of them right now. She’d already had one outburst tonight and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself with another. “Can we talk about this in the morning? I just want to crawl into bed and sleep.”
“Okay,” Quin finally answered. “I can see how exhausted you are. Try to get some rest, honey. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Gray and Pierson sighed but left her room. Eva escaped from Quin’s embrace and gave her a tight hug. “I love you like a sister, Kylie. Please don’t leave?” Eva whispered for her ears alone.
“I’ll think about it.” She released her friend. Quin guided her from the room and she was left alone with Xavier, Lachlan, and William.
Will’s voice drew her gaze. “Kylie, I know you don’t know us, but we’ve been working as bodyguards for over eight years. We can protect you if you’ll just let us.”
“I–I…Shit.” Kylie turned away from three piercing gazes, and even though she was no longer looking at them, she could still feel their eyes on her.
“Think about it, sugar. We’ll talk to you in the morning.” Lachlan and Will headed toward the door with Xavier on their heels. Xavier paused in the doorway, looking at her over his shoulder.
“This isn’t over, baby.”
Kylie sighed and sank down onto the edge of the bed as the door closed. Her mind and emotions were in turmoil. Even though she wanted to stay, she knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. Putting everyone around her in danger wasn’t conducive to her peace of mind in the least.
She undressed and pulled her sleeping shorts and T-shirt on. She knew from past experience that she would have trouble falling asleep. The violent incident was as fresh in her mind as if she had just witnessed the crime, and even though she was exhausted and her head was aching, she knew it would be hours before she finally succumbed to sleep.
She tried envisaging sitting near a brook with birds chirping around her and the sound of water gurgling over rocks but her thoughts were too scattered. She readied herself for another sleepless night, but this time it wasn’t the visions of the crime she witnessed that preoccupied her mind. No, tonight she was surprised that her mind was spinning from the instant attraction she felt for the three Badon cousins. Now that scared the absolute shit out of her!
* * * *
Kylie was typing rapidly, her fingers flying over the keyboard of her laptop as she transcribed medical facts for a doctor. Her hands froze when she thought she heard a muffled shout. Her desk was close to her bedroom window and all she had to do was spin a little and push the curtains aside to see out into the lane beside her apartment building. Her eyes searched the alley until they lit on two male figures. One was very tall and big and the other looked to be thin and gangly. She let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light outside after looking at her bright computer monitor, and when she did, her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.
The large man had pinned the smaller man to the ground, facedown, and had his jeans and underwear down around his ankles. And then she nearly yelled with fury when her brain finally registered what she was seeing.
Kylie’s eyes glanced toward her desk and quickly grabbed her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. When the despatcher answered, Kylie gave her name and address and reported what she was seeing. She was vaguely aware of the dispatcher saying that someone was on the way when the bastard finished raping his victim. Then Kylie watched in horror as he punched and kicked his victim until the smaller man was lying on the cold, hard concrete in the alley without moving.
She had no idea whether she had made a noise to alert the perp, but all of sudden he turned his head and looked up. Kylie couldn’t see his eyes but she knew in her heart that he was looking right at her. There was a low wattage lamp ten yards from where the rapist stood and even though she could see his face, his eyes