Her fault. Her fault. Her fault.
“Hey,” Danny said, bringing them to a stop and dropping his arm to take her hand. “I hate seeing you so upset. Do I need to tell you a joke?”
“God, no.” Jokes were the last thing she needed.
“Are you sure? I’ve got some good ones. Some really dirty ones too, if that’s more your thing.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and despite everything that happened, Chloe managed to crack a smile.
“There she is.” With a grin, he used the clasp he had on her hand to swing her into a dance, singing, “It’s just temporary, Chloe dear. Before you know it, we’ll be heeeere. Once. More.”
A tiny laugh escaped her, and Danny beamed as he resumed their walk to her car, still holding her hand. It wasn’t as nice as holding Erik’s hand, but the friendship and support in that small gesture were welcome. When they reached her car, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Until we meet again, sweet Chloe.”
She smiled fondly at him. “Thank you, Danny,” she told him sincerely.
He shot her one of his most charming smiles and winked. “Anytime.”
Chapter Twelve
They’d gotten Chloe homewithout a hitch. When she’d run out of the opera house looking pale and distressed, Erik had wanted to follow her, but Danny Drayton had beaten him to it. Not only that, if Savoy was watching, he didn’t want to risk giving their association away by chasing after her. So, he let Jayla know Chloe was on the move and trusted his partner to keep an eye on her.
According to Jayla, Drayton had managed to cheer Chloe up. Good. As for Savoy, there’d been no sign, but there was a wooded area along the left side of the opera house, plenty of cover for the bastard to hide in. The important thing was, he hadn’t made a move. Not surprising considering the number of people there. He wouldn’t want to cause a scene, and the meeting had broken up soon after.
As soon as they got back to her apartment, Chloe mumbled, “I’m sorry, but I need to be alone,” and shut herself in her bedroom. Erik wanted to remind her that she didn’t need to entertain them. They might be temporarily staying in her home, but they weren’t guests.
“If you’re good for a little bit,” Erik said to Jayla. “I’m going to go grab my gear and close up my apartment.”
She nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on things here.”
Packing up didn’t take long, considering he hadn’t fully unpacked to begin with, but he made sure the place was clean for whoever needed to use it next. As he was shouldering his duffel to leave, a text came through:
Kong: Game night at your place tonight?
Game nights at Black Bay were something Kong had started. He’d gotten the idea from his wife, Katherine. A group of them would get together every week, rotating who hosted, and they’d play a board game or card game – the host’s choice. It was something that, normally, Erik would’ve avoided, but he’d been attending, forcing himself to be more sociable, at least with the other Beasts, and he had to admit, those nights were fun.
But Erik was on a mission. Kong knew that, so Erik should have been taken out of the rotation until he returned. Frowning, he typed: No, and received a crying emoji in reply.
Erik huffed a laugh and shook his head.Kong. The guy was nearly seven feet tall and packed with muscle. He’d been created with primate DNA, primarily gorilla, and there weren’t many who could go toe-to-toe with him and hope to win unless they took him by surprise. He could easily rip someone’s head off with his bare hands, and yet, of all the Beasts, he was the best-natured. Happy. Outgoing. Optimistic. He’d also managed to fall in love, marry thewoman of his dreams, and they were now thinking of starting a family. Kong had managed to put his past behind him.
Other Beasts had too. Jace had found his wife, Paige, while he was out on a mission, and because of that, Lark had met Paige’s brother, Grady, and they’d fallen in love.
Erik envied them for that.
Driving back to Chloe’s place, Erik kept his eyes peeled. He wanted to finish this with Savoy. A dream had begun to form last night as he’d sat in Chloe’s dark room, holding her hand as he listened to her breathing. One where he found Chloe again after his face was fixed, and they’d go out for that coffee. Then, another night, maybe dinner or a movie. And maybe someday, if he was lucky, she’d look at him like Katherine looked at Kong. Like Paige looked at Jace, and Lark looked at Grady.
Unfortunately, Savoy wasn’t nice enough to be standing on a street corner waiting for Erik to take him down.
When he returned, Chloe was still in her bedroom, the door firmly shut.
“All quiet?” he asked Jayla.
She nodded. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to grab some rack.”
“That’s fine.”
Jayla waved her phone. “Call me if you need me.” Then left to go to her apartment, so Erik settled on the couch with his sketch pad, the surveillance feed on the laptop within view so he could still keep an eye on things.
An hour later, when he got up to stretch and get something to eat, Chloe’s door finally opened. She looked tired, and by the redness of her eyes, it looked like she’d been crying. Erik wished there was something he could do for her, but until they found Savoy, his hands were tied.
“I was just about to grab some food,” he quietly told her. “Do you want something?”
