Entangled with the Prince Read online

  Someone walked between them and the connection was lost. Gaelen turned, struggling to pay attention to Scott. It was rude of him and he knew it, trying to push the woman out of his mind. He’d get to her later. Perhaps he’d dine with her. Yes, that could work, he thought. Dinner would allow him to get to know her better.

  With that intention firmly set, he focused his attention on Scott and the issues he’d face at the bargaining table tomorrow.

  Savannah sighed with relief when she kicked off her heels and slipped into her sneakers. “Oh heaven!” she whispered.

  “Long night, huh?” Debbie, one of the other waitresses, commented as she moved into the employee locker room.

  “Yeah. Long and tedious!” she replied. But incredibly profitable! The tall man at the corner table had left her a two hundred dollar tip! In cash, no less! They’d spent only a hundred dollars on four drinks and he’d still left her that incredible tip! Wow! She wondered what it would be like to have money to throw around like that. And it was all in cash, so even better! She could go grocery shopping tomorrow and not have to worry about pulling money out of her perilously depleted checking account! Oh, the little luxuries! Yes, life was pretty darn good today!

  “See ya next week,” Debbie waved as she grabbed her purse from her locker and headed out the massive steel door that led to the employee parking lot.

  “See ya, Deb!” Savannah called back.

  For a long moment, Savannah leaned her head back against her locker with her eyes closed. Just for a moment, she promised. There wasn’t a great deal of time to relax here in the locker room since the last bus of the night would arrive in about five minutes. But this…just a moment’s peace and quiet after a long day was another one of life’s little luxuries.

  But only a moment, she told herself as she opened her eyes and pushed resolutely away from the lockers. Standing up, she stifled the groan as her feet protested. “You can do it!” she whispered to her feet encouragingly. “Just fifteen minutes and we’ll be home.”

  She pushed through the steel exit door, ignoring the pangs of protest in her arms, and stepped into the night. It was past midnight and she’d been up since five o’clock this morning. She’d worked the breakfast shift at the diner a few blocks from her house this morning and she had about four hours until she needed to be there again for today’s breakfast rush. “Just three more weeks,” she whispered, smiling. “Then you’re on easy street.”

  The scuffling behind her didn’t register until it was too late. Before she knew what was happening, a strong hand grabbed her upper arm. Her initial thought was the big guy from earlier tonight, the one at the corner table. In that flash, she wondered about the two hundred dollars he’d tipped her, wondering if she’d misunderstood the man’s generosity, if it was actually for additional expected services. “What…?!”

  Before she could finish, she was slammed back against the wall, her head smacking painfully against the bricks, making her head spin.

  “Not so fast now, are you, little lady?” a guttural voice snarled.

  Savannah opened her eyes and look around, half expecting to see the man with the scar and the horribly sad eyes. But it wasn’t him and, for a stupid, crazy moment, her heart soared. It wasn’t the man at the corner table at all! Was he…?

  “Gonna twist my fingers now?” he growled, his thigh slipping between her legs and pressing…hard!

  Savannah gasped at the pain in her head and where his leg was pressing against her groin. “Who are you?”

  His face twisted with rage. “Oh, so you don’t even bother to remember who you assault, is that it?”

  Huh? Who was…?! Then his words clicked. “You grabbed me earlier?”

  “Yeah!” he yelled, spraying spittle and alcohol fumes into her face. “You twisted my fingers, lady! You embarrassed me in front of my coworkers!”

  “You grabbed me!” Savannah came back furiously, terrified but determined not to let this cretin know. “You assaulted me and you’re angry because I defended myself?”

  “I pinched your butt, you bitch! You didn’t need to humiliate me!”

  She snickered, livid now. “Oh, so it’s perfectly okay for a man to assault a woman, but if she fights back, she’s a bitch?”

  Savannah twisted her hands, gaining just enough room. Without warning, she twisted her body, slamming her elbow into his ribs. “Back off!” she yelled, then followed up with a kick that nearly sent him sprawling. Her heart was racing so fast, she wasn’t sure if it would actually stay in her body.

