Page 3 of Challenging Her Protector

“I—” She exchanged a look with Branch and could feel moisture welling up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” Twin tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Hannah’s right. You weren’t the one that inflicted Hannah’s pain. You didn’t cause any of this.”

“I asked you for help.” A sob broke from her lips.

“We would’ve been mad if you didn’t.”

How they were being so calm, she had no idea.

“I’m going to take a look at your leg,” the paramedic kneeling at Hannah’s side unwrapped the blood pressure cuff from her arm. “So we can decide how to best support your injuries during transport, but I’m going to need to cut the bottom of the dress.”

“Please do,” Hannah said, and the paramedic by her feet slowly cut along the hem. When the man got to the spot by her knee, her sister gasped, and the paramedic whispered a quick apology. Her knee was triple its usual size and blood was flowing freely down her freckled skin. Vivienne rocked back to get a better look and instantly felt woozy. She didn’t have to be in the medical field to know that something was extremely wrong with Hannah’s knee. Vivienne swayed, head light, stomach churning when two hands gripped her shoulders. Instead of slumping forward, her back was braced with strength. Sure. Steady. Iron. “Got you.” His voice ruffled the top of her head, and even though guilt and anxiety over Hannah’s injury still swarmed her chest, now she didn’t feel so alone.

The paramedic who had taken Hannah’s vitals cleared his throat. “Ma’am, I’d like to give you something for the pain. Would that be okay?”

“More than.” Hannah tried to offer a smile and flinched.

“Okay.” The paramedic offered her sister a reassuring nod. “Do you have any allergies?”

Hannah shook her head. It was so hard to watch the way her body was shaking with pain.

“Any chance you might be pregnant?”

When her sister shook her head again, the paramedic wiped something over her arm. “Because we’ve yet to place an IV, I’m going to give you an intramuscular dose of morphine sulfate. That means I’ll give you a shot that goes right where I just cleaned your arm.”

After the paramedic administered the shot, Vivienne watched the pain medication take effect before her eyes. The line that creased her sister’s brow lessened. Her expression softened. She still wasn’t certain that everything would be okay, but with Iron at her back and a real relationship with her sister a possibility on the horizon, Vivienne was cautiously hopeful.

Chapter Two

Iron stole aglance at the woman seated beside him in the back of Silver’s SUV, trying his damnedest, and failing, to stay objective. It had been a hell of an evening, but she’d held her own. They’d been questioned at the scene and again at the closest precinct. She was still wearing her dress under his T-shirt which swamped her much smaller frame. He liked seeing it on her, but he did his best to push that thought to the back of his mind. There was too much of an age difference between them to be thinking that way, not to mention she’d just escaped one relationship. He was going to do his best to help her, not mess up her life even further. There was so much more to the woman than a beautiful face.

After a draining two hours of questioning, she could have been complaining about her predicament or own exhaustion, instead she asked if she could take a taxi to the hospital to see Hannah.

“Hell no,” Silver barked as he slowed at a red light. If he could be certain the car wouldn’t crash, he’d slap Silver upside the head. He knew his friend was joking, but she didn’t. Vee, which he’d taken to calling her in his head, stiffened beside him.

“What he means is a taxi is not necessary. The hospital’s our next stop.” He shot Silver a scathing look in the rearview mirror.

Vee looked warily at him. “You must be tired. You’ve both done so much for me today. I don’t want to burden you with another task.” He didn’t like the way she dropped her voice and looked down at her hands.

“Vee.” So much for keeping the nickname to himself.

Her head snapped up and she met his gaze with a surprised expression.

“You don’t ask us if you can go somewhere.” The words came out as a growl, and she flinched back. Okay, so maybe he was an idiot just like Silver. They were both scaring the shit out of her.

“What do I do?” Her guileless eyes, so fucking blue, searched his gaze like he held all the answers.

Christ.She was killing him. “You go.”

She gave a quick nod and looked away.

“Silver, pull over at this Walmart, yeah?” Without a word his friend put on the directional and took a right into the busy parking lot. By a stroke of luck, he found a space near the front of the store.

“I’ll run in.” Silver exchanged a look with him in the rearview mirror. One that conveyed an understanding that Iron would want to stay in the car with her. They were both concerned that Vee’s parents or her asshole fiancé were looking for her. The reception hall was locked down, and he assumed that’s where her parents and fiancé were being questioned.

“Is there anything specific Silver can grab you?” Iron leveled his gaze, studying her profile. She’d raced out of the rehearsal dinner without a single item. That, combined with the stark fear in her eyes when she exited the building told him she’d been desperate to get away.

“No, thank you,” her Southern drawl was polite as she continued to stare out the window. She’d been through a lot, so he wasn’t surprised that she’d yet to realize all she had were the clothes on her back, her tiny purse, and the ridiculously high heels on her feet.

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