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“Did this process kill him?”
“I didn’t say that, either.”
She reached out and pinched him, scowling. “I’m getting tired of hearing what you didn’t say. Look at it this way: if I don’t know exactly what’s going on, then I don’t know what to do, and I may make a mistake that will get both of us killed. I have to know what I’m—what we’re—facing. Tactically, keeping me in the dark isn’t a good move.”
She saw the flare in his gaze, knew that she’d hit on the one argument that was likely to get his attention. Xavier was a born tactician, constantly weighing the odds, studying cause and effect, action and reaction. For every move, he had a counter-move.
“I don’t want to do anything that might … harm you,” he finally said, shaking his head, and she knew she’d lost this particular argument, for now anyway. “This is uncha
rted territory. You’re getting your memory back on your own, and that’s probably what’s healthiest for your brain.”
“Can’t you ask someone?”
He snorted. “The people I could ask are the ones who are trying to kill us.”
“Well, that’s a bitch,” she said acerbically, earning a grin from him.
“No disagreement there.”
Something else occurred to her, and she poked him. “You found me. You had me bugged, too, didn’t you? I got rid of the cell phone, so what else did you have a tracker on?”
“I put three trackers on you, when I saw the situation deteriorating. One was on the backpack you left at your house.”
“Okay. That and the phone made two. What else?”
“Your wallet. I figured that was the most likely item you’d keep with you, if you could. I was afraid enough of your old training would kick in that you’d dump everything you had with you and start fresh.”
“My wallet.” That meant he’d been in her house, gone through her things. “When? When did you put them there?”
“Monday night, after your shopping spree.”
“You broke into my house? While I was asleep?” Outrage made her voice rise. He didn’t look the least bit guilty. If anything, he even looked amused.
“It wouldn’t make sense to break in while you were awake, now would it?”
“You went through my purse!”
“Guilty. Nice one, too.”
“And I had to dump it in a Walmart store, damn it!”
“I’ll get you another one.”
“You’re damn right you will.” She blew out a cool-down breath, slicked her hands over her wet hair. As huffy as she felt, the hard truth was that if he hadn’t put the trackers on her, he probably wouldn’t have been able to locate her again and she’d be all alone in this mess. Not knowing what was going on, not having all her memory back, she’d have made some sort of mistake and been caught. He’d saved her life. Grudgingly she said, “Thank you.”
He looked even more amused. “I know it kills you to say that. You’re welcome.”
“It doesn’t kill me. I just don’t like doing anything that makes you more cocky than you already are.”
“Remember that, huh?”
“Enough … Preciousssss.” With that out of her system, because he never liked being reminded of the few times he’d let people get under his guard, she crossed her arms on the edge of the tub and propped her chin on them. “Something really bothers me, though, more even than the creepy spying.”
“What’s that?”
“My face. Why did they change my face?” She heard the disturbed note in her voice and looked down, not wanting him to see the desolation she felt. It was silly, mourning for a face. This one wasn’t ugly; she was still attractive. Some people might like this face better than her old one. But this wasn’t her; she wanted to look in the mirror and see herself, feel that sense of being grounded.
He was silent a moment, as if weighing how much he should tell her. Finally he said, “To keep you safe.”
