Protect Me Not ((Un)Professionally Yours 2)

Chance arrived ten minutes later, only a couple of minutes after the police

“Aah, sweetheart, look at you,” he murmured when he entered the office and saw her sitting slumped at her desk. She was still clutching Ty’s soaked handkerchief to her arm, even though the bleeding had slowed down quite a lot already.

She felt her inner fortitude crumple like tissue paper when she saw Chance, and she instantly burst into tears. She had tried so hard to be strong for Ty. Not wanting to make him feel worse than he already did, when all she truly wanted was for him to hug her and comfort her.

Chance made a soft, crooning noise while he rounded the desk. He was on his knees and had Vicki gathered into his comforting arms mere seconds later.

“There, there, Trouble. We’ll get you fixed up in no time,” he muttered into her hair. There was a movement at the door of her office. Ty stood there, face tight and eyes burning with some indefinable emotion, as he watched her cry on Chance’s shoulder. He was accompanied by two young, uniformed EMTs.

“Uh.” His voice was shaky and hoarse. “The ambulance is here.”

Chance stood up, giving the EMTs room to work. He went to stand in the doorway with Ty, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Vicki.

“You okay, mate?” Chance asked softly, while they stood shoulder to shoulder in the narrow doorway. They watched the EMTs check Vicki for concussion and tend to her still-sluggishly bleeding arm. The sight of the deep wound on her slender, pale forearm made Ty feel physically ill. He had to drive back the nausea that surged up his throat.

“She could have been killed. On my fucking watch. I…” Ty pressed the nape of his neck, and ran his hand over the shaved hair at the back of his head. “I’m not okay. I wanted to kill him for daring to touch her. For hurting her. He’s lucky I was more concerned with getting back to her and making sure she was okay, or I don’t know what I would have done to him.”

He was aware of Chance’s searching look on his face, but kept his gaze pinned on Vicki, attuned to her every wince and moan.

He had felt gut-punched when he’d walked into the office to find her crying on Chance’s shoulder. Fuck, he should have been the one to comfort his woman. He should have been the one to hold her and promise her everything would be all right.

But how could he allow himself that privilege when he didn’t fucking deserve it? How could he make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep?

“What the fuck happened, man?” Chance asked.

“This asshole demanded to be let in after we’d already closed up for the day. I told him to fuck off. But Vicki, you know her, she fell for his sob story. She said I should let the guy in.”

“And you did?” Chance sounded justifiably incredulous.

“No. Of course not. But she forgot her bag in the office. I left her for a few seconds to retrieve it. The bastard must have been watching us, because I returned just in time to see her opening the door for him. He slammed in here so fast. She hit her head. I saw that, it pissed me off enough to want his blood. I didn’t know he had a knife. I had him neutralized and down before he even had the opportunity to use it on me. But he…she…” His voice choked up, and he ran a hand over his face, hoping to disguise the emotion he was feeling from the other man. “God, for a few seconds, I was certain he’d hit a vein, she was bleeding so much. This is my fault. I should have—”

“You should have what? Come on, man! You did everything right.”

“I know her. She’s so fucking stubborn, I should have stayed with her, but I was distracted…I allowed my emotions to cloud my judgment, and I left her alone.”

Chance gave him another long look but said nothing in response to that.

The EMTs were helping Vicki to her feet, and both Chance and Ty stepped forward to offer an arm.

“That’s okay,” one of the paramedics said with a laugh. “We’ve got this. Will one of you coming in the ambulance?”

“That would be me,” Chance said. Vicki met Ty’s gaze tearfully, and he could see that she wanted him to come with her.

“I can’t, honey,” he said in response to her unspoken request. “I have to go to the police station. Make a statement. I’ll need to call Brand and your brothers.”

“Miles is going to be so cross with me,” she moaned.

“He won’t be. It’s my responsibility.”

She made an exasperated sound. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ty.”

Chance’s lips twitched, and he shot Ty a wry look. “That’s told you, mate.”