“Then he’s either gay or blind, because if you’re a virgin, he’s not getting the job done. I will, chica. I’ll get you done good.” He moaned and flexed his hips, sending her what he must think was a smoldering stare.
She nearly choked.
Never. Ever. She’d live on the streets before she let this man touch her.
You might, but what about Dad?
She shoved down the question. “Well, as it happens, I have the rent money early this month so…thanks very much for the offer. I’m going to go check on my father.” She dodged his next attempt to grab her and stood. “We appreciate the ride. I’ll find us a way home. Bye.”
As she charged for the exit, she nearly hit the door face first in her haste to escape. On the other side, she dragged in a calming breath and pressed a shaking hand to her chest. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her dad, how she was going to get home, or how she’d continue to make rent every month with their bank balance running lower and lower. She’d have to skip the fall semester of school. Work more, save more, then maybe go back the following spring. She hated to keep putting off her future, but he was her father. She’d always been able to count on him. He needed to be able to count on her now.
“Ms. Young?”
She snapped around to find a familiar doctor coming her way, a resident who’d assisted Dad’s neurologist before. “Yes.”
“Come this way. You father is asking to see you.”
“How is he? What’s going on with him? What can you tell me?”
He took her elbow. Regret crossed his face before he even opened his mouth. “He’s had a relapse. I’m afraid it’s not good.”
Eight hours later, he was stable enough to come home with her. Heavenly suspected that was mostly because they didn’t want to waste a bed on someone who would never get well. The nursing staff wheeled him to the hospital door. She clutched new prescriptions in her hand she feared would cost a fortune. Then slowly, they walked to the bus. She knew it took all his energy and hoped he could muster a bit more when they reached the closest stop to home. If not, she didn’t know what she’d do.
“The landlord couldn’t bring us home?” he asked, looking pale and spent.
Guilt assailed Heavenly. He should be resting in bed, and she was making him walk. But even if she chose to use her small cash reserve on a taxi, the money did her no good when it was at home.
“He was busy this afternoon. I’ll make macaroni and cheese tonight to make it up to you.”
“Don’t you have someplace to be with that friend from the hospital? What’s his name?”
“Dr. Beckman.” She shook her head. “He had to cancel. Emergency.”
More like the other way around, since she’d texted him an hour before they’d been due to meet and told him that the old man in her apartment building needed her help and she was so sorry to bail. Beck had sounded supportive, if disappointed. But if she admitted any of that to her father, he’d only feel worse.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
She shrugged. “I have an exam to finish.” Thank goodness she’d emailed her instructor, who had been both empathetic and accommodating. She had until Monday to take the test now. “Besides, I’d always rather spend the evening with you.”
For the first time in her life, that wasn’t true. She itched to be with Beck, anticipated seeing him like a kid looking forward to a favorite movie. And if she were honest, she craved the chance to see Seth again, at least long enough to explain what she’d meant that fateful day. Since neither of those things were going to happen, she pasted on a smile, patted her father’s hand as the bus lumbered its way closer to their stop, and held in her tears.
CHAPTER TEN
Almost a week later, Beck paced the small waiting room at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. It was the best level-one trauma hospital in the city. He should know; he’d interned at the facility.
He slanted a worried glance over at Buddy. “Tell me again what happened. Exactly.”
Just as he’d finished his shift at the hospital earlier this evening, Buddy had called, sounding shocked and frantic, blurting that Gloria had been attacked. Beck had tossed a few necessities into a duffel, then jockeyed through the last of rush hour to speed across the desert and reach Gloria’s side. She was still in surgery. It had been hours, and he was doing his best not to crawl out of his skin.
The older man swallowed. “She was coming home from the grocery store. When she unlocked her front door, two men jumped out from the bushes, then shoved her inside and tied her up. They demanded to know where she kept her cash and papers. They threatened to kill her if she didn’t hand them over.”
Son of a bitch. These fuckers had probably known who she was, what she did for a living. Were they disgruntled clients? Henchmen for some neighboring low-life pimp?
“I know Gloria too well. She didn’t give them shit.”
“She’s a stubborn broad,” Buddy confirmed. “But I don’t think they gave her a choice. They beat the crap out of her and knocked her out with the butt of a gun. When she came to, they were gone. At some point, they had ransacked the whole place and taken all the cash they could find.” He scratched his head. “But they left behind her electronics and jewelry.”
And since the woman adored both, that meant her attackers had walked away from a small fortune. Why?
“What did the police say?”
“They don’t have a clue. They’re calling it a robbery, but…”
Yeah, that didn’t make sense to Beck, either.
He paced. How much fucking longer before the surgeon was done so he could ask questions and see her? Fear sliced him deeper with each
