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Henry stared down into her brown gaze. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“If you hadn’t been there or done what you did, I’d be dead.”
“You’re thanking me for making your apartment a mess?”
She shook her head. “I’m thanking you for not walking away.”
“I won’t walk away, and I won’t leave you here either, Lydia.”
****
Resting her head against Henry’s shoulder, she closed her eyes finally relaxing. She believed everything he said. Henry didn’t strike her as the kind of man to go back on his word. So far he’d been with her the whole time.
“We’ll be gone soon.”
“Good. I smell, and I’m desperate need of a shower.” She was in a lot of pain. Hitting the pool table hadn’t been a lot of fun. “Why would you make a deal with these bastards?”
“Caleb deals with the business.” He leaned in close so his lips were by her ear. “I’ll kill every last one of these bastards in time, Lydia. You’ve just got to trust me.”
“I will.” She didn’t mind him killing these men. They were horrid and had caused her a lot of pain.
Time passed, and every now and again Henry would try to talk to her. She listened to him, finding him interesting, which surprised her. When he’d admitted the truth about the whores, she’d seen a part of him she doubted he let anyone see.
The scars on his face didn’t bother her. Sure, when she first met him she’d been scared, but she also had the information Darren told her. Henry hadn’t done anything to hurt her, apart from his awful words earlier in the night.
God, she was starting to like him, and it was impossible for her to like him.
She tensed as she heard the door being unlocked and Bill appeared. Behind him stood Caleb and a man she didn’t recognize.
“It’s your lucky day. We’ve made a deal, and now you can both leave,” Bill said.
“I see you weren’t particularly good at taking my man?” Caleb asked. He wore a suit and looked entirely collected.
Henry was released, but he didn’t move away from her. She lifted her head from his shoulder.
“Release her,” Henry said.
“The deal was for you, not her.”
“Bill, I didn’t make a deal to cause problems. Release Henry and his woman, or I swear to you, you won’t make it out of this room alive,” Caleb said.
Whoever these men were they didn’t know when to shut up. She didn’t want to be left alone.
“Fine.” Bill tugged at her hand making her gasp at the sudden pain.
“Hey, fucking watch it,” Henry said.
She was thrust against Henry.
“Get out. We’ll talk more,” Bill said, following behind them as they were taken upstairs. She buried her face against Henry’s chest liking his arms wrapped around her.
The warm air hit her face, and she was led toward a large car. Climbing in the back, Henry climbed in beside her. Caleb and the other man joined them. The man she didn’t know hit the window to the front. “Start driving.”
“What the fuck happened?” Caleb asked.
Henry didn’t release her. “We started arguing, and I was an asshole. We were on the street, and I didn’t think about where we were. They drove up and took us. I’m sorry, Caleb. I fucked up.”
“Lydia, are you all right?” Caleb asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Should we be talking with this whore in the car?” the mystery man asked.#p#分页标题#e#
“She’s not a fucking whore,” Henry said, yelling.
“Elijah, this is Lydia. She’s Donna’s friend.”
The man looked at her and nodded. “I apologize. I wasn’t given all the information. I wouldn’t have called you a whore if I knew.”
“It’s okay.”
“She needs to see a doctor. They were not gentle with her.” Henry told them about her hitting the brick wall then the pool table. “She might have broken a rib or something.”
“We’re going back to my house,” Caleb said. “Donna’s worried about you, Lydia. She wants to make sure you’re okay. You’re also not staying alone for the time being. I didn’t like the way Bill was looking at you.”
“I want to go home,” she said. All she wanted was to curl up in her bed and cry. She didn’t want these men to witness her breaking down.
“No, you’re not going home. I saw the way Bill was looking at you,” Henry said. “I’m going to stay at Caleb’s tonight. You’re not leaving.”