half. Then he released her and watched as she stiffly walked to the door. Right before she left, he called her name. She turned back and looked at him.
“You are growing up fast, Jasmine, and trust me, I have no doubt you’ll be a fierce warrior through all of this.” It was the truth, she would become fierce during this trying time, but there was no way on earth she was going to be allowed to even dip a toe in the waves that were about to crash over all of those involved in harming Katherine. He wouldn’t risk her or any of his grandchildren.
Some of the defiance fell from her shoulders as she gazed at her grandfather with love in her eyes. Then she nodded and walked away. Joseph looked at Mark, a look few had ever seen from the man. A look carrying a weight that would crumple most men.
“Make the call . . .”
Chapter Ten
Avery wasn’t thrilled as she grabbed her purse and walked from the fourth floor corridor at the hospital. She’d been there for nearly forty-eight hours. They’d said the day before she’d be released, and then a new doctor had come in, and that had all went out the window. They’d wanted to monitor her head injury because she’d exhibited signs of a concussion and they knew she lived alone.
She’d assured them her mother could come stay with her, but her mom, ever the worried one, had told them she couldn’t be there twenty-four/seven because she had to work. And Avery couldn’t afford to leave against medical advice since her insurance wouldn’t pay for the stay if she did.
She’d been poutier than a three-year-old child who’d been refused ice cream, but she’d stayed. They’d finally released her at nearly six in the evening the next day, and she wanted nothing more than a stiff drink to drown her sorrows until she figured out what she was going to do next.
She’d decided to leave her job, had an intense connection with a man, and been nearly killed by a client all in the span of twenty-four hours. Life could only happen this way in a book, right?
Right, she decided.
She finally made it down the elevator and out the front doors, but was stopped in her tracks right there. Sitting in the loading zone was a sleek black SUV — and next to it, looking far too sexy in a pair of black fitted slacks and a white button-down shirt with the top button undone, was Carl.
He was seriously better looking each time she saw him. As she drew closer, he looked up and smiled, a heart-melting, core tingling smile that had her insides doing all sorts of flips and flops. He stepped forward and leaned down, his lips grazing her cheek for a brief moment before he pulled his hand from behind his back and presented her with a huge bouquet of roses, lilacs, and baby’s breath. She didn’t know what to say.
He smelled unbelievable, intoxicatingly incredible. It was spice and leather, sugar and cinnamon, and cool and dark all at the same time. Those flips in her stomach became Olympic-winning cartwheels with a few spins through the air added on top.
Her last few days had been hell, but it all seemed to change in an instant. It was a damp, warm California evening with a hint of rain in the air and, with the heat her body was letting off at the sight of this man, she was wondering why steam wasn’t rising from the ground.
“Your chariot awaits,” he said smoothly, his deep voice better than an Icee on a hot summer afternoon. He moved over to the back door of the SUV and opened it. She didn’t move. “How are you feeling?” He seemed as if he didn’t mind waiting all night for her to get in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, ignoring his question. She was seriously sick of people asking how she was doing. Not much had changed, and she wasn’t sure how she was feeling. She hadn’t had time to process all that had happened in the last week.
“You need to get home, and I wanted to be the one to take you there,” he told her.
That’s when she noticed a driver in the front. She knew he had a vehicle, but she didn’t question him about his ride choice. She was feeling quite tingly and warm that he’d thought to pick her up. Her mother must’ve told him