After 3

Chapter 237.

Songs for this chapter are:

All of me- John Legend

Dreaming with a broken heart- John Mayer

Heartbreak warfare -John Mayer

Hardin's POV.

"Get off of my floor," I say to Richard and nudge his thigh with my boot. I'm beyond pissed off and this whole mess is his damn fault.

"I'm sorry," he groans, attempting to lift himself from the floor, within seconds he winces and slides back onto the concrete. The last thing I want to do is lift his pathetic ass up off of the floor but at this point I'm not sure what else to do with him.

"I'll put you in the chair but you aren't sitting on my couch, not until you take a shower."

"Okay," he mutters and closes his eyes as I bend down to lift him. He's not as heavy as I expected him to be, especially for his height.

I place him onto the chair and he wraps his arms around his torso, "What now? What am I supposed to do with you now?" I ask him quietly.

What would Tessa do if she was here? Knowing her, she would run him a hot bath and make him something to eat. I'm not doing either of those things.

"Take me back," he suggests. His shaky fingers lift the collar of his torn t-shirt, my old t-shirt that Tessa let him keep. Has he been wearing it since he left here? He wipes the blood from his mouth, lazily smearing it down his chin and into the mess of thick hair there.

"Back where?" Maybe I should have called the police when I first entered the apartment, maybe I shouldn't have given Chad that watch.. I wasn't thinking properly at the time, all I could think about was keeping Tessa out of this.

"Why did you bring him here? If Tessa would have been here.." my voice trails off.

"She moved out, I knew she wouldn't be." He strains. I know it's hard for him to speak but I need answers and my patience is running thin.

"Did you come here a few days ago too?"

"I did, I only came to eat and shower." Richard pants.

"You came all the way here to eat and shower?"

"Yeah, I took the bus the first time but Chad," he takes a breath and howls in pain before shifting his weight, "he offered to bring me here but he turned on me when we got here."

"How the fuck did you get inside?"

"I took her key,"

Her key? Why didn't she notice? She always notices shit like that.

"From the drawer," he points toward the kitchen. A spare key, that makes much more sense.

"So let me get this straight, you stole a key to my apartment and thought you could just come here whenever the hell you want to take a shower, then you bring some fucking junkie to my house and he beat your ass in my living room because you owe him money?" How did I end up in the middle of an episode of Intervention?

"No one was home. I didn't think it mattered."

"You didn't think, that's the problem." I am completely out of my element here. My first instinct is to drag him by his arms out our -my apartment, and leave him bleeding in the hallway. I can't do that though, because I happen to be desperately in love with his daughter and by doing that I would hurt her even more than I already have.

"Well, what should we do know? Should I take you to a hospital?" I scratch ay my chin.

"I don't need a hospital, just a bandage or two. Can you call Tessa for me and tell her I'm sorry?"