Of course, she’d never hurt someone like Emery. That went against everything she stood for.
“Oh, I got you something,” I mumbled, fully stepping back.
“What?” I would have laughed at his wide-eyed look. So innocent.
“Here.” Picking up the tablet that had been face down on the counter, I then handed it to him. With shaking hands, he took it, but he kept the look of confusion on his face. “This is yours. No matter if you stay here for a day, or weeks. Wherever you go, this tablet is yours.”
“Why?”
“You don’t have anything of your own,” I stated slowly, making sure to keep my wording simple. “And sitting doing nothing can be boring.”
“I’m used to it.” The words were soft. “I don’t need—”
“You may not need, but take it,” I cut him off. “Please.”
“Okay.” His tongue poked out, licking his lips. “Thank you.”
Tears began to cloud his eyes before he dropped them to the floor.
“Hey.” Without thinking, I lifted his face with a single knuckle under his chin. He didn’t fight me, but it did take a few moments before his eyes met mine. Then, just as quick, they flickered away. “What’s wrong?”
“W–What do you want from me?” His question was shaky.
“To figure out who you are. Nothing more. I willneverask anything from you that you don’t want to give.”
At that, his eyes stayed on mine. “Oh.” He hadn’t expected that.
Moving my hand to cup his cheek, I let out a breath. “Nothing sexual will ever be required from you. Ever.”
He nodded, yet I saw he didn’t believe me. In time, hopefully that would change. My thumb swiped under his eye. At the light touch, his eyes closed. I’d bet everything I had that this poor soul wasn’t used to having anything, least of all touch that wasn’t meant to harm.
“Thank you.” Finally, he pulled back. I dropped my hand back to my side. “I’m gonna go…” He pointed behind him while clearing his throat.
“I’ll let you know when Scarlett gets back.” With that, he was gone, headed towards the bedroom.
Not even thirty minutes later, Scarlett was at the door. Behind her stood a man a with shaggy black hair. The same man from the picture Emery was clutching just hours ago.
Unlike the picture where he was staring blankly ahead, the man before me was glaring.
“Come on in,” I greeted, stepping aside to let them both in. Scarlett shut the door behind them, then motioned to the man to set his bag on the nearby chair.
Guess he was prepared to stay if all went well.
“Ryker, meet Enzo.” Scarlett walked through the house and straight to the kitchen like she owned the place.
All right, then.
“Uh, Scarlett…” I turned, unsure now that this was not what I was expecting. Wasn’t this man dead?
“It’s okay.” She took a deep breath, then lifted her eyes to mine. “I did say not everyone was dead. The feds are great, aren’t they?”
“This has to be some cruel joke.”
If I was reacting this way, who the hell knew how Emery was going to respond.
I took a deep breath. Me freaking out wasn’t going to help anyone. I desperately wanted to give this woman a few words of my own.
“Where’s Emery?” Scarlett asked instead.
