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“We should get out of the shower before we shrivel up.”
He agreed, and they took turns washing each other. She was careful around the spots where the cuts had once been, although all the skin seemed to be mostly returned to normal.
He washed her hair, giving her a wonderful head massage. She realized that while the spa was just the day before, it felt like a million years had passed. She took a moment to relish his dedication to helping her relax.
After they had finished washing and had toweled off, they returned to the safety of his private bedroom. Cyrus lay on his back in his total naked glory. With one arm tucked behind his head, he stared off into the distance. Mila crawled in next to him and curled up to his side, her head on his chest. While the words were unspoken, they were both still thinking about the break-in and the attacker.
She listened carefully to Cyrus’s heart beating in his chest and closed her eyes. She wished with everything in her that this whole situation would disappear when her eyes opened again. But that wasn’t a possibility.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He tilted his head forward and planted a kiss on top of her head, breathing in the scent of her freshly cleaned hair. She tilted her chin up, ready to listen.
He cleared his throat. “This has to do with the secrets my parents were looking into, what my search is looking into … this is why I should just drop this, just forget about it all … I have now put you at risk, and I can’t allow that. I promised to take care of you.”
She shook her head. “The damage is done. Whoever is after you, they won’t stop now.”
She sat up and turned to him. The look of pain in his eyes broke her heart.
“If they are targeting you, that means one or more of a couple of things: one, they want to silence you; two, they think you know too much; or three, they were the ones that went after your parents, and now they are coming for you.
“Regardless of the reason, you may as well finish what you started. Find the truth before they can find you again.”
He shook his head slowly, sitting up. “I can’t.” He held her gaze. “I destroyed almost everything. I deleted all information I had saved. Burned all pages that I had in association with the search. Everything is gone. Everything. I wanted to leave that part of my past behind to be able to focus on a future with you … if you’ll have me … I choose you.”
Mila looked at him, cocked her head to the side, and scrunched her nose in surprise. She shook her head.
“You don’t have to choose.” She leaned in to kiss him chastely. “Plus, you have to have a backup somewhere. You are too thorough not to.”
He pulled in a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened his eyes, letting his breath out. He looked very tired, and she knew it had nothing to do with physical exhaustion. She couldn’t imagine the strain this situation was inflicting on him.
“Miles would have taken care of that. He would have been the only one to know when he left my employ. I have no idea if such a thing exists.”
“He was your assistant before, right?”
He nodded absently.
“What really happened? Why did he leave?”
“I was honest about that, truly. He was a good friend of mine, at least I thought so.”
Cyrus let out a deep sigh. She placed her hand on top of his, offering what little support she could.
“He just came into my office one day and said he had to leave. Some excuse involving his family. Like I said, he loves his family more than anything. I didn’t give it a second thought. It wasn’t something I considered odd until I didn’t hear from him again for several weeks.
“When I tried to call him, his number had been disconnected. I figured that he had been upset by something and no longer wanted to associate with me. While that hurt, I respected his privacy.”
Mila thought for a moment.
“I bet that Miles was approached by the same association that just threatened us.” Her voice was quiet but certain.
His eyes widened.
“How have I not thought of that?” He ran his fingers through his hair.
Mila curled back up to him, pulling the blanket over both of them. They lay quiet for a moment, pondering what next step to take.
“He must have been terrified for his family …” Mila murmured.
Cyrus sat still and quiet.
