“Just like that.” I clear my throat and look around the room. “This is Jack’s place.”
She nods slowly. Still catching up to what I’m telling her. “Oh God, Everly. Does she know where we are right now? She’s going to think, oh fuck, what is she going to think?” She lifts the back of her hand up to her mouth. Worry is painted all over her face. She loves my sister, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that she’s more concerned about leaving my sister's celebration than about what happened earlier.
“Can we do this after I’ve slept for a little bit?”
Surprisingly, she nods and softly agrees. “Okay.”
I pull myself up and move past her toward the hallway, where I assume bedrooms will be, but as I look around further, I notice only a few doors. One to a massive theater room, another to a fully equipped gym, one to a full photo studio, and the last to a huge bedroom.Is he for real?One fucking bedroom. In this huge ass house, one damn room?!
My nerves are shot, so I’ll sleep wherever at this point. I toss her bag into the bedroom and drag my bag back to the open living space.
“You take the room. End of the hall. I have a few things I need to do.”
I watch her hesitate, like she wants to say more. Ask more. But I mean what I’ve said, if I don’t get some sleep, I’m not going to be able to function the way I need to while we’re here. I hear the door close, and I finally take a deep breath. Relief runs through me. Knowing that she’s out of harm's way, and I can make sure she stays that way.
I move outside to the pool and sit on the daybed. Who puts a bed outside? It would have been smarter to add one more to theinsideof the house. I breathe in the salted air, trying to relax. It doesn’t work, but it feels good to do it anyway. Pulling out the burner phone Harper gave me, I type out a message.
Landed and safe.
Agent Harper
The problem here is under investigation. Sit tight. As far as I can tell, there was no recognition. The attendee was a coincidence. Vetting further. At least 48 hours. Keep a low profile wherever you are.
Two days on an island. Alone with G. We try to keep any time alone limited to less than ten minutes. I just had my head buried between her legs, my fingers and tongue thrust into her, working like fucking champions to hear her orgasm. I can still fucking smell her because there was no time to wash my face. And I’m enough of a goner for her that I'd probably have skipped it even if I did have time. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I’ve reached my limit, which to be honest, most men wouldn’t have lasted days, never mind years with the way that woman burrows into lives.
It’s not lost on me that I threw in the towel on keeping a distance, and within minutes, she was in danger. I know it’s irrational to think one had anything to do with the other, but the entire point of staying away from her for this long was in an effort to keep her safe. No connections to her old life. Keep her out of the spotlights that are sometimes shown on me and my role in my family’s business. But it didn’t matter.
Now we’re here. How the hell are these forty-eight hours going to work?
I look up at the clear sky and laugh. This is not how I expected this day to end. “Please, whoever is up there, don’t letthisbe what kills me.” There’s no way I can keep her at a distance now. She’s going to have more questions when she wakes up, and the only one I can answer is why I’m here with her. The problem is, though, I don’t know if she’s ready to hear the answer.
A movement out of the corner of my eye has me jack-knifing up.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she says, looking uncharacteristically sheepish. And before I can get a word in, she holds her hand up. “I’m not asking any questions. I just…” She shifts her weight from one foot to the other. I lean my head to the side, trying to get her to look at me. When she finally does, she asks in a whisper, “Will you just lie with me? I don’t—” She clears her throat, biting back the emotion that I hear shaking its way forward. “I can’t be by myself right now.”
I give her a nod and get up, following her down the hall and watching as she climbs into bed.
“I’m just going to use the bathroom. I’ll be right out.” It's smart to get out of this tux and maybe shower. Wash away the adrenaline that might keep me from sleeping.
It’s less than ten minutes later when I come back into the bedroom. The light next to her side table is turned off and I only hear the faint sounds of the ocean. She’s facing away from me, but I’m guessing by her slow and heavy breathing that she’s fallen asleep. I quietly move to the bed and try my hardest not to jostle the mattress as I lower myself. I’m exhausted, but she needs to sleep. Her shock might have worn off, but I have no idea what she’s going to feel like when she wakes up and tries to process everything.
I don’t think twice about moving my body close to hers and wrapping an arm around her middle to pull her closer. I take a deep breath, maybe in relief, or maybe just to finally settle. Holding her after what we just fled from, the crossed lines and dangerous pasts, it’s exactly what I need. To be close to her. My pulse rate lowers. My eyes grow heavier. I breathe her in… lemons and sugar. The sweetness makes me smile, because she is sweet, underneath all of her bravado and jokes. She’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. It’s just not obvious. You have to really look to see it.
It’s not how I would have wanted it, but holding her like this, feeling her melt into my arms, it’s a better ending to the day than I could have imagined.
32
Giselle
The hypnotic soundsof static wake me. I stretch my arms and legs out in opposite directions like a carefree cat. Taking a breath, in and out. I feel rested. But then it hits me. I realize, before I’ve even opened my eyes, that I’m not at home. The fluffiness of the bedcovers, the smell of leather and pine, coffee brewing, and the calmly quiet sounds.
I crack open one eye slowly, knowing the room is bright even behind my heavy eyelids. I’ll be blinded if I sit up wide-eyed too quickly. As I open the other, the blur of sleep lifts. In front of me is a wall of glass that frames a modern paradise. Hammocks, a beautiful pool.Is that a waterfall?The sound of static isn’t static at all, but the ocean. I hear waves pulsing and large swooshing every ten or so seconds.
Last night comes flooding back to me. Someone holding me. Dancing. Henry’s mouth. The thought of what we did worries me, and then the real panic rears in.
“Oh no,” I whisper into my hand as it flies toward my mouth.
I remember. The tattoo. The voice. Henry getting me out of there. Wait, and Bea? They spoke like they had a plan for what was happening. I take a shallow breath. My chest feels tight and the air that I’m trying to pull in will only move so far before I have to push it out. The air is humid, but a steady breeze tells me that wherever we are, it’s far away from the snow of Strutt’s Peak. I’m safe. I think.