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Adrian noticed that Lily was sparkling. Was she happy, or was she happy to be getting out of here for a while? With Seth. He tightened his grip on her. “We can’t have the lady in need of underwear.”
She wriggled on his lap. He was getting hard. “So long as you promise you’re not going to run-off and leave me here,” he added
“Don’t be daft.” She prodded him in the chest. “It’s only ‘cos I need undies.”
“Yeah, that’s what you say now,” he teased, “while you are under the influence of Stockholm syndrome.”
“Stockholm syndrome?” She looked at him with curiosity. “What’s that?”
Adrian immediately wished he hadn’t said it. He looked up at Seth, who gave him a concerned glance. “I’m just teasing you, it’s nothing.”
“No, tell me what it is. I want to know.” She wasn’t going to let him get away with it. She chuckled, as if she thought it must be some sort of joke, which was his original intention, badly timed though it was.
It was Seth who answered. “It’s a term that refers to a state of sympathetic and emotional attachment, specifically where captives get involved with the person who is their captor.” His voice was gruff and although he spoke knowledgeably, it clearly made him uncomfortable to do so. “It’s traditionally used to talk about kidnappers and their victims,“ he added, hastily.
“Oh.” Her smile faded.
“It was just a joke,” Adrian whispered, but she didn’t respond.
Stockholm syndrome. He mentally kicked himself for saying it. What was he thinking?
After a moment she turned and hid her face close against his neck, the arm she had draping around his shoulder tightening as she buried her face against him, clinging close. “Don’t say that, and don’t even think it. That makes it sound as if this is wrong, or…as if it’s not real. ”
Her response shocked Adrian, and his arms instinctively closed around her upper body, holding her close and stroking her gently. “Hey now, I only meant it as a joke, really, please don’t get upset, love.”
When he said that she clung to him even tighter, as if to deny it.
He looked across the room at Seth, and shrugged his free shoulder. Seth nodded, indicating he was concerned too. He hung back though, and Adrian knew that this was his problem. He also remembered what Seth said about being an add-on, and that Lily was with him. Did Seth really believe that? Nobody in their right mind would deny the strength of the attraction between Lily and Seth. The situation felt suddenly serious, because it went way beyond his mistimed joke.
Lily sighed against his neck, snuggled closer, still seeking comfort. He didn’t want her to be upset—she was usually so strong, bouncing back from everything that happened to her so unexpectedly of the last few days. And yet it also made him see that she didn’t want to think this was temporal any more than he did, she didn’t want to think their connection was anything to do with being locked up here, away from their normal lives.
That meant she cared.
Something that felt like joy—but was even bigger than that—took hold of him. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “Hey, Laidbacklady, this is real. Don’t fret.”
Eventually she pulled back and looked at him with searching eyes, her pretty mouth down-turned at the corners. God, she was beautiful. The misgiving in her expression only emphasised the open quality she had, that thing he loved about her.
“This time we have together is special, very special, and it’s also very real.” He moved his hand to her bottom again and waggled his eyebrows. “Would you like me to pinch you to prove it?”
He teased her skin with a gentle pinch. Her expression broke. She laughed and wriggled out of his lap. He let her go, reluctantly, and but held onto one hand, tethering her. When she glanced back, smiling his way, he felt an immense sense of relief. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She didn’t pull her hand free, and she nodded. “I’m sorry, that was a bit silly of me, reacting that way.”
”No, it wasn’t.” He squeezed her hand before letting it go. “Enjoy your shopping trip. Take pity on me and buy something black and lacy to wear, I want to see you in something black and lacy.”
Chapter Thirteen
Stephen Ward was smiling. Emery Lavonne hadn’t seen the chief smiling for some time. He watched as Ward emerged from his glass cubicle with a woman in tow. Curious as to whether it had anything to do with the Adrian Walsh case he made his way to the office gossip’s desk. “What’s going on?”
Janine looked up from her monitor and beamed, evidently glad of chance to spill. Who needed a newsletter with this woman around? Janine was on the case like a dog with a bone. “Well, it looks as if we might have found out who the mystery woman was; the one Seth Jones took along with his witness when he did a runner.”
Lavonne’s attention was back with the woman and he memorised her face in case she was an important lead.
“Apparently she reported her flatmate missing at her local station, but they didn’t go beyond normal procedures until she called back and mentioned her flatmate had a date. The flatmate had left a note with the name and location. Turns out her date was with Adrian Walsh.”
“I see.” He cast his mind back. The brunette in the elevator? Could be. She’d been looking at doorways in the corridor when he’d last seen her. He hadn’t got a look at the woman’s face when Jones was helping her into the car, but it could be the same person.
Janine kept talking, but Lavonne was watching Ward shake hands with the woman. Did this mean that she might have information about where her flatmate was currently located? Ward signalled to a nearby officer to show the woman out of the building. When he returned to his office, he left the door open.
