Still he continued, filling me in on every bad thing that had happened to him from his conception to now.
I watched him more than I listened, taking in how pale he looked, how greasy his hair looked, and how dirty his designer clothes were. He’d always been immaculate before, making sure he didn’t have a hair out of place, so I wondered where he’d been sleeping and living.
When his hand movements started to become more agitated and his twitching was becoming more of a full-on body jerk, I focused on his words. “Apparently I was too strung out to be a good doctor, but it was only a little pick me up.” He was as delusional as he was high, this guy was coked up to the gills. “Said I’d be a liability. If I went in above the mighty Doctor Retter, he’d…”
Just then there was a loud hammering at my front door that made both of us jump at the same time, and him drop the knife.
“Charlotte,” Levi roared, banging even louder on the door.
Spinning back to face me, Eric snarled, “Who’s that?”
“My neighbor,” I lied. “He’s super into protecting the community.”
On the next knock, another voice joined his. “Police, open up!” Madix called, almost making me groan. Why did he have to go with the police of all things?
“Police?” he hissed, taking a step toward me.
“I told you, my neighbor has a thing about protecting the community. He probably saw my light on and wondered if I was sick.”
As he went to grab me a loud bang filled the apartment, followed by what I assumed was parts of my door hitting the floor. It was cheaply made so it wouldn’t surprise me.
With a hissed, “This isn’t over,” Eric shot past me, and jumped out the window onto the fire escape, just as Levi, his brothers, and Madix ran into my bedroom.
I want to say I was brave, but I’d be lying. Bursting into tears, I winced every time a loud, hacking sob came out of me and tore my throat into more pieces.
I could still hear the men moving around me, some of them going out the window as well, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a firm chest. Maybe I should have been scared, but I recognized those arms and I knew they’d keep me safe.
Chapter Seven
Levi
It seemed like my family was always in hospital. No matter what we did, we always ended up back here. Maybe we should have family reunions in a hospital somewhere? Then again, we kind of did, so maybe I shouldn’t jinx it in case we spent Thanksgiving in the waiting room while one of my brothers had a ball removed from their big toe or something.
After we’d gotten here, the two deputies who’d turned up to the apartment had come to take our statements. Barron and Connor were both good guys and had gone to school with Archer, but I’d been close to losing my shit by the time we were done. How many times did we have to repeat what we knew?
They were going to speak to Charlotte tomorrow, but it looked like she’d just have to write hers out seeing as how she couldn’t talk thanks to the fuckhead.
There were currently three members of the PD out searching for Eric Retter, and if Lottie wasn’t lying in a hospital bed right now, I’d be out looking for him myself.
Everyone has a trigger, something that flicks a switch inside them and brings out a dark side. Abuse was mine – especially to women and kids. It’d started with Luna and had grown since then. Now with Charlotte, I wanted to gut the bastard.
To make matters worse, Parker was dealing with a patient who’d been the ‘victim’ of their car hitting a tree earlier - thanks to the help of the bottle of cheap whisky they’d found in his passenger seat - so we had a doctor I didn’t know treating Charlotte.
The guy had immediately pissed me off with his blasé attitude over what had happened to Lottie, and he was taking his time which was pissing me off even more. Did it really take thirty-five minutes to make a call? I could’ve given him my cell to save him thirty of those minutes.
And now we were waiting again, fucking awesome.
Pacing around the room while we waited for him to review the x-rays they’d taken of Charlotte’s neck as a precaution, I replayed what had happened tonight. I was a light sleeper, so when my phone had started ringing with Lottie’s tone, I’d woken up and answered it straight away. I’d known as soon as I heard the guy talking that she was in trouble and had contacted my brothers for backup. Madix was a former policeman but the guy still looked scary as hell, so we pulled him in with us. Probably just as well considering his feet were huge and had taken the door down with one kick.
“Will you stop pacing,” Luna snapped as she walked into the room with a cup full of ice chips for Lottie. “You’re not going to make things go faster doing it, so settle down.”
Running my hands through my hair in frustration, I looked down at Lottie and frowned when I saw her looking up at me in amusement. “What did I do?”
“Don’t use your voice,” Luna warned her, repeating what the doctor had advised before he left to go to Disney World, where apparently Charlotte’s x-rays were. I mean, it wasn’t like they were still in the building because it wouldn’t have taken him ten fucking hours to look at them if they were.
Looking even more amused at my tiny best friend trying to be strict, she pointed at my crotch. Nice! When I just raised an eyebrow, she pointed again and then quickly looked down and back up.
“Baby, I’ve got brothers who are big old assholes. If you think they didn’t pull this trick on me when I was a kid, you’re wrong.”
Rolling her eyes, she just shrugged and then stared at my crotch instead. Ok, that was a new one. Thankfully, in all of my years of sibling torture, I can hand on heart say that none of my brothers had stared at my dick as a joke, and it was really unsettling.
