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Then he was gone.

At some point, I must have closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw two men who obviously worked for the hotel pulling Karl to his feet. Instead of releasing him, they were practically carrying him against his will to the elevators on the other side of the lobby. It was only then that I noticed the man kneeling on my other side.

The man was handsome, although currently he looked very concerned. “Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked.

My throat hurt and I reached up to touch it. I couldn’t see the damage he’d done; the only thing I could feel was Stephan’s collar.

The man—the one I now realized must have saved me from Karl—reached out to me with a hesitant hand. “It looks like he gripped you pretty hard. Maybe we should take off your necklace,” he said, reaching for my collar.

“No!”

He backed off immediately. “Sorry. I was just trying . . .” He looked around the hallway. “I’m Cal Ross.”

I knew the polite thing to do would be to tell him my name as well, “Brianna,” I choked out. My throat really didn’t feel right.

He nodded. “Do you have a last name, Brianna?”

“Reeves.”

Cal Ross was quiet for too long. He had a strange look on his face. “Anna?” he asked.

I couldn’t speak. I just looked at him.

“Anna Reeves?”

When I didn’t answer him right away, he continued on. “You used to come spend the summers in Two Harbors with your dad, right? We used to play together.”

Then it came rushing back to me. Cal’s father, Neil, and my dad, John, had been best friends when I was little. That had been a long time ago, though. If I remembered correctly, Neil and Cal had moved to St. Paul when I was ten. I hadn’t seen them after that. I hoped that they weren’t still in contact with John.

“I remember,” I whispered even though it hurt.

He must have noticed something was wrong. “I’m sorry. Are you here with someone?”

I nodded, although that hurt, too.

“Can I . . . ?”

He didn’t get to finish. There was a squeal off to my right seconds before I saw Lily.

As she got closer, I saw her face change. I knew she’d seen my neck.

She knelt down beside me. “I came out of the bathroom and couldn’t find you anywhere. Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

It would take a while for my voice to return to normal. I obviously hadn’t fooled Lily.

“And what do you have to do with this, Ross?” she demanded.

I saw his back stiffen and he glared back at her. “I managed to get your sleazy CFO off her before he did any more damage.”

“Karl?” The look on Cal’s face was enough of an answer. She stood. “I need to get Stephan.” He didn’t respond. “Will you stay with her until we get back?”

“I’m not leaving her,” he said as though that was a foregone conclusion.

She gave me one last look and then she was gone. I knew I had to say one more thing to Cal before Stephan got there. “May I . . . ask a . . . favor?”

“Of course you can, Anna.”

“Don’t tell . . . anyone . . . about me.” He looked confused. “I don’t . . . want John . . .”

However, that was all I got out before I saw Stephan rushing toward me. He’d had a very similar reaction to Lily’s, but after a slightly hostile look at Cal, he knelt beside me and hugged me. “Did Karl really do this?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

I felt him cringe at hearing my raspy voice. He placed several small kisses on my head before resting his cheek on my temple and turning to face Cal. “I owe you a thank you, Ross.”

“I didn’t do it for you, Coleman.”

I felt Stephan nod and then he was helping me to my feet. He held me in front of him and took in all the changes in my appearance. His finger gently touched my neck and I knew he must have been tracing the mark Karl had left.

Two men from the hotel suddenly appeared behind Stephan, and I took a step closer to him. One of them whispered something in Stephan’s ear, but I didn’t hear. I was too busy trying to make myself invisible. He said something back to the man, and he nodded. They walked away as quickly as they’d arrived. 

Stephan turned to Lily. “Would you mind retrieving Brianna’s wrap? We’re going home.”

Suddenly, I felt a hand that wasn’t Stephan’s on mine. I looked over to see Cal. His face was hard. “You live with
him
, Anna?”

Stephan’s body was rigid. I felt his hold on me tighten. I felt worn out. I just wanted to go home. “Yes,” I answered him.

Lily returned with my wrap before anything more could be said. She looked like she wanted to hug me, but since Stephan wouldn’t let go of me she instead said, “I’ll call you tomorrow.” 

She went back inside the ballroom, but glanced at us once before disappearing inside. Lily was here with Logan. This was his big night. She had to stay.

Stephan placed the wrap over my shoulders and tucked me under his arm. He surprised me by extending a hand to Cal. “Thank you,” he said simply.

After only a moment’s hesitation, Cal took the hand that was offered. “You’re welcome.”

Stephan gave Cal a final nod and guided us toward the elevators. The relief I felt to be going home was almost more overwhelming than those few minutes with Karl. All I wanted to do was curl up in Stephan’s lap. It was where I felt most safe.

There wasn’t a lot of activity by the elevators, but there were a few other couples waiting with us.

The elevator dinged, but before the doors opened, I heard someone call Stephan’s name. He turned us toward the sound.

The person I saw sent me into a panic faster than I had remembered possible.

I felt Stephan hold me tighter. The man was close enough to touch me! My mind screamed,
Yellow!
But I couldn’t form the words.

“Stephan, I’m so glad I caught you.”

Then it wasn’t yellow anymore. It was red. They knew each other!

“Hello, Daren.”

Stephan

Brianna’s leaving my side with Lily, even for a few minutes, increased my anxiety. I knew now that both Daren and Karl were here. Although I didn’t think either would cause her harm, I was still hoping she did not see them without me by her side.

    Logan found me briefly before he was shepherded away, and I was once again left to my own devices. I spent the time scanning the room.

Daren had been easy to find. He and Gina were standing five tables away talking to another couple. There was no sign of Karl. If he was sitting down, however, I wouldn’t have seen him. Too many people were up milling about now that the music was starting.

