“Then maybe he got lucky last night, and taking a call from his big sister the morning after would put a dampener on that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do men ever think of anything else but sex?”
“I’m not sure about other men, you would have to ask them, but I admit it’s been on my own mind almost constantly for the past seven days, but more so the last three.”
The two of them first met seven days ago, Fawn realized, and she had moved into his apartment with him three days ago. Coincidence? Or was Declan really telling her that he had been having the same sexual fantasies about her as she had him for the past week? If that was the case, then he’d made very sure she hadn’t known about it.
She shot Declan an impatient glance. “I don’t have time for this. I need?—”
“You need to calm down is what you need to do.” Declan reached out and took a firm grip of her arm. “There could be any number of reasons River isn’t answering your calls right now?—”
“No, there really couldn’t.” She pulled out of his grip, no doubt adding to the bruises she still had on her arm from the last time she had done that. “We have a deal that he is always to answer whenever I call him.”
“Maybe he’s using the bathroom or taking a bath?”
“He takes his cell phone in there with him too.”
“At your request?”
“Yes,” she challenged.
Declan shook his head. “I never had a sister, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have appreciated her intrusion into my life on the level you seem to be in River’s.”
A nerve pulsed in her clenched cheek. “You know absolutely nothing about my relationship with River.”
“I don’t need to know any more than I already do to know that you’re way too overprotective of a grown man?—”
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!” Fawn bit out furiously, her hands clenched at her sides.
Declan drew back with a splutter of disbelief. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“Look it up,” she dismissed impatiently. “I certainly don’t have the time to explain it to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really have to—” She broke off, deeply annoyed at having Declan silence her with a raised finger before taking his cell phone from the back pocket of his jeans and making a call. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Just wait,” he instructed. “Declan,” he stated when his call was obviously answered. “Have you seen River Meadows this morning? No. Okay, go and knock on his door. If he doesn’t answer?—”
“Tell them to break it down,” Fawn cut in, having now realized that Declan had to be talking to one of the men outside their apartment guarding River. Maybe Danny.
“Hold on a minute, Danny.” Declan confirmed that guess before he slowly lowered his cell phone to stare at Fawn. “You reallywant them to break down the door of your apartment if your brother doesn’t answer when they knock?”
“Yes!”
Declan looked incredulous at her vehemence. “Isn’t that a little extreme when River could just be sleeping late or might have gone out for a carton of milk?”
“River doesn’t sleep well, let alone late. Plus, you already said your men haven’t seen him yet this morning, so he can’t have gone out for milk,” she reminded forcefully. “Even if he had, he would have taken his cell phone with him.”
“Maybe it needed recharging?”
“Enough excuses,” she snapped. “Just instruct Danny to get into the apartment by any means necessary if River doesn’t answer when they knock.” She bit out each word individually in order to underline the urgency of her request.
“Okay.” Declan nodded after seeing her rising agitation from the rapid rise and fall of her chest. “But as soon as I end this call, you’re going to explain to me why we’re doing this.”
“Fine,” she dismissed. “Just please, please, ask Danny to check on River. When he has, ask him to call you straight back.”
Declan issued that instruction, exactly as she had requested, before ending the call. “Now explain to me exactly what is going on.” It sounded like such an innocuous request. And Fawn supposed, in many situations, it probably was. Except in their case, Declan was asking for her to relate the reality that was her own and River’s lives. Mostly River’s, but as the big sister who loved him to the moon and back, it affected her life too.
She drew in a deep and calming breath as she considered the situation. Finally, she came to the conclusion that she would tell Declan as much as she thought he needed to know. After all, despite having kissed each other three days ago, their relationship was still only that of a nurse and her patient. Which meant her private life, and that of her brother, was really none of Declan’s business.
“Before you try to fob me off with half-truths, I want you to consider that I currently have a team of men from Wynter Security actively protecting your brother,” Declan reminded softly.
