“Oh my.” Donna’s lips formed the words without sound, and I caught it out of the corner of my eye. The other two people in the room were oblivious to us.
Nick cocked his head to the side. I’d seen him make that move in court and it was always like something had intrigued and pissed him off, and he’d accepted the challenge. Then he usually went and won the case. “Oh, baby. Waiting things out has never been my strong suit.”
I blindly reached out and grabbed Donna’s hand. She held on, tight.
Tessa rolled her eyes. As her sister, I was pretty proud of her holding her ground. As an attorney who knew Nick, I wanted to wince a little bit. Then she spoke. “Not a chance. We do have a cousin who’s looking to mate if you really need that kid in time for an election.”
“Daaaaammmnnn,” Donna whispered.
“She…did…not,” I whispered back.
Tessa kept her gaze on Nick. “We can hear you two dorks.”
Nick’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out to read the screen. “I have a hearing in an hour.” Then he looked at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I could only nod.
He smiled at Donna. Then he looked at Tessa again. “We’re not done with this conversation, Contessa Albertini. I’ll catch up with you soon.” He walked out the door.
Donna turned wide eyes on me, and I pressed my lips together.
“Wow,” Donna said.
I wanted to clap but thought I should keep it cool. Before I could say anything, Dr. Springfield arrived with my test results, and I was fine except for a possible minor concussion. He said I could go home. Thank goodness Donna had brought clean clothes for me. Just as I finished changing, Aiden showed up with Saber and Drag.
“I talked to the doctor and you’re cleared. Are you feeling okay?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah.” Man, it was good to see him.
He took my hand. “You’re with me. Saber’s on Donna, and Drag is on Tess for the day, and then the local PD will take over protective detail starting tomorrow. Pierce is making it happen.”
I jolted. “What?”
“Until we figure out what’s going on, anybody who had contact with Sasha is on lockdown.” He smiled at my sisters. “Sorry about this.”
Chapter 33
“Idon’t have any clothes,” I protested again as Aiden led me into his cabin.
“I prefer you naked,” he said, shutting the door behind us.
I grinned. We were way off right now, but he still could flirt. Yeah, I liked that about him. In fact, I liked most things about him, although his mood right now was making my skin itch. He was too calm and too distant, but the flirting helped me to relax a little bit.
The lake tossed whitecaps up as a summer storm started to move in with bruised clouds and an angry wind. The weather had more energy than I did right now. Being reasonable was top of my list right now, but I needed some information. “If I can be here, why can’t I go home to at least get my things?”
Aiden locked the door. “Whoever killed Sasha and Bev knows where you live and work. If it was Barensky, he could’ve already planted explosives if he wanted. If it wasn’t Barensky, then I don’t know who it was, and you’re not safe.” He walked toward the kitchen and started taking out mixing bowls. I’d helped him stock the kitchen with a trip to Target the other day. “How about pancakes?” he asked. “We have huckleberries or chocolate chips if you want specialty.”
“Huckleberries,” I said, having made sure his freezer was stocked. My stomach growled. “Any smart criminal could find you, too. How are we safe here?” My head hurt, my rib cage ached, and I wanted to be home in my bed with a gallon of ice cream and Ozark streaming an entire season.
“The cabin isn’t in my name,” he said, opening the pantry and fetching pancake mix.
There were three rustic barstools lined up at the kitchen counter, so I limped to sit on one and watch him cook. They were the only furniture, along with a card table and bed, that had been delivered the other day. “What?”
He looked up. “We use a series of companies, LLCs, and dummy corporations to buy our personal homes so they can’t be traced to us. Just in case.”
Just in case a bomber came looking for him. Right. That’s the world he lived in. “I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry,” I murmured. I dug for my phone, which Aiden had reclaimed from my cottage that morning. Why hadn’t he taken some clothes or makeup for me? Men. Just men. “You could’ve grabbed my toiletry bag this morning,” I grumbled.
He folded huckleberries into the batter. “Oh. Sorry. Do you need, ah, products?”
