Page 29
“Rafe? When did you get here?”
Her hand came up and patted his cheek, her fingernails trailing down the side of his face before she smiled at him.
“Mmm, you smell good,” she slurred.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. Her brows puckered as if she didn’t have any idea and it was a very difficult question for her to answer.
“I… I can’t remember. ”
“I’m taking you home!”
Rafe was furious. What was she doing at a club on a Friday? And how had she allowed herself to get into the position she was in? If it wasn’t for him being there, she’d be getting violated at that very moment. This was why she should just accept his generous offer. It seemed she wasn’t able to protect herself on her own.
He strode to his car and set her on the front seat where she quickly passed out again. With an angry turn of his wrist he pulled out his phone and sent Shane a message, to let him know the minute the guy was arrested. He wanted to make sure the scumbag was locked up for a while, and hopefully never able to do this to another woman.
Rafe started driving toward his home, then changed his mind. He’d never taken a woman there and he wasn’t going to start now. With a jerk of the wheel he turned down a side road and reversed the car, heading in the direction of her apartment.
When he pulled up to her address, his eyes narrowed in disgust. Why would someone choose to live in such a crappy location? She was being paid well at her job. She should’ve moved out by now. He knew she had expenses, but a safe place to live should’ve been at the top of her priority list.
Luckily, she was wearing a strappy purse which was still hanging around her neck. He searched it and found her key, then lifted her into his arms and carried her up the unstable staircase to the second landing, where he found her doorknob on the dark front porch. It took him a few tries before he managed to get the door open.
His disgust grew at her shabby, small living area which was sparsely furnished. He laid her down on the couch as there wasn’t a bed in sight, then picked up his cell phone and dialed his private physician. The respected doctor said he would be right over, though the man paused when Rafe listed the address.
Rafe would’ve paused too. While he waited for Dr. Malroy to arrive, he searched her tiny space, only taking a few minutes. Her fridge was pretty much empty, her cupboards bare, and her toiletries scarce. No wonder the woman was too skinny. She obviously didn’t know how to take care of herself. If anyone could benefit from being his mistress, it was her. She’d get a whole lot more out of their arrangement than he would. He couldn’t understand her repulsion to it.
At the very instant she agreed, he would move her into a beautiful condo, where she’d have plenty to eat and not have to worry about money – not even after he was done with her. He paid his mistresses a nice settlement when their services were no longer needed, making sure they were still taken care of long after he tired of them.
His second call was to his assistant who assured him he’d have her fridge and cupboards stalked within a couple of hours. Rafe wanted her to come to him – he just wasn’t going to leave her in her current conditions while he waited for the inevitable acceptance.
Rafe sighed in relief at the knock on her door. He opened it and let the doctor in, who raised his brows at Rafe in question. Rafe didn’t bother explaining, just led the man to the couch so he could examine Ari. It didn’t take Dr. Malroy long to diagnose the problem.
“I won’t know for sure until the tests are confirmed, but it looks to me like she received a dose of some kind of date rape drug. The person most likely slipped it in her drink, causing her exhaustion and hypnotic state. More often than not it causes an almost amnesiac effect, causing the victim to not remember anything from the night before. ”
Rafe’s rage rose to dangerous levels. That man who’d had her in his arms had drugged her and planned on doing who knew what with her, before dumping her somewhere where she wouldn’t remember a thing.
Once Rafe was done assuring himself Ari would be okay, he planned on making a visit to the would-be attacker. He had many friends at the police station who wouldn’t have any problem turning their backs while Rafe got one good punch in – maybe two or three.
“Does she need to be admitted at the hospital?”
“It doesn’t look like she got a dangerously high level, but you need to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night. If she looks to have any trouble breathing then you need to rush her to the E. R. , but they can’t really do any more than give her the same medications that I have with me. Some victims have been known to die from a bad reaction to the drugs, but she should be showing signs at this point. ”