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“What?” she said, finally looking up at me.
“Save your work,” I ordered again.
“I need a few hours. Did we have a meeting scheduled? Can we do it another time?” she said, her eyes flickering down to the screen.
“No. Save your work and come with me. Now,” I ordered.
“But—”
“No buts, Evie. Let’s go. You don’t want me to turn off your computer and have all your work gone, do you?” I challenged. Her eyebrow raised, but then Evie saved and stood. I finally got a good look at her. There were dark stains on her black shirt and jeans, and there were wrinkles indicating she’d been sitting there for a long time.
Are those blood stains? I asked Tenoch.
Our blood, he confirmed.
The whole situation dawned on me now. She hadn’t been home since I got attacked. She’d been working nonstop to find the people that were attacking us. Love, concern and anger warred inside me. I grabbed her hand and dragged her with me.
“Where are we going?” she asked, but I didn’t answer.
“Cory?” she asked again as we rode down the elevator.
“Hey! I was just coming to look fo—” Paolo was walking toward the office building as we were heading away from it. I gritted my teeth, but I had very little patience for him right now.
“She can’t right now. Try again later,” I growled and continued hauling Evie away.
“I’ll call you later, Evie!” I heard Paolo call out from behind us.
“Okay,” Evie answered back weakly, and I wanted to growl at her response. I wish she would’ve ignored him or said not to bother, instead. But it was just wishful thinking, so I continued to walk her over to her house. I pulled her inside and all the way to her bedroom.
“What are we doing here?” she asked, confused.
“You are going to sleep,” I ordered.
“What? Why?” she asked, trying to move around me, but I was blocking the door.
“Because you haven’t slept in two days,” I said. She shifted guiltily but didn’t look at me.
“I’ve slept,” she mumbled.
“Don’t lie to me, Evie,” I said more quietly. “I know you were there. You’re still wearing the same clothes. You still have my blood on you.”
She looked down and started rubbing at the stains. It was the same motion she did outside of the hospital, and I felt like an idiot for not acting on my instinct telling me something was wrong that night.
“I’m almost done, Cory. Just let me finish, and then I’ll take a nap,” she said, but this time I could see her lip quivering, and she was looking everywhere but me.
I walked forward, and she took a step back. It would hurt if I didn’t know she was doing it as a self-defense mechanism. Evie was always like that. She never wanted people to see her be vulnerable. She had to be seen as strong, no matter what because she felt she had something to prove. I took another step forward, and her legs hit the back of her bed. I pulled her forward and hugged her.
“I’m okay,” I whispered. “Nothing is going to happen to me. Tenoch is strong and protects us well. We’re all going to be okay.”
I felt Evie start to shake, and she finally embraced me back.
“There was so much blood. I didn’t kno-I didn’t know if you were going to make it,” she sobbed.
I sat down on the bed and rocked her as she cried, repeating that I was okay over and over. She finally calmed down after a little while, and when she looked up at me, I was surprised by the level of anger in her eyes.
“They need to pay,” she said. “I’m almost done. We’ll get the information we need, and then we’re going to make them pay.”
“Yes, we will,” I assured her. “But first, you’re going to sleep.” I saw she was going to argue, so I added, “That’s an order from you, boss.” I raised an eyebrow, daring her to disobey. When she only glared at me, I pushed my luck. “Go shower, and I’ll wait here. I’m not leaving until I see you’re sleeping.”
