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Agatha glances at me. “She’s right. Teachers, parents, they will recognize Eve. Reporters will track Mila down. For now, it’s best to withdraw her.”
Eve doesn’t look very happy. “She was doing so well.”
Agatha hesitates before reaching out to cover Eve’s hand with her own. “It’s just for now. This whole thing will die down. And I know plenty of excellent home tutors. Even for a brief period, they’ll make sure that Mila doesn’t fall behind.” She glances at me. “And the rest of us are here to distract her from this sudden change. You’ll get through this. We’ve got your back.”
The solidarity that Agatha is offering makes Eve’s eyes soften and shimmer before she lowers her gaze, nodding mutely.
Her voice is thick as she struggles to regain control of herself. “Thank you. I appreciate this.”
Agatha gives me a long look before giving a soft smile that is so uncharacteristic of her. “You’re family now, kind of. We look after family.”
“I would suggest relocating your home for a while. Maybe you could stay with friends?” Agatha gathers up the papers on the table.
Eve rolls her shoulders. “I don’t have those sort of friends.”
“Your parents?” Agatha is stuffing the papers in her briefcase, so she doesn’t see the spasm of pain cross Eve’s face, a sudden flash of such terrible anguish that I nearly lose my breath.
She clenches her fingers into the cushion beside her and says, her voice normal. “Yeah, uh. That’s not going to happen either.” She refuses to look at me. “I’ll be fine at home. We have a security system, and Ron will be back in a week. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“You could stay here,” I say, raising a brow. “This house is too big for just one person.”
She gives me a half amused look, and I note the ease with which she forced back the grief, as if she is accustomed to doing so.
That doesn’t sit well with me.
“You should have thought about that before you got the house, sugar.”
The nickname that sounds so natural with her Texan drawl hints at her stubborn nature.
She isn’t going to let anyone uproot her from her home.
However, I am just as stubborn.
“I can stay with you, then.”
Eve snorts. “And sleep where? We’ll be fine.”
Agatha looks worried. “Eve, we don’t know who was in your building yesterday. We don’t know who the real target was. If it was you, then living alone at the moment could put both you and Mila in immeasurable danger. Please reconsider.”
Eve stills.
She clearly hasn’t considered that she might be putting Mila in danger.
After a few seconds, she glances up at me. “You have a room for Mila here. Maybe she could sleep here till this whole thing is sorted out.”
Now I scowl. “And what, you’ll stay in an empty apartment? For what? These are too many changes for Mila in too short of a time.”
The struggle in Eve’s brown eyes is evident as she tries to come to terms with the fact that she is going to have to be dependent on someone else for a while. She doesn’t like it. She resents that two places of sanctuary are being taken from her.
“What about when Ron comes back? I don’t want him living alone,” she says, finally. “If it’s not safe for me, it’s not safe for him.”
“He can stay with Mark,” I say shortly, disliking her concern for the other man. Despite the fact that Ron is gay, it feels like he is my biggest competitor.
Eve gives me a strange look but sighs. “Fine, then. For a few days. Just a few.”
I have to work to keep the triumphant look off of my face.
The look Eve shoots me tells me I am not doing a very good job of it.
