Rage (Benson Security 3)

“Punch to the ribs. Looks like the guy wore rings.” Callum looked up at her. “You need an x-ray.”

“It’s fine. Just bruised.” She hoped.

“Who did it?” His voice was soft, but Isobel wasn’t fooled.

“That’s got nothing to do with you. I only asked you to help with the body. Now that the body is gone, you don’t need to be involved at all. You can call your team and tell them we don’t need the help anymore.” It made her sick to give him the out, but it was the decent thing to do. She hadn’t invited him in to fix her life. She was pretty sure that wasn’t even possible anyway.

“This isn’t over. The body might be gone, but you’re on the radar of some seriously bad people. People who tried to kill you tonight,” he said evenly.

“And they probably think they succeeded, which means we’re safe.”

“As soon as you surface again, they’ll know they didn’t get you, and that safety will come crashing down.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I only asked for help with the body. The rest has nothing to do with you.”

“I’m in this until it’s finished. You need my protection even more than you did when you asked for my help.”

“Fine, do what you like.” She threw up her hands and took a step back. “Now get out. I want to shower.”

“Not until you’ve told me who hurt you.”

“It’s not your problem.”

“I’m making it my problem.”

“What are you going to do? Pull my fingernails until I give up the information? Go away and let me shower in peace.”

Callum’s eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll just call your sisters and ask them who hit you.”

“They don’t know.”

“I bet they could make an accurate guess.”

“Why do you insist in knowing this? Are you so dead set on making all of my problems your problems? Haven’t I complicated your life enough? You don’t need to know who did this. I’m handling it.”

His palm slid over her hip and down to rest over her lower abdomen. “This makes your problems my problems.”

“You don’t even know if there is a baby. Why are you even waiting around to find out? Why aren’t you running as fast as you can?” She held her arms wide. “I mean, look at me. I’m in my thirties with a teenager and a toddler. I have a crappy job that I probably lost today because I couldn’t keep my problems out of my workplace. I don’t have a house. Or belongings. I don’t even have a change of clothes. And on top of all that, I don’t have the sense to have protected sex.”

“You aren’t the only one that made that mistake. I didn’t protect you.”

His willingness to taking responsibility for his part in their mess melted her frustration, but she had to make him see reality. “Callum, think about this logically. What will you do if there is a baby?”

“I’ll take responsibility for it.”

“And what does that mean exactly?”

His eyes shifted, looking around the room. When he looked back at her, there was only resolve in his face. “I’ll look after you and our child.”

Her heart actually melted, and part of her soul jumped towards him, desperate to have him look after her. Desperate for a partner to help raise her family. Desperate for a role model for her son. But she’d done this before. She’d married Rob thinking he’d be a nice, stable influence on Jack, thinking he’d never leave her and that she’d live a content, perhaps a little boring, life with the man. She wasn’t making that mistake again.

“You’re obviously a good guy, Callum. And I appreciate that your honour won’t let you walk away. But it wouldn’t just be me and the baby. It’s Sophie and Jack too. It’s my three sisters and my crappy life. You don’t want that.” She snorted. “Heck, there are days when even I don’t want it. Don’t worry, I’m sure there isn’t a baby. But if there is, and you want to be a part of things, I’ll let you contribute and I’ll make sure it spends time with you too. Now, I really need to get cleaned up.”

“We’ll talk about the baby later. Right now, I need you to tell me who hit you.”

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

He just stared at her.