“Oh, for shit’s sake, Levi. Your fly’s undone,” Luna sighed, shaking her head. “I noticed it when I came in, but seeing as how I don’t wanna see your junk, I ignored it and made sure I didn’t look down. Poor Charlotte here does want to see your junk,” she told me, and I watched as Lottie turned bright red, “so she noticed it, but decided to be nice and tell you about it.”
Looking down I noticed that it was true, my fly was undone and that the jockey shorts with Dude written across them in neon yellow were very visible. Then again, they were a joke present last Christmas and actually glowed in the dark, so they were visible no matter what, but still.
Before I could do them up, Noah poked his head through the door. “Dude,” he muttered and shook his head. “Any news from the doctors yet?”
Smiling at him, Luna shook the cup at Charlotte to see if she wanted another chip, and then put it down on the table beside her when she shook her head. “Not yet, but it shouldn’t be long now,” she told him. Turning back to Lottie, she asked, “Have the painkillers helped?”
Here’s how badly the fucker had squeezed her neck – she couldn’t swallow pills, so they’d given her the option of an injection, a different medication in a liquid form, or a suppository.
I was no expert on the injuries that could result from being strangled – aside from death, obviously – but someone’s throat being so bruised that they could hardly swallow? That was bad. Thankfully, she’d gone for the liquid version which meant that she wouldn’t have to stick painkillers up her ass when she was allowed to go home. Again, not an expert, but I had to hazard a guess that she’d need help with that, and I couldn’t even be around when one of the babies diapers was changed.
Nodding slowly at her, Lottie looked worriedly over at me. It took everything I had in me to relax so that she’d do the same, and then I gave in and sat down next to her on the bed.
“As soon as Doctor Asshole gets back from Disney World with the results of the x-rays, I’m going to spring you from the joint, and you’re coming home with me, baby. You’ll be safe there,” I reassured her, leaning down and kissing her gently. “I’ll even get you a little bell so you can ring it when you want anything.”
“He makes a good bitch,” Noah
added from behind me, making me close my eyes in frustration.
“It’s true,” Luna agreed, getting a glare from me. “What, you do!”
“If it helps,” Tate’s voice sounded from somewhere in the hallway, “you can get an app, so all you have to do is press it. The noises get really irritating, too.”
“Lily downloaded it, didn’t she?” Luna snorted.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “But I’d be her bitch any day.”
Puffing her cheeks out, Lottie made a silent puking motion, making me chuckle. Thankfully, Doctor Asshole returned at that moment. “Well, there’s good news, and there’s bad news…”
* * *
The good news was – there was nothing broken. I didn’t know that there was a tiny bone you could break at the front of your throat, but apparently there was.
The bad news was – Charlotte obviously had some bad bruising. They’d even confirmed how bad it was by sticking a lubed camera thing up her nose and taking a look around. This meant that she wasn’t allowed to use her voice for seven days, and she had to go back for them to reassess it before she could.
“So, I guess asking you questions is a no go, huh?” I mumbled, desperate to break the silence in the cab of my truck and wincing when I realized I’d asked a question. “Sorry. So, what can we talk about? Not that you can talk obviously, but I guess I can talk at you, right?” Again with the questions.
Sighing, I glanced quickly at her and then looked back out the windscreen at Noah’s taillights. “Ok, let me just get this out there now – I’m going to fuck up. I’ve just asked you two questions in the space of thirty seconds so I think that’s more than obvious, but I’m going to look after you and make sure you get better. I’ll also keep you safer than you being locked in a panic room, so you don’t need to worry about that. I’m not great with medical shit, but I’ll do my best. I’m just glad you don’t have to put the medication thing up your butt,” I rambled, breaking off when I felt her squeeze my arm.
Slowing down slightly, I looked over at her. “Yeah, baby?” Fucking questions, Levi!
“It’s ok,” she mouthed at me, and held up a thumb in case I didn’t understand.
Rubbing my hand down my face, I blew out an exhausted breath. “It is ok, and it’s not ok, Lottie. He should never have got to you and you shouldn’t be sitting there with a throat that’s all bruised up. But it’ll be ok from now on, I’ll make sure of it.”
And then she did something that strengthened my resolve even more. She unclipped her seatbelt, almost giving me a heart attack as I slowed down, and scooted across so that she could rest her head on my shoulder and put her arm around my waist. I wasn’t that great at reading body language or the female mind, but I assumed this meant that she was showing me she trusted me to protect her, as well as probably trying to comfort me.
Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, I drove us carefully back to the house, avoiding as many of the potholes as possible on the road leading up to it. I couldn’t avoid all of them, though, so I wrapped my arm around her and held her as tightly against my side as I could.
“And those damn things are getting fixed tomorrow,” I growled, when I pulled to a stop in front of the house.
Picking Lottie out of the cab, I carried her carefully to the steps leading up to my porch. Mom had stayed behind to help watch the babies, but she was waiting for us at my front door.
“Is she ok?” she asked, moving Charlotte’s hair away from her face and smiling at her gently.
“Bruised to fuck and back,” Noah told her as he walked up behind us. “But the worst thing is, she’s got to put up with Levi being her bitch for at least a week.”
