I don’t know whether to yell at him or hug him. “You’re not paying for all of this. No.”
Dax stops, curls his arm around my back, and pushes me against the wall. “You’re mine, Evianna. And I protect what’s mine. No matter the cost.”
His words send a little thrill through me, but I still won’t let him pay for this whole damn thing. “We’ll talk about this…later,” I say, then kiss him, the feel of his lips and the taste of him—coffee and a hint of toothpaste—settling me and warming me down to my core. “Mom’s room is right here.”
I knock twice, and then step through the door. “Hi, Mom.”
She smiles, her eyes lighting up, though one side of her mouth ends up higher than the other. “What are you doing here?”
The mechanical voice doesn’t sound anything like her, but I can still hear her. It’s in the way her eyes move, her brows, her lips.
“Mom,” I approach the bed, “there’s something we have to talk about. And it’s scary and complicated, but you have to trust me.”
“Are you in trouble? Who is that?”
Dax steps forward, but he doesn’t take my hand. “Mrs. Archer, my name is Dax Holloway. I’m a private investigator. Please don’t say anything else until I give you the okay.” He pulls a small black plastic box from his pocket, flips the switch, and waits until the thing beeps twice. “All right. If there are any bugs in this room, they’re jammed now.”
“Bugs?” The word escapes on a squeak. “You really think—?”
“No clue, darlin’. But he was in this room. If I were trying to get a bead on you, I’d be listening.”
“Evianna, what is going on? Tell me.”
If Mom were still mobile, she’d probably be shaking me right now. With a sigh, I ease a hip onto the edge of her bed. “Dax? Can you…um…come closer?”
His cane slides across the linoleum until it hits the bed, and I take his hand. “Mom, this is the man I told you about. Dax is…protecting me.” Glancing up at him, I see the conflict in his eyes behind his glasses. The fear. “And we’re involved. Dating.”
“You’re in danger. Why?”
As quickly as I can, I give her the highlights, leaving out the part where the man who brought her a large spray of red, white, and yellow daisies threatened to kill me. “Dax arranged to have you moved to another facility for a few days. Just until his people can find the guy.”
Mom fixes Dax with a hard stare. “Young man, give me one reason why I should trust you.”
Dax wraps his arm around my shoulders. “I’m Special Forces, ma’am. Retired. Injured in the line of duty, awarded the Medal of Honor, a Purple Heart, and a Silver Star. The United States Special Forces fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. We don’t lie, cheat, or steal, and we absolutely never leave one of our own behind. Evianna is…mine. I would die before I let anyone hurt her.”
I don’t breathe. I’m not sure I can. To hear my soldier, the man I’m falling for, say he’d die for me…the absolute certainty in his voice, the strength of his arm around me… I wish I could tell him how I feel. But now isn’t the time.
Mom moves the little joystick on under her hand, all while the silence in the room turns into a physical weight.
“What are you waiting for, then? Let’s go.”
30
Dax
Evianna’s voice carries an undertone of fear as she tells her mother about signing off on Alfie’s code this morning and the upcoming party. I stay close but out of the way as the nurse and three EMTs Wren hired unhook Olivia Archer from the tubes, wires, and sensors that help her stay alive and load her into an unmarked ambulance.
We climb into the back with her, and once we’re belted in, I reach for Evianna’s hand, offering her what little reassurance I can. “The second ambulance is a decoy, darlin’. It’ll go off first, lights and sirens, then we’ll follow silently. After ten minutes, our lights will come on. And we’ll weave through the city for at least half an hour to make sure we’re not being followed.”
“You have done this before,” Olivia says.
“For almost ten years, this was my job, ma’am.”
Evianna’s knee bounces against mine until her mother’s computerized voice breaks the silence.
“You love my daughter. Call me Olivia.”
“M-Mom!”
