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Aria pulled the sweater Damian had given her on the plane tighter around her body. “Thankyou.”
It didn’t seem like enough for all these people — these strangers — were doing for her, but they were the only words she could find in themoment.
Jenna smiled. “Of course. Please make yourself at home and get some rest. In my experience, there are few things that aren’t improved by a good night’ssleep.”
Aria nodded and watched as Jenna stepped into the hall and closed the door quietlybehindher.
She stood for a few moments, looking around the room, wondering what to do next. Her eyes found the phone next to the bed, a small piece of paper tuckedunderit.
She crossed the room and picked up the directory Jenna had mentioned. There were several phone numbers: kitchen, laundry, housekeeping. It was like being in ahotel.
Her gaze came to rest on the last entry on the list, added by hand —Damian.
She picked up the phone and dialed, was surprised when he picked up on thefirstring.
“Aria?”
“Can you… Can you come?” she asked. “Tomyroom?”
“I’ll be there in less than aminute.”
The phone went dead and twenty seconds later a knock sounded at the door. When she opened it, Damian was standing in the hall, his face drawn withworry.
“Are you allright?”
Was she all right? Why had she called Damian? He couldn’t undo the last two months. He couldn’t change anything that hadhappened.
“I don’t know what to do,” shefinallysaid.
His expression softened and he pulled her into his arms. She slumped against him, let herself find refuge in the strong expanse of his chest against hercheek.
Maybe he couldn’t change anything, but this was the next bestthing.
“Let’s start with a bath,” he said into her hair. “Soundgood?”
She nodded and stepped back to let him in the room. He walked in like he owned the place, looked around to get his bearings, and headed straight for the bathroom. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of runningwater.
The bathroom was already filling with steam when she got there. She stood near the tub while he got the temperature right and poured something that looked like oil into the water. Lavender filled the air, carried to her nose on the steam swirling throughtheroom.
He stood. “Would you like someprivacy?”
She shookherhead.
He walked slowly toward her, lifted a hand to her face, let it trail down one of her arms. When he reached for the hem of her T-shirt, she lifted her arms and let him slide it offherbody.
He tossed it aside and let his hands travel gently over the slope of her shoulders. When he reached around her body to unhook the bra — one of many things he’d handed her in a red shopping bag when she’d boarded the plane outside Athens — she leaned into him and let him slide it from hershoulders.
Kneeling at her feet, he slid off the soft velvet pants, pulling the simple black panties along with them until she was standing in front of him as naked as the day shewasborn.
She didn’t mind. Damian knew allofher.
He stood, took her hand, and helped her intothetub.
The water was hot at first, but it only took a moment to become a warm embrace around her body, tight and coiled from all the weeks inside the room in Greece. She sank up to her chin and lay her head back, closed her eyes as Damian smoothedherhair.
“I’m going to leave you to rest now,”hesaid.
She opened her eyes, lifted her hand out of the water to clutch his. “Don’tgo.”
“Areyousure?”
She nodded and closed her eyes again. “I’msure.”
She wasn’t sure of much. Didn’t know the details surrounding her kidnapping or what was happening with Primo or what wouldhappennext.
But she wanted Damian by her side. That much, at least,wastrue.
