Afterward, he’d brought her back to her apartment and had his physician give her a once-over. Nothing serious, thank God, but disturbing all the same.

Now it was time for him to go and leave her alone for the night. Hell, it had already been morning for some time. Only he couldn’t seem to make his feet head out the door. He’d already walked away once, and that had made his stomach turn over with queasiness.

After his time with her earlier, after seeing how her orgasm transformed his world, he couldn’t turn his back on her now. He still wanted her, even though she wasn’t sure what she wanted.

Kate glanced at the clock. “Liam, thank you. For everything. It’s way past late. You should go home. You’ve done enough.”

Had he? It didn’t feel that way. He never should have left her alone. He should have stayed, pride be damned. “How are you feeling?”

“Numb.”

He joined her on the couch, taking a moment to look around her living room, noting the lack of secure locks and cracked old window frames. “We need to get you to a more secure location.”

She let out a giggle. “You sound like the dude on Hawaii 5-0.” She ran a finger over one of the red blooms on the chintz couch fabric.

“I’m serious, Kate. You’re not safe here.”

Once again, quiet fell over the room, long as a church service on Christmas Eve. Twice she was about to speak, but each time she said nothing. She simply took turns staring at her lap and staring at him, and he’d never felt more anxious.

What the hell was happening here? This woman was destroying all his resolve. After her slip of the tongue, he’d decided to walk out the door and not turn back. Give her time to decide what she wanted. But he’d only managed to pace up and down her street for the better part of an hour, wondering if he could fix things between them. Sure, he’d come on really strong, but they’d both been caught up in the moment. He’d walk away, forgetting that he felt at home with her.

Home.

Hell, any sense of home he’d ever known had been skewed, but in being with Kate, in breathing the air around her, he’d finally felt it.

He acknowledged he could have, should have, handled things better, but his desire had overwhelmed him. The moment he’d declared his intentions, he’d abandoned common sense, and became oblivious to the gentle rules of courtship. He’d only known red hot need. He’d returned, hoping to make things better, only to find that bastard Vaughan in Kate’s unit. He’d wanted to tear the big ape to pieces. But right now it was more important to help her.

“Kate, you told the police your dad owes that man five thousand dollars.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll give you the money.”

“No, you won’t. It’s my problem, not yours. And it’s not your fault my family tree is a diseased one.”

“It’s a drop in the bucket for me. I want to.”

“I said, no.” She narrowed her good eye and her warm hazel gaze frosted over, hardening her face.

“But I want…”

“You want, you want! Is that how you operate? By browbeating people to accept what you want? Well, I don’t work for you and I don’t have to listen to you. And I certainly don’t want you to give me money to pay off a crook.”

“And if that shit tries to hurt you again?”

“Look, Liam. I appreciate the gesture but all my life I’ve failed in distancing myself from my father’s addiction. I’ve fucked everything up and I need to be strong now. He’ll come up with the money. He always does. He may be down right now, but before you know it, he’ll be flashing the cash around again. I’ve seen it all before. And that man tonight was not the first person to demand money from me.”

Liam had to close his gaping mouth. “You’ve had creditors come after you before?”

“It’s not a big deal. They’ve shown up at my door many times. This was the first one to hit me, but others have made threats. They come to nothing. This guy will disappear like the rest once my father pays him back.”

“And if he doesn’t?” He knew he sounded angry but he couldn’t help it.

She didn’t reply.

“Kate, talk to me.”

She stared into the distance, as if recalling unhappy memories. When she spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper. “I don’t like going there. All my life, I’ve known my dad was no better than a thief and a cheat. But he’s never left me holding the ball. Sure, he’s played the blame game and begged for cash, but he’d never put me in real jeopardy.” Now she really did look like a little girl, one who still believed her dad would keep her safe, if only in this one, small way.

It made Liam sick to think about that kind of pain. “He put you in jeopardy tonight.”

“I’ve dealt with disappointment before,” she replied, still in that sad, quiet voice. “I’ll deal with it again.”

He reached for her hand, but the phone rang and stopped him short. She vaulted off the couch like a gymnast.

Thank God someone chose to call because he was on the verge of doing something stupid, like claiming her lips again. He could just envision his tongue coaxing her mouth open once more, tasting her. Dismissing his ridiculous fantasy, he watched as she answered the phone.

“Hello?” She paused and frowned. “Hello?” Liam could almost see the chills skittering down Kate’s spine now.

“Who’s there?” she cried, and then dropped the phone.

Liam jumped to his feet grabbed the handset. He shouted at the person on the other end. “You even think of terrorizing her again, Vaughan, and I’ll have you killed, you hear me, you sadistic asshole?”

As he slammed the phone back into its cradle he heard a man’s dark laughter. He turned to Kate, shocked his reaction would be so violent. It made no sense. They barely knew each other. But the shattered expression on her face was one he didn’t want to see ever again. For the first time that horrendous evening, she began to cry. And seeing those tears made his stomach pitch.

“I hate him,” she said on a breath.

“He’s a crazy fuck.”

“No, not him. My father. I hate him.”

His chest rattled with a strange pain. Her words broke his heart. And before he stopped himself to analyze exactly how much it bothered him to see her cry, he gathered her into his arms. At first, she stiffened as if to protest, but within seconds she let out a deep sigh and relaxed against him. Arms wrapped around her, he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Home.

Her body yielded under his hands and he resisted the urge to explore her curves. God help him, he’d already memorized her shape but he wanted to learn it anew. He spread his fingers, loving the roundness of her hips and soft dip at her waist. She dressed like the girl-next-door, but he realized he’d gladly spend a great deal of money to dress her in a flowing gown or silky lingerie, something to compliment her offbeat beauty. She deserved it.

“I hate him so much,” she whispered against his collarbone.

Her words brought him out of his reverie. That was it. “Kate, you’re staying at Vice. I’ll put you up in a suite there.”

“Vice?” She pushed away, horrified. “I can’t stay there!”

He wanted to shake her and hug her at the same time. He settled for putting his hands on her shoulders so she had to look him in the eyes. “Look, I know how you feel about my casinos, but there you’ll have my security keeping an eye out for you. You’d be safer there than to stay here and take your chances with Scarface.”

“If I stayed at Vice, I’d be a total hypocrite. How can you suggest it?”

He let out a sigh. “Just think of it as a fancy hotel. I know it’s not ideal, but we are very good at being discreet. You’d be safe there, and you’ll have everything you’d need. I can arrange a car to take you to your meetings or wherever you need to go.” He smiled. “And you already know my security team. Some of them are pretty fond of you.”

She held his gaze, ignoring the joke, shaking her head. “Why would you help me. I mean, after the way you left…after what I said earlier?”