“You sure?”
She blew out a steadying breath as she nodded. “I think. But maybe I’ll skip the water if it’s all the same to you.”
“You should drink it when you can. Maybe some food first.” He rose, offering her a hand.
“Food? You’re supposed to be decrypting a flash drive, not cooking me dinner.”
“I didn’t expect you to be sick,” he answered. “You need rest, food, and care.”
She struggled to stand, her head still swimming. “You’re so sweet. You really know how to take care of a girl you’ve drugged. Gosh, if only I had met you before Alex.”
Raven bent over, scooping her into his arms.
“I didn’t mean for you to take that as an invitation. All those roses aren’t working. I’m married to Alex.”
He didn’t answer as he carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
“Where are we anyway? Is this your place?” Ava glanced around, hoping to take in some details to use later. Could she actually use this to figure out more about his identity?
“One of them,” Raven answered as he spread a blanket over her lap.
“Oh, one of them. Aren’t we fancy?” She stared at the dimly lit space, the opposite end of the room filled with monitors.
“Stay here. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Thanks for the royal treatment,” she said, as he rounded a counter into the kitchen, visible from the bed.
“You know I care about you, Ava.”
“Yeah, I remember. The roses and then the continued druggings really prove the depths of your devotion.” She rolled her eyes at the statement, wondering how Alex and Kyle were handling her absence.
“Hey, how long was I out?”
“Four hours.”
“Four hours?!” she tried to stand on her weak knees.
“Sit down,” Raven said from the kitchen as he dumped water into the foam container of dried noodles and bouillon.
“No, you need to decrypt this drive and drug me again so I can go home. Alex must be going out of his mind.”
“Alex Stone is fine. He’s probably only waking up.”
Her heart skipped a beat as he said the words, and she snapped her gaze to him, immediately regretting it as dizziness overcame her. She collapsed onto the bed, trapped in a surreal nightmare.
What if she never made it back to Alex?
“Ava?” He set the cup on the counter and hurried to her, easing onto the mattress.
“I’m fine, I just turned too fast. What do you mean Alex is only waking up? What did you do to Alex?”
“Frick and Frack could have followed me. I couldn’t have that. They got a taste of what you had only intensified a bit to match their size.”
Ava shot him an annoyed glance. “Perfect. Are you going to go make them soup?”
“They’ll be fine.”
“Then so will I be,” she answered. “Now, get the flash drive out of my pocket and decrypt it.”
