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“Are you okay?”
“What did I say about worrying about us?” he asked, though he didn’t seem upset. “Do me a favor, okay? Hang on to Silas for me. Or to Victor. Whichever one you want. Just hang on to someone until I can get there. I’ll try to get to you as soon as I can.”
“When?”
He chuckled. “Not soon enough. I don’t know though, okay?” He paused for a moment. A voice rattled off in the background behind him. “Kota says he’ll come see you soon, too.”
“Tell him I say hi,” I said.
“He says hi back, and brush your teeth. And go back to sleep.”
“Is he serious?”
“Yes. Brush your teeth.” Pause. “We’ve got to go, Baby.”
I was going to say goodbye but North hung up before I could. It had me shaking again. He’d never hung up on me like that before. What got his attention now? Why was he working so late?
“What did he say?” Victor asked.
“He said stop worrying so much,” I said quietly, still pondering why North had to hang up so quickly. I straightened, knowing I wouldn’t get the answer then and there, and probably never would. Academy secrets. “Kota told me to brush my teeth.”
Victor rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, I don’t understand him.” He moved to the sink, snatching up a white toothbrush from a silver cup. He held it out to me. “Do you want to? You don’t have to.”
I held out my hand for the toothbrush, curious and amused now after Kota’s suggestion. “If you don’t mind girl cooties.”
Victor smirked. “I’m vaccinated.”
I swished my teeth with only a droplet of toothpaste. The surprising part was that brushing my teeth woke up my senses enough that I felt I was shaking off the dream. I stared at Silas and Victor behind me, my eyes widening in surprise at how I felt better.
They both sent curious gazes back at me. I spit in the sink so I could talk. “How does Kota know so much?”
“Sometimes I think he’s not human,” Victor said.
I replaced Victor’s toothbrush. Silas picked up a towel and handed it to me. “Are you okay to sleep, or do you need anything else?”
“I’m kind of not ready to sleep for a while. Like ever.” A shiver swept through me, catching me by surprise so I wasn’t able to hide it.
Silas frowned. He took the towel from me and dropped it on the sink. He held out his arms. I thought he wanted another hug, but he scooped me up around my butt and picked me up off the ground. He half turned to Victor. “We can’t leave her too scared to go to sleep.”
Victor nodded. “Yeah. Sang, we’re going back to sleep. Silas, get her in there. I’ll help.”
“How?” I asked.
Victor’s fire eyes smoldered. “You’ll see.”
“Master Morgan?” a female voice broke through. It started me enough that I trembled against Silas. “Is everything okay?”
Silas turned until his side faced the doorway, giving me an opportunity to see the plain girl from earlier. She focused solely on Victor and seemed to ignore Silas and me. She wore the same outfit from earlier and looked tired. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail but some strands cradled her face, looking a little disheveled.
“We’re fine,” Victor said. “Sorry. Did we wake you?”
“I was up,” she said. “I was doing some last minute things.”
Victor waved her off. “Don’t stay up so late. But we’re fine. Thanks.”
The girl’s face seemed to soften. She gave Silas and I a side glance, and the softness vanished until there wasn’t any readable expression. She retreated, heading back to the hallway.
Was she really just up so late? I again wanted to ask Victor who she was, but I got the impression she was a maid or an assistant. Was she supposed to be on the lookout for Victor? How many more people worked for the Morgan family? He had mentioned security. How many people watched over him?
Silas carried me out into the bedroom. He didn’t let go until we were near the bed. He lowered me carefully, as if I were a fragile doll and he didn’t want to break me. I wanted to let him know he didn’t have to be so gentle, but it was really sweet, and I didn’t have the heart to ask him to do it differently.
I knee-walked across the bed, heading toward the middle again. Silas got in next to me.
Victor drifted to the piano. His fingers brushed against the ivory. His face betrayed his deep thinking. He sat at the bench, swinging his hands back and forth over the keys as if trying to decide which ones to press first.
I relaxed on my side, drawing a finger to my lip, nearly holding my breath.
Victor began.
I’d heard a lot of piano music over the years. I had a fondness for a few modern composers, putting their own spins on classic tunes and new symphonic music. I thought I’d heard lots of great musical talent. I had a collection of discs from musicians I loved and thought of someday trying to play those same tunes on the violin or piano. I thought they were all amazing and at the pinnacles of their craft.
I was completely dead wrong about everything I thought I knew about music.
Softness. Soothing. Beautiful. It was everything those fire eyes often expressed to me, but I sometimes didn’t understand. The music gave his passion a voice.
His eyes never left his fingers, but he wasn’t really focused on them, either. He seemed to know the soft melody by heart. I didn’t recognize it, but it reminded me of a dream.
I listened, willing myself to stay awake long enough to hear all of it. The music was beautiful and Victor was alluring himself. I didn’t want to miss a moment.
But Silas’s hand sought out my back, and he rubbed in a gentle motion. It was like he knew I was forcing myself to stay awake and he wasn't going to let me resist Victor’s lullaby.
???
A sharp barking woke me. It was distant, and in the few moments I’d forgotten where I was, I wondered if Kota had replaced Max, his Golden Retriever, for a tiny ankle biter dog.
As my eyes fluttered open, I remembered I was still at Victor’s. Victor was on his side, with the blanket stuffed around his body, buried in sleep.
Silas was gone. I wondered if he was out in the office or if he’d left.
The barking dog continued, drawing closer. I stretched, moving across the bed to the window. I leaned over, planting a palm on the windowsill to hold myself up and pulled aside the curtain.
I couldn’t see the sidewalk below because of the wall, but I could sense the location of the little dog. The owner must have been walking him because they stopped just under one of the palm trees. The dog was barking in such a conniption, I wondered if it had spotted a cat or another dog.
“Arf, arf, arf.” I yipped back at it.
“Princess,” Victor grumbled behind me. “Please stop barking at the neighbors.”
I snickered, letting the curtain fall back. Victor had turned around, eyes half open. A sleepy smile spread over his face. He opened his arms up in invitation. His chest was bare and his lean muscles flexed as he reached for me.
I knee-walked over to him, falling into his hug. He tugged me down until I was relaxing next to him. His arms wrapped around me. His fingers found my ribs and traced across my bones just like how he slid his fingers against the keys. I wondered if that’s why he often traced my ribs like he did. Did they remind him of piano keys?
He pressed his face to my hair, nuzzling at my head. “I could get used to you spending the night over here. We should do this more often.”
I rubbed my cheek against his chest. My fingers smoothed over the Red Sox shirt I wore. “What are we doing today?”
“God, you sound like the rest of them,” he said, though I felt his lips curling upward and I could tell he was grinning. “We’re a bad influence on you. First thing in the morning and you want to get up and get going.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re not sorry.” He inhaled against my head, stretching. “I’ve got to go switch out our phones. But t
he first thing we’re going to do is stop by the spa.”
“The spa?”
He nudged me. I sat up. He swung his feet out until he was on the floor. The pajama pants he wore hung low on his hips. He stretched his bare back, and the lean muscles stood out against his body. He rubbed his fingers against his spine. “Crashing the car last night is getting to me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. Just stiff.” He glanced back at me. The fire in his eyes lit up to a spark. “I love the way your face looks when you’ve just woken up.”
The compliment caught me off guard, and all I could manage to do was stare at him. His own face was always good-looking, with the angles of his jaw, and the way his wavy hair framed his face. Now he had a light layer of unshaven shadow, and his eyes weren’t fully open, making him look peaceful, happy. I wanted to say this to him, but I couldn’t find the right words. My lips parted, wanting to say anything, until his eyes locked on mine and I couldn’t find my voice.
