Chapter 5 NOBODY TOUCHES WHAT IS MINE

The two of us sat in silence. I didn't know what to say, or rather, what he expected me to say. His jaw was clenched and the flickering lights outside cast shadows over the sharp angles of his face.

My heart was beating fast and my mind was racing, playing what had just happened in the bar over and over again. I had not expected things to escalate as quickly as they did. I wrapped my arms around myself, chills all over my body, but not from cold. My fingers were trembling.

"You should not work in a place like that," he said, finally breaking the silence. His voice was low, but I could hear the controlled anger in it.

I didn't know what to say to him. I looked at my fingers to avoid his gaze. How could I explain to this man that I knew nothing about, that working in a place like this had been my only option, my only way of surviving?

"I'm fine." I said under my breath. The words felt like a lie.

From the corner of my eye, I saw his head turn in my direction and I finally looked up to meet his gaze. He was still angry and I wondered why he cared so much about something that didn't have to do with him. "You're fine?" He repeated as though what I'd said had offended him.

I winced at the tone in his voice, but I didn't say anything, afraid that I would say the wrong thing. I turned to look at him again, he was staring at me without saying anything. The way he looked at me like I was something that he was trying to figure out.

"Didn't you get the job at Lancaster today?" He asked.

"I did." I answered simply.

"Then what are you doing working here? Do you need a second job? Weren't you offered enough money at my company? Tell me so that I can do something about it so you never have to work in this place again." I don't know if it was in my mind, but I could hear the protective edge in his voice. I could not tell if that had something to do with me, or if this was how he would react with anybody else in my situation.

"Today was my last day. I had to work today so I could get my last paycheck." Something that I was certain I wouldn't be getting now after everything that had happened.

"That's good. I don't want you here anymore."

"You didn't have to help me out. Thank you." I said quietly. I knew I should probably leave his car and find my way back inside to get my stuff and leave, but something told me he would not let me get back inside.

"Yes, I did." He said simply under his breath.

"I have to go back in there to get my things. My purse is in there and my phone and keys are there too." I told him.

He looked at me and shook his head. "Wait here." He said and left the car before I could protest. A few moments later he appeared with my purse and sweater in his hand and he was in conversation with the man that he had come to the bar with. I watched as they both shared a conversation and then he came back to the car.

He handed the stuff over to me and then he started the engine.

The events that had occurred in my life in the past twenty-four hours were so much that my brain struggled to come to terms with it.

Although he had started the engine, the car did not move. He turned to look at me, a stern expression on his face.

"Nobody is allowed to touch you like that again. If anyone does, you tell me and I'll kill them."

***

HAYDEN

For the second time that day, I was once again parked in front of her shabby apartment building, but this time, she actually knew I was here.

She had been quiet the whole ride here, giving me directions even though I didn't need them, but she didn't have to know what. She was visibly trembling beside me and that made me angry, but not at her at that fucker that dared to touch her. I wish I could go back and end him, the only thing that saved him was the fact that we had an audience, else his blood would have been all over the wall.

It was not like me to get involved in things like that. I was nobody's saviour, but when I looked up to find his filthy hands on her, the killer in me came to the surface. It was like he was touching what belonged to me and I could not stand it.

But she did not belong to me. I barely even knew her, I didn't even know her name, but somehow I wanted her. She looked so innocent, so pure-a total contrast to me, but I wanted to taint her with my darkness.

"What is your name?" I asked to stop myself from having those weird thoughts.

"Cassidy Jenkins." She said softly.

"Cassidy Jenkins." I echoed. The name fit her very well, I could not explain it.

We were both silent for a few moments before she unbuckled her seat belt and turned to look at me.

"Thank you for helping me and for the ride, Mr. Lancaster." She told me.

Mr. Lancaster the way she said it caused something to rise in me as the image of her saying it while I was buried deep inside her flashed in my mind, but I pushed it away. It felt wrong, forbidden to be having such thoughts about a woman I had not even known for up to a day.

I nodded in response to her statement and she quickly got out of the car and walked hastily to her apartment almost as though she was running away from me... smart girl.