Standing next to him, Tate added, “We discussed it on the way back, and when she’s better we’ll choke Levi so that she doesn’t have to hear him for at least a week.” Leaning around Mom’s back, he winked at her, “You’re welcome.”
Shooting them a glare, I walked past Mom and into my house. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I could always tell when she’d been here. I wasn’t a messy person by any means, but everything just looked different after a visit from her. The coasters on the table were stacked properly, the cushions on the couch were placed perfectly, there weren’t any dishes drying in the kitchen, and if I was right she’d put on a load of laundry.
Turning to look at her, she shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if your towels were clean, and you can’t have dirty towels with a houseguest.”
“I have spares,” I pointed out. “A lot of them.”
“Well, I didn’t know that.”
“You got them for me!”
Sighing, she pointed at the nearest couch where there were some pillows and a blanket ready and waiting. “Do you want to put her down here, or does Lottie want to go to bed?”
Looking down at her, a thought occurred to me. “I’m going to put her down while I go and get something for her to change into.” She’d been wearing those clothes when the dick attacked her, so there was no way she was wearing them to sleep in.
Doing just that, I went and grabbed a pair of sweats and a hoodie. “She can’t wear your sweatpants,” Mom gasped, looking horrified. “She’s half the size of you.”
“I’ll go get some of mine,” Luna offered. I hadn’t seen her come in, but seeing as how Noah was here and she’d been with us at the hospital, it made sense. “Is that ok?” she asked Lottie, who nodded.
“Fine, but she wears my hoodie.”
Sitting down beside her on the couch, Mom leaned into Lottie and whispered, “Men. He’ll have you carrying a pair of his boxers in your pocket next.”
The laughter was silent and it sure as shit looked painful, but after the night she’d had, it was a beautiful sight when Lottie did it.
Charlotte
Staring at the clothing on the couch beside me, a thought occurred to me. I could still feel him on me. It wasn’t just that his hands had been on me, but he’d breathed on me, looked at me… I needed to get rid of it. I wasn’t panicking or freaking out inside, I just felt dirty.
Looking around, I tried to find a piece of paper and a pen so I could let them know. The doctor had told me not to talk but really that advice had been unnecessary. Every swallow and movement was so painful now that the adrenaline had worn off that I was trying to avoid even moving my head, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk, so there wasn’t going to be any arguments from me on that.
A pad with a pen on top of it was placed on my lap, and when I looked up Levi was watching me worriedly.
Picking up the pen, I wrote out: I need a shower.
Reading it, he nodded and looked over at where his family were still standing. “She wants to have a shower and then I’m going to put her to bed.”
Walking over, Tate patted me on the head and asked him, “Do you need anything done?”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile as he watched his brother still patting me gently as I rolled my eyes up at him.
“Yeah, she’s got some prescriptions that’ll need done. Doctor Asshole gave her some shit to bring home, but I’ve only got enough for two doses.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled them out and passed them over to him.
When Tate continued to tap the top of my head, Levi sighed, “Will you stop petting her like a freaking dog, dude. With the way your wife works, she’ll change her name to something funky.”
With one last pat, Tate took a step back. “I think the odds are in Charlotte’s favor, man. It’s not like the names can get any worse than what she’s already called the animals.”
I wasn’t exactly certain that was the truth.
Gently helping me up off the couch, Levi turned me around to say goodbye to them all. It was his mom, though, who came to give me a hug.
“Try to get some sleep, honey,” Erica whispered, giving me a gentle squeeze. “If you need anything just get Levi to call me, ok?”
God, she was such an amazing woman. Feeling tears building, I pulled back and nodded at her,
giving her a small smile. I couldn’t fake what I was feeling inside, after everything that happened it just wasn’t possible.
Looking up at her son, she warned, “Look after her.”
Giving her a hug, he walked her to the door and waved at them all. Once they were gone, he turned to face me looking me over carefully. I’d thrown on a pair of sweats and a bright orange hoodie before we’d left my apartment to go to the hospital earlier, so I wasn’t sure it was that great a sight. Not that I had it in me to give many shits right now, but I’d probably have died of embarrassment at any other time if he’d seen me like this.
“Well, at least we’d still be able to see you if you went out in the dark wearing that,” he joked, but I could see how forced it was.
Moving over to where he was, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my nose in his chest, relaxing when his arms went around my back.
“Tap once if you’re ok and twice if you’re not,” he mumbled into the top of my hair.
That question wasn’t easy to answer – it wasn’t a case of a clear yes or no. I’d been attacked tonight, strangled and held at knifepoint by a crazy person on drugs. The answer to that part of the question was an obvious no. But now I was safe, and I knew he would do everything to keep me that way. He was supporting the parts of me that had been hurt, and taking away the vulnerability that I was feeling. This meant that in a way, I was ok.
Leaning back, I held up two fingers to him to let him know there were two answers.
Frowning, he asked, “Two? Is that two taps?” Shaking my head, I waited for him to try again. “There are two answers?” he guessed, smiling when I nodded my head.
Going For Gold: Providence Gold Series Book Four Page 7