Whatever pain meds Collin had given me must have messed with my brain, because there was no way possible I’d like the scent of a man, or to be in their arms, so much.
Too soon for my liking, I was sat down on top of a bed and forced to let my arms drop.
“You have the biggest bed and the only en suite. Figured you would need it more than anyone else here. If you need anything, just yell. I’m sure someone will hear you without an issue.”
“Okay,” I said, looking around the empty room. There was nothing but a bed in the middle of the room, the headboard against the side-wall. A couple of windows lined the farthest wall, but they didn’t look as though they opened. The paint on the walls were a light cream color, matching the carpet.
Dominic ran his hand through his hair, debating with himself. After a moment, he blew out a breath. “Get some rest.” Then, he was gone, closing the door tightly shut behind him.
Getting comfortable on the bed, I pulled the covers over my head and let my mind finally wander.
My mind couldn’t wrap around any of it. This family was so much bigger than the few of them I’d met, that was for sure. And what kind of family needed guards on duty at all hours of the day?
Huffing out a breath, since sleep was nowhere near finding me now, I sat up. Listening, there were no voices out in the living room that I could hear. Only the sounds of a settling house. It was quiet—almost too quiet.
Slowly, so as not to fall if my legs threatened to give out, I made my way to the door. I expected it to creak or groan as I pulled it open, but there was no sound. Peeking around it, there was a dull light on in the kitchen. Walking down the hallway, I paused as I reached the living room.
On the couch sat Collin with a tablet. I wasn’t sure if he was really reading the words or just staring at it blankly.
When I stepped closer, he quickly turned and spotted me. He went from attack mode to giving me a soft smile.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“No,” I said, shuffling around and taking a seat at the other end of the couch.
“Me neither. Highly doubt the other two are sleeping, either. I can give you something,” he offered.
“I’m okay,” I said, letting my body soak into the couch.
“How are you handling everything?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I let my head lean against the back, too tired to keep it up. “Everything’s been strange, you know.”
“You bring the strangeness out in us all,” Collin joked. “But I’m here for you to talk to whenever.”
“Who is Ace to me?”
“He’s your grandfather. Caesar’s father.”
They didn’t look anything alike.
“Did you know he’d found me?”
“No one did until he confessed. Lisa suspected, but everyone kept pushing that idea as far away as they possibly could. Ace isn’t like most people. He does things his way, and he makes sure everyone around him follows his leads. I’m sure he suspected something. That’s why, that week you didn’t turn back up at the park, he sent Zevon in to do a sweep of the school to find you. He was to report back.”
“Why the drugs, though?”
“To blend in,” Zevon answered, scaring the crap out of me. I slapped my hands over my mouth, containing the yelp that wanted to escape. My heart, on the other hand, was beating so hard through my chest, I could feel it in my toes. “No one thinks twice about seeing a kid that looks like a drug dealer, let alone in a huge school like that. I still feel horrible that I got you into trouble, Scarlett. You have no idea. It was never my intention to cause you more pain.”
“It’s fine. I think we’re more than even, now,” I said, my heart back to its normal pace. I wrapped my arms around my chest lightly.
“There’s no way we can ever be even,” Zevon said with a sad smile. “I know it’s because of me that he made you suffer more than any other time.”
That weekend seemed so far away now.
I had nothing to say back. What could I say to that?
“Tell me one thing you want,” Collin said as Zevon took a seat on the chair, spreading his legs out before him. He must have seen where my mind was going and was determined to change the subject.
