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“Those weren’t cigarettes,” he reminded his cousin ruefully. “You should have tried some of it.”
Sebastian snorted. “I knew what it was. Just like I knew you were smoking cigarettes on the side. Let me catch you again and I’m telling Alyssa.”
Shane turned his gaze to the entrance of the patio. They’d been there two years before when Alyssa had lain so near death. This hadn’t been her room at the time, though. Her room had been upstairs according to the information they’d had at the time.
“We didn’t protect her well,” Shane said softly, the weight of the guilt tightening his chest as he saw the mistakes they’d made. “She’s right; we should have come to her.”
“We didn’t understand the bond we shared then any more than she did, Shane,” his cousin reminded him. “Hell, had you ever felt anything like that with anyone else?”
He hadn’t. Neither of them had. He knew both their parents had been driven crazy by them after he and Sebastian had met the first time, at five years of age. They’d become inseparable the summer Shane had spent at the hacienda. It was like being reunited with a twin.
Still, it hadn’t been the same. What they’d shared with Alyssa was damned confusing to both of them. If one of them took her while the other had been gone, then the other had known the second it began. Like a sixth sense, their Alyssa sense. They’d had no idea how deep it went until the tenth week after she’d left Spain.
They should have known what they were feeling. First her pain, like waves of burning agony rushing through their senses, then an agony that pierced the soul, ripped apart what little was left of it, only to leave them in a void filled with such aloneness that it had been agonizing.
And through it all, every day of every second apart from her, Shane had sworn he could feel her tears, could feel her reaching out for him. The confusion, the hurt, the feelings of betrayal all made sense now, though it had taken years to begin to understand it. And only in the past days were the full ramifications of it making sense.
As he was lost in his thoughts, it took the slam of the office door to shatter them and have him swinging around to meet Senator Hampstead’s furious gaze.
Davis Allen was enraged. A scowl marked his expression; his normally light gray eyes were dark, the color shifting like thunderclouds building to a storm. The dark blond hair, cut to a conservative length, wasn’t as neat as normal, and the moment he saw Sebastian and Shane he looked ready to explode.
“Davis.” Moving from the sofa where she’d sat, Landra rushed to her lover, causing him to pause to embrace her as she whispered something at his ear.
Whatever it was, it didn’t ease the look of fury, but at least he wasn’t glaring specifically at them anymore.
“The doctors are still in with her,” Landra told Davis as they began moving the last few feet to where Shane and Sebastian stood at the French doors, just a few feet from the door leading to Alyssa’s suite. “She struck her head. I heard Dr. Brennan mention leaving the nurse to make certain she rests for the next forty-eight hours. He’s certain she’s concussed.”
“Don’t bet on that,” the father snorted doubtfully. “I have yet to know of Alyssa listening to the doctor’s advice.”
Sebastian turned his gaze back to the other man suspiciously. “She requires medical care often?” he asked carefully.
Alyssa’s father spoke as though from much experience with having her treated by the doctor.
“You can shutter that look right now, young man,” the senator demanded, obviously less than pleased. “Alyssa’s had no more accidents than any other young woman with her reckless tendencies. She climbs ladders in pumps when she knows better without anyone close by in case she falls. If a ladder’s not handy she’ll climb up on a desk, a chair—”
“A table, or a windowsill,” Shane muttered, pushing his fingers through his hair as he shot his cousin an exasperated look. “And here you said she’d stop being so foolish when she got older.”
Sebastian shrugged easily.
“When she grew up?” the senator suggested, his voice heavily laced with warning sarcasm. “Is that what you meant?”
“Davis, you promised,” Landra reminded him gently.
“Then make them promise not to rub my nose in what they did to my daughter!” he snapped. “I had enough of seeing that child hurt the night I walked into her living room and found her bleeding to death from the knife shoved in her side.”
Khalid’s muttered, furious curse was low but heard. How the hell any of this was his business Shane couldn’t figure out. For some reason, Mustafa was taking an inordinate amount of interest in Alyssa’s past. According to Sebastian, his nosiness was only getting worse.
“Davis, now isn’t the place,” Landra whispered, her gaze flickering to the group Khalid stood with.
Grimacing, the senator reined in his fury. “Ian.” He nodded to the other man. “Thank you for helping her. You know how stubborn she can be.” He wiped his hand over his face tiredly. “What the hell happened anyway?”
“Someone tried to run her down in the street,” Landra said, fingers tightened on Davis’ arm, before Ian had a chance to speak. “It was horrible, Davis. It was all caught on one of those cameras Khalid’s bodyguard was wearing. The SUV was racing for Alyssa. I’m certain it would have hit her. Then suddenly Shane did this little flying thing.” Her hand gave a whirl as she stared at the senator. “And he had his arms around her, throwing both of them clear of the vehicle. Then it turned to attempt to run her down again.” Brown eyes wide, her black hair a soft cloud around her face, and her expression animated, Sebastian watched the senator stare down at her as though mesmerized. “Khalid’s body guards drew their weapons and the driver sped away instead.” She gave a little shudder. “Of course, Alyssa was cursing Shane for carrying her into the house, once they arrived here. And everyone was just rushing in behind him.” Her amusement was clear. “The poor thing. She’s very upset that anyone witnessed what happened.”
Everyone watched her with the same interest they had watched the video the bodyguard had taken when Khalid played it for them. Her son, Jeb, tilted his head thoughtfully, and glanced at the senator. “She’s my mother and she makes me feel very old. Do you ever have that problem?”
“Give her time,” Davis snorted. “Though I suspect Alyssa will see me in my grave before too much longer. The last time Dr. Brennan was here she’d fallen from the desk in her office while trying to change a lightbulb. My chief of staff was furious, certain she’d broken her leg.” He rubbed at his head with both hands for a second. “She only twisted her ankle, bruised her shin, and strained the tendon beneath her knee.” He looked slightly confused. “I think the broken leg might have been less complicated and actually kept her out of trouble longer.”
“Davis was quite put out with her,” Landra stated as the senator rubbed his hand absently over the fingers tucked in the opposite arm. “Two weeks later, his chief of staff, a lovely young man he calls Raeg, found her balancing at the edge of the windowsill in the conference room attempting to clean the ledge over them. The windows are actually taller than her.”
