“Hