I had texted Andrew when to expect us. He was waiting inside the front door as I opened it. He hid his anxiety well, but I could feel it down the bond. I sent back reassurance as Bridget and I came inside.
“Welcome,” he said to Bridget, keeping his voice low. I noticed he kept his distance from her, too, like he didn’t want to overwhelm her. She was close by my side.
“I’m so sorry for intruding. I know it’s crazy for me to be here—”
“Please don’t apologize. We are… I don’t want to say happy to have you because I hate that you’re dealing with all this shit. But we’re grateful you came to us,” Andrew said.
“Thank you,” Bridget said, keeping her eyes down.
“And I don’t want you to worry,” Andrew continued. His anxiety spiked even more, and an uncharacteristic blush stained his cheeks. “I will be a perfect gentleman while you’re here.”
“Yes, carrissima, I will make sure of it. Or he will pay dearly.”
She looked up, her cheeks also red. “I know. I… trust you. As crazy as that might be.”
Warmth spread through my chest, an echo of Andrew’s relief and pride.
“Are you hungry, tesoro? I have too many pastries, and I beg for you to help me eat some of them before you go back to sleep.” I gestured with the bag in my left hand. I’d left the cold coffees in the car to deal with later.
Bridget shook her head. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“The guest room is this way,” Andrew said, beckoning her to it. “It’s nothing special, but we can go get some better blankets.”
“No, I’m sure it’s great. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“It is no trouble,” I reassured her. “But we will worry about that later.”
The guest room was large enough for a king bed and had its own ensuite bathroom. The white down comforter and crisp sheets had never been used.
“We’ll be here if you need anything,” Andrew said. He stayed outside the room as I placed Bridget’s bags on the dark wood dresser.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.” She collapsed on the bed, still wearing my coat. I pulled it off her shoulders.
“There is nothing to repay,” I said, then brushed a strand of golden hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. She closed her eyes briefly. “Now rest.”
As Bridget slept, Andrew and I placed a grocery order. Andrew was the better cook, but he was out of practice since we had Maria to prepare most of our meals. We’d been ordering takeout, but that had to stop. We needed to minimize contact with outsiders until we knew who was targeting her.
I could make one thing, though. My nonna’s marinara could cure basically anything, so I planned on making it for dinner.
Andrew went to get the groceries and left me to research the clinic.
I hadn’t bothered to look into Dr. Davis before, but now I did. His background check was clean, but I hadn’t suspected anything different.
I found a few news articles about the study. None of them mentioned Bridget by name, but a press release announced proudly that there was an Omega on the research team.
Lisbeth Nielsen, the head researcher, was also clean, as was Nathan Manalo.
Anvi Lakhani was a different story. She had a juvenile record for breaking and entering. I made a note to get the sealed records that would detail her arrest. Had the detectives already found out about this? We needed to share information.
I was absorbed in my work, looking at the tax filings for Davis’s clinic, when Bridget emerged from the guest room. She had slept for about two hours and had a bit of her color back.
“La bella addormentata. How are you feeling?” I put my laptop aside and patted the couch next to me. Bridget hesitated for a moment, then joined me. Her delicate scent had mellowed.
“Hungry,” she said, and her stomach growled. “Do you have any of those pastries left?”
“Of course. I will bring you so many pastries you can eat until you are full as an egg.”
As I walked to the kitchen, Bridget asked, “Full as an egg?”
