“Ah, I guess I better get my keys out.” She fumbled with the clasp of the purse, succeeding in getting it open and dumping its contents into her lap.
“Hey, watch it with those keys,” Reilly said. “Getting jabbed in the gut with them once was enough for me.”
Cassandra blushed and looked at him. “I guess I do owe you an apology for that.”
“No apology necessary, I had it coming.” He gave her a quick squeeze and stopped in front of her door. “Goddammit!”
Chapter Eight
Cassandra gasped as she stared at the torn piece of newspaper stuck to her door. A roaring filled her ears. She fought to catch her breath as she read the words scrawled in bold, red ink.
YOU GOT AWAY FROM ME TONIGHT—NEXT TIME YOU WON’T.
She grabbed the paper, ripping it from the door. Her fingers crushed it into a tiny ball against her chest.
“No, wait!”
“I can’t believe this,” she cried out. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“Come on, give me your keys. We’ve got to get you inside.” Reilly gently lowered her to her feet. She wasn’t sure if her shaking knees were going to keep her standing. She handed over her keys and Reilly quickly unlocked the door. Once inside, he secured the deadbolt and reached for his gun at the same time.
“Stay here and don’t move.”
“Where are you going?” Cassandra matched his whispered tone. She leaned against the door, thankful for its support. Her legs felt a little stronger, but the wild pounding of her heart scared her now.
“To check out your apartment. I’m sure it’s safe because the locks were secure, but I want to do this anyway. Here, give me that.”
She looked at her hand. Reilly had to pry open her fingers to retrieve the paper. Dropping it on the counter, he reached for the telephone, rattling off a phone number. “That’s the number for a Detective Griffin. Call him. Give him my name and tell him about the note and what happened at the party.”
Cassandra stared at the phone as if it was a venomous snake. “Do we really have to call the police?”
“You know we do.”
Thrusting the phone at her, he turned away and headed into her apartment, turning on lights as he went. Cassandra punched in the number. When the detective answered on the first ring, Cassandra identified herself and quickly told him about tonight’s events.
Reilly returned just as she ended the call. “What did he say?”
“They’re on their way.”
An hour later, Cassandra sat on the sofa, straining to hear what Reilly and the police were saying from where they stood at her apartment door. The detective and his partner were leaving, after making her tell her story over and over again.
She’d told them everything, starting with the phone calls that had begun when she got back from her trip to Europe. The feeling at times someone was following her. How she’d turn and look over her shoulder, searching for…for what, she didn’t know. The day she and Lily got locked in the storeroom. The taxi that would’ve run her down if she hadn’t jumped back on the curb inches ahead of its screeching tires.
Reilly scowled as she told how quiet it had been for the last week, until the phone call tonight while she was getting dressed. When she repeated the threatening message she’d received, anger flashed across his features before settling in his dark eyes. His fury morphed into an unreadable emotion as she tried to explain what had happened tonight in the Bancrofts’ gardens.
She knew she wasn’t much help to the police with who or what had attacked her. Tonight’s events, added to everything that had happened over the past several weeks, made her feel as if she were riding an out-of-control merry-go-round. Did they all add up to something?
They did. She could see that now. As much as she’d tried to ignore it or rationalize it away, she couldn’t anymore. Someone was out to hurt her. Tormented by that realization whirling through her head, Cassandra jumped when the living room went dark, with the only light filtering in from her bedroom.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Reilly leaned down and removed from her ankle a melted ice pack he’d gotten for her when they first got home. “It’s just me.”
She struggled to get to her feet, refusing to take Reilly’s outstretched hand. “What were you and Detective Griffin talking about?”
“Nothing important.”
“Tell me!” Her heart banged in her chest. She fought against the panic rising in her throat. “Please, don’t keep things from me!”
“Jake Griffin and I served in the Marine Corps together. I called him after the break-in at the shop to talk about…the case and to let him know I was working for you. Right now, I suggested he should contact the Bancrofts about anything their security cameras might have picked up tonight. He’s already on it.”
“Oh, yes, that would be a good idea. You have to excuse my inexperience with all these police matters.” Cassandra choked out a breath of brittle laughter. “I’ve never experienced…never had someone want to hurt—”
Reilly moved closer, one hand outstretched. “Shhh, it’s gonna be all right.”
“Don’t!” Cassandra flung out her hands, stumbling backward. “I’m barely holding it together and if you touch…”
“Okay, okay, stay calm. I only want to help you.”
“Help me?” Tears unexpectedly filled her eyes, the sting surprising her. “Where were you when that maniac followed me into the darkness? When he stood watching me? What if I hadn’t gotten away? What if you couldn’t find me—”
Pressing her knuckles hard against her lips, Cassandra cut off her words when Reilly stepped back into the shadows. His face, cast in dimness, was devoid of any expression. Not his eyes. His eyes betrayed him. She could see both determination and guilt shining from their dark depths.
“Oh Reilly, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” The need to touch him, to reassure him she didn’t blame him for what had happened tonight propelled Cassandra forward, mindless of her injury. “I’m just blabbering. Please believe me, I didn’t mean—I don’t want you to think I—oh!”
