My Beautiful Poison (Wicked Poison 1)

“Anderson...”

Brushing my hands down her hair, I try to soothe her, but it’s hard when you have never had to do something like this before. My mother never cuddled me, and the only people in my life that have are Paige and Rylee. But I squeeze her to me so she knows she’s safe.

“I’m going to pick you up now,” I tell her, pulling back.

“You can’t, your shoulder,” she says, touching it ever so lightly.

“I’m fine,” I tell her as I lift.

She lets me and I make our way back out.

Rhianna is the first to spot us. “Rylee,” she screams and runs over.

Glenn’s head turns, and I see he has Anderson in cuffs waiting at the car.

Noah stands with them, showing something on his phone.

“Noah recorded it. He recorded it all,” Rhianna says as I breathe a sigh of relief. They didn’t hear it all, but I’m guessing they’ve heard enough. And I’m sure he said way worse while we weren’t on the phone.

“Rylee, do I need to call an ambulance?” Glenn asks.

“No. No, please don’t,” she begs.

I scan her body for injuries, noticing her scraped knees. “You should at least see a doctor.”

“I don’t want to. I want to go to work. I want to go and change, shower, and go to work.”

Rhianna looks confused.

“Work?” she says to her sister. “Ry, you need time. Dad will understand.”

“August, you can put me down.” I do as she says but keep my hand on her lower back.

“I need to get to work. I need this to not have ever happened.”

“But it did, and Anderson is going into the station because of it.” Her eyes fall to Anderson, who’s in the car now, his beady eyes watching us, smirking.

“You can work at my house,” I offer.

“No, I have paperwork I need to get.”

“We can get it, and you can work from my house,” I tell her again.

She doesn’t argue this time. She simply nods.

She steps out of the bathroom dressed in my shirt. It reaches her thighs and looks good on her.

“Feel better?”

She nods, brushing a dark lock behind her ear. “My knees sting a bit.”

When I check, they are grazed badly. “I have some stuff for that.”

“I can’t go into work dressed like this,” she says, gesturing to what she’s wearing.

The doorbell rings, and I stroll over to answer it and see her friend, Shandy, on the other side. “Thanks for coming,” I tell her, letting her step in.

Her eyes fall to Rylee, then to me. “Is she okay?” she whispers, and I give her a nod.

“I can hear you,” Rylee says, walking over.

Shandy offers her a shy smile and hands her computer over. “I told your father that you needed it for a meeting.”

“Thank you.”

They stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before I step away into the kitchen but I can still hear what they’re saying.

“Did you need me to get you anything else?”

“No, I should be fine.”

“I have you covered at work for today and tomorrow. Would it be okay if I came over after work with maybe some wine… you know, if you feel up to it?”

“This isn’t my place.”

“Oh,” she says, surprised. “I didn’t know. Sorry.”

“You’re welcome to come over,” I say as I pass by on my way out to the shed.

Rylee offers me a small smile as I head out the back door. I hear them talking but try to focus on the desk that I’m making. I only have two left for my current contract, and so far, I’m well in advance of the agreed delivery date, which I hope will be good for getting some more recommendations.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rylee says, surprising me a short time later.

I drop my sander and turn to her. She has a glass of water in her hand.

“What did he do to you?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You don’t have to handle it,” I growl.

“You sound like you care, August. You better watch yourself before you catch real feelings.”

“Who said they haven’t already been caught?”

Her smile could light up the darkest skies, even with the pain radiating through her tormented eyes. How someone so perfect can have such haunted eyes, I really don’t understand.

“I think I fell a little all those years ago. Back then, you were an asshole, and now, even more so.” She steps in and sits on one of the seats in my shed. “Thank you for inviting Shandy around later. You didn’t have to do that. This isn’t my house, and I’m fine if you want to take me back to my place.”

“You’ve had a big week.”

“As have you,” she replies.

“That was the scariest thing to ever happen to me, and I have had a lot of shit to deal with in my life. To hear you scream into that phone… I wanted to kill him. If Glenn weren’t there, I probably would have,” I tell her honestly.