The Protector (Complete)

Chapter 17

Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you feel like it, let me know what you think.

Greta looked in the mirror. She had thought that she looked bad before the shower, but now she looked worse, just cleaner. She had gotten the dried blood out of her hair and off her body, but it just made the wound on her head stand out more drastically against her pale face. Basically, she looked worn.

She was grateful for the clean clothes Cenek had provided her. The floor-length black skirt and the form-fitting, button-down gray shirt fit her perfectly, something that didn't surprise her. Cenek seemed to know too much about her. He always had.

Gingerly she tried to do something with her wet hair, but it had taken all her strength to wash her hair, and that had been done using only one hand while her other hand had held her ribs tightly. She decided to leave the wet locks lying down her back. It would be the easiest solution for her.

Since she didn't have the dexterity to rewrap the bandages around her ribs, she settled for just holding her side to relieve the pain as best she could. The wound on her head had started bleeding again. Greta grabbed the beautiful white washcloth and pressed it against the wound. It was either ruin the washcloth or bloody her clothes and force her to have to take another shower. The expense of the washcloth was worth escaping another painful shower.

Moving slowly and quietly, Greta managed to check into the suite without waking her two students who were still sleeping like the dead. She didn't begrudge them the ability to sleep. They had been through more than any child should have to go through. They needed to sleep.

Greta needed to contact their fathers. She wasn't really looking forward to that.

She took a deep breath to clear her mind, which only served to remind her of her still broken ribs that needed to be wrapped again.

"Miss Klassen?"

Greta looked at the tall man who had previously been leaning against the wall outside her room. "You can call me Greta. I'm assuming Cenek placed you here."

"He did."

"You'll watch the kids?"

"They're as safe here as anywhere," the man reassured her.

Flashing a brilliant smile that Greta had no idea had most men floundering, she left the now besotted man. She attempted to retrace her steps from last night to the main part of the house, but took three wrong turns before finding the right room. She wasn't sure if she was surprised to see that Cenek was awake already. When he turned around, she realized by looking at him that he hadn't been to sleep that night.

"Good morning, Cenek," Greta said softly as she shifted from one foot to another. "You look exhausted."

"I had a visitor last night."

Her face burned with embarrassment. "Well, the children and I will be leaving today. I just want them to sleep a bit longer."

"You weren't the visitor I was talking about," Cenek reassured her.

"Just where do you think you and the children will be going?" Alexander asked angrily after Cenek kept conversing with Greta.

Greta spun around at the familiar voice. "Mr. Waslow."

"You will call me Alex," Alexander order. His voice rose louder when he finally got a good look at Greta. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Hush," Greta said, putting her fingers to her lips to further drive home her order. "The children are asleep. I don't want them waking up because you're screaming. So talk quieter. There is no need to shout."