HER

Chapter 10

Catherine worked the kitchen as usual that morning and waited for her first customer to arrive. Ian was supposed to have arrived a few minutes ago but he hadn't and she was starting to wonder.

Catherine took the buns from the open just as she heard the door-bell chime as her first customer came in.

"Catherine?"

A smile made its way to her face.
Ian.
"In here." She called back.

She expected him to sit across the counter in the line of the kitchen but he hadn't and she jumped when he snuck up behind her.

"What the..." She had her hand on her chest. "Why are you back here and..." Her gaze roamed his outfit, not ignoring his body in the process "Where's the uniform?"

Ian smirked.
"Glad you approve." She couldn't deny it because she had no doubt he would know if she lied.

She folded her hands and even though Ian was a gentleman, he couldn't stop himself when his gaze dropped to her breasts. Catherine was a phenomenal woman and he had had his eyes on her since George introduced her to him one morning six months ago when she first arrived. He hadn't been able to stay away or look away. Without even meaning to, she had caught his attention. He knew she felt the connection between them just as much as she did and they had both danced around it for the past six months. What happened two nights ago had been the first time they had come close to doing or saying anything of it and with the way he had felt with her so close, he planned on keep her close and pulling her closer. But he wasn't going to do anything she didn't want and he was pretty sure she wanted it just as much as he did.

He pushed away from the door post and walked towards her.
"I'm off today and you were there when I had the conversation with George."

"About helping out here." She nodded. "I don't know why you want to, I'm perfectly capable of handling things."

"I know you are."

Catherine studied him and frowned when she realized what was going on.
"Is this because of what happened with Parker?"

Ian figured that was the name of the asshole that touched her and his jaw clenched at the thought of him. Ian wanted to beat the shit out of the dude but with his line of work, he couldn't.

"And don't lie to me." Her gaze pierced into him daring him to do otherwise.

"It didn't start out that way. I actually want to help out here but after what happened the other night, it's now one of the reasons."

Catherine let out a breath, thankful for his honesty. She nodded understanding.
"Thanks but like I said..."

"You can take care of yourself." He completed. "Catherine, I don't think I've ever been as mad as I was the other night. I was a kid when my mum died and I was sad but what this Parker guy did made me want to beat the daylights out of him." He took a step closer which was way too close for Catherine to breathe properly.

Catherine knew Ian's story; he grew up with just his mum and she had died which was why he joined the force to help others.

"I'm not a helpless victim."

"You are not and you aren't going to be." He touched her arms. "I'll be right here, where I can keep both my eyes on you."

Catherine couldn't help but smile.
"You sure you're just going to use them to look out for me?"

Ian smiled.
"Oh, I'll be doing a lot of looking."

Catherine's cheeks burned red.
"Got to put these hands to work." She took a step out of his arms which had somehow pulled her closer to his body and if the kitchen was hot, she just got hotter.

"Where do you need them?" She realized the double meaning in her statement and his, she chuckled.

"Over here." She walked to the back with him on her heels.

They both needed work around the sexual tension.

Gina arrived at work that morning and asked if anyone had heard anything from Nina. She was supposed to have been at the house yesterday but she hadn't shown up and she hadn't called Gina to give her an update or picked up her calls. She hadn't arrived at her usual time at work and she also hadn't called in sick or anything which made Gina worry. All she could think was the worst and she didn't like it one bit. She had ask spoken to the manager and asked to leave early to check up on Nina and he had allowed it because they were all concerned at Marco's.

Gina reached the apartment Nina had given an address to a few months ago which she hadn't used before. She knocked on the door but no one answered.

"Hello?" She called as she knocked. She reached the door knob and was surprised when the door opened up. "Nina?" She stepped inside the apartment and scrunched her nose as the smell of alcohol hit her.

"Nina?" She walked through the sea of empty beer bottles and she noticed the bags near the living are. Something felt wrong and her heart skipped a beat at the deafening silence inside the apartment, she shouldn't be in here but she couldn't help herself but worry. She found a door at the end of the hallway and made a beeline to it. She pushed the door opened and as she took a step inside, her breath caught. Nina was spread out on the bed naked, hand and legs tied to the bed. Gina drew in a breath as she quickly made her way towards the side of the bed.

"Nina, sweetheart?" She tried to pry her awake. "Oh darling, what had he done to you?" She winced at the bruises on her body and her face.

Gina quickly untied her and gathered her clothes and shook Nina awake but she was unconscious. Gina tried her best to put her clothes on and called the cab man to help her down the stairs and into the bag. Gina had picked Nina's other bags on the way out and slammed the door. Tom was going to get what he deserved. She took Gina to the hospital and as much as she wanted to call the cops and report the situation, Nina had to do it on her own. And she was going to do it, Gina would see to that.

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Hey there,

Don't forget to drop a comment on when you'd like the rest of the chapters.

My plan was to publish five chapters at the start of every week for the rest of the month but if you all want it at once, let me know.

Love,

J.L. ❤️