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If he wasn’t already punishing himself enough about what happened, he’d have a lot more injuries to add. She’d done the impossible and gotten through to Santino who had been trained to be the perfect soldier since he was a little boy and didn’t know much else. But it was impossible not to like Everleigh. And while her spirit may have been slightly bent, it thankfully wasn’t yet broken.
But despite our relentless search for answers, we were missing something. The sunroom had a few cameras that picked up Everleigh walking inside before she disappeared under a blind spot.
She’d gone inside in one piece, only to stumble back out broken. And all we’d been able to get from the security footage was the top of someone’s head.
But the attack couldn’t have been planned since Everleigh wandered off at random. Nobody would know she’d be there.
I’d turned the area upside down, trying to find something that would lead me to her attacker, but came up empty.
“You need to sleep.”
Santino’s voice broke through my thoughts. I’d walked to the surveillance room to review the camera footage once more. But he was already there, studying every single tape of not only that day but the one before and after.
I stepped up next to him. “So do you.”
“I’m not responsible for hundreds of men. Nor do I have to watch my back because half of them want nothing more than to stick a knife in it.”
“When you put it that way….”
He looked up from where he was leaning closer to the monitors, his eyes bloodshot, dark circles marring his skin. “I’ve got it under control. If there’s anything to find on these tapes, I’ll find it.”
I believed him. Because nobody accepted failure less than Santino.
“Fine. But call me if you find anything.”
He lifted his chin in response and then turned his attention back to the screens.
The thought of curling up next to Everleigh was too enticing to ignore, and I found myself walking back to my rooms. I chastised myself for growing too confident, for thinking my men were too scared of me to try anything.
I’d had a glaring reality check. One Everleigh had had to pay for.
But I’d make this right. I’d screwed up enough. No more.
I’d avoided her as much as possible since she arrived here. But I found it harder and harder to stay away, as if an invisible string connected me to her. And I didn’t understand the burning attraction I felt.
She seemed scared of her own shadow, preferring to hide in the closet rather than fighting for herself. I’d always valued strength and courage, but one look at her big blue eyes and all I wanted to do was erase the sadness in them. Right after I did whatever she asked of me.
After listening at the door and detecting no movement, I stepped into the dark room, following the faint glow of the bedside lamp.
The fit out of my rooms alone cost more than the small apartment I’d lived in with Sofie back in Chicago. But never had I been happier than when I’d been with her. I’d loved my job. The guys I’d worked with had been my family. I finally felt like I belonged. Only to have it all ripped away when I betrayed them.
The decisions I made would always stay with me, no matter how hard I worked at making amends.
I took a cold shower, the water like needles on my skin. It didn’t have the desired effect of waking me up. As soon as I was wrapped in a towel, my eyes started drooping again. I’d forgotten to bring any clothes with me, so I had to walk to the closet in the towel.
Everleigh would hopefully be asleep; otherwise, I’d traumatize her even more than she already was. But the closet was quiet when I stepped inside, a small form curled up under the blankets in the corner underneath my suits.
I dropped the towel and pulled on some boxers and sweats, then a thin T-shirt. The clothes felt stifling, but sleeping in my boxers wasn’t an option right now.
Everleigh’s breaths were even, and I was glad she’d found some rest. Her days were long and her nights short.
Peeling back the blankets she’d layered on top of her body, I carried her to the bed. The feel of her against me was like a drug, relaxing my racing mind and releasing the tension I’d been carrying around all day.
I reluctantly laid her on the pillow remaining on the stripped bed and retrieved the blankets. Once everything was back where it belonged, I slid in on the other side, turning to face her. She looked ethereal in the low light, her brown hair almost black. What I wouldn’t give to run my hands through it and feel its softness.
But Everleigh was not for the likes of me. She would always remain a dream, fading to nothing but a memory once I got her out.
Maybe I should take Santino up on one of his many offers to visit Georgetown with him. I needed a distraction, and I needed it soon. A visit to the city would offer that and more.
