He cleared his throat, glanced away, and gave a small sniff. “Love you too, sweetheart. You gave your gramps a bit of a scare this time.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He shook his head and sank back into the chair beside her bed, brushing a hand through his graying hair. Dani pressed the controls, lifting the bed slowly into a sitting position. She gritted her teeth as her bruises protested the movement, but she didn’t stop.
“Ain’t nothing for you to be sorry about, Dani. It was that jackass who took you that’s to blame. He’ll never hurt you again.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, her eyes fixed on his. “For encouraging me to wear the tracker. You were right—like always. It did come in handy.”
His expression crumpled at the edges. “Dani…”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, warm and silent. Stuart reached into the side drawer, pulled out a tissue, and handed it to her without a word.
She wiped her eyes and nodded. “What happened?”
He exhaled long and low. “It was Zayan.”
She nodded, her breath catching. “Yeah, I know.”
“He recognized you; thought he saw an opportunity and took it.”
“He wanted revenge,” she murmured. “He was going to?—.”
Her voice faltered. She closed her eyes, breathed, and pushed her fear away. Zayan would never harm her again.
Stuart looked down at his hands before he gazed back at her, his expression grave.
“I should have seen it coming. I knew what he was years ago. I pulled the security back when I shouldn’t have. I… I got too comfortable.”
“No,” she said firmly, reaching for his hand again. Her grip was weak, but her voice wasn’t. “Zayan made his own choices. We didn’t do this. He did.”
His eyes flicked up to hers, moist but grateful.
She gave him a small, tearful smile.
A shift in the air made her glance toward the doorway—and her breath hitched.
Alexandros stood there…
His eyes locked on hers with such intensity, such raw emotion, it made her chest ache.
He looked wrecked—and beautiful. His dark hair was tousled, as if he had been running his fingers through it. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows and the top buttons of his shirt undone. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept, hadn’t stopped, hadn’t breathed until he saw her open her eyes.
Before she could speak, her grandfather abruptly stood and stretched, bones cracking in protest. He yawned dramatically.
“Well,” Stuart said, patting his belly. “Next shift’s here.”
She blinked. “Wait, what?—?”
He leaned down, kissed her temple, and whispered, “I’ll see you later, honey. Be kind to him.”
Then he turned toward Alexandros with a knowing look, murmured, “Good luck,” and strolled out like he hadn’t just dropped a brick of implication on the room.
The door clicked softly shut behind him.
Dani’s gaze flicked back to Alexandros.
He stepped forward, silent, purposeful.
