Gray raised an eyebrow. Sampson sighed. “We can’t leave him with her. He just said that he’d kidnap her.”
“Because he loves her. You love her, right?” Immy asked Gray.
“Immy, you can’t say that to someone,” Jenner scolded.
Maeve could feel her cheeks heating.
“Maeve is mine,” Gray said firmly. “I’m not leaving her. I would never harm her. And since Maeve seems to hold some affection for you all, I will give you my word that we will not leave without saying goodbye. But make no mistake, I do that for her. Not you.”
Anger filled Sampson’s face.
“I’m not going anywhere, guys,” she said hoarsely. “And Gray’s right. He’d never harm me. And I . . . I owe him some explanations.” He was being amazingly patient.
“He saved her, Sampson,” Immy said quietly. “Maeve would have died without him.”
Maeve shivered. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was due to being cold or the thought of how close to death she’d come. But Gray immediately moved to the cupboards across the room and drew out some more blankets.
He tucked them around her, making sure that Squish was in with her before brushing her hair off her face gently. Then he grabbed her water and held the straw to her mouth.
“Drink, baby.”
“Fine,” Sampson said after a moment. “But I’m also going to send over a guard to watch the door.”
“Don’t bother. I won’t trust anyone else with her safety and she won’t be out of my eyesight.”
Sampson grunted. “Call if you need me, Maeve.”
“Did you find my phone? I think it went in the pool,” she said hoarsely.
“Give me your number,” Gray said. “She can use my phone.”
Sampson gave his number. “I’m still sending someone over. They’ll wait outside.”
He probably wanted them here as much to make sure that Gray didn’t take her as he wanted them to protect her. But Gray didn’t protest again.
They all said good night to her and she stared up at Gray with tired eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said in a raspy voice. “That you saved me.”
He sat on the chair, studying her. “You ran from me, girl.”
“I didn’t. My stalker . . .”
“What the fuck happened? What stalker? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“The flowers were from him. Roses then violets. And a note saying I was pretty. I thought they might be for someone else.”
“Fuck, Maeve,” he groaned.
“Then there were photos of me. And another note . . . this note was more threatening and I knew I had to go. But then he . . . he attacked me in the basement as I was trying to leave.”
“Fuck. You should have called me the minute you got the first note.”
“I know that. Now.”
“Baby, you don’t need to tell me the rest now. You need sleep.”
“No . . . no I need to tell you. He hurt me.”