  “You bitch!” the guy groaned as his face slowly turned red and he hunched over. He glared up at her for a long moment, then slowly, as if in slow motion, toppled to the ground.

  She heard someone else yell, then registered the sound of feet running towards her.

  Terrified, she turned and braced herself, ready to face the next threat. This time, it wasn’t just one man. Instead, there were five big guys and one giant.

  “Are you okay?” the giant asked, moving slowly towards her with his hands out, palms up.

  “What do you want?” she asked, fighting sudden tears. He was the guy from the corner table! The guy she’d been fantasizing about all night. She had pushed away the pain and exhaustion from her mind all evening by thinking about this man, weaving dreams of his kindness and sexiness in her mind. Now, she was faced with a different reality. Was he going to hurt her too?

  No way! She wasn’t going down! She’d fight him and all of his men!

  “The police are on the way, namur,” the giant explained, his voice soothing.

  “The police?” she squeaked, staring at him as if he were speaking a foreign language.

  “Yes. We were coming out of the building over there,” he explained, pointing to another steel door, “and we saw what was happening. The police are on their way. We saw everything.”

  There was groan as the man on the ground tried and failed to get to his feet. One of the men holding a gun, kicked the guy on the ground. There were several grunts of approval from the other gun-wielding men. Savannah refused to take her eyes off of the giant in front of her, correctly recognizing that he was the biggest threat.

  “Are you okay?” the huge man asked again, not moving closer, but not moving away either.

  “I’m fine!” she snapped, shifting so that she was away from the brick wall, needing an escape route. “I’d be better if you’d step back.”

  The man moved back a step, but no more.

  “We’ll tell the police what happened,” the big guy repeated, his voice soothing her frazzled nerves slightly.

  At that moment, she heard the sirens in the distance and cringed. “I don’t need the police,” she said.

  “That guy attacked you,” the giant repeated, frowning with confusion. Why hadn’t she noticed how tall he was earlier?

  Because he’d been sitting down, she thought. “I’m fine,” she lied. In reality, her head really hurt, but she suspected a couple of aspirin would fix that. And sleep. She wanted sleep! Damn it, she had to be at work in, she glanced at her phone and sighed, less than four hours!

  Unfortunately, the police car, along with screaming sirens and flashing lights, skidded to a halt right behind the line of men. Savannah noticed that the men had already holstered their weapons and one of them approached the police officer. He looked to be explaining things to the officer and Savannah suddenly felt like crying.

  “I just…” she whispered, looking down at her attacker, who was no longer writhing on the ground, but instead was sitting up, his hands secured behind his back. How and when had that happened?

  “You’re going to pay for this,” the man spat, glaring up at Savannah. “You have no idea who I am! I’m going to get your ass fired! I’m going to sue you for everything you’re worth.”

  Savannah rubbed her forehead, suddenly aware of how badly her head ached. “Yeah, well, that’s not a whole lot.”

  The police officer approached Savannah. “Are you all right, ma�
��am?”

  “I’m fine,” she told him. “Nothing happened here.”

  The officer glanced over at the man on the ground. “An assault in progress was called in.”

  The big guy looked at her and Savannah felt her stomach clench. The disappointment in his eyes was clear and, for some reason, that really stung. Did he think she was a coward? But…she rubbed her forehead, trying to figure out what the right thing to do when all she wanted was a couple of aspirin and some sleep. “Fine! Yes! He…” she waved her hand towards the guy on the ground, “he grabbed me as I came through that door.”

  The big man continued to stare at her, hands fisted on his hips. Savannah frowned at him, daring him to contradict her statement.

  But he remained silent. Silent and disappointed.

