After a half-hour soak in which Reid just let her doze, he got her up and dried off, slid a long T-shirt over her head.
He pointed to her ribs, said, “I’d like to wrap them. It’ll make them hurt less.”
Grier agreed, lifted the shirt and held it around her breasts as he did so with an Ace bandage that made things feel a little more secure.
“Ever had bruised ribs before?” he asked.
“I thought I had, but this is pretty bad,” she admitted.
“You’re really lucky they’re not fractured. Go ahead, lean back. You’re going to want to sleep sitting up as much as possible though.”
“At this point, I think I could sleep standing,” she murmured. He handed her a warm cup of tea and she sipped it, curled her feet under the blankets. “Thanks. I still can’t believe . . . poor Benji.”
“Before you sleep, I just want to give you more intel on the situation.” It was like she was a soldier in his army suddenly and he was briefing her. “Dylan called the DA’s office and told them what was happening to you.”
“The DA in charge of the case?”
“She wasn’t available.” Reid handed her photographs and her hands shook as she stared down at them. They were brutal. And they were just what she needed to snap her mind back to reality, along with his harsh words.
“Benji told his friends where and when they could find her alone in her apartment. They killed the bodyguard too.”
She’d been mourning for a kid who wasn’t a kid anymore—he’d been a young man who’d made horrible choices, who knew right from wrong and chose wrong multiple times. “Dammit,” she whispered, but suddenly, she didn’t have the strength for anything more. Tears filled her eyes and she wished she had those drugs again so she didn’t have to feel. And that had never been her style.
His voice softened a little, but he was still firm, wasn’t going to let her go the self-pity route. “Grier, come on. You still have a part to play in this. You’ll make it right.”
“You already made the decision for me.”
“I called the new DA to let him know that his witness is dead, but the U.S. Marshal watching him isn’t. People are worried about you, okay?”
“The guy I met isn’t one of the men on trial.”
“Yeah, I know. You think he’s the real owner? And what, paying the other two to take the fall?”
“They might even be out of the country by now. Everyone’s been so distracted by Benji’s disappearance . . .” She trailed off as Reid nodded. “They’re gone, right?”
“Looks like they bribed the security team hired to watch them. The prosecutor’s in jail on contempt charges because he’s not talking.”
“So I’m it then?”
“You and me, yeah. We can both testify.”
“And then what? WITSEC?”
“I don’t need WITSEC for the work I do. But you . . .” He trailed off, not wanting to say what was on both their minds.
If she testified, it was likely the end of her career. She’d be too high profile, and the judge wouldn’t allow for closed-circuit testimony in a case like this. Even if it were allowed . . . well, there was a good chance Grier would be outed anyway. She’d be a target. And that wouldn’t make her very good at her job, which was to protect others.
“They know who I am. They’re going to be after me either way.” She lay back on the bed, propped on pillows so her ribs wouldn’t hurt as badly. The pills were starting to take effect, blurring the lines of pain into something more tolerable. Taking the edge off her mood as well.
She wasn’t exactly laughing, but she couldn’t think much either. At least not clearly.
It had to be the reason she sat back up, pulled Reid toward her and kissed him.
It was just like she remembered—maybe even better. It was a soft kiss, but he opened to her even though he didn’t make a move to touch her. She didn’t want to stop but wasn’t ready for it to segue into something more. And the way her body was responding, she was ready to throw him to the bed and crawl onto him, pain be damned.
Her hands twisted in his hair and she moaned against his mouth as he teased her tongue with his. Frustrated because she wanted his hands on her, she pulled back. She didn’t know what to say and he waited, patiently, as she twisted in the wind.
“I’ve been thinking about that for a long time,” she admitted.
“You’re drugged to the gills.”
“It’s the only way I’d admit it, yes.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’ve been worried about you.”
“You’re worried about me? With the jobs you do?”
He nodded seriously. “You seem to attract trouble. And coming from me, that’s saying something.”
“I’ve had more than my fair share lately,” she agreed. “But have you noticed that’s all happened since I’ve met you?”
“You were the one who followed me, if I recall correctly.”
“And you thought I was a hooker!”
He laughed at that. “I knew you weren’t. I just said it to piss you off. And see, it worked.”
She kissed him again, a quick kiss but with no less heat. She wanted to blame the drugs, but it was Reid. It had always been Reid.
“I admit to calling you a hooker to piss you off and you kiss me? You’re not like any other woman I’ve ever met, Grier.”
“That better be a compliment.”
He stroked the side of her cheek with his fingers. “Bet your ass it is.”
“You missed me too.”
“Yes.”
“I couldn’t come to the wedding.”
“I get that. Could’ve called, though.”
“I know your number by heart.”
“I like you all drugged up.”
“Don’t get used to it.” She had to get to safer ground in this conversation. “How’s Kell?”
“Happy. In love.”
“I’m assuming with Teddie?”
“Yeah. She and Kell are living together on the property that our friend Mace owns. The whole group pretty much is at this point. Building separate houses but sticking close together. Makes things easier when we have to leave for
