Calum doesn’t even hesitate or flinch. He just barrels straight into my dad, tackling him to the ground. “Go get some help, Kaia!”
My dad starts to fight back. I put my fingers on my throbbing throat, still in shock.
Calum grits his teeth. “Kaia! Now!”
Tears begin to fill my eyes and I turn, stumbling down the passageway. I turn toward the costume room, my mind racing.
Luckily Basil comes down the brightly lit hallway, looking up with alarm at my disheveled state.
“Help!” I shout. It comes out sounding strangled but it’s enough to get Basil to rush over to me.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
“Calum has tackled… an intruder,” I gasp out.
Basil looks confused for a moment, pushing past me. A couple of dancers appear from the costume room, trying to see what the fuss is about. Bas reaches the passage and sees the two men fighting.
“Fuck! Call 911,” he calls, rushing to help Calum.
One of the dancers whips out a cell phone, calling the police. I back up as she rushes past me, trying to tell why she’s calling the cops.
I lightly touch my neck, feeling my father’s hands still choking me.
“He’s getting away out the side exit!” someone yells. “Someone stop him!”
I lean down, feeling dizzy.
“Kaia? Are you okay?”
I nod even as I burst into tears, my face going red.
“Someone get the nurse!”
I hear Calum’s voice again. “He ran outside. I’m not going to give chase.”
I look up tearfully and my gaze connects with Calum’s deep blue eyes.
“Shit,” he says. He heads over to me, kneeling next to me. “Kaia, are you okay?”
I want nothing more than to collapse into his arms, a weak, broken thing. But I can’t do that.
Even now, I’m aware of that.
So I just nod, ashamed at how fragile I feel right now. Calum licks his lips, not touching me, and tries to calm me down.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says, his voice soothing. “He won’t get away.”
I look at him, my expression pleading, although I don’t know what exactly I’m asking him to do. “He’s… my father…”
Calum’s eyes widen. He glances back over his shoulder, his mouth thinning. “Okay. It’s… it’s going to be okay.”
He clenches his fists, looking over his shoulder again. “Can we get her a blanket or something?”
As I stand there, shivering, I look at the man in front of me. And I realize how much more it would mean if only he could hold me when he assures me it’s going to be okay…
“Kaia!” Ella shouts, jostling through the suddenly crowded hallway.
I turn my head. She opens her arms to me and I am drawn to hug her like a magnet finding its mate. I bury my head in her shoulder, my tears falling.
She rocks me back and forth, making soothing noises. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay…”
When I glance to find Calum again, he has vanished, leaving me aching in a way I cannot explain.
28
Calum
It takes the police two hours to arrive and take statements from everyone. I make sure to tell the officers that arrive on the scene what I know — that Kaia said the attacker was her father. Then I feel restless enough to have my assistant call the chief of police.
There is no way that I’m going to let this drop. I’m still shaking with rage, even when the police officers offer Kaia a ride home. She looks at me, as if seeking permission.
I shake my head subtly.
Like hell I’m about to let strange men give her a ride anywhere.
I make my exit fairly quickly and have my limousine waiting around the corner when Kaia finally manages to shake off all her well wishers. Her friend Ella stays with her until the last minute, only leaving when Kaia seems to insist.
By the time she slides into the back seat with me, my nerves are completely blown. I turn to look at her. I’m not even sure what to say.
I suck in a deep breath. “It’s going to be okay, Kaia.”
She looks at me, seeming shellshocked. “Is it?” she asks faintly.
I lift an arm, encouraging her to hug me. Her brown-green eyes fill with tears again and she scoots over, wrapping her arms around my torso and burying her head against my chest. She sobs silently for a minute as the limo pulls away from the curb.
I look down at her small shoulders, shaking as her tears soak my shirt. I barely recognize this person, this broken spirit that’s clinging to me just now. If I had been able to see into the future at Club X, would I have chosen this girl?
Hell no.
But now I feel sort of protective of her in a way I can’t explain. After all, no one else is looking after her best interests.
No one but me, as fucked up as that might be.
“I’m going to take you to my penthouse, beauty,” I tell her gently.
She doesn’t really acknowledge that I’ve even spoken, but her tears do lessen as we drive. By the time we get out of the limo and I bundle her into the private elevator, she’s not holding onto me anymore.
Kaia does hold my hand though, looking blankly at the mirror reflecting a distorted version of herself back at her. I finding myself wondering what it is that she sees.
I doubt it’s anything beautiful.
The elevator dings and the doors open into the perfect white waiting room. I guide her through the door at the far end, into the darkly furnished living area. I drop her hand and grab her shoulders, steering her toward the hallway at the very back. It’s only another minute before we are in one of the guest bedrooms; my own bedroom, at the other end of the apartment, seemed a little too intimate for this moment in time.
“Sit down,” I say, pointing to the bed.
She blinks, casting her gaze around the well appointed yet rather dull looking room. Everything is gray, from the lamps to the bedspread, the bedside table to the armoire. Kaia moves to the bed and perches on one side, her movements lacking in her usual grace.
She looks pale, as if she’s been bled dry.
I stand above her for several long seconds, trying to decide what I’m supposed to do with her. I’m out of my depth here, traveling in a strange and emotion-laden place.
“I’m going to run you a bath,” I announce after a second.
She looks up at me, nodding. I can see the redden marks on her neck and on her arm.
My fists close, spasming involuntarily. I feel… helpless.
I don’t like it at all.
Spinning, I walk purposely into the en-suite bathroom, yanking the taps of the clawfoot bathtub. As the bathtub fills with steamy water, I turn to look at myself in the mirror. There is a smear of blood on my cheek and a faint reddish mark just below my right orbital bone.
A reminder that her father is a very real threat. I didn’t learn his name… I make a note to ask my assistant for the file that I had the private investigator put together.
When Kaia appears in the doorway behind me, hesitant, I turn toward her. She is wearing a pair of baggy sweats, pushed on her by Bas in lieu of the tattered costume she was wearing when I found her.
I motion for her to come in. “Close the door.”