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Going around him, Tess got the bag he’d dropped and started to put her things away.
“I don’t want to—”
“It’s okay,” she said, showing him a quick smile. “You don’t owe me an explanation.” Not for being dedicated to the life he loved. “I’ll finish here. Your ten minutes are up. You said you had a job.”
He nodded once and left the room. As soon as Tess heard the door lock, her hand dropped.
Daire in her bedroom. It better be just for that night. Restraint hadn’t been in Danny’s repertoire. In contrast, Daire was proving himself capable of a huge number of things. Maybe he could handle it… Was she so confident in her own ability?
AFTER QUICKLY PUTTING her things away, she grabbed her toothbrush and got ready for bed super quick. By the time Daire came back, she was under the covers, eyes closed. She heard the snap of the lock and then nothing. Not a sound.
She wasn’t asleep, not really, but her eyes stayed shut. The bathroom door opened. There was no light or sound of it closing. In there she heard movement. He brushed his teeth, flushed the toilet. The door closed and then nothing.
In the darkness, concentrating on her breathing, every breath made her more self-conscious. Daire was silent, but each of her exhales echoed in her ears. She sure wasn’t any kind of secret super-agent.
Giving up, her eyes opened. “What is an Omega regimen?”
“No excess. No indulgence. Strict diet. Rigorous exercise. Ample sleep.”
No question or comment about her faking sleep, he simply answered her.
Picking up her covers, she crawled down the bed under them until her head came to rest in the bottom corner.
Ambient light from outside reflected off the canopy above her. “Why do you answer me? Harry doesn’t like it.”
“He’s never ordered me not to.”
“If he did, would you stop?” No answer. “I’m sorry. I know you follow orders. But you can tell me why you do it.”
“You deserve to know. You’re in this as much as the rest of us…” True. She was glad someone finally acknowledged that. Though from what he said next, it had to only be half the truth. “I tell you because after lying to you, hurting you, I vowed I’d only ever give you the truth… to the best of my ability.” Another pause. Tess was glad of it. She needed time to process. “You will always have the best of my ability… I know sometimes it won’t be good enough. I failed you last night.”
Rolling onto her stomach, she peeked at him over the edge of the bed. “How did you fail me?”
“They took you.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
In the shadows, it was difficult to see him. His shape was familiar, the lines of his body, the texture of his skin. They used to talk in the night sometimes. Most of those times their words were dirty or arousing, or they were requests for intimacy, not that Danny often asked. He was more action than discussion.
“I miss him,” she admitted, rolling onto her back again. “It’s stupid, right? He was never real. But sometimes… I still expect him to be there next to me… or to feel his hands on me.”
It had been a few days. Still, it was taking time to get to grips with the truth that Danny wasn’t real.
“I’m sorry. I am.”
“I didn’t say that to guilt you,” she said. “You were doing your job. I just figure if you’re giving me honesty, I should do the same… Though, I guess you could be lying. Maybe you’re only being nice to me to gain my confidence again.”
“Why? I had it. If I still needed it, I wouldn’t have revealed myself.”
“Maybe,” she said, shrugging at no one. “But you taught me anything is possible.”
“If only that were true,” he muttered.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what he meant. Considering the answer might not be easy to hear while they were lying there alone in the dark, Tess sat up to grab two pillows from the head of the bed instead.
She stuffed one behind her head and tossed the other over the end of the bed at him.
“We should get some sleep. You’ll have a long day tomorrow.”