Her foot came in contact with the coffee table and a stabbing pain raced up her leg. In an instant, Reilly’s arms encircled her and he lifted her. Winding her arms tightly around his neck, she buried her face in his throat. His warm, musky scent filled her as she repeated her apology, her lips brushing against his heated skin. Reilly carried her into her bedroom. The soft glow of her nightlight filled the room.
He moved to the far side of the bed before lowering her feet to the floor. Loosening her grip from around Reilly’s neck, Cassandra dragged her hand down the front of his shirt, thankful she was able to balance herself with the majority of her weight on her one good leg.
“Cassandra, you need to sit down.” Reilly cupped her arms at the elbows and tried to lead her to the edge of the bed.
“No, please, tell me you forgive me for what I said.” She grabbed at his shirt. He’d removed his tie while talking with the police and two more buttons popped loose. “Please, tell me.”
She tried to see his eyes, but when he looked at her, his face slipped into the darkness. “Don’t worry about it. You’re right, I wasn’t there to protect you. That’s not going to happen again. You’re safe with me Cass, I won’t let that bast—he won’t get near you again.”
Relief flooded through her. Her thoughtless words hadn’t upset him. She released her grip, but left her palms flat against his chest. The steady pounding of his heartbeat was strong and sure beneath her fingers. “So, what happens now?”
Reilly’s chest expanded when he drew in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. “I don’t know. Right now, you need to get some rest. Let’s get you out of that dress and into something more comfortable.”
Cassandra swallowed away the lump in her throat caused by his words. She reached for the knot in her shawl. Her fumbling fingers refused to obey.
He brushed away her hands and quickly released the knot, tossing the shawl on t
he chair. “I’m guessing you’d prefer something a little less formal to wear to bed.”
She tried to smile and reached to remove the few remaining pins that managed to keep most of her curls off her shoulders. “Ah, yes, top drawer of my dresser.”
He turned around to pull out a cotton tee shirt and matching sweat pants from the drawer. Reaching for the zipper on the back of the dress, Cassandra swallowed a gasp of pain. Her stretching caused the marks on her chest to widen, creating a burning sensation and fresh tears.
She bit hard against her bottom lip, determined not to need Reilly’s help. Twisting away before he saw, Cassandra found the tab at the exact moment his hands covered hers.
“Let me help you with this.”
“I don’t know what’s the matter—” Cassandra brought her hands back to her face, their trembling creating distorted shadows on her bedroom walls. “Look at…my hands. I can’t s-stop shaking.”
Reilly eased open the zipper of her dress, revealing inch after inch of smooth creamy skin and hating himself for noticing. Cassandra had been through hell tonight and here he was, unable to look away from the small of her back. Another inch and the zipper opened completely, exposing the satin edge of her underwear. He’d guessed she was practically naked underneath this dress. The revelation he’d been right punched up the desire coursing through him.
Cassandra’s shoulders shook as she leaned forward, her chin dropping to her chest. He saw the delicate necklace through her hair. “Let’s get this off you.”
She nodded and he gently pushed her curls to one shoulder and undid the clasp. He took care when he reached to the front of her, keeping the jewelry away from the still tender marks on her skin. He placed the jewels on her dresser. Grabbing the tee shirt off the end of the bed, he bunched it in his fingers and turned back to her. “Ah, I’m gonna put your shirt on over your head, okay?”
Cassandra again only nodded in response and raised her head, her arms pressed tightly against her ribcage, holding her dress against her. Slowly drawing the shirt over her curls, he stretched out one side, then the other so she could push her arms through the sleeves. He released the tee shirt and the moment it landed at her hips, the dress dropped to the floor with a swishing sound that echoed through the room.
“I-I’m sorry,” Cassandra said. “My hands…it slipped.”
Reilly bracketed his hands on her shoulders. “That’s all right, it’s just a dress.”
“The hair pins…I dropped—oh, my stockings, I n-need to get these off too.” She looked at her legs and stepped out of her dress. “I-I could sit…maybe I should—”
“Let me,” he repeated, keeping his voice soft. From the near-panicked tone of Cassandra’s voice and the shaking of her body she fought so hard to control, he knew she was on the verge of breaking down completely.
An overpowering need to ease her pain, both physical and emotional, filled him. The first step was erasing any material evidence of tonight’s events.
Shoving the dress under the edge of the bed with his foot, he turned Cassandra around to face him. He gently lifted a long curl of hair from the ribbed collar of her shirt. She kept her head bent while he repeated the motion until her hair flowed freely over her shoulders. He didn’t know if she was doing it to assist or because she didn’t want to look at him.
He guessed it was the latter and despite wanting desperately to ask her to do just that, he instead moved his hands from her shoulders to her hips. “I’m gonna remove your stockings, okay?”
Her only response was a nod. Reilly slowly dropped to the carpet in front of her, mindful not to land on his knee. It still burned like fire from tonight’s activities. “You’ll need to put your hands on my shoulders for balance.”
