Naomi didn’t like that attitude. Well, a teeny tiny bit of her did because she knew that Sam would risk his life to keep her safe. He would also risk her wrath to keep her safe, and from the way he was looking at her, she knew that was saying a lot.
“You need water and painkillers. I’ll be right back.”
She watched him go, her eyes traveling to the window. Sam had drawn all the blinds while she had been asleep. She understood why he’d done that; if the killer was watching her home now, he wouldn’t be able to see what was going on inside, but she liked looking out her windows. She never closed her curtains, not even her bedroom ones at night, she liked to be able to look out at the trees, the sky, the wildlife any time she chose. Nature was the only thing that calmed her always racing brain.
“Here.”
Sam held out his hand, resting on his palm were two small white pills. For a moment she just looked at them. She was tempted to decline. She was woozy enough as it was with the concussion, adding painkillers to the mix would only space her out even more. With a killer hunting her, she needed to be alert. She needed her wits about her in case he came for her.
“I'm not in the mood for an argument.” He grabbed her wrist, turned her hand over, tipped the pills into it, then thrust a glass of water into her other hand.
Naomi bristled at Sam’s command. She wanted to argue with him. Tell him that she had lost enough control over her life as it was without him ordering her around. But she didn’t. Ultimately, she just didn’t have the strength right now to fight with him, so she took the pills.
When the doorbell rang, she automatically moved to stand. Sam immediately shoved her back down. “Are you insane?” His brown eyes disapproved as he looked down at her. “There is a killer out there who wants you dead. You don’t answer the door.”
“It’ll only be my sisters,” she protested.
“Probably. But better safe than sorry. Stay there. Don’t move. Take this gun and use it if you have to.”
After rattling off his commands, he left the room. Naomi almost got up and followed him just to spite him. But that was silly. If she was going to be living with a bodyguard for the foreseeable future, then she may as well get used to it.
“Naomi.” Clara burst into the room with Aggie, Jonathon, and Nickolas Sleigh on her heels. Her sister threw her arms around her and squeezed her tightly, it caused her pain and yet she wouldn’t have pushed Clara away for anything. She and Clara hadn’t known each other until they were adults, but they had grown very close very quickly. They hadn't gotten to know Aggie until six months ago. Although they shared a father, Aggie had been the only one to grow up with him as a permanent part of her daily life. Naomi’s mother, and Clara’s mother, had both cheated on their respective husbands and had affairs with Aggie’s father. As a child, Naomi had spent one weekend a fortnight with her dad, and Clara had spent alternating weekends with him.
“Dylan and Davis wanted to come, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Clara told her.
Naomi adored Clara’s older half-brothers; they were practically brothers to her too. “They could have come, I'm all right.”
Clara’s green eyes narrowed. “You don’t look all right.”
“Jonathon said you don’t remember what happened. Is anything coming back to you?” Nick asked. Nick was Aggie’s boyfriend and had been a cop up until six months ago when he had resigned and come to work at Sam’s firm.
“No, not yet. The doctor said my memory might never come back. Do you know anything yet?” she asked Jonathon.
“I'm sorry, Naomi, we don’t have any leads yet, but we’ll figure this out, just hang in there.”
She nodded distractedly. She had no doubt they would find out who this guy was, but how many people would die before then? Her head and her eyes were starting to grow heavy.
“Are you sure you should be staying here? I mean, he has to know where you live. You could come and stay with me and Nick. Or we could come and stay here, Nick can help make sure you're safe,” Aggie said.
“That’s sweet, Aggie, but you're still not fully recovered from your injuries. You have enough going on, and it’s not really safe to be around me right now.” Naomi wouldn’t do anything to put her sisters in danger, and if that meant they had to stay away from her then that’s what she’d do.
“Why didn’t you say something about the letters?” Beneath the concern in Clara’s eyes was a heavy dose of frustration and hurt.
“Because we’ve all been through a lot in the last year, and I didn’t want to add to anyone’s stress. Besides, I truly didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about. I'm sorry, I didn’t shut you out on purpose.” She didn’t want anyone to be unhappy with her, least of all her sister who she loved so much. She would never do anything to hurt anyone intentionally, especially her family.
“It’s okay, I'm not mad, I'm just scared. Hekilledsomeone, and he’s coming after you. What if Jonathon and Allina can't find him before he comes for you?”
Jonathon ran his hand up and down Clara’s arm to soothe her. “We will, honey.”
Looking completely unconvinced, Clara wrapped her arms around her middle. “Maybe we should postpone the wedding until this is sorted.”
“No. Absolutely not,” Naomi said immediately. There was no way she was messing up her sister’s big day.
“We don’t need to postpone our wedding.” Jonathon wrapped an arm around Clara’s shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “Just have faith. Kane found the bullet, he’s running it through ballistics. We could have this sorted out tomorrow.”
“See, there’s nothing to worry about,” she told her sister, then fought an enormous yawn.
It was starting to become a struggle to keep her eyes open.