Watch Me (Private Listing #1)

This week, I stayed away from her. My attraction is too strong, and I worried it would color how I saw her, hide who she really was just so I could justify having her. I studied her to see if she was going to hurt us. If the real reason she wanted us was for a payday bigger than the one we offered her.

But she worked. She listened and learned. I didn’t miss her hurt looks at me. They didn’t seem fake. In the boardroom, the way she took each of us. It was unlike anyone before her. There was no special person in her mind. She wanted all of us.

I lay her in the back of my car, trying to ignore the redness around her neck and arms. My hands shake as I take them off her. Hopefully, I got there before anything worse happened.

I head to the driver’s side, keeping an eye out in case those two hung around. Anything they might think about stealing in the apartment can be replaced. Madison can’t.

Right now, I ignore the tightness in my chest and my clammy hands. I need to focus on getting her safely to the hospital.

The hospital is only five minutes away at this time of night. I park in the ambulance loop, not giving a shit if they tow me. She groans as I lift her into my arms. Needing to reassure her, and me, that she’s safe, I press a kiss to her lips. Fuck. I think this is our first kiss. I’m such a fucker.

So caught up in trying to make sure she didn’t destroy us, but more than willing to take what she offered so generously.

I carry her inside. “We need help.”

The nurses behind the desk come around and lead me back to a room, since she’s still unconscious.

The nurse starts an IV and asks for information when the doctor walks in.

“What happened?” the doctor asks. She’s early thirties, pretty, with brown hair and brown eyes. She frowns at me, though.

I’m not wearing my usual suit. Instead, I have on a black t-shirt and jeans. My black hair must stick up every which way from running my fingers through it on the way to the hospital. I doubt I look like a respectable businessman at this moment.

“I went to check on her, and two people were holding her in her apartment. A big guy had his hands around her throat.” Anger flares through me again at the memory. “The girl and guy ran, but Madison collapsed. She hasn’t woken up since.”

The doctor nods and lifts Madison’s eyelids to shine a light in her eyes. “We’ll want to monitor her until she wakes. Do you know if anything else happened?”

I shake my head as my insides burn. “She was fully clothed. I’m not sure if they hit her.”

There’s a little redness on her cheek. The doctor checks her over and palpates her stomach. When she lifts Madison’s skirt, her gaze comes up to mine.

Fuck, Cooper took her panties. “We had sex earlier. Consensual. And she left without her panties.”

She nods and makes some notes. “We’ll check when she wakes up if she’d like us to do a rape kit.”

The doctor leaves.

I scrub my hand over my hair. If that guy… Fuck. I grab a sheet of paper and start writing everything I remember about the couple. I’m going to find that guy and fuck up his life for touching my woman.

“Blake?” Madison’s voice is little more than a croak. She reaches up and touches her throat and then looks at the IV taped to her arm. “What?”

“Don’t talk. You were attacked.” I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “When you’re ready, we’ll need to talk to the police about it.”

Tears form in the corners of her eyes, but she doesn’t collapse and fall apart. They just slip out, sliding down to the pillow.

“Did they do anything else?” I stroke a hand over her hair. It’s still a little damp from the shower we took. I should have never let her go. I should have told Seth to fuck his stupid rules and carried her down to my bed, where she would have been safe.

She takes a breath and releases it. “Valerie is my roommate, and Jeff is her boyfriend. They threatened me. Jeff bruised my arms. Valerie slapped me. They both squeezed my breasts, but that’s all. Jeff choked me.”

That’s all? My pulse rages, and the need to beat the guy to a pulp fills me. They scared her and touched her. I want to break every one of their fingers.

She squeezes my hand. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” I can’t pretend it is. I shouldn’t have let her go. “You were attacked. I knew you lived in a dangerous area, but I never thought… I should have done more.”

She smiles softly. “I’m here. You saved me.”

The doctor comes in, and she asks Madison what happened. She tells the doctor the story, and the whole time I hold her hand. Madison declines the rape kit. She didn’t pass out until I showed up. The doctor eyes me like she’s going to ask me to leave to make sure I’m not intimidating Madison. Fuck that noise.