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Ashley kept driving, somehow managing to keep her truest emotions in check. She glanced over at Tobey as she braked for a red light, relieved he was actually curled up on the passenger's seat and asleep, for once.
As the light changed to green, she caught a glimpse of her bare arm as she continued on her drive. Matt had left a welt on her flesh from grabbing her earlier in the night. She winced, knowing full well it would darken later on.
She blinked, her eyes feeling horribly grainy. She'd been driving for hours, and she was exhausted. She certainly hoped she was almost there. At least she was now - finally - in the right state.
The blonde sniffled as she consulted her small piece of paper for the address. She'd never been to his home before. He lived in Texas, in a pretty modest ranch-style house, as she discovered. She compared the address on the paper to the one etched on the front of the neat house in front of which she was now idling. This was indeed it.
The diva snatched up her cell phone, instantly dialing his number. She supposed it was kind of silly, but she was practically asleep on her feet, and she needed help.
"Hi... I'm here. I'm right outside."
In moments, the familiar and comforting presence emerged from the house. She let out a big breath of relief, her eyes closing. She unlocked her door, and he opened it for her on the outside.
"Ashley?"
And that was when the tears finally came free.
"Oh, don't cry," Carlito said helplessly. He moved as though to hug her, but she avoided it and shook her head.
"Not now," she murmured, gesturing to the interior of the car. "Tobey. Help me get him and my stuff in the house."
The young man eyed her with tender concern but instantly snapped into action. While she picked up the tiny puppy, he grabbed her suitcase from the backseat. The two then headed for the house in silence.
Only when they were inside with the door closed and locked did Ashley allow herself to cry again. After releasing Tobey to the floor, where he instantly began to sniff around, did she throw herself into Carlito's arms for a hug. The dumbfounded man held onto her, allowing her to sob against him.
He felt a surge of anger bubbling up inside. Matt Hardy had hurt her again - that much, he knew. But he wondered exactly what the other man had done. The first time Ashley had run away from him during the night, he'd slapped her. Somehow, he sensed that tonight had been considerably worse.
After long, long moments of her crying and them holding one another did he finally find his voice.
"Ash, what happened? What did he do to you?"
The blonde raised her head and eyed him tearfully. It embarrassed her to tell anyone about Matt's abuse, especially him. It made her seem weak, and that was the last way she wanted Carlito to see her.
"He came home furious... I was asleep. He woke me up yelling about Lucas - his dog."
The young man nodded. He, of course, knew all about the Lucas situation. Amy Dumas had reclaimed her dog. He'd been there and had seen the redhead and her boyfriend get him.
"He got rough with me when he knew for sure that Lucas was gone," Ashley went on. "He got grabby and pushy, and I decided I couldn't accept that. So, once I knew he was asleep, Tobey and I got the hell out of there."
Carlito kept his firm gaze held on her blue eyes. He felt a mixture of emotions now, the sympathy trying to overtake his anger. He was glad she'd called him and come here. He would protect her.
*
Amy smacked her lips together, her eyes slowly opening. She'd been asleep for some time, with Adam laying right beside her, so she felt disoriented as she realized her cell phone was ringing.
The device was on vibrate, but she could still hear it - and see it's brights display - at her left side on the nightstand. Groggily, she reached over and picked it up, squinting at the unrecognizable number displayed. She flipped the phone open.
"Hello?"
There was a beat of silence, but she could detect the distinct sound of someone breathing on the other end.
"Hello?" she said, louder and more clearly.
"Bitch!!" came the feminine voice shrieking in very loud response. Then, a click signaled that the person had hung up.
The redhead frowned as she stared at the cell phone. She flipped it closed slowly, only then realizing her heart was pounding in triple-time. What the hell...?
"What was that?" Adam asked sleepily beside her. He turned over from his back to his stomach, his eyes barely open as he looked at her.
Amy opened the phone again, pressing a button. She wanted to take a look at the number the person had used to call her.
"A crank call... Maybe," she replied.
Suddenly, the blond man was wide awake. He sat up and peered at her with concern.
"Oh, no... Not again!"
His girlfriend eyed him almost defeatedly.
"I'm afraid so, babe. All I heard was a woman's voice scream the word 'bitch.'"
The Canadian ran a hand through his mussed blond hair. That didn't sound good. He sighed, knowing that
at this rate, he was going to have to take matters to court. If she didn't stop harassing Amy, he would have
no other choice. But a simple restraining order wouldn't prevent that psycho from calling his girlfriend's cell phone
number.