“Come on… I’ll help you walk to the bathroom.”
“What?” She waved me off. “I’m fine… really.” To prove her point, she stood and carefully picked her way across the kitchen. I followed behind, making sure she didn’t faint. Making it to the bathroom, she stepped inside and closed the door in my face.
Letting out a breath, I hurried into my bathroom, and washed her blood off my hands. As the red-tinged water ran down the drain, I tried not to think too hard about theclose call, but the fact that she’d almost died saving me made something in my chest ache.
How had I been so blind to the fact that being stuck with me could get her killed? I wasn’t sure I was worth her life. In fact, I knew I wasn’t. She was kind-hearted and wholesome, with a bright future ahead of her… nothing like me. She deserved better than a hitman for the mob.
So why did she risk her life to push me out of the way? According to the contract, she still would have been paid if I’d died. Did that mean she cared about me? The ice around my heart cracked a little, sending a small drop of hope into my blood.
Did I want her to care? I wasn’t worthy of her, and I was pretty sure she knew that, but she’d saved me anyway. I sighed. I only knew one thing for certain… I’d have to make sure nothing ever hurt her again, because, if it did, I’d never forgive myself.
Chapter 16
Serenity
After one look in the mirror, I sank onto the toilet seat and closed my eyes. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth to calm down. Still, I’d just been shot in the head. Well… maybe not shot, but grazed by a bullet. What the freak?
After seeing Stone get shot in my vision, I hadn’t even hesitated. I’d just run right at him like a freaking kamikaze. Of course, how could I stand by and watch it happen when I could stop it? I couldn’t. Plain and simple… I did what I did because I had no choice.
A tiny little voice whispered that wasn’t the only reason. Besides the physical attraction, I cared about him. He might be a pain sometimes, but he wasn’t a bad person. I knew he’d spent his time in the army trying to save people. He could have left that soldier behind, but he was fiercely loyal, and that was something I admired. Besides that, my psychic ability didn’t seem to faze him, which was even more unusual.
I sighed. Whatever the reason, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. My vision of seeing him die had hurt my heart a lot more than I’d let on. I craved his touch, his nearness, and that sexy smile. I didn’t want to lose him, even if he was a pain in the ass.
Feeling more settled, I let out a breath. No one had died. My head hurt a little, but other than that, I was good. It was also kind of nice to realize I’d made a difference with my psychic ability. I’d changed Stone’s fate. He was alive because of me,twicenow, and that meant I could finally trust my visions.
Feeling stronger, I went to work washing my hands. Then I pulled my shirt off and tackled my neck and face. While I was at it, I took a look at my wound. Stitched up tight, it was only about an inch and a half long, and there was plenty of hair around it to cover it up.
I might end up with a scar, but it wouldn’t be visible. Considering all my other scars from the accident, this was nothing. In fact, after going through that awful experience, this was hardly worth mentioning.
It took a little longer to get the blood out of my hair, but I did the best I could and hurried into my room. I found a turquoise scoop-neck t-shirt and slipped it over my head. Feeling a slight chill, I slipped on my black leather jacket and opened the door. I found Stone sitting at the kitchen table.
“I’m ready.”
Glancing my way, the worry in his eyes changed to relief, and he jumped to his feet. “Great. Let’sgo out the back.”
“Okay.”
I led the way down the hall to the laundry room and unlocked the deadbolt on the door. Out of habit, I touched the knob. Sensing nothing bad, I pulled the door open.
Stone followed me out and locked the door behind him. “Are you okay to take the stairs down a couple of floors?”
“Yeah… sure.” I held onto the railing and started down. Surprising me, Stone wrapped his arm around my waist. I hesitated and met his gaze.
“I know you’re fine, but I’d feel better if you let me keep my arm around you. Okay?”
I didn’t need it, but having him to lean on was too much of a temptation to resist. “Okay… but only to helpyoufeel better.”
He huffed, but a grin tilted his lips, and I enjoyed having him so close. For the first time, it felt like we were finally a team.
We came out of the stairwell a couple of floors down, and waited for the elevator. After it came, we took it to the lobby so we could cross the street to the building.
Outside, the sun had gone behind a cloud, which relieved my worry that he’d get shot again. Still, we walked quickly across the street to the building.
In the lobby, we found a directory of businesses listed beside the elevators. The twenty-sixth floor didn’t have a business name attached, and I narrowed my gaze. “Is it safe to go up there?”
“Yeah. Ricky’s waiting for us. He said they’re doing renovations on that floor, so no one’s there.”
“Oh… that makes sense.”
