28.

                                    

                                          
Ryker's POV
When I woke up, Amira was still glued to my side. I was getting deja vu from the morning before. I smiled down at her sleeping form and kissed the top of her head before gently ruffling her hair. 
I frowned as I recalled how she ended up here to begin with. Why was she so scared last night? There's nothing and no one in this house that would cause a breakdown like that. 
Amira suddenly stirs, letting out a large yawn as her eyes flutter open. 
"Good morning, Angel", I tell her quietly.
"Good morning, Ryker", she whispers back. God my name sounds so good when she says it, especially in her morning voice.
I sigh as my thoughts change direction. I know what I need to ask. I need to know what caused her panic last night so that I can help prevent it from happening again if possible.
"Hey sweetheart. If you can talk about it, can you tell me what happened last night? If not, that's okay. Don't push yourself.", I coax her gently. 
She hesitates, looking me in the eyes, before she looks away and stares off into space. I'm almost convinced she's not going to tell me at all until she begins speaking.
"I just had a bad dream...", she pauses. "The worst part of it was being helpless.", she pauses once more, swallowing hard. 
Amira continues but this time there is a slight tremble in her voice. "Earl held me back and forced me to watch as he killed you." 
I feel a sharp pang in my chest. She's crying over me? 
"I tried to call out to you, to warn you, but you couldn't hear me." She whispers, her voice cracking.
She stops again, a sob erupting from her chest. My heart breaks a little more for her with each sniffle. "And then we were back in the kitchen where you got shot and you were really dead that time...", she finishes trailing off that time. 
I have one question for her. "Who is Earl?"
She stiffens at the name, a slight tremor running through her body. 
Oh. "He's the guy who... hurt you." I stop myself from saying what he really did to her, not wanting her to relive it again.
She nods, her bottom lip quivering, as if she is holding back unshed tears.
My blood boils at the thought of someone forcing themself on my Angel. How could anyone want to ruin someone so pure? It pisses me off how no one realized and stopped it. If Duke hasn't already killed him, I'll do it myself. 
For Amira's sake, I calm down, lest she thinks I'm mad at her.
An idea pops into my mind before I speak again. 
"Amira, sweetheart, I promise you are safe here. This time there is no one who even knows about this safe house to tell Duke. You don't have to worry anymore." I pause hesitantly before telling her the important part.
"If it's the feeling of helplessness causing your fear, I think I can help you."
She nods at me as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. 
"I can't currently teach you because of my wound, but Malone would be happy to teach you self defense. That is, of course, only if you would like to learn." I inform her.
"Yes", she says hoarsely, as her face relaxes. Her relief was evident in her eyes.
I feel relieved as well. If Amira can master some basic self defense, she will be safer if Duke tries to come after her again. Which he definitely will. Hell, he's probably already doing it now. 
"Now that that's settled, let's go get some breakfast. I had Malone run by the store so we have some options today. How about pancakes?" I ask
"Yea that sounds good."
....
We sat at the island today so we didn't make a mess with the syrup for the pancakes on the couch.
I learned a little bit more about Amira while we ate since we weren't silently watching tv today. Apparently she was a senior in high school and nearly 18. Her birthday was in a week and a half, which gives me little time to plan anything special for her. She was a cheerleader and a track athlete, along with her best friend Tiffany. 
When she said Tiffany's name her face fell slightly. When I asked her what was wrong she explained that she had been kidnapped from Tiffany's party and that her friend was probably worried sick. 
I assured that when this was over, she would see her friend again. Everything could go back to exactly how it used to be. That sent a weird feeling to my stomach. Would the end of this madness mean I would never see her again? I didn't dwell on the unsettling thought for too long. We still had time to figure things out.
Then Malone walked into the kitchen. He fixed a plate and grabbed a few pancakes. 
"When you get done, meet me in my office.", I told him.
He nodded and continued eating. 
When Amira finished, I told her to go change into a set of the spare clothes madison had brought for her when she went home. I also showed her the home gym so she could begin stretching.
I then took Malone into my office and began instructing him. 
"I will be busy for most of the day. I'm going to be working with several ranking officers to figure out who all exactly knew the location of the compromised safe house. Then I hope to at least narrow down the possibilities, if not find the rat in our ranks."
He nods,"What do you want me to do boss?"
I smirk at that. "Long story short, I want you to teach Amira self defense."
He looks a bit confused at my answer. "Why now? I mean she's still recovering from a suicide attempt."
"She may need the training in coming days, it would have served her better had she had it when I got shot. She could've defended herself from Ian without me then." I say.
He nods. "I'll go start then." 
He exits my office and shuts the door behind him. I flip open my laptop with a sigh, popping my fingers and then my neck. God this is going to be a long day.
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Let me know how you guys liked this chapter! I'm going to try to write more this week to distract myself from post breakup depression lol. 
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