other pains and aches, it barely registered on the meter.
I looked at him with my good eye. He wore a white T-shirt, minus his leather jacket and holster. At the moment, he wasn’t looking in my eyes, just involved in cleaning up my face. How had I come to get home? Last I remembered, I’d been in the bar.
“How’d I get here?” I asked.
“I found you here,” he said. “I tried calling, but you didn’t answer, so I stopped by. Your door was unlocked.”
“My door was unlocked? That’s so dangerous.” The least they could’ve done was lock the door on their way out.
“I think you’re missing the point,” he said, his voice hard. “Why the hell do you look like you’ve been beat up?”
I adjusted the frozen peas—when had I bought those?—and grimaced. “Because I did get beat up.”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me what happened?”
Breathing a sigh, I closed my eyes again—because that felt way better—and told him the Reader’s Digest condensed version of Viktor, Tania, Hanna, and the men who’d wanted to “have a good time” and dump me in the alley afterward. After a brief hesitation, I added the part about the man who’d intervened and the message he’d given me for Parker.
“What do you think it means?” I asked, gingerly sitting up on the couch.
“You know what it means,” Ryker said, sliding an arm behind my back to help me. He was exceedingly gentle, despite the hardness of his tone. “It means he’s involved with the Russian mob and knows exactly what he’s doing, even if you don’t want to face that fact. I knew Niki. She was my informant. She’s the one who had Parker’s business card on her when she was killed.”
My eyes slid shut in defeat. At this point, I couldn’t really argue. Ryker was right. Somehow Parker had gotten mixed up with the wrong people, and was fully aware of who they were and what they did. And to make it worse, he’d known exactly who Tania’s sister was when I’d mentioned her. Had probably even known she was already dead.
“They have to be threatening him,” I said. “Parker’s not a criminal. They’ve got a hold over him somehow.”
Ryker didn’t reply and I glanced up at him. My vision had cleared and he was looking at me with something close to pity.
“I don’t know if I should admire your loyalty or curse your stubbornness,” he said.
“And I don’t know if I should kick you out or thank you for the peas,” I retorted. I didn’t want to fight with him about Parker. I was still reeling from my close call with certain disaster. I lowered the peas and was surprised when he reached out, the back of his knuckles grazing my cheek. I lifted my eyes and our gazes caught and held.
“You’ve got to listen to me,” he said. “You’re sacrificing yourself for a man who doesn’t even appreciate you.”
“That’s not true—”
“Then where the fuck is he?”
My face paled at the restrained anger in his voice. I flinched away from his touch and knew I was going to fall apart. But I really didn’t want him to see that and give him more ammunition against Parker.
“Just leave,” I managed to get out, my voice barely above a whisper. Though I tried to stop them, tears leaked from my eyes.
Ryker muttered a curse, shoving a hand through his hair. “Christ, I’m sorry,” he said. “I just—” But he cut himself off and didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer.
Sensing a truce, I leaned forward until my head rested against his shoulder. The fear that had overtaken me in Johnny’s still lingered. Ryker made me feel safe, despite his hostility about Parker, and right now I had a desperate need to feel safe.
“I was so scared,” I whispered. “I thought they were going to…to…” But I couldn’t put it into words, because that would make it too real.
“Shh,” he said, the warmth of his breath brushing my ear. “You’re safe now.”
“How did you know I was back in town?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
A suspicion bloomed in my head and I let out a heavy sigh. “You’re watching him, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.
“Like it or not, he’s part of a murder investigation. And so are you. We keep tabs.” His answer was matter-of-fact.
Too depressed to argue the point, I pulled away. “I want to take a shower,” I said. I felt