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A faint twitch at the corner of her lips appears. She steps around me, stopping at her sister’s side. I give them space, but I can see the emotions appear on her face now. Litza softly brushes Patience’s hair off her face as she begins to hum a light tune.
Ethan enters the room a moment later. A glass of ice in one hand, a glass of water in the other. Eyeing the two glasses, one of my brows lifts. He glances at my face, then down at his hands.
“Oh, shut up,” he grumbles.
Lifting my hand to my mouth, I try to cover the smirk that forms as he walks by. Ethan’s steps slow as he nears Litza. She looks at him and nods. Placing the glasses down, he stares at Patience for a moment before turning away.
“She would want you to be close,” Litza whispers over her shoulder.
He halts his retreat to turn and look down at Litza.
“I’ll get another chair,” he says, his tone lighter than before. At her nod of approval, he shuffles off into the other room.
She turns to me with a smile. The light reflects off her sparkling gold eyes, a faint crack in the iceberg. Ethan pulls up a chair on the other side of the bed.
“I’ll go back to reviewing footage.”
Litza’s eyebrow rise. Apparently she’s interested in my progress.
“What systems?” she asks.
“Ethan installed a camera at your sister’s house. I’m reviewing the footage from the last few days. So far, nothing.”
Her smile drops, apparently upset at hearing that my brother took more liberties with her sister’s privacy.
“Can I see them?”
“Umm…yeah?”
She walks over to the monitors. Stepping over to her empty chair, I pick it up and carry it over to the monitors. She lowers to the seat as the twitch in her fingers resumes. Pulling up the camera feed, she leans in so close, I catch the scent of sweet fruit. Her eyebrows draw together as they dart around the screen.
“What is it?”
“No cameras at the back…?”
My gaze immediately darts to Ethan. His shoulders rise to his ears as though he’s taken another blow. Turning to Litza, I give her a wide-eyed look, silently begging her to be gentle with him.
“There aren’t any. I didn’t have time to install them before I left,” Ethan says.
“Hey, better than I did. At least you got something installed. She’s refused my offers for years.”
Ethan chuckles and resumes his bedside vigil.
She turns to me with a gentle smile. I silently mouth, “Thank you.”
A warmth spreads through my chest at the sight of her smile. Maybe I read this woman wrong.
We continue looking through the footage for what seems like hours. My vision starts to blur, causing me to rub my eyes. I turn to look at Litza, and the corner of her eye twitches as she rubs her temple. Clearly, she’s fighting the same battle.
“Why don’t we call it a night?”
“Yeah, I guess. Let me just sit with P for a bit? Do you have somewhere for me to sleep?” She rubs her forehead with her fingers.
“Yeah, we’ll put you up in a guest bedroom.”
Rising from her seat, she nods before turning to look over her shoulder.
“I would appreciate that.”
