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I swallow hard, my cock jumping to attention at the thought of her naked in my shower and rubbing my bar of soap—the one that’s touchedmybody—all overherbody. Jesus, that’s almost like us touching …everywhere.
“—and then we can just lie in bed and talk. Like last night?”
Last night, I didn’t sleep. Last night, all I could do was lie along the edge of my bed and listen to her talk herself to sleep. She looked like an angel in my bed.
And I was … I was terrified. As soon as she was out, I got up and sat in the big, cozy chair near my fireplace. There, I held my vigil. Because there, she was safe. There, I couldn’t hurt her.
I gently remove her hands as she takes one more deep breath against my back. “Come on, princess. I need to find out the situation so I can keep you safe.”
“Diego, it’s like you’re my own super personal bodyguard!” She squeals with excitement. “This is a dream come true.”
I groan inwardly and hope that I can keep her safe from any threats, and also safe from me—a huge, ugly, foolish man who is already hopelessly smitten with the perfect pop princess he can never have.
3
AURORA
“He hates me,” I whisper to Clover. She’s sitting next to me on the sofa. I’m pretty sure this is the common area. This place is crazy cool. I think it’s neat and awesome the way everyone lives here together.
“Trust me. He doesn't hate you.” She tries to reassure me.
I lean into her and drop my voice even more. “You and Charles did the dirty, didn't you?”
Clover’s cheeks warm, telling me all I need to know. I’ll let her slide without giving me the details right now. We need hot chocolate and lots of time on our hands.
“I was sure you’d be the first to lose your virginity,” she whispers.
I lean back when Tiernan walks through the room. He looks like he’s about to go work out. There’s a gym here. I should probably use it, too.
“I never found the right guy. You know how hard it is for me to even talk to guys. They’re all so… suspect.” Everyone wants a piece of me for one reason or another. The more success I have, the harder it is to tell who my real friends are. Clover is the exception. She grew on me fast after we met. She’s so loyal. I can tell her anything. She’s like a vault. I trust her as much as I trust Bells. God, Bells. I should’ve checked in on her. I’ve been so obsessed with Diego that everything else fell away.
“Trusting is hard. I get it,” Clover says.
I lean my head to rest on her shoulder.
“Bells is fine.” I smile at the fact that she knows me so well that she knew I was worrying about Bells.
“Maybe a little too fine,” I tease. Bells has never shown interest in any man that I know of. But there’s no mistaking the way she looked at Barrow. I can tell the feeling is mutual, too, based on the way he’s been hovering over her. She’s been staying in his room recovering since he’s the only one here with medical training. I’m pretty sure that’s not theonlyreason she’s been staying in there. She pretends he annoys her, but I see the way she looks at him. It’s a way I’ve never seen her look at anyone else before.
It’s a bit odd that none of the men around here seem to mention exactly what they do for a living. But the one thing that is clear is that they are all deadly. It doesn't matter to me what they’ve done in the past. They not only saved us, but they have now killed for us, too.
“I can’t believe that asshole Kent sent a fucking assassin to take me out. What am I going to do now? I have a target on my back.”
She wraps her arm around me. “I’m pretty sure Diego is watching your back every second of every day. You’re safe.”
“True.” I can’t imagine Diego letting anyone come near me.
“By the way, I need to put in my two weeks’ notice,” Clover teases.
“Shut up. Did you really think I believed there was any way that you were going to be leaving here? You’re in love with Charles. That’s something I dream of having. Even if you wanted to, I wouldn’t let you leave.”
She gives me a giant hug.
“I’ll miss you,” I say in her ear before we let go.
“I’ll miss you, too, but we’ll still see each other.”
“I love this place. It’s a nice escape. Trust me when I say I’ll be coming back here when I need a break from the rest of the world.” To be honest, I don’t want to leave at all. I’ve never felt more relaxed and unplugged. I don’t have to be on all the time. I can just be me. That’s something I never get to do unless I’m with the girls.
