Page 70 of Protect Me
“Lady warrior,” I murmured.
She tilted her head back and laughed. “Lady warrior. I will take that title proudly.”
“I’m sorry, Kate, that he took something that wasn’t his, and that the bastard walks the streets again.”
The uncertainty in the air fractured, relieving both of us. I reached for both oars and repositioned us in the silence that followed. When she offered nothing more, I said, “Thank you for trusting me with your story. I know that wasn’t easy.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she murmured. “It’s clearly not over. I just delayed the inevitable today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Timothy and I will eventually have to face each other again, right? If I’m not willing to leave, and he doesn’t seem to either, I can’t just keep hiding from him. He’s . . . angry. Livid. I can see it in him. We’re going to keep bumping into each other until something explodes.”
Water dripped off the oar as we spun slowly in the middle of the river. We’d stopped paddling, so we inched downstream. A fish bobbed to the top of the river nearby, gaping mouth gone in a gasp.
“Did you . . . I mean . . .” she trailed away with a light growl in the back of her throat. “I . . .” She pulled her sunglasses off and stared right at me. “Did you give me a space to live because you felt sorry for me?”
“No.”
“Because you felt obligated?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
The opportunity to hesitate presented itself, but I didn’t take it. No, I owed her far more than that. The girl had just opened herself like an artery.
“Because I care about you. And to hell with you being my little sister, all right? That’s not how this will work.”
The response, emergent from the bottom of my gut, caused no reaction in her at first. She slipped the glasses back over her eyes. Her gaze turned to the river, smoothly rippling below. Chin in her hands, she faced me again. Her voice, quiet as the forest, fell in a hush.
“What does that mean, Vik?”
“It means I’ll kill the bastard if he ever touches you again. That I’ll keep you safe in whatever way that means to you. That I’m here for anything you need. Always.”
A hint of defiance claimed her voice.
“I’m not broken.”
I laughed. “You are the least broken person I’ve ever met. You’re a diamond, not a shell.”
“Did you kiss me back because you felt sorry for me?”
“What? No!”
“I’m not damaged goods or dirty or impure or unwholesome or any of that.“
I shook my head. “No, you’re not.”
Her resistance faded. Guards lowered as she leaned back, hands on the edge of the canoe. The worst of her defensiveness melted.
“Okay,” she murmured.
“What do you need from me, Kate?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what he’s going to do, or how this is going to happen. Kinoshi gave me the restraining order, but . . . ”
She trailed away. Any legal protection comforted me more than none, but I still didn’t know what that would mean. Timothy didn’t show active pursuit against her, but that gave no reassurance.
