She tipped her head to the side. “But you said—”
“I made it up,” he said.
“Oh.”
What kind ofohwas that? A relievedoh? A confusedoh?
“Why would you do that?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
“When they first caught me, I’d told them I was engaged for sympathy,” he said, “so they’d think I had someone waiting back home for me. A fiancée had seemed more plausible than a wife—a wife could be looked up, but a fiancée? But now that you’re here, and seeing as we clearly know each other, well, they put one and two together and assumed you’re her. They obviously didn’t believe us otherwise, so what was I supposed to do? It’s not like I ever imagined that you—or anyone—would actually find me.”
“Yeah, well, you and me both,” she said, pushing a bug floating in the water over the edge of the pool.
They waded silently for a few moments, the chirps of the birds and lapping of the waves the only sounds around them, before Dani finally spoke again.
“God, Theo…what are we going to do?” she asked.
Great question. One that he’d been pondering since the minute Maurice and Louis took them on the boat.
“We’ve got to get you out of here.”
She frowned. “Webothneed to get out of here.”
“Let’s worry about me once we get you out. Once you’re gone, you can tell the authorities about what’s happened to me. Tell my parents. Tell anyone who will listen. Here,” he said, bringing his hands around to the back of his neck to unclasp the chain he always wore around his neck. “Show them this, then they’ll know you found me.”
But Dani put up her hands to stop him, wrapping them around him and twisting his hands away from the clasp. “No, that was your grandpa’s. I can’t take it.”
She left her hands around his neck, kicking up the heat a few notches. She was so close. So beautiful.
“He’s dead. I don’t think he’ll care.”
“Well, I do,” she said, taking her arms back and leaving Theo with an emptiness. “And what if this Pierre guy does something to you for letting me get away before we find you again?”
“I’ll deal with it.”
This time she didn’t frown. This time she scowled. “Theo, I’m not leaving you here. What if I escape and they take it out on you? What then?” she asked.
“Dani,” he said, taking her hands and getting closer. He noticed a hitch in her breath. “I need you to trust me. You’re so worried about what’s going to happen to me, but if I put your life in danger and something happens toyou, Vautour is going to be the least of my worries when Eddie comes to murder me.”
She laughed, and finally he felt like they were on the same page again. “He would murder you, wouldn’t he?”
Seeing as Eddie threatened to kick his ass if Theo ever even dated Dani, death was definitely on the table.
“I mean, I don’t really care to find out, but probably. How is Eddie, by the way?”
“Aside from missing his best friend?” She stared at him with those big, beautiful brown eyes full of sorrow.
Obviously, it wasn’t Theo’s fault that Eddie was left without a best friend, but it sure did hurt to hear it.
“Aside from that,” Theo said.
“Oh, you know,” Dani said in a singsong voice. “Living his bachelor life in his bachelor pad. Though he did bring someone to Thanksgiving last year.”
“No way!”
“Way. You should have seen my mom when they walked in. She almost dropped the turkey.”
Theo started laughing, picturing the scene in his head.
