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And then he cuts the light and is gone.
∞∞∞
With the scant light slicing through the slit in the drapes, I pace the room from end to end. Not a minute later, there’s a shout, a gunshot, and then another. Silence. I’m not good at praying lately, but I do it anyway, pleading for Marco’s safety.
I can almost hear him warning me to stay away from the window, but I can’t help myself. Soon, sirens scream, and blue lights flood the parking lot, along with a dozen people—none of whom are Marco. Oh, please don’t let it beMarco the paramedics are about to load onto the stretcher they just wheeled into the room down the way. I drop onto the bed and try to catch my breath.
Peeking again, relief waylays me. Marco is standing, healthy and whole, arms crossed, deep in conversation with one of the deputies. I wilt onto the bed and begin praying, belatedly, for the other occupants of the room.
I wait and I wait, but I’m so exhausted, I eventually curl onto my side on the ragged bedspread.
Finally, the lock clicks, and I’m on my feet near-instantaneously. “Are you alright?” I practically shout, but it’s Marco who should be asking the question because I begin to teeter until his palm catches my elbow.
“Whoa there. Back to bed for you.”
“I’m fine,” I spit. But we both know I’m not. He guides me down to the mattress, stretches the covers to my chin, and tucks them around me.
“What happened down there? Talk to me, Marco.”
Yawning, he lowers himself to the mattress by my feet. “Just your run of the mill domestic is all.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“They will be. By the time I got there, the guy’s hands were around his girlfriend’s neck, and the scum had pounded on her pretty good before that.”
“What about the gunshots? Was that you?”
He rests his hands on the covers over my ankles, absently poking them tighter around my feet. “It was not.”
I inhale. “Wait, did he shoot atyou?” My heart is thundering, guessing his answer.
“Don’t worry. I ducked.”
His glibness is familiar, given he and my brother are two peas in a pod. I try to wrap my mind around what he does for a living, the kind of life he lives, that an event like tonight’s doesn’t faze him. “You do know you’re not bulletproof, right?”
He waggles his brows. “That’s why I ducked.”
“Ugh.”
He chuckles at my groan.
There’s just enough light to cast shadows across Marco’s face. I’m fascinated by his features, his strength…him. “I don’t know how you do it. This sort of thing…it doesn’t get to you?” I imagine tonight was nothing compared to some of his escapades.
“I—" His jaw clamps down. He pauses, weighing his words. “Some things you never get used to.” His hands have gone from tucking the blankets snugly around my feet to flat out massaging them through the covers. Feels heavenly, but I wonder if he’s even conscious of what he’s doing.
I want to cover his hand with mine. Want to but won’t. Ours is not that kind of relationship. “What you do makes a difference, Marco.”
Our eyes lock. “I hope so.”
I sigh. “Well, very much like somebody else I know…ahem…you’re extremely short on details, but it sounds like there’s one lady who is very lucky you were here tonight.”Possibly two.
“Maybe.” His gaze drifts for a second before snapping back. “But, the real question is, how areyoufeeling?”
“I’m fine.”
He slants his head.
“Seriously. I was out like a light before all the hoopla.”
