“Hey, beautiful,” I whispered. “Let me take you out of here.”
She gave the slightest of nods that had relief washing over me, and I wrapped an arm around her, guiding her away from the glass shards and prying eyes.
A woman called after us. “Excuse me! Is anyone going to clean this up?”
I didn’t fucking care.
I wanted to march Haylee right out the door and get her as far away from here as possible, but she steered us toward the counter, then behind it and through a personnel-only door.
A chef looked up from placing a plate under a heat lamp. “What the bloody hell is going on at the front of the house?”
Haylee shook her head.
“Ice,” she said quietly, dropping her hand from her cheek. “I need ice.”
Underneath her eye, a blueish, raised patch was working on welding her eye shut. A roar I was barely able to contain rose from my throat, and my hands balled into fists. Fuck, I wanted to punch the lot again.
“Bollocks,” the chef cursed. He shuffled around before a package of frozen peas flew across the kitchen. “Catch.”
I caught it without a hitch and moved in front of Haylee to apply it gently to her bruise. Her sharp inhale and a whimper had me gritting my teeth.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I muttered over and over again, pressing the peas to her cheek with one hand and smoothing the hair with the other.
Standing this close to her, the smell of sweat and beer assaulted my senses. Despite that, I leaned in and brushed a kiss on Haylee’s forehead.
“There was a fight,” I told anyone listening in the kitchen. “It’s resolved now, but I am taking Haylee home. Make whatever arrangements you need, but she is not staying.”
“I get you,” the chef replied, already calling someone over to take care of the plate he’d finished and whatever else needed to be done. “Feel free to take the peas with you.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I think we will.”
After Haylee had regained a semblance of calm, I took her out the back door, heading straight for the subway station. It was on days like today that I despised the traffic here the most. Look left, look right, all in the wrong order, cars in the wrong lanes, everything just wrong in definition. I didn’t drive here for that exact reason; it was messing with my head, even after six months. Tonight, it was infuriating me.
I had to stay calm for Haylee’s sake. I’d already lashed out once. It wasn’t a good look, and she was clearly scared, whether it was me or the situation itself. I didn’t need to give her a reason to decide it was me, after all.
When we were seated on the subway train Haylee finally looked at me. Her voice was so quiet and fragile; it shouldn’t have cut through me, but it did anyway. “You know.”
I thought back to everything that had transpired in the restaurant and what I’d said exactly. She must have meant what happened with Jay all those years ago.
I let out a shaky breath. “I know.”
“How?”
I rubbed my face. “It’s a long story. One where I become the culprit and break like a dozen company rules just because I was curious. I shouldn’t have looked at those files. I know that, but I can’t unsee them now. I’m so sorry, Red Cheeks. You shouldn’t have had to endure any of that.”
Haylee dropped her eyes to her lap, and we listened to the female voice welcoming us to the next station.
“Company rules,” she muttered.
“Lewis & Walker Law Group. That’s where my current project is. Or well, ends.” I swallowed. Haylee was still staring at her lap, but she gasped at the name.
“When did you see the files?” she whispered.
I squeezed my eyes shut, taking a battered breath. “Before The Notebook.”
Haylee’s head whipped my way, and she moaned in pain when her bruised cheek got pressed harder against the bag of peas she was holding to it.
“What?” she gaped at me.
