Free Silk Over Razor Blades by Ileandra Young Page A

stared. She gazed back,
giving him bland, innocent eyes.
    ‘What’s all this about the
doctor?’
    ‘Tristen suggested it.’
    The guarded look returned to
Ray’s eyes. ‘Did he?’
    ‘He thought it would be a good
idea if I had blood tests and some counselling.’
    ‘I get the counselling. Though
he should have offered you an in-house doctor. You said the man bit
you.’
    ‘Yes. And I bit back.’ She
frowned. ‘You okay?’
    He gazed at his hands. ‘I’m so
sorry this happened to you.’
    ‘It’s not your fault.’
    ‘I’m your father. I’m supposed
to protect you.’
    ‘How? You were miles away.
Please don’t get weird over this. It’s why I didn’t want to tell
you.’
    He nodded, but his eyes gave
away his pain. ‘Let me call the doctor. You lie down.’
    Lenina nodded, not knowing what
else to do. After planting a kiss on his cheek she returned to her
room. Shucking the dressing gown, she crawled beneath the duvet and
snuggled down. When the floor boards creaked a short while later,
she considered faking sleep.
    ‘Chuck? They didn’t have any
appointments for today so you’re booked in for Monday.’
    She uncovered her head. ‘Not
even emergency ones?’
    ‘I tried to explain but the
receptionist said the risks of blood-borne diseases is pretty
low.’
    ‘The receptionist? What does
she know?’
    ‘That’s what I said. So I
talked to a doctor. She said the same thing.’ Ray sniffed. ‘So did
the other three.’
    ‘Daddy . . .’
    ‘If they’re not even going to
look at you today I want to be sure they know what they’re talking
about. The last one gave me a list of counsellors though. I stuck
it to the fridge.’
    ‘Thanks, but Tristen already
offered me one.’
    The bed springs squealed and
compressed on one side. Lenina peeped out of the duvet to watch her
father sit beside her.
    ‘Tristen?’
    Too late she realised the
error. ‘Sergeant Blake.’
    He started chewing his
thumbnail again.
    ‘What’s wrong, Daddy?’
    ‘Am I that transparent?’ Ray
folded his hands in his lap and swivelled to face her. ‘Don’t you
think it’s odd that he came here alone?’
    A creeping warmth crawled up
Lenina’s neck. She raised the duvet to her chin. ‘No.’
    ‘I do. Police aren’t supposed
to do that. Something about safety.’
    ‘Like I’d beat him up?’
    ‘ You wouldn’t, chuck,
but yours isn’t his only case. Policemen work in pairs to protect
themselves and the people they see.’
    ‘Why would I need
protection?’
    ‘Ever heard of police
brutality?’
    ‘Of course, but he was nothing
but nice to me.’
    ‘Too nice.’ Ray leaned over the
bed, causing the mattress to complain even more.
    The warmth progressed to her
cheeks. ‘He was just doing his job.’
    ‘Girls like you don’t see it;
you’re too—’ he waved his hand around, as if to pluck a word from
the air, ‘naive.’
    ‘I’m not.’
    ‘Men like him prey on girls
like you, taking advantage of their position of power. I’ve seen
predators like him before. He practically licked his lips when he
looked at you.’
    Lenina searched for the right
words to disagree. Then she remembered the soft touch of his hand,
the sound of her name falling from his lips. In her mind’s eye,
Lenina saw the deep intensity of Tristen’s gaze as it followed her
through the room. The sexy twist of his smile. She heard the low
rumble of his voice and felt her lower body heat up enough to match
her face. He’d stopped being Sergeant Blake some time ago.
She shook her head, fighting to push it all away. The struggle
resembled trying to shift a house from its foundations with her
bare hands, exhausting and impossible.
    ‘He’s a policeman,’ she said,
hoping her voice didn’t sound as weak as she felt.
    ‘I don’t care.’ Ray’s hands
made fists on the bed, scrunching up the duvet. ‘Don’t see him by
yourself.’
    ‘Don’t you trust me? I’m
getting married, remember?’
    ‘How could I forget?’ He cocked
an