I glanced down at my watch. They had been gone for ten minutes. It wasn’t long, but for some reason, my worry increased. I positioned myself so that I was constantly watching the entrance they would most likely use.

My back straightened as I saw Lily. I looked behind her for Brianna, but she wasn’t there. Then I caught the look on Lily’s face. Standing, I quickly closed the gap between us. 

“Lily, what is it? Where’s Brianna?” I demanded.

“She’s . . . Stephan, you have to come. Karl . . .” It was all I let her say before I pushed her aside and almost ran out of the ballroom and into the lobby.

As soon as I arrived in the smaller room, I saw there had been a commotion. Everyone was trying to act normal, but I noticed their eyes continued to glance over to a short hallway to my right. Turning to look in that direction, I saw two figures obscured by a large plant. Only the end of Brianna’s dress confirmed she was behind the greenery. I wasted no more time crossing the space separating us.

What I hadn’t expected to find on the other side of the overshadowing foliage was Cal Ross. The man had been a thorn in my side ever since he’d taken over Ross Builders from his father over a year ago. I leveled a not-so-friendly look at him before turning to Brianna. Her hair had come down a little and there was a large, red mark on her neck. I knelt down next to her. 

Hearing the raspy sound of her voice as she confirmed Karl had done this to her made me cringe. Two members of the hotel’s security decided to pick that moment to check on things. They asked if I wanted the police called, but I declined. The last thing we needed were the police involved. I assured them that since Karl was my employee, I’d make sure the situation was handled. Thankfully, they accepted this, used to dealing with matters of discretion, and left us. 

I pulled her to me and placed several kisses on the top of her head before turning slightly to face Cal. He was watching me closely. I didn’t care.

As much as I didn’t like Cal Ross, I knew that he must have been the one to come to Brianna’s rescue. She wasn’t acting scared of him, which she would have been if he’d just harmed her. He was acting extremely protective of her. That, I had to admit, I didn’t like very much. Offering my thanks to him for coming to Brianna’s aid, I bit my tongue at his curt reply and only nodded. Cal Ross was the least of my worries right now.

I stood and helped her up. My eyes roamed every inch of her. There were red marks on her arms, but they weren’t bad. The main thing was her neck. It was worse than I’d originally thought. Not only was it red where Karl’s hand had been, but there was a deeper, angrier red mark where he’d obviously pushed her collar into her flesh. I took my index finger and traced the line it had left and felt the anger boiling inside me. Karl would pay.

Lily was standing just behind me, and I asked her to retrieve Brianna’s wrap from our seats. She’d been through more than enough tonight. I was taking her home. 

Suddenly, Cal’s hand gripped Brianna’s wrist. He addressed her only. “You live with him, Anna?”

Anna?

A cold feeling ran down my spine. My arms tightened their hold on Brianna. She was mine. Mine until she told me she no longer wanted me. He would not have her.

I only half-heard her answer him as Lily came back with the wrap. All I wanted to do was get us out of there.

As I took the wrap from her hands, Lily told Brianna she’d call her tomorrow. As Lily walked away, my eyes stayed on Ross. No matter my feelings, he’d been there for Brianna tonight when I had not. He’d protected her. I placed the wrap around Brianna’s shoulders and pulled her against my side. Extending my free hand, I offered it to Cal, thanking him again. This time, he reluctantly took my offering.

I moved us to the elevator. The business part of the evening was over and some other couples were leaving as well. Two stood with us waiting for the elevator to reach our floor.

When the light came on above the metal doors, I began to relax. Then someone called my name. Although I wanted to ignore it, I knew it would be impolite to do so. I turned us both around, and saw Daren walk toward us.

Brianna reacted. It was what I’d feared. We had not discussed Daren, or what had happened at the party where he’d seen her. I had no idea what, if anything, had happened between them. It was that unknown that had me wanting to keep them apart tonight. Unfortunately, short of me throwing Brianna over my shoulder and running down the stairs, we were going to have to face whatever demons were lurking there.

My arm tightened around her.

“Stephan, I’m so glad I caught you,” Daren said as he came to a stop in front of us.

“Hello, Daren.” I could feel Brianna’s panic rising, and I wanted to get her out of there as quickly as possible.

My old friend smiled at me. “I’m glad to see you here.” He turned to Brianna and his face fell.

I have no idea what happened concerning him after that. Brianna had all my attention. Her breathing was heavy and unsteady. I could feel her body trembling under my hands. “I’m sorry, Daren, but we’ll have to do this another time.”

Without waiting for his response, I lifted Brianna off her feet and moved us the few yards it took to reach the stairwell. It was the quickest exit, and the one with the least amount of people.

I set Brianna’s feet back on the ground once the door had closed firmly behind us. She fell back against the wall, unable to support her own weight. I grasped her arms to steady her, but that was the least of my concerns. “What number, Brianna?”

She didn’t answer.

Sure she wasn’t going to fall, I let go of her arms and brought my hands up to her face, forcing her to look at me. “Number.”

Still nothing.

Then I noticed that her lips had started to move. No sound was coming out, but I finally realized that she was trying to say ‘red.’ My heart broke for her. I knew that her seeing Daren would not be good, but I had hoped her reaction wouldn’t be this bad.

With steady resolve, I took her into my arms and began whispering to her. Letting her know that she was safe. That he was gone. No one would hurt her. This was the first time she’d reached this level of panic since she’d been in my care, and so it took an unusually long amount of time to calm her. Finally, she began to settle down. Her breathing returned to normal and she was no longer trembling. 

“He won’t hurt you, Brianna. I promise.”

She made no response other than to take hold of my jacket, pulling me closer. I held her for a few more minutes before telling her we were going to walk down the stairs. Still there was silence, but she stayed glued to my side as we walked slowly down the four flights it took to reach the lobby.