“It didn’t look like you needed saving. But you’re welcome anyway.”
He’s gone, and Wren slumps into a chair, dropping her head into her hands. She allows herself to shake for just a moment, feeling all the adrenaline drain from her body.
I reach out to her.
“Are you all right?”
“No, but what am I going to do?”She takes a deep breath and rolls her shoulders back, then swipes her hand over her face.“I’m good. I’m fine. Nothing to worry about. After one week in hell, I’m finally getting out of here. And meeting the big boss, too. The whole family will be at this birthday party, so I need you to pay attention and memorize everything. Everyone. Their names, how they look. So we can easily identify them later.”
“Understood,”I say.
She gets up and heads to the bedroom, where she goes to the tiny closet and starts pulling out her limited clothing options. She examines each piece – worn jeans and basic t-shirts. Nothing she owns could possibly be considered nice for a Kyzer birthday party. Frustration builds as she realizes she has nothing appropriate. She throws everything back into the closet in a heap and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
She approaches the mirror and grips the edge of the sink with both hands, staring at her reflection. I can see through her eyes, and it’s like we’re staring at each other.
“I’ll admit, that rattled me more than it should have,”she says.“I thought I was made of stronger stuff.”
“You are strong, Wren. Never doubt that. When you grabbed his arm, that was all you. I didn’t even help.”
She chuckles without real humor.
“Yes, that was a stupid move. I should’ve let him.”
“Let him do what?”
She shrugs.
“I don’t know. Did you see how Garrett barged in? He wouldn’t have let him go too far.”
Well, that is annoying to hear.
“You said it yourself. Garrett is a snake.”
“He is. Don’t worry, I haven’t changed my mind about him, but it’s good to know he has my back. Sort of.”
I’m not satisfied with her answer at all, but I don’t push the argument. The truth is I really don’t like Garrett, and I especially don’t like that Wren is reassessing him. He’s dangerous in ways Roman isn’t, and something about him sets off every alarm I have. The more she thinks he’s not so bad, the more I hate him.
It’s jealousy, I realize, which is ridiculous because Garrett is a criminal and I’m her bodyguard, but I can’t help it. I don’t want her to trust him. I don’t want her to think about him at all. Wren is overwhelmed and stressed, and not seeing clearly becauseshe’s been underground too long, so I’ll have to look out for her. I’ll pay much closer attention to Garrett from now on.
“I’m done for today. I just... I’ll eat and go to bed. I need to get my head straight for tomorrow.”
“That’s a good idea,”I agree.
I observe as she leaves the bathroom and returns to the laboratory. Right on schedule, Dale delivers her evening meal. Tonight, it’s Indian food, and the smell hits me when she opens the bag. There’s butter chicken in a container with rich orange-red sauce, basmati rice, warm naan bread torn into pieces, and saag paneer with spinach and cheese in green sauce. The spices are strong – cumin and coriander, turmeric and garam masala.
As Wren starts eating, I can’t help but recoil at the heat and strong flavors. It’s not painful, but it’s overwhelming. I don’t complain, but she can probably feel my discomfort.
Despite my reaction, Wren genuinely enjoys the meal. The butter chicken is amazing as far as she’s concerned, and when she takes her first bite, she can’t help but moan at how good it tastes. The sound comes out naturally, uninhibited, and the second she makes it, I groan involuntarily in her mind.
Heat gathers between her thighs.
Since the first night when I sedated her dreams, both of us have been sexually frustrated beyond measure. No dreams means no outlet, no way of exploring what we started to acknowledge. During the day, Wren fought constantly to ignore her arousal, pushing it down to focus on work, but I felt it anyway. The constant low-level desire humming through her body has been torture. Just like her, I haven’t had any sexual contact in a long time. We’re both on edge, wound tight, and we can feel everything the other feels through the merge. It’s been absolute hell.
Wren catches glimpses of my thoughts. She finishes eating and sets the empty containers aside.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. It might go well, or it might all go to shit,”she says.
“I am here for you. If it goes to shit, I will kill everyone to get you out.”