  With another huff, Savannah turned to the police officer. “He pinched my butt earlier tonight in the bar where I work. I didn’t like being pinched. It hurt. So, I twisted his fingers to get his hands off me. Apparently, he,” she gestured to the guy on the ground, “didn’t like his fingers being twisted. So he waited for me out here. When I stepped through the door to go home, he grabbed me, slammed me up against the wall and…” she paused, swallowed hard as reality hit home, “…he was going to rape me. At least, that was what I’d feared. So, I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow and then kicked him.”

  The police officer stared at her for a long moment, then grinned. “Damn, I’m impressed!” He chuckled, then frowned, looking at her carefully. “Are you okay? Are you hurt in any way?”

  She ignored the increasing throb in her head. “I’m fine,” she lied again.

  “The asshole slammed her pretty hard against the brick wall,” the giant countered, his arms crossed over his chest. “She needs to be checked for a concussion.”

  Savannah choked on her horror. “Checked out” meant a trip to the hospital. Unfortunately, hospitals were extremely expensive! “Nope! I’m fine! No need for a doctor!”

  She kept her hands by her sides, trying to ignore the increasing pain in her head and failing. She swayed slightly.

  “She’s bleeding,” the giant announced. He stepped forward, his hands gentle as he touched her head, those long fingers moving up her neck. Savannah couldn’t stop the shiver of awareness that went down her spine. The heat seeping through her from his touch startled her.

  “Ouch!” Savannah flinched when his fingers touched on a spot on the back of her head.

  The man pulled his hands back and they were both startled to see blood on his fingertips.

  “She needs an ambulance!” he announced, turning to the officer. Another police car had arrived and two officers were lifting the furious man to his feet. At the giant’s furious announcement, both officers and the guy turned their heads.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The giant turned her around and she heard another sound. “I’m pretty sure she’s concussed and she has some pretty bad scrapes on her back and shoulders. She’s bleeding through her shirt.”

  Savannah turned, trying to see over her shoulder, but a sharp, stabbing pain in her head stopped her. She closed her eyes as she waited for the pain to ease.

  “You need a doctor!” he growled softly.

  “NO!” she whispered emphatically. “I can’t afford a doctor right now!”

  The man’s mouth softened and his eyes…no, they didn’t soften. They looked just as determined as before. “Trust me,” he replied back, his gruff voice softened slightly.

  “I don’t even know you,” she countered, suddenly struggling to breathe. He was so close, she could feel the heat from his body, smell the spicy aftershave, and see the shadow of his beard. He looked savage and sexy and, for some strange reason, safe.

  “I’m Gaelen,” he replied. “At your service.”

  She laughed, then cringed again when another stab of pain hit her. She waited for it to subside, then carefully opened her eyes once again. “I’ll be fine.”

  The giant…Gaelen…shook his head. “I’ll make sure that the guy who attacked you pays for the hospital visit. But you really do need to see a doctor. I think you might have a concussion and you probably need stitches too.”

  “No!” she gasped, reaching behind her. Unfortunately, her fingers encountered a wet mess. When she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood. “You jerk!” she hissed, glaring around the giant man at the guy who attacked her. He was being loaded into the back of a police cruiser and wasn’t looking nearly as furious. In fact, he was looking a bit worried. And slightly green.

  The giant man chuckled and she felt his hand on her waist. “Let me take you to the hospital.”

  She shook her head. “No. Seriously, I can’t afford an emergency room visit and I have to be at work in,” she checked her phone, “three and a half hours!” She closed her eyes, wishing that she hadn’t been so careless when she’d stepped out of the building. “All I want is some sleep!”

  “I guarantee that the man who assaulted you will pay for, not only the emergency room visit, but also your lost wages for your job tomorrow and a few other incidentals.”

  Savannah started to laugh, but stopped quickly because her head really was hurting now. “I appreciate your confidence, but I really…”

  “Just trust me,” he repeated, as his driver opened the door to the nearby gleaming limousine.

  Five minutes later, Savannah was ushered into the emergency room. Someone must have called ahead because there was a wheelchair waiting for her. “I can walk,” she told the nurse.