When she didn’t move, Reilly looked up. Her hair created a curtain between them, and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. She moved her hands to his shoulders. Concentrating on the lacy edge of the thigh-high sheer stocking covering her leg, he gently rubbed his fingertips together, trying to warm his touch. “I’m gonna take off the one on your hurt leg first.”
She flinched when he touched her, but he didn’t stop easing the silky material over her knee and past her calf. His eyes followed every inch of her toned muscles, taking extra care while dragging the stocking over her ankle. The only response he got to the slight lifting of her foot was her fingertips digging into his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Again, just a nod for an answer.
Straightening, he centered his gaze on her belly button peeking from the edge of her shirt, forcing his eyes not to stray to the shiny smoothness of her white panties. “I think you better sit.”
Taking her hands from his shoulders, he steadied her as she moved to the edge of her bed. Turning with her caused the fire in his knee to intensify, but he pushed it from his mind. She reached for the edge of her remaining stocking at the same moment he did and their fingers collided.
“Y-you don’t have to…have to do this.”
“I know. I want to.” Reilly choked the words from his tightening throat and brushed away her fingers. He repeated his movements, this time cupping her calf in his palm before sliding the stocking over her foot. Shoving both stockings under the bed next to the dress, he reached for the sweatpants, but Cassandra’s whisper stopped him.
“Some-someone out there wants to hurt me.”
Crushing the soft material in his fists, Reilly forced himself to look at her. “Yes.”
“But why?”
The tears coursing down her cheeks kicked Reilly harder in the gut than any sucker punch he’d ever received. He moved his hand to her face to wipe them away.
Cassandra beat him to it, furiously brushing at the wetness on her cheeks. “I don’t understand any of this!” She scooted away from him, anger vibrating off her. She hobbled a few feet, her arms wrapped tightly around her midriff. “Why me? I’m an ordinary person, living an ordinary life—”
“You’re far from ordinary,” Reilly muttered through clenched teeth, unable to stop the groan and the curse that followed as he rose from the floor.
“But I am,” she argued. “I go to work, I pay taxes.”
Drawing in deep, gutted breaths did little to kill the pain in his knee, but at least Cassandra didn’t notice. Watching her try to pace in the small confines of her bedroom with one hurt ankle wasn’t helping.
Damn! What a gimpy pair we make!
She was the most amazing woman he’d ever met and the fact she didn’t see it made her even more so in Reilly’s eyes.
“I work out when I can, visit my mother.” Her voice rose to a high shrill. “I give into the need for reality television shows and chocolate like everyone else once in a while. I hang out with my friends—”
An idea appeared fully formed in his mind. He hated it, but knew he had to ask. “Leave any broken hearts in your wake?”
Cassandra stopped and turned to look at him. “What?”
“I’m trying to figure out who’s behind all this. A jilted lover, maybe?”
“I already told you. My dating experience has been limited as of late.”
He moved to stand in front of her. “Even Willard?”
Something flashed in her eyes, but then it was gone. “I already told you anything between me and Willard was over a long time ago, back in college.”
“Maybe from your end, but that guy is so hung up on you he can’t see straight.”
“That’s his problem.”
“What about a family friend?” Reilly pushed, his idea expanding. “Maybe someone who isn’t so friendly anymore?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re from one of the richest families in New York City. Maybe one of your father’s cohorts has carried a secret crush on his daughter. Or someone is looking to dip into all those millions via a kidnapping—”
“There are no mill—” Cassandra clamped both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with an unreadable expressio
n before they filled with fresh tears. Choking sobs she couldn’t hold back escaped past her fingers.
Reilly hadn’t caught her last words but he could tell it was something she hasn’t meant to say. He’d pushed too hard and nothing could keep him from reaching for her. Ignoring her feeble attempts at resisting, he gathered her into his arms. She buried her face against the open collar of his shirt, her tears wetting his skin as her arms encircled his neck.
His arms surrounded her and Cassandra closed her eyes against the tears. Reilly’s hands found their way under her shirt, hot against the bare skin of her back as she clung to him. The strength of his body supported her, her curves molding perfectly to the hard planes of his chest, stomach and thighs.
A tingling started inside her, beginning at her toes, and it quickly worked its way to the pounding of her heart. The panic engulfing her only seconds ago was gone and in its place was a yearning to let go…to give in. To stop living a lie and start dealing with the truth about her life.
She couldn’t do it.
She was responsible for the bills, for the necessities of her and her mother’s lives. But, at this moment, she didn’t want to think about any of that. All she wanted to do was stay here in Reilly’s arms. To hear his voice, his words, to feel his mouth moving against her hair as he comforted her. His lips pressed against her temple, then high on her cheekbone.
Disregarding the wall of self-protection she’d worked so hard to build over the years, she opened her mouth over the pulse beating wildly in his neck. Then to his jaw where the stubble of his beard scraped against her lips, causing her to soothe them with her tongue, tasting the saltiness of his skin.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Reilly’s words became clearer as he moved to her earlobe. Why was he apologizing? She didn’t know and she didn’t care. All she wanted was his mouth on hers. Hot, hard and demanding. Tunneling her fingers through the cropped denseness of his hair, Cassandra forced his mouth across her cheek until it crashed into hers.
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