Terrified eyes darted from him to Domino and back again. It was obvious she was still afraid of them and didn’t trust either one of them. “I … the way they held her … then … I saw her eyes. She was scared.”
“So, you risked your life for her?”
The woman straightened her spine, and he got the feeling he’d offended her somehow. It wasn’t his intention, if anything he was in awe of her bravery, and eternally grateful. Because of this woman, he still had his sweet little girl.
“My cousin and I took self-defense classes, I guess all I was thinking was that she was just a little girl, and those men were dragging her toward a van,” she said, her voice a little stronger now.
“You and your cousin obviously learned from the best,” he said, hoping to put her at ease with a genuine smile.
She nodded once. “My cousin Hope is married to Falcon Oswald. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, but Falcon and his siblings run Prey Security.”
Mouse’s mouth dropped open. Of all the things he’d expected her to say it wasn’t that. Sometimes it really was a small world. “I’m Mouse—Asher—me and my friends are part of Prey’s Alpha Team. You must be Phoebe, right?” He’d heard about the woman, who had given Falcon the shove he needed to go after Hope when the two had first met but had never met her. Although she had attended a few Prey get-togethers with her cousin, they were ones he’d been unable to attend.
Phoebe looked as shocked by the connection as he was, but she nodded again. If he’d still had any doubts about whether or not she was somehow involved in his daughter’s near abduction they were gone now. Falcon had nothing but good things to say about his wife’s cousin, and he trusted the Oswalds completely.
Noting the thread of pain in her blue eyes he winced. “I’m sorry about hurting you. I just saw you with my daughter and lost control.”
For the first time, Phoebe’s expression softened. “It’s okay,” she said softly. “I understand. You were just thinking about your daughter. I hope she’s okay.”
“She is. Thanks to you.”
A slight blush added a little color to Phoebe’s cheeks, and he took a moment to really look at her. A delicate nose, plump pink lips, smooth creamy skin, she was beautiful, and the first woman that had stirred something inside him since his wife’s death. Too bad she was afraid of him because …
Was he really considering asking her out?
That seemed ridiculous given he’d knocked her down, made her hit her head, and possibly inflicted other injuries. Although she seemed to understand that he’d been out of his mind with fear for his daughter, it didn’t mean she was willing to forgive him and go on a date.
“Are you okay?” he asked, nodding at her head.
She seemed surprised by the question, her gaze skittering away. “Fine.”
The murmured word did little to reassure him, but before he could press further a couple of cops appeared. Now that he knew the woman wasn’t the kidnapper he didn’t really need to hang around and question her, he had to get back to Lolly, be there with her when she gave her statement.
“Again, I’m sorry, and thank you so much for what you did. If you hadn’t intervened, I could have lost her.” Impulsively he closed the distance between them, touched a kiss to her cheek then turned and walked away. For some reason there was an odd kind of ache in his chest as he left Phoebe behind.
* * * * *
February 14th
9:34 P.M.
Finally.
Phoebe let out a sigh of relief as she stepped back inside her apartment, closed and locked the front door behind her, and sagged against it, completely and utterly drained.
Home at last.
This place might not really feel like home, not because she hadn’t been here long, but because it was furnished with nothing that belonged to her. It felt more like a hotel to her than a home, but she was glad to be here, alone, away from prying eyes.
After the little girl—whose name she had learned was Lolly—had told her father and his friends that she’d saved her and not tried to abduct her, nobody had looked at her with suspicion. The medics who had checked her out had been kind, the cops who had interviewed her had been gentle and made sure she was treated like a witness and not a suspect, but it hadn’t eased the knot of fear in her stomach.
Maybe it was because she’d recently been abused by a man bigger and stronger than she was, that she was having trouble separating her ex from the men who had tackled her today, hurt her, and restrained her. Knowing they were actually good men and had—in their minds—a good reason for being rough with her wasn’t helping.
She’d been terrified.
Battled not to fall apart.
Memories of her ex hitting her and tying her up, making her do things she didn’t want to do had assaulted her mind, and if they hadn’t uncuffed her when they did she might have embarrassed herself.
“It’s over now.” Shoving off the door, Phoebe winced at the ache in her shoulder. Her ex had dislocated it in early December. The assault had been awful, one of the worst he’d inflicted on her, then after leaving the joint out of place for hours he forced it back in. Afraid to go to the doctor to have it looked at because she knew she’d have to give an explanation, she had left it to heal on its own.
That event was the catalyst for her leaving.
Today the men had apologized—something her ex had never done—when they realized she was innocent, and they had a good reason for what they’d done.
Although her ex always thought he had a good reason for abusing her too.
“No, it’s not the same and you know it,” she rebuked herself as she wandered through to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She knew the men from Prey were good men. They’d served their country and now continued to risk their lives to make the world a safer place, they wouldn’t hurt her just for fun.
Still, they were big, strong men, fierce and capable of inflicting pain. Definitely not the kind of men she was interested in. The last thing she needed in her life was another man who could crush her if he wanted to.
Phoebe truly believed that but still she couldn’t forget the feel of Asher’s lips on her cheek as he’d thanked her with a kiss.
Stupid really.
It was unlikely she’d ever see him again. Hope had invited her to a few Prey functions, so she had met some of the men and women who worked there, a lot of them at Hope and Falcon’s wedding, but Alpha team had been called away just before the wedding so she hadn’t met them.
Today’s meeting should be more than enough to turn her off them. To turn her off men in general actually.
Bath.
She needed to soak in a long, hot bubble bath. The heat should ease the ache in her shoulder, and maybe it would help her relax enough that she could get some sleep.
Wasn’t likely she would sleep much, there were too many bad memories churning inside her. It would be a long day at work tomorrow but since it was a new job, she didn’t want to call in sick. As much as she was grateful to Hope and Falcon for letting her stay in this apartment that was usually used as a Prey safehouse, she wanted to find her own place. The apartment was too ostentatious for her tastes, and she could never hope to afford something in this building on her own, but she wanted to get control of her life back.