  “It’s a safeguard with head injuries,” the nurse replied with a polite smile.

  Savannah sat down in the chair, resigned to the full treatment. “I’m fine,” she told the nurse.

  “That nasty gash on the back of your head says otherwise.”

  Savannah couldn’t argue with that. Especially since she had no idea what the back of her head looked like. Plus, her shoulder was really starting to sting. She wanted to look at that spot, but the pain in her head was pretty overwhelming right now.

  She allowed the nurse to bring her into an examination room. A doctor was already there, waiting for her.

  “Looks like you had a rough night,” the doctor commented, gently examining the gash at the back of her head. “I’d like to get…”

  “No!” Savannah gasped. When she looked at the woman, she sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t afford any expensive tests. In a few weeks, I’ll have money and health insurance. But right now, I only have the bare minimum.”

  The doctor smiled gently. “I promise that your insurance, even the bare minimum, covers catastrophic care like this.” She wrote something on the chart. “CT Scan and then let’s clean up the gash, see if she needs stitches. The arm scrap should be okay, I’ll prescribe some antibiotic ointment. The nurse will clean out the wounds.” The doctor smiled reassuringly at Savannah and walked out of the exam room. Over the next hour, Savannah was poked and prodded and put through a huge machine for a scan, all the while, praying that the hospital accepted payment plans. Yeah, the big guy had said that she shouldn’t worry and the doctor had assured her that even her minimal insurance would cover the expense. But Savannah lived in the real world. And in her world, she’d have to spend many hours fighting with the insurance company, convincing them that they needed to cover the costs of this hospital visit…only to have them eventually push the costs to her. Savannah was powerless in this world and insurance companies…they had all the power.

  A long time later, she was wheeled back into the exam room, exhausted and discouraged and in so much pain, she almost felt sick. Then Gaelen stepped into the room next and the pain disappeared. Savannah swallowed hard as he came closer.

  “You’re not to worry about the expense. It’s been taken care of,” he told her, his voice like rough sandpaper. In contrast, his thumb, when he touched her cheek, was gentle and soothing. “I promise. We’ve already called your employer and told him what happened. He said don’t worry about coming in
on Saturday or Sunday.”

  Savannah groaned. “I’ll be fine. Plus, I need the money.” She whispered that last part, ashamed to admit it to a man of obvious wealth. “I know that probably isn’t something you have to think about. But I count pennies. If I go two days without pay, I won’t be able to pay my rent.”

  His eyes darkened and his thumb caressed her cheek again. “My lawyer has already contacted Mr. Brisbane. The man will pay for what he did to you tonight.”

  “Brisbane?”

  The man smiled. “John Brisbane is the name of the man who attacked you. He’s an investment broker at one of the big firms here in town. He’s pretty well off and is going to pay heavily for what he did to you. I guarantee that my lawyers are more shark-like than anything Brisbane can afford.” Gaelen’s thumb slid over her cheek again, sending more sparks of awareness, his hazel eyes dark and sparkling with barely contained fury. “I’m going to destroy him.”

  Savannah’s hand crept up, covering his. She’d thought to move his hand away from her cheek, but instead, she pressed his hand against her skin. “You’re a dangerous man, aren’t you?” she asked softly.

  “Yes,” he replied honestly. “But you don’t have to fear me. I’ll protect you.”

  She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Then she inhaled and sat up straighter, ignoring the pain in her head. “I can protect myself,” she replied firmly. “And I need to go.”

  The doctor reappeared with a nurse, the nurse loaded down with supplies to clean Savannah’s wounds. “We can’t release you until a relative arrives. Someone who can watch over you tonight.”

  The nurse moved behind Savannah and started cleaning her head wound. Whatever the woman was doing, it felt really good!

  Then the doctor’s words penetrated and Savannah blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Why do I need someone to watch me? I’m fine.”

  The doctor shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ms. Harmon, but you have a concussion. Someone needs to wake you up every few hours to ask you a few questions to ensure that you are okay.”