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Who the fuck had done this to her?
“Gretchen,” he said softly, not wanting to spook her. “It’s me, Theo. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Slowly, she tilted her face to his. And Theo, who didn’t consider himself a violent man, was ready to hunt down whoever had put that broken expression on her face and pummel him to dust.
She blinked a few times, the remnants of dried tears on her cheeks. She was pale, and while her breathing was somewhat labored, he didn’t get the sense she was in the midst of a panic attack. Actually, he suspected he was seeing the aftermath of one.
“Please don’t fire me.”
He knelt slowly…so, so slowly, he hoped she wouldn’t even register that he was moving. He was careful to keep several feet between them. “I can’t fire you. I’m not your boss.”
He hoped that small joke might land, but it didn’t.
Instead, fresh tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Kitten, you don’t have a damn thing to be sorry for.”
“I lied to you about the migraine.”
“Don’t care.” Then he lifted one finger, her words reminding him. “Give me one second. Don’t move. There are a lot of people out there looking for you, worried about you. I want to tell them you’re okay.”
A strangled sob was her only reply to that.
Theo quickly fired off a text to the family text thread.
Found her. She’s okay.
That second part was a lie, but he was prepared to move heaven and earth to ensure that by the time they left her office, she would be.
Then he sent one more text.
Please tell Edith.
After that, he turned his phone off because he suspected his family would inundate him with a bunch of questions he didn’t have the answers to. Right now, Gretchen was the only thing that mattered.
Theo’s knees were starting to scream at him for his crouched position. “Can I sit with you?”
She wiped her eyes and took a second to consider the question. Mercifully not too long. She nodded.
He dropped down onto his ass, sitting crisscross, trying to figure out what the hell to say next.
Gretchen solved that problem for him. “I swear I’m not crazy.”
He frowned. “I never thought you were.”
One shoulder lifted slightly.
“What happened after you left the brewery, kitten?”
Her eyes welled with tears. “I like when you call me that.”
He grinned, though it was forced. “Then I’ll keep doing it. Is this because of him? Your ex?”
Gretchen looked startled, but only for a moment, then she just looked resigned…and so fucking weary, he didn’t think a year’s worth of sleep would put a dent in her exhaustion.
“I called Edith,” he explained. “To check on you. She was concerned perhaps he’d found you.”
Gretchen’s eyes flew to her phone on the desk.