His lips curved upward briefly and then straightened. “You would’ve climbed into Hammer’s vehicle and acted normal, maybe even laughed and joked. The whole time, you would’ve held onto the doorhandle, tempted to test whether or not it would open. I could’ve been wrong, but I thought you’d prefer a nice walk in the fresh air instead of a tense ride in a careening vehicle you had no control over.”
They walked another block before Cate slipped her hand back into the crook of his arm. “You’re making this hard.”
Draco shot a glance down at her. “Making what hard?”
“Not liking you,” she whispered.
A laugh escaped Draco, easing some of the tension that had been a constant since he’d reentered Cate’s life. “That’s my goal, sweetheart. If you keep me around long enough, I’ll say something stupid, and we’ll be back even.”
“You’ve already done something stupid,” she commented.
“I’ve made a lifetime of saying stupid things,” he said.
“Until you didn’t say anything at all,” Cate said, her hand dropping to her side. “That was the stupidest of all.”
Her words lay between them like a body at a murder scene. He couldn’t miss the meaning.
Draco stopped walking.
Cate kept moving two steps further before she realized he’d stopped. She halted beneath a streetlamp and turned, her chin up, her eyebrows cocked, daring him to make excuses.
Draco shook his head. “You’re right.”
When her lips parted, nothing came out, as if he’d shocked her with his agreement.
“It was a dick move,” he said. “I had a week to gather my shit, chuck what I couldn’t take, collect belongings that would go with me, and turn over the keys to my apartment. The entire time, I fed myself a line of bullshit that I was doing you a favor. You had your life, your career and your father there in Virginia. You had roots. I convinced myself that I had nothing to offer. I couldn’t even tell you where I was going, what I was doing or where I’d be on any given Thursday. You were better off without me.” He drew in a breath and blew it out, his gaze shooting around out of habit before landing on her again. “I decided to leave without giving you a vote. Then I drove fifteen hundred miles feeling righteous for the first couple hours, and for the remaining hours of the trip, I felt exactly like what it was.”
Cate raised a hand to her throat. “And what was that?”
“I was a coward.” He held her gaze. “I didn’t call because I was afraid of what you’d say, or worse, what you wouldn’t say.”
A slight breeze lifted a strand of Cate’s hair, blowing it across her face. She didn’t lift a hand to brush it away. She just stared at him, her gaze piercing his like a lance straight through his chest.
“Thank you,” she said, with an unsteady voice. “That’s the most honest thing anyone has said to me all night, even considering Dmytro told me a man had disappeared off the face of the Earth simply because of a phone call.”
“Cate—” Draco started.
“Don’t.” She held up a shaky hand. “Don’t say anything more that I might construe as nice. I’m running on fumes with just enough energy to get me to the hotel where I plan to crash for the night.” She shook her head. “Strike that, crash being a poor choice of words.” She drew in a breath, let it out like a reset and continued with, “Where I plan to sleep. I can’t think past that, and I don’t want to.”
Draco nodded. “Roger.”
“Okay.” She started walking.
Draco fell in beside her, not letting her get too far ahead.
Wedged between a bookshop and a café, her four-story hotel stood like an image from a bygone day. It didn’t boast an elevator to get her to the fourth floor, and the man at the desk barely looked up to acknowledge their existence.
They ascended the stairs to the fourth floor, arriving winded and ready to call it a night. As they emerged from the stairwell, the corridor stretched ahead of them. Wall sconces threw soft pools of light every ten feet, luring them into the warm light.
Her room was halfway down the hallway on the left.
Before Draco reached the door, he knew. The door was closed. Nothing leaked out, but he knew someone had been there. Might still be inside.
A sliver of light shone beneath the old door, but it was broken as if something stood between the door and light shining from a nightstand. A thin waft of cool air flowed from beneath the door. A window was open on the other side.
Cate’s hand reached for the doorknob.
Draco snagged her hand in an iron grip. “Wait,” he whispered so softly, his voice didn’t carry further than Cate’s ears. He drew his weapon from the holster tucked beneath his jacket and edged her behind him and out of the doorframe, placing his body between her and whoever might be behind the door.
