And for the first time in years, I sleep without watching for shadows.
21
JADE
"Tilt your chin up just a bit more, darling."
I comply automatically with the makeup artist's gentle direction, my body responding from years of muscle memory while my mind wanders elsewhere. Her expert hands move around my face, dabbing concealer under my eyes to hide the evidence of my sleepless night.
Not that I didn't sleep on the plane. I did, more deeply than I had in years, cradled against Mateo's chest. The memory of last night coils around me like the cashmere blanket Mateo tucked around our legs. The sound of his voice still lingers in my ears, low and rough with sleep. The weight of his arm draped over my waist, the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my cheek. I didn't mean to fall asleep on him. I didn't mean for it to feel so... safe.
But it did. It felt like shelter.
Yet the few hours in my own bed afterward had been restless, haunted by golden eyes and the phantom sensation of lips against mine.
"You look tired, honey," Gloria murmurs, her voice pitched low, just for me. "Bali was stressful?"
A smile tugs at my lips before I can stop it. "It had its moments."
Gloria arches a knowing brow as she hands me a water bottle with a straw. "Mmm-hmm. Let me guess, those moments had something to do with a certain bodyguard who couldn't seem to stop watching you like you were a high-value target... or a high-stakes temptation."
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and I duck my head slightly. "You mean Mateo? It was tiring for him as well." I clear my throat, deflecting. "He's not on this shoot. Ethan and Declan are covering today."
"Is that disappointment I hear?" She grins.
"Close your eyes for me," the makeup artist requests. I obey, grateful for the momentary reprieve from Gloria's perceptive gaze. The soft sweep of the brush across my eyelids is soothing, familiar.
With my eyes closed, memories from the plane surge forward. Mateo's heartbeat beneath my ear. The steady rise and fall of his chest. The way his fingers had threaded through my hair, gentle and soothing. The heat of his kiss... God, that kiss. Raw and realand...
"Your pulse is racing," Gloria observes mildly. "Thinking about something nice?"
I open my eyes, meeting her gaze in the mirror. "It's complicated."
"The best things usually are."
I glance beyond her to where Ethan stands by the suite's entrance, his broad shoulders filling out his charcoal suit to perfection. His blue eyes scan the room in a continuous sweep, hypervigilant as always. When his gaze brushes over me, something flickers in his expression, something deep that I can't quite read.
My stomach does a treacherous little flip.
And there's the complication.
Because while I can still feel Mateo's lips on mine, I also can't deny the flutter that accompanies Ethan's intense stare. Or the way my skin heats whenever Declan's massive presence looms nearby, currently radiating brooding silence from the corner where he's positioned himself, dark eyes glaring at anyone who ventures too close.
What is wrong with me?
I've spent years, my entire adult life, building walls, maintaining distance, protecting myself from precisely this kind of emotional entanglement. And now here I am, developing feelings for not one but three men simultaneously. Men who work for me. Men who are paid to protect me, not care about me.
"Whatever you're overthinking," the makeup artist says, breaking into my spiraling thoughts, "stop it. Your frown is going to crease my foundation."
I force a smile. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize. Just relax." She steps back, admiring her work. "Perfect. The hairdresser will be in to finish your hair in five, and then you're on."
"Everything seems under control here. I'll leave too. Meet you back at the house," Gloria says as she exits the room.
As she moves away, my gaze drifts back to Ethan. He's talking quietly into his comm device, probably checking in with the security team positioned throughout the hotel. His profile is sharp against the muted luxury of the suite, all clean lines and controlled power.
I missed him when I was in Bali. And Declan too. The realization had hit me unexpectedly during a quiet moment at the resort, that I'd grown accustomed to their constant presence, to Ethan's quiet authority and Declan's watchful silence. I missed feeling like the air around me crackled with something I couldn't name when we were all in the same room.
