Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

Someone else's blood. She shoved the coat in the corner underneath the stairwell. Her stomach heaved.

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Someone else's blood.So there had been someone in Thomas's room with her. She had hurt someone. But

who? Whose blood was all over her? Was it Daniel's?

Thomas moaned something she couldn't understand. With numb hands, she guided him into her lap, cradling

his head in her arms.

"Careful," she said softly, as if speaking to a child. Fear surged through her as she wiped the blood from his

face with her fingers, leaving a rusty stain on his cheek. This wasn't Thomas. Thomas was strong and funny

and confident. The guy in her arms was scared and hurt.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" Thomas said softly, his eyes fluttering closed. "I don't deserve a girl

like you." His mouth fell open slightly and his head lolled away from her.

"Thomas?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

He didn't answer. She slipped her hand into his and watched his chest rise and fall, watched the tiny,

involuntary movements of sleep. She tried not to think about the fact that she was alone. That Thomas

couldn't help her. Protect her. But protect her from whom?

She wanted to believe that it wasn't Daniel, that he wasn't capable of doing such things. Not to her anyway.

Yes, he could be violent. But after spending a year in a relationship with him, after everything they had

shared, would he really try to physically harm her?

Suddenly she realized she had no idea. Up until this afternoon, she had thought she knew everything about

him-the good and the bad. But he had lied to her about being a virgin. Had lied about one

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of the most important things in life. What else had he kept from her? What other secrets was he hiding? What

else was he capable of?

There was only one way for her to find out whether was in Vermont. She couldn't call his cell phone this

time. She had to call the resort and have him paged. If he picked up, she'd know he was there and not here.

Not the one she'd slashed in the darkness of Thomas's room. Then she would know, at least, that she was safe

from Daniel Ryan.

Ariana pulled her phone from her coat pocket and opened it. The screen flashed the low-battery icon, then

went blank.

"No!" she groaned.