Page 9

Bishop

“Can I assume by the fact you’re still there and not in the bathroom that you really are going to see if I’m bluffing?” I straightened.

She took a step backward, caught herself and narrowed her eyes. I walked toward her. She watched me, eyes getting wider as I moved closer. I stopped less than a foot away.

“For the sake of transparency since you’re going to be spending at least a month in my company …” In a quick move I caught her waist and threw her over my shoulder, fireman style. “I never bluff.”

She shrieked, one hand clutching my shirt, while the other slapped my back. I ignored her, adjusted my grip so she wasn’t going to fall, and strode through the hallway and into the bathroom.

“Put me down!”

“I intend to.” I threw open the shower door and stepped inside, smacking a hand against the power button. The water hit us both. A cold jet which caused her to throw her head back with a gasp. An unfortunate decision since I was standing with my back to the spray, and it hit her in the face.

She swallowed a mouthful of water, breathed in, choked, and coughed. I swung her off my shoulder and onto her feet in front of me.

She gasped, eyes streaming, water dripping down her face. I folded my arms and stared at her.

“Why did you do that?” she shrieked when she finally caught her breath.

“You’re filthy and we don’t have that long before we need to leave. Now you have no choice but to get out of those disgusting clothes and clean up.” I stepped past her. “I’ll bring a bathrobe in for you.”

I didn’t wait for her reply, and walked out and into the bedroom opposite, stripping out of my shirt as I went. There was a hook on the door, so I tossed my shirt onto it. It wasn’t too wet and should be dry before we had to head out to the airport. Glancing around, I found a bathrobe folded up on a shelf in a sealed packet. I tore it open, shook it out, and made my way back to the bathroom.

“Here—”

Her scream cut me off. “Can’t you knock? ”

My eyes swept over the woman in front of me. I dropped the bathrobe and stalked over to her, reaching out to flick a finger over the yellow bruise covering one shoulder. She jerked back.

“Stop it. Turn around.”

“Get out.”

“Show me the rest of that bruise. Turn around.” I didn’t wait for her to comply, wrapping a hand around the top of her arm and pulling her into the position I wanted. “You said he hit you. You didn’t say he used a weapon. What was it?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters.”

“Could you please leave?” She spun and hurried past me to snatch up the bathrobe and pull it on. “You told me to wash. I’d rather do that without an audience.”

“I’m not interested in watching you wash.”

She wrapped the robe around her body, and tied it closed with a savage yank. The thought that she’d have liked that belt to be around my neck when she pulled it tight flitted through my mind. That spark was in her eyes again, the one I’d spotted when she was tied up in the trunk of the car. No matter what she’d gone through with her ex-boyfriend, this woman was a fighter at heart.

“If you won’t tell me, then I’ll guess.” I crossed to the tub and leaned down to turn off the faucet, then turned and sat on the edge. “From the shape of the bruising, I’d say he went for the tried and tested method of wrapping a bar of soap in a towel. But he didn’t want to cause too much damage, so he softened it by using more than one. He wanted to bruise but not break.”

The fire in her eyes was hidden when she lowered her lashes. “Three towels. He experimented until he got the balance right. Three towels wouldn’t break my ribs when he swung it but left a nice purple bruise.”

I nodded. “But he wasn’t content with bruising you in places that couldn’t be seen, was he?” I tapped my own lip. “He liked seeing the damage he’d inflicted, which is why you have a split lip and a bruise on your cheek.”

“He said that was to remind me of what would happen if I tried to leave him.”

“You understand that he’s going to kill you if he catches up with you again, don’t you?” That brought her eyes back up to meet mine. “I can guarantee your safety while you’re with me, but once our contract is over and I’ve relocated you, I can only do so much. Staying safe once I’ve put everything into place is up to you. I have people who will ease you into your new life, but eventually you’ll be on your own.”

“Are you trying to tell me you’re not going to help me now?”

“Not at all. I just want you to be clear about the situation.”

She gave a slow nod. “Like you said, it’s die or try to live. There’s only one obvious choice really, isn’t there?”

“I want the name of the person who told you about me.”

“I promised—”

“I don’t care. I’m willing to do this. It’s come at a time where I need something in return, so you’ve fallen on your feet. If there hadn’t been something I needed from you, you’d be on your own. But I want that name. Someone is out there talking about my business. That’s dangerous for someone like me. So, since I’m helping you for free, grant me the courtesy of giving me what I want.”

“I’m marrying you. That’s not free.”

“I hardly think the price of taking my name for a month, and a brand-new wardrobe which I’m paying for is something that’s costing you, do you?”

She blushed and looked away.

“The sooner you give me what I want, the sooner I’ll be leaving the room and you can take your bath.”

“I only know the username she used in the online group. FreedomIsPainful. ”

FreedomIsPainful . What the hell kind of name was that?

“And she told you I’d helped someone she knew.”

Eden nodded.

“Did she tell you who?”

“No. But it was a woman. She said they were in a similar situation to me.”

My mind sifted through all the jobs I’d taken. I’d never relocated someone who was running from a domestic violence situation. “She lied.”

“Then how did she know you were in Dallas?”

It was a good question, a valid question. I never advertised my whereabouts and my stopover in Dallas hadn’t been planned. Wade called me when I was in Chicago and asked for my help. In return, he offered to fly me back to New York. I’d been at the airport waiting for my New York flight and canceled it to purchase a ticket to Dallas instead.

That meant one thing.

Someone was watching me.