The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 88

She stopped halfway up the block, completely at a loss. She had no idea where she should go and she was so exhausted her eye was beginning to twitch, the pain from her head becoming too much to continue.

She began to panic, breathing heavily in the center of the sidewalk as the crowd flowed around her, and she realized she was about to faint, was going to pass out on the street with only a phone and no ID, with no one that cared sure of where she was. She was losing her grip on reality, it was slipping wetly through her hands, and she thought she saw Jove approach her, swore that it was his face among the crowd.

"Jove," she muttered, and the blackness returned more heavily, more aggressively, blanketing her beneath it.

She woke up in familiar sheets, immediately recognizing the plush, high thread count of the bed she and Jove had shared over the past week in his high rise nearest to the office. She sat up with a start, grasping at the comforter atop her.

"Easy, easy," came Jove's voice from her right. "The doctor just left. You have a concussion."

Kat turned to him, both surprised and unsurprised to see him there, to be where she was.

"How did you find me?" she asked weakly.

"Kat, you somehow ended up on the same floor as the attacker before anyone else knew about it, including me. Then you ran away. I'm not stupid, I had you followed."

Kat nodded, caught.

"And it's a good thing too," Jove continued." You literally passed out into my arms, you would've just been on the sidewalk."

Kat nodded again, processing more slowly than she'd like.

"Can I have some water?" she croaked, and Jove handed her the full glass that was waiting for her on the nightstand.

"Take these," he said, handing her three pills. Ibuprofen and anti-nausea," he said when she hesitated. "You're gonna be ok."

She took a tentative sip of the water then gulped it, far more dehydrated than she realized. She placed all three pills on her tongue then took another large swallow, settling back into the pillow.

"I'm tired," she confessed, and Jove crossed to her, helping her settle back into a more comfortable position and then tucking the duvet around her.

"Just sleep," he instructed. "We'll talk in the morning. You need to sleep."

Kat obliged instantly, slipping into darkness for the third time that day with sounds of the explosions still ringing shrilly in her ears.

Kat woke to gentle sunlight filtering in through the penthouse windows. She heard the rumble of Jove's voice, reaching out to feel his empty, still warm place in bed next to her and realizing that's what had woken her up, that she was no longer sleeping with him.

"Thanks again," she heard Jove say, then the door shut.

She sat up to look at him across the open floor plan, finding Benoit's breakfast tray balanced on one hand. He set it on the kitchen island then turned to her, simultaneously grinning and grimacing once he realized she was awake.