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She almost agreed. It was clear to her that he needed a distraction, that without one, it wouldn’t be long before he convinced himself that he needed to be out there, searching for Maria on his own again.
This wasn’t the first time that his need to protect her came before everything else. Years ago, when Mack Turned came to stay at Ophelia and attempted to sexually assault Maria while she was sleeping, Lucas didn’t eat, didn’t sleep until he’d taken care of the outsider problem, then arranged for the elaborate security system that kept her protected at night when he couldn’t be there.
Waking up that morning, seeing Lucas was already gone… she’d known he wouldn’t be able to rest himself while Maria was in danger. It was that obsessive side to him that made Lucas the man he was, and though he usually reserved that for her, it was clear that he’d shifted all of his focus to finding Marianow.
She wasn’t going to be the impetuous child who faulted him for that. Plus, they were guests in the Harts’s home. The nearest bathroom was off the hall, near the kitchen; both were full baths, with the downstairs having a shower stall only, and the upstairs containing shower and tub combo, according to Grace. Their tired hostess had gone upstairs to bed shortly after she led Lucas and Tess to the guest room, but it didn’t seem right to take advantage of their hospitality to share a shower in the common area just now.
Especially since, knowing Lucas, it wouldn’t just be a shower. And that stall was fairly tiny, anyway. Enough room for one person, sure, but two?
Lucas accepted her soft rejection easily, promising to return to the room shortly. Tess changed out of her day clothes herself, pulling on a pair of sweats to sleep in, waiting for his return.
It was just as the door to their room was opening again, bringing Lucas back to the room, that Tess swore she saw it.
She’d been staring idly in the direction of the window. Similar to Ophelia, the Harts’s home backed onto the trees that were everywhere on this side of Hamlet. The curtain was slightly open, revealing a sliver of the early fall moon shining down on the caps of the trees when she could’ve sworn she saw a shadowy figure appear in that small gap.
She could’ve sworn they werestaring right at her.
Jumping up from the bed, not really thinking if this was the smartest move or not, she pulled the curtain away from the window.
No one was there.
Her pulse suddenly racing through her veins, fingers curling as she grabbed the windowsill, Tess pressed her forehead against the glass, peering into the darkness.
Wait—
Was that—
“Tess?”
She spun around, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw her husband standing there.
Lucas stood a few steps past the open doorway. Glancing at him, she saw he was wearing a pair of low slung jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and no shoes. His inky black hair was combed precisely the way he liked—immaculately parted on the left—while a few stray droplets from his shadow clung to the chords of his olive-skinned neck.
She shook her head, moving away from the window. “Sorry. I thought I saw something out there.”
Jack would’ve immediately scoffed and told her she was imagining things. Lucas? He walked right over the window, yanking the curtain back so that he could see for himself.
After a few moments, he said, “I don’t see anything, but I’ll go out there and double-check if you want.”
“That’s okay.”
“You sure, Tessa?”
Tess nodded. “Yeah.”
Still wanting to comfort her, he wrapped her up in his arms again. After his shower, he smelled of soap and mint and something so uniquely Lucas, it was all she could do not to fall apart in his embrace. “Even if there was, I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”
Taking a moment to steady herself, Tess turned into Lucas, laying her cheek against his chest. “I know.”
“It’s being back here, isn’t it?”
Lucas promised that their trips to Hamlet would be few and far between. Tess knew they could never stay away for long; with Maria determined to stay in Hamlet forever, there would always be a reason for Lucas to return. And she almost lied and told him that wasn’t it… but this was Lucas.
She couldn’t lie to Luc.
“I got wrapped up in it all last time, too.” She let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle. “Remember how I panicked when the gunshots went off?”
As though remembering something fondly, Lucas smiled. “Fair enough,cuore. I was shot, and you were worried about your love, weren’t you?”
