She jerks her head, but I don’t know if she understood me. Releasing her, I get on my knees and gently grip her face. “Breathe, baby, breathe.” Raven looks up at me as she tries to catch her breath. “In through your nose, out through your mouth.”
Taking a shaky breath in, she breathes out slowly, following my direction. She does this a few more times, her breathing becoming slower and less shaky with each exhale. “Good, pretty girl. You’re doing so well,” I praise, pushing the hair off her face. “That’s it.”
She looks at me with scared eyes, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. She should never have had to go through what shedid.
I should’ve been there to protect her.
“I-I h-honestly ha-have n-no clue w-what h-happened,” she hiccups. I move the hands that were on her face down to her thighs, rubbing soft circles against her skin. “I feel l-like I hit my h-head and all of it w-was a d-dream, like I m-made it up or s-something.”
“It wasn’t a dream, pretty girl, but you're safe here.”
“I’m safe. There’s no threat,” she mumbles under her breath.
I don’t know what it means, but it seems to be bringing her some sort of comfort, so the tension in her shoulders eases somewhat.
“You’re safe, there’s no threat,” I reiterate.
Pushing herself back onto the sofa, she pulls her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her chin on her knee, drink still in hand. Raven goes quiet again, and I give her the space she needs to work through this.
I stay in my position on the floor, my thighs cramping and my knees hurting, but I refuse to move. I won't let her deal with this alone.
Finally, she looks at me. “Did someone really threaten my life? Hold a knife to my neck and—” She pauses, her voice breaking as she continues. “And say ‘Daddy dearest has been a bad boy and now you get to pay for his sins?’”
My tone is low and dark as I growl, “The fuck did you just say?” Noticing Raven’s eyes filling with tears again, I take a deep breath and calm my anger. Softening my tone, I say, “You’re gonna need to start from the top, pretty girl, because it sounds an awful lot like you’re telling me someone tried to fuckingkillyou.”
My jaw clenches as every muscle in my body tightens. What the fuck is going on? And what does Drew have to do with this?
“I was taking the trash out to the dumpster and someone jumped me,” she says slowly. “He had a knife to my throat?—”
I lunge for her, grabbing her chin in my hand as I inspect her neck. Sure enough, there’s a nick and dried blood where the knife had gotten her. My blood boils at the sight, and I vow right there and then I’ll kill the motherfucker who did this to her.
Raven looks at me and swallows. “I’m scared, James. What did he mean by my dad being a bad boy? What has he done?”
Tears stream down her face as I let her chin go and wrap her in my arms, whispering, “I don’t know, pretty girl. But I sure as shit plan on finding out.”
Raven fell asleep about an hour ago. I didn’t have the heart to move her, but I’ve got calls to make. Standing up with her in my arms, I walk to my bedroom and place her down on the bed, gently moving a stray hair out of her face. She doesn’t wake up, just snuggles her face into the pillow.
Retreating to the hallway, I close the door behind me before pulling my phone out of my pocket. Finding the contact I’m after, I hit call.
“Hello,” a voice greets me after the second ring.
“Wanna tell me how and why someone tried to fucking kill Raven tonight?” I growl, keeping my voice low as I walk down the stairs.
“James? Wh-what do you mean? Is Raven alright?” the jackass asks. I can hear a chair creaking in the background as I try to rein in my temper.
“No, she’s not alright, dickhead,” I reply as I head to my office, closing the door behind me. “Someone had afucking knife to her throat.What the hell have you done?” I shout.
“I’ll handle it,” he snaps defensively.
“Like fuck you will, asshole. Stay the fuck away from her.”
“That’smydaughter?—”
“I don’t give a shit,” I roar, hands clenched around the phone.
“—You don’t get to tell me how to protect her.”
“Really?” I scoff. “Tell that to the girl youalreadyfailed to protect.” With that, I disconnect the call and throw my phone at the wall.
