the hospital before Steele took me to the Shadowridge Guardians’ compound,” Ivy rushed to explain.
“The hospital? Ivy, we didn’t know.” She turned to look at the other employees, who watched their interaction closely as they worked. Virginia waved over a woman who hovered a few feet away. “Beatriz, a group of men attacked Ivy when she left the bank after closing.”