Page 35 of Unbroken

He pushed away from the chair and strode into the bathroom, then flipped on the shower.

He turned his mind to Maya as he stepped under the spray, counting down the minutes until he could see her again.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

Dinner was fairly tense. Though Maya was excited to see Aiden after a week apart, she knew something was bothering him. She wondered if it had something to do with the recent case he’d been working. The lines around the edges of his eyes and mouth were tight, and his shoulders slumped slightly forward as if the weight of the world rested on them.

Sympathy seized her as she stared across the table at him. She could only imagine how he felt. She had experienced it firsthand when she was kidnapped, but Aiden did this day after day, dealing with disappointing blows more often than not. She knew the feeling of not helping the victims weighed heavily on him.

Maya wished there was something she could say, something she could do to make it better. But she, of all people, knew how hard it was to accept those words of encouragement. All she could do was stand beside him and silently support him as he sorted through his emotions.

All she wanted to do was go home and show him without words how much he meant to her.

“Are you ready?”

Aiden offered her a wan smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure.”

The bill had already been paid, so she grabbed her purse from the chair beside her, slung it over her shoulder, and stood. Even distracted, Aiden was always attentive to her. He settled one hand on the small of her back and guided her through the maze of tables to the front door.

A small crowd of people who’d just entered blocked the exit, and she stood off to the side, waiting for them to disperse before leaving. An older, heavyset man stared intently at Maya.

She still didn’t like the way people paid attention to her, and she flashed him a quick smile before averting her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t recognize her.

No such luck.

A moment later, he was right in front of her.

“You’re Maya Danvers, right?”

“I…” Her throat closed up, and she was unable to speak.

He didn’t wait for her response as he shoved his phone in her face.

“I’m Karl Nelson from the Tribune,” he greeted. “How do you feel about the trial? Were you pleased with the outcome?”

Maya stared blankly at him for several seconds.

“I… I guess, yeah.”

“Excuse us.” Aiden’s strong, steady voice came from behind her, and his fingers pressed gently into the flesh of her back.

The reporter stepped even closer.

“You testified that he tried to sexually assault you, but you fended him off. How did you manage that?”

She’d been trying so hard to put all of that behind her. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash those dirty details, especially in front of a dozen other people.

Maya could feel their eyes on her, staring, judging, and her skin flashed hot as her pulse accelerated.

“Don’t say a word,” Aiden spoke low in her ear as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She could hear the thread of tension in his voice, like he was trying desperately to maintain his composure, as he directed his next statement to the group of people milling around.

“Excuse us, please.”

Maya quickly scanned the crowd for an opening, but she was trapped. Aiden maneuvered her so she was behind him, partially obscuring her from the group gathered near the doors, but they seemed to surround her, stealing all the oxygen in the room.