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“Jerry. I’m the building’s maintenance man,” he says and takes my hand. His grip is much stronger than I expected, and I grin at him. With a nod in our direction, he heads down the corridor to the stairway.
“Well, are you going to invite me in?” I ask Devin as she continues to stare at me wordlessly.
She blinks a few times before heading to her apartment and leading me inside.
She stops just inside the door, under the archway leading to what looks like her living room.
“Where did everything go?” she asks, more to herself than anyone else.
Looking over her shoulder, I ask, “Where did what go?”
She walks further into the room. Pacing back and forth from one end of the room to the other and back. Her head swivels, looking around, taking everything in. She waves her hands in the air, muttering to herself. Her breathing picks up. Her eyes go wild, and a flush roots itself in her cheeks. Tears pool in her eyes, reflecting the lights in the room, when her terrified gaze falls on me. “Everything. All the pictures, they’re gone. They came back while I was gone. They were here … again. Wha-What if they’re still here?”
I step up to her, crowding her space, and grip her shoulders. Caressing my hands up her neck, I cup her face. I lean in and capture her lips in a gentle, reassuring kiss. Leaning back, I wait for her to meet my eyes again. “I promised you that you’d be safe with me. I meant that. Go stand by the door, and I’ll have a look around and make sure the only people here are you and me. Okay?”
She nods, her head still in my hands, and I place another kiss to her forehead before letting her go. “Good girl.” This time, when a flush crawls up her neck to her cheeks, it isn’t terror or stress. No, this is a blush. Someone likes being praised. I file that information away for later.
Devin walks to the front door and picks up her umbrella, holding it like a bat in front of her chest. I smile at her and reach into my bag to pull out my gun. “Now, wait there,” I remind her and head deeper into her apartment.
Starting at one end of the loft, I check her sleeping space under the bed, behind the curtains, and the makeshift closet. I find the bathroom next. The space is open and there’s not too many places to hide. I flip the curtain to the side to check in the old French-style tub, and behind the solid wood, folding privacy screen. I walk through the open loft space between the kitchen and living room, not finding anyone hiding under any tables or behind any furniture. “There’s no one here but us. You can lower the pointy weapon of doom,” I tell her as I approach the front door.
“Did you check under the bed?” she asks, slowly lowering her umbrella.
“Yes, little lamb. I checked for monsters under the bed.” This time, I don’t hold my amusement back and let it bubble out of me.
She slaps my chest and gives me a stern look. “Don’t laugh at me. It was a legit place to check.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her in for a tight squeeze. “I know. I’m sorry I laughed. I want you to feel safe. Yes, I checked under the bed, in closets, and in the shower. There’s no one else here. I promise.”
Her hands fist in my shirt at my sides, and she buries her nose in my chest. “I do feel safe. Right here feels safe.”
I could stand here forever, holding her in my arms. I take a deep breath and regretfully let her go. “Let’s make this place feel safe again, too.”
She smiles up at me and lets my shirt go with a nod.
I set to work installing an alarm system that’s wired into my own private security firm, so I’ll get a direct notification if it ever goes off. I add alarms to each window and the door. Adding extra locks on the inside of the door as well, so she’ll feel extra secure while she’s home. All the while, we converse idly about our likes and dislikes.
“Favorite color?” I ask her as I screw the nail into the door that will hold the chain housing.
“Spring and fall.”
“Spring and fall aren’t colors.”
She chuckles, and my heart skips a beat at the sound. “Sure, they are. They’re the ultimate rainbow of colors. When the world is painted in every color imaginable.”
“Now you sound like Dante.” I reach into my bag and pull out two small cameras and look around for the best vantage point of the front door.
Devin hops in place, clapping her hands together excitedly. “My turn, spiders or snakes?”
“Snakes, I honestly hate spiders. Too many fucking legs for my liking.” Deciding higher is better, I choose the highest shelf right inside the door. Looking back, I point to the step stool she has at the entrance to her kitchen. “Can you hand me that step stool?”
She brings me the stool and rests her back against the door, her eyes fixed on me with her arms crossed over her chest, creating a tempting crease I long to run my tongue through before using that tight space to—
“Fuck,” I whisper to myself and louder to Devin I say, “You might want to take a step to your right there, little lamb.”
She shoots me a confused glance but doesn’t argue as she drops her arms to her side and takes one step to her right. That tempting vision now just a vivid memory, I’m able to clear my thoughts enough to remember what I was supposed to be doing.
“My turn to ask a question. You’ve been in New York for what, a few months now? How did you land this sweet-ass loft?” I ask, praying like fuck I didn’t overstep and offend her. Stepping up on the stool, I have to stretch my arms over my head to reach the shelf I plan to mount the camera too.
