“Not good, I called the doctor. I woke him up to. He said to give him a half-hour.”
“Someone needs a doctor? I can take care of her. I worked the emergency room for two years before I moved to pediatrics. I’ve given stitches and handled rape cases. She might prefer a woman. Damn, I don’t have my bag. I didn’t pack it.”
“We always have a bag, at home and at all of our offices,” I tell her. “Can Christy handle her?” I meet Vito’s eyes in the rearview.
“Yeah.” He pulls out his phone and cancels the doctor.
At the bookstore, Christy is out before I can get to her door. Downstairs is empty except for Joseph pacing the room as he works his phone. I look to him, “You’re finding him.”
“I’m on it, Boss.”
I go into my office. Sara Perri is lying on the long leather couch I have in the room. She's a beautiful woman, small and delicate. It’s obscene her porcelain skin is covered in bruises. Her right eye is swollen shut. There’s an inch-long cut on her forehead weeping blood. The Chanel dress she is wearing is pink, the blood drying on it glares at me. I should have killed him. Fuck the money.
The moment she sees me, she jumps up and throws her arms around me. “Jesus, Sara, I'm sorry.”
Pulling back, she shakes her head. “This isn't your fault. I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted him to know I cheated on him. I wanted him to know if he was going to cheat on me, then I was going to do it right back. His parents are willing to pay me off in the divorce I’ve wanted for the last year. But he says he won't divorce me. When I told him I would file whether he wanted it or not, he did this. I don't know what to do, Tony.”
Carefully, I brush the hair back from her face. “There's nothing more for you to do, sweetheart.” I look to Christy then to Sara. “This is Christy. She’s a nurse. She’s going to look you over. Once she makes sure you’re good, Joseph will take you home and put you to bed. I'll take care of your husband.”
She goes still. “Tony, when you say take care of...”
Like so many people, she does and doesn’t want to know. “All you need to know is I’m handling it.”
Cold hits me without even trying to call it up at the way tears trail out of her swollen shut eye. A man does not hit a woman, not a real man. I’m going to let myself enjoy killing him.
A sigh comes out of her sad and small. “I never thought it would be this way. When I met him, it was love at first sight. I thought I found everything I'd ever wanted. I never thought it would end up this way.”
“There's lust at first sight, and there's love at first sight. It's not always easy to tell which is which. I'm sorry. You deserve better. Eventually, you will get it.”
She presses a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you.”
Vito hands the medical bag to Christy. “We got everything for stitches, antibiotics, the whole shebang.”
“We’ll be outside,” I assure Sara.
Outside the room, Joseph is waiting. “I’ve got people looking for him, but it’s early. I’m waking people up. No one has seen him yet.”
“When Christy is done with Sara, I want you to take her home and watch over until I take care of the fucker.” To Vito. “You’re going to take Christy home and stay with her and make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.”
Shaking his head. “I don’t have to watch over Christy. She isn’t going anywhere. Okay, I’ve fucking held my tongue. What the hell is going on with you and her?”
Anyone else, any other time, and I’d knock him the fuck out for talking to me like he did. I’m not even sure why I laugh. Both men are surprised. “I found my woman. And she’s a flight risk. Until there is no doubt in my mind she’s not going anywhere, someone is always with her.”
Joseph frowns. “Really? Because she looks at you like she’s in love with you.”
“I’m pretty sure she is. But she’s had a hard time and is slow to trust in it.”
The door to my office opens. Christy walks out wiping her eyes. “I’m pretty sure she has a concussion. She shouldn’t be left alone.”
“Joseph is going home with her. He knows how to handle a concussion. Vito is going to take you home. I’m going to handle her husband.”
Tears start flowing faster, I pull her to me. “What’s the matter?” She shakes her head, “What, damn it?”
“You were so nice and sweet with her.” She wipes her tears away. “You aren’t like that with me.”
Sending my hand into her hair, I pull her back to look up at me. She is saying exactly what has fucked with me since I laid eyes on her. “That’s because none of them affect me the way you do. I was a civilized motherfucker until the moment I met you. You twist me up and shred my fucking guts with the need to touch you, to have your body against me, for me to be inside you. No one has ever done this to me, made me feel this way but you. I don’t like it, and it pisses me off. I’m still not sure if I’m pissed at you or myself.”
Her hazel eyes go to glowing emerald, the way they do when I’m deep inside her. Damn, she is so fucking beautiful and she’s all mine. I will never let her go. “Vito, I’m going to need you to take me home. You want to handle shit? You can handle Thomas Perri. I’m going back to bed for a bit.”