Had they been alone, she would have told him he could get on with his damn life right this minute. She wasn’t his responsibility or his obligation. They weren’t alone, though, and she knew Alec and Jack were listening to the conversation. She chose a more subtle response. She moved away from him and turned to look out the window again.
They were in and out of the specialist’s office in record time. The waiting room was packed, but as soon as the receptionist saw two armed men with badges, she quickly ushered all of them into an exam room. Cordie felt ridiculous sitting on the exam table with three big men surrounding her.
“I’m safe here,” she told them. “Why don’t you all go sit in the waiting room.”
“I’m not going out there,” Jack said. “I might catch something.”
Alec nodded in agreement.
Cordie laughed. “Broken bones aren’t contagious.”
Alec looked skeptical, but he relented. “We’ll be right outside the door.”
Jack followed him, but from Aiden’s stance it was apparent he wasn’t going anywhere. He stood with his back to the wall and his arms folded across his chest. He stayed with her while the doctor, who didn’t have a humble bone in his body, looked at his handiwork and praised himself for the fine job he’d done. He ordered an X-ray, was pleased with the film, and told her she would be in the cast another four weeks. Next came the DNA test, which was quick and easy. They were on their way back to the hotel in a matter of minutes.
Jack pulled up in the circle drive, parked in front of the hotel steps, and motioned to the guard who was waiting just inside the doors.
Alec got out of the passenger seat and opened the door for Cordie. “We’re going to check in with security before we take off,” he said. He was about to say something else, but his cell phone rang. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he said.
Aiden wouldn’t let Cordie stand there any longer. He took hold of her arm and pulled her along. Once inside the doors, he motioned to the security guard, and the two men flanked her sides as they crossed the lobby. Cordie appreciated the protection, but she was beginning to feel like some paparazzi target being shuffled away from the crowd. The hotel guests stepped aside as the men rushed her through the lobby. She did her best not to look conspicuous, but it was difficult.
Even though she was walking at a fast clip, she spotted Patty near the bellman desk talking to a man holding a huge vase of calla lilies, and she wondered which one of Walker’s admirers had sent the impressive get-well surprise. The arrangement was spectacular, so large the deliveryman had to hold it with both his arms around the vase. She couldn’t see his face, but she could see Patty’s clearly. It was flushed. Was she flirting? It seemed so. The nurse was so wrapped up in keeping the man’s attention, she didn’t notice Cordie waving to her. Cordie stepped into the penthouse elevator, and as the doors were closing, she heard the man’s booming laughter and smiled in reaction. So he was flirting, too. Ah, the power of love. Did most men and women want to fall in love? she wondered. Opening their hearts and becoming vulnerable made them either very brave or stupidly naive, and at the moment she believed she belonged in the stupidly naive category. Loving Aiden was god-awful painful, and she had had enough.
When the elevator doors opened onto the penthouse floor, she turned to Aiden. “Thank you for taking the time to go with me today. I know how busy your job is.”
“You are the job right now,” he said.
The guard on duty opened the door to the suite for them, but Aiden didn’t follow her in, explaining that he needed to check in at his office. Before he left her, he said, “I have to go out of town tomorrow, but you can’t be alone, Cordelia. We’ll work out a schedule tonight.”
The door closed before she could protest. Did he think she still needed a babysitter? He was being ridiculous. Once she was inside the suite, she was as safe as could be. Time for another talk, she decided, and this time she would make him listen. She dropped her purse on the sofa, then reconsidered and took it to her bedroom. She didn’t want Aiden, Mr. Neurotic, to hyperventilate if he saw it. She took out her cell phone before setting the purse on a side table and checked her messages. There were five texts in all. She sat on the edge of the bed and scrolled through them. Four were from contractors in Boston. One was from Sophie asking about her doctor’s appointment, so she called her to give a report. Ten minutes later, they were still chatting. Sophie was filling her in on the fishing trip she and Jack had just taken.
“I can teach you how to gut a walleye,” Cordie offered.
Sophie was taken aback. “You . . . what? When did you learn that?”
“The other night I was . . . oh, never mind.”
After the conversation ended, Cordie went back to her texts and discovered one from Alec, sent a few minutes ago. He said he was just leaving the hotel and realized he forgot to ask her if she was up for dinner tonight with Regan and him. She decided to call him right away. Dinner with her friends would cheer her up.
He answered on the first ring. “Hi,” she said as she walked back into the living room. “Dinner sounds great. Make sure Jack and Sophie . . .”
Her head was down, but out of the corner of her eye something caught her attention. Her head snapped up and she saw the flowers. Then she saw him. Immediately she recognized the angry determination in his eyes, the scowl, the Fu Manchu mustache. She did the only thing she could do. She screamed bloody murder. He dropped the flowers—the vase shattering into a thousand pieces—and came at her fast as the door to the suite was closing behind him. She kept screaming. She knew she had to get to the hallway to get help. If she ran into the bedroom, she would be trapped. She circled the table and made a run for it, but he caught her before she reached the door, his hands on her throat, cutting off her air supply.
Jack had just put the car in drive when he and Alec heard her scream through the phone. He slammed the gear back into park and was out of the car and up the steps in record time. Alec was already ahead of him.
Aiden also heard her. He had just stepped off the elevator when Cordie’s ear-piercing scream hit him like a lightning bolt. He raced to get to her.
Cordie was not going to die without a fight. She made a fist and punched the man as hard as she could in his Adam’s apple. It slowed him down, but not for long. He gagged and released his grip for a split second, then grabbed her again. Realizing she was no match for his strength, she went limp and slumped to the floor, but he had such a strong hold on her, he pulled her back up. Time slowed in her mind, and she was about to black out when suddenly he was ripped away from her. Gasping for air, she slid down the wall. The world was spinning, but all she could see was Aiden, and she was terrified he was going to get hurt. When she finally could focus, she realized Aiden was pounding the hell out of the attacker. Good God, he was going to kill him.
Time was suspended in her mind. Suddenly Alec was there, and Jack was right behind him. She watched Alec pull Aiden off her attacker while Jack lifted her and carried her to the sofa.
“Let’s have a look,” Jack said. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No,” she answered. Her voice was so hoarse she didn’t recognize it. “I’m fine.”
The second he let go of her she jumped up and lost her balance. Her legs had turned to rubber. Grabbing Jack’s arm, she took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn’t stop staring at Aiden. The look in his eyes was chilling. If Alec had let him, she thought Aiden would have beaten the man to death. It wasn’t temper she was seeing, or anger. It was fury.