Page 47 of Reaper

“Like hell you are. You are the reason she had a panic attack to begin with. Now move before I make you move.”

I’m about to shift Lark in my arms when a hand clamps down on the dickhead’s shoulder. I smirk as Devil makes his presence known and the dickhead’s confidence cracks when he sees Punisher and Odin behind him.

“You go on and take care of your woman, Pres. We’re going to have a little chat with the good doctor here.”

Dickhead’s face pales at the coldness in Devil’s voice and fuck do I wish I could be a part of making that asshole pay for doing this to Lark, but I need to take care of her.

I fish her keys out of her coat pocket and hand them to Odin. “Can one of you make sure her car gets back to Khloe’s house?”

I don’t wait for an answer, knowing they’ll make sure it happens. Walking down the hallway and out into the waiting room, I ignore their curious looks. Lark shivers as I step out into the cold winter air and I quickly walk to my truck and open the door. Setting her down, it breaks my heart to see her staring blankly down at her shaky hands. She makes no move to buckle her seatbelt so I buckle it for her. Shutting the door, I jog around to my side and climb up behind the wheel. Starting the truck, I turn on the heat, thankful that I wasn’t in the office for too long because the engine is still sort of warm.

Reversing out of the spot, I head back the way I came. Glancing over, my chest tightens at how small Lark has curled in on herself. Reaching over, I gently take her hand in mine but hold it in sort of reverse so that her hand is on top of mine, our palms touching. She’s already hurting enough, I don’t need to add onto that by putting pressure on her burns.

Fifteen minutes later, I pull up outside of Khloe’s house and internally curse when I see Zac’s truck is here. I’ve never liked the asshole, but I’ve bitten my tongue multiple times for Khloe’s sake. Except for the few times he tried to dictate what Lark did. I didn’t punch the asshole, even though I wanted to, but we did have words.

Killing the engine, I quickly get out, round the truck and open her door. Other than shiver at the cold air, Lark still doesn’t react.

“Reaper?”

I turn, seeing Emma at the front door, her worried gaze locked on Lark.

“She had a panic attack and texted me.”

Emma’s lips thin as anger blazes in her eyes. She was also hesitant about today’s session, but like me, she doesn’t know much about Dr. Ashcroft since he’s fairly new in town.

I pick up Lark and carefully climb the porch steps. Emma holds open the door and points upstairs. I nod, grateful that she isn’t insisting on me leaving.

“What the fuck? What did you do to her? Get your hands off her,” Zac seethes as he gets off the couch and stalks toward me.

Rage builds in me but Emma steps in between us with a pointed look at me and then the stairs. I push my anger down. Lark needs me right now.

Turning on my heel, I head upstairs and lay her down on her bed. I close the door behind us and then untie her boots before slipping them off. Slipping off my coat, I set her coat and purse on a nearby chair. Spotting her throw blanket, I drape it over her, smiling when Void jumps up and curls up behind her knees. Walking over to the other side of the bed, I hesitate but then lay down opposite her and carefully pull her into my arms.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I hold her as she battles through whatever her mind is working through. All the while, I quietly talk to her. Telling her that she’s strong. That she can fight through whatever that asshole made her think. That she is enough. That she is worthy. I repeat all of it, hoping either the words or my voice will sink through the fog of her panic.

About a half an hour later, Lark blinks and her eyes finally come back into focus.

“Reaper?”

“There you are, Darlin’,” I murmur and place a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her eyes close briefly as she shivers. Her face is pale when she reopens her eyes and she licks her lips. Her fingers trace patterns on my chest as her eyes go slightly unfocused again.

“It started out with normal stuff. He asked me to recount what happened so he could hear it from my perspective. Then he started making me focus on the fire. Being stuck under the firefighter. The pain. Being scared.” She pauses as she sniffles. “Then he asked if there was anyone who would want me to experience that kind of pain.”

I grit my teeth but force my body not to otherwise react to her words.

“I told him about Aiden, Kelly, and Richard and breaking off the engagement. He asked me about any ex-boyfriends or potential suitors. I told him I had turned down one guy because I didn’t like him that way. Then he switched gears and asked if it could have been retaliation for who I was friends with or seeing since then.”

I can’t stop my body from tensing this time. Did Lark get hurt because of the club? Because of me?

“I still don’t understand why he asked that, but then he switched back to asking what happened after I fell. Then hewanted to know why I thought the fire wasn’t an accident and if I was right in that it wasn’t an accident, why would that person want me to feel those things when I was trapped in the fire. Trapped under the firefighter. Why did he want me to be hurt like I was and am still hurting.”

Her brow furrows as she frowns.

“At that point, my panic was trying to pull me under and I only heard snippets of what he was saying, but it sounded like he was trying to say that the fire and my burns were my fault. That I went through that because someone was punishing me for something.” She shakes her head. “That someone loved me and wanted to punish me.” Her body slumps as she sighs and leans forward, resting her forehead against my chest. “I don’t understand it. I don’t know who he might have been referring to. Either way, I’m never going back to him again. More than once I saw a gleam in his eyes like he was getting off on my pain.” Her body sags even more. “I’d rather never see another therapist again over having another session with him.”

Kissing the crown of her head, I try to bury my anger.