Read Protecting Jessyka (SEAL of Protection) (Volume 6) for Free Online Page A

took some deep breaths and tried to stay in the moment. He couldn’t go off half-cocked when Jess needed him.
    When the doctor was done with the exam, Benny sat in the chair he’d originally been sitting in and took hold of Jess’s hand again.
    “It looks like nothing is seriously wrong. You were lucky, Jess,” the doctor said gently. “Your face will probably bruise and you’ll most likely have a black eye. I don’t feel any broken ribs or anything. That spot on your back will be painful for a while, but I’ll get you some pain killers and if you take it easy for the next couple of days, you’ll be able to be up and around with no issues.”
    “She needs to speak with the police before she goes,” Benny told the doctor.
    Benny thought Jess might protest his words, but she merely nodded as if she’d already resigned herself to the inevitable.
    “Okay, I’ll be back with the Sergeant and those pain killers I promised. Just relax.”
    There was silence in the room for a moment after the doctor left. Benny raised the hand that wasn’t clutching hers and brushed it lightly over her forehead. Then her cheek. Then her shoulder. Finally, he brushed each bruise on her neck with the back of his hand.
    “I wouldn’t have let you go back there if I’d known.”
    Jess obviously was on the same wavelength as he was because she responded, “I know.”
    “I hate he did this to you.”
    “I know.”
    “You’re not going back there.”
    “I know.”
    Benny smiled for the first time that night. “Is that the only thing you’re going to say?”
    “Maybe.”
    He got serious again. “I meant what I said tonight. Brian won’t touch you again.”
    Benny didn’t hear her response because a police sergeant entered the little room. For the next thirty minutes Jess rehashed what had happened that night.
    Finally when she was done, the cop asked her, “Can I talk to you for a moment alone?”
    Benny knew what that meant. Like any good cop, he wanted to make sure Benny didn’t have anything to do with what had happened and that it wasn’t actually him that had beaten Jess up.
    Benny saw Jess was about to protest. Needing a moment to get himself together after all he’d heard, Benny stood up and leaned over Jess. He kissed her on the forehead and said softly, but not so softly that the police officer couldn’t hear him. “I’ll be right outside, gorgeous. No one’s getting past me. Okay? Finish up here and we’ll leave.” He leaned up and met her eyes confidently. Whatever Jess saw in his eyes obviously was enough, because she nodded and said softly, “Okay.”
    Benny nodded at the officer as he left the room. Doing just as he told Jess he would, he leaned against the wall outside her room and waited. He closed his eyes, hearing her words echo in his mind. He knew he’d never forget them.
    “He told me it was my fault.”
    “He punched me in the stomach and told me I was ugly.”
    “He wouldn’t let go of my throat even though I was gouging my fingernails into his wrist.”
    “He kicked my hip saying that it wouldn’t matter since I was already a cripple.”
    Benny clenched his teeth and pulled out his phone and clicked on Wolf’s number.
    “Hey, Benny.”
    “Wolf, I have a situation, I need a couple days leave.”
    Wolf’s voice changed from laidback to serious in an instant. “Of course. I’ll clear it with the Commander. Anything we can do?”
    “Maybe. I’ll keep you up to date. Remember Jess, the black haired waitress from the bar?”
    “Of course.”
    “She called me tonight. I’m at the hospital with her and will be taking her back to my place. I know Ice and the others will want to . . . just give me a couple days before you set them loose on us . . . okay?”
    “Of course. Anything we can do on our side?”
    ”Yeah, get with Tex on a Brian Thompson.” Benny gave Wolf his address. “He beat the shit out of Jess tonight, and apparently has been doing it for a while. He has a sister. Her