That never happened.
She lost track of time, but when she caught herself organizing the magazines in chronological order, she’d had enough. She left her room and went looking for him.
The gym sat at the far end of the base, and the scent of the rubber flooring and sweat hit her as she approached. She stepped toward the opening and stopped.
Archer sat alone on the floor near the mirrored wall, back straight, forearms resting on his thighs and his eyes closed. The reflection of his expression almost made her look away—it was more intense, focused inward in a way she’d never seen on him or anyone else.
Even in stillness, power radiated off the man like a storm locked behind gates.
Not wanting to interrupt his private meditation, she inched back.
And backed into a solid chest. A puff of surprise burst from her, and strong hands steadied her by the shoulders.
She looked up at Rome. Without a word, she latched on to his arm and dragged him away from the gym into a storage closet.
She spun to face him. “Did I do something wrong?”
Rome blinked.
When he didn’t respond quick enough for her, she blurted out, “Everyone is acting weird. Archer is acting weird.”
Rome studied her for a long second. “You know there’s only so much I can tell you.”
She wrapped her arms around herself as the chill of the base penetrated the thick sweater she wore. “Can you tell me if the world outside was blown to smithereens? Because I can’t get out and I can’t see out, and I’m losing my shit!”
“The world is intact. Your family is safe.”
“Then why is everyone acting strange? There was some kind of meeting earlier. You all looked like you were planning to singlehandedly invade an entire continent. I know whatever happened in that room affected Archer.”
She didn’t know why she was confiding in Rome. He was a complete stranger to her—she didn’t even know his full name. But who else was willing to listen to her right now? Maybe it was the fact she picked up a big brother vibe from him.
His gaze grew even sharper. “You notice more than people think.”
“I’m a woman. Our survival is based on context clues and body language.”
“Fair enough.” A reluctant smile touched the corner of his lips and vanished just as quickly as it appeared. “We’re investigating some events. That’s all I can give you.”
It was not all he could give her—but it was all he was willing to. He wasn’t going to spell out what happened in that war room to send Archer into isolation. But pressuring Rome would get her nowhere.
“Good news is you’re going home tonight.”
The words should have thrilled her. Instead her stomach plummeted with a new heaviness.
“Or maybe not good news for some—” Rome broke off as if he’d said too much.
She narrowed her eyes. “Why not?”
The silence stretched on until she wanted to shake him. “Is this about Archer?”
He gave a single shake of his head.
“Rome.” His name dropped from her lips with an edge of warning that her siblings never could hide from. But he remained silent.
“Rome, I swear to God if you don’t tell me what’s going on—”
“He has feelings.”
For a moment she forgot every word in the English language and a few foreign cuss words picked up on the Chicago streets too.
