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Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Had I been wrong to turn my back on him all those weeks ago? It was a lot easier to run and hide than face the person you thought had crushed your heart and soul. I hadn’t mentioned the mysterious roses, the giant elephant in the room. I had been receiving a rose in a box tied with lace from an unknown person over the past several months. And now I knew that Cian was responsible for sending them. I didn’t think I was mentally prepared for that conversation. Or to face reality.
Everything was gone. Everything I had worked so hard for, just taken from me. I dug my nails into my palms and took a deep breath. Maybe being alone wasn’t the best idea.
I tiptoed downstairs and stopped in my tracks when I found Eros sitting in a chair facing the front door, a gun on his lap. A chill ran through me. We were in some type of danger. That was obvious. I took a step back and his head snapped in my direction when the floorboard creaked.
His face softened and he nodded his head toward the room I had confronted Cian in earlier. I mouthedthank youand hurried down the hall. The room was mostly dark except for the soft glow of a lamp on the desk. The pictures Cian had pulled out earlier were still scattered there. Cian was lying on the leather sofa, an arm thrown over his face. Even while sleeping he looked ready to fight.
My palms were sweating as I glanced over the pictures of Ryzen and Riddick. Some were innocent enough—dinner, drinks, and lots and lots of women around them. So much for Ryzen’s supposed “good boy” persona he had staged to impress hotel chain owner Covington. If Covington had done his own surveillance, he would have found out pretty quickly how much of a playboy Ryzen really was. Then maybe none of this would have happened.
One picture in particular caught my attention, and I picked it up by the corner. It was a man wearing sunglasses, towering over Ryzen, who was lying on the ground, his hand held up. He looked terrified. I rocked slightly on my heels, shaking my head. I would not want to be caught in a dark alley with that man. I flipped the picture over and laid it back down on the desk.
I didn’t want to think about that right now. The last thing I wanted was to trigger another nightmare.
Cian was taking up almost the entire couch, he was so big and wide. A protector. I managed to squeeze myself into the corner opposite of him and pulled my knees up to my chest, using my shirt as a blanket. It was big enough and smelt like him, a hint of the ocean and the forest, wrapped in sexiness. I wondered if that had been a coincidence or some Jedi mind trick to make me feel safe. If it was the latter, it was working. I sank down deeper into the couch and let my eyes close.
I felt myself being lifted and carried up the stairs at some point but was too tired to open my eyes. My head was pressed against something warm and strong, and I nestled my nose into it, inhaling.
Cian.
“You smell nice,” I murmured.
His chest rumbled against my head as he chuckled softly. “Go back to sleep, little mouse.”
*****
I was eating breakfast alone in bed when I heard Juliet screaming later that morning. My heart skipped a beat as footsteps pounded outside my bedroom door.
Not again.
I grabbed my fork, ready to poke someone’s eyes out if I had to. I pressed my ear to the door just as Juliet let out another screech, followed by a giggle.
Wait. Was she laughing?
I flung the door open and found her standing outside my door, a water gun in her hand. “What the hell’s going on, Jules?”
She pushed inside and slammed the door shut, pressing herself flat against it. She was completely drenched in water. “That big idiot Eros decided it would be funny to soak me with a water gun, so I dumped a bucket of water on him and stole it from him.” She chuckled, pure delight across her face.
Eros pounded on the door a second later. “You’re on my list, Juliet,” he grunted as he tried to open the door. “Mark my words, Miss James.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice, and I rolled my eyes.
“You scared the shit out of me, Jules. I thought… I heard you screaming and…” Damn, I needed to get a grip. I sighed. “You freaked me out.”
Her smile disappeared instantly. “I’m sorry.” She tossed the water gun onto the bed. “I wasn’t thinking. I think everyone is going a little stir-crazy. Thora told me everything last night. I just wanted to forget for a minute, pretend we weren’t hiding away from the monsters. It was stupid really.”
“I understand, really I do.” I drew my eyebrows together and rubbed my hands over my arms. “But don’t you think we should be more careful? With them, I mean. I don’t know if we can really trust them one hundred percent, can we?”
She hopped on the bed, tucking her legs underneath herself. “Nova, you need to wake up and see what’s right in front of your face. That man down there”—she pointed to the door—“saved you. They saved us. Who knows where the hell we would be if they hadn’t come. So yes, I say we can trust them.” She sat up and held her hands out to me.
I sat next to her and squeezed her hands back. “Yeah, but…”
She shook her head. “No buts. I lost everything too, you know. All that hard work building up the Shiver Box, and just poof”—she snapped her fingers—“just gone now.” Her shoulders sagged. “I don’t know how we’re going to recover from this. But I do know that they are good people. We need to trust that they are here to help us.”
The weight of the world felt like it was on my shoulders. I flopped down on my back and sighed. “OK.”
Everything was far from OK, but I wanted to believe that she was right. That they had our best interests at heart. There were just too many unanswered questions. Today we would find out though. I couldn’t hide in this room forever.
“Let’s go downstairs and see what the plan is then.” She tugged me up from the bed and down the hall.
I wasn’t looking forward to whatever was next. It couldn’t be good, that was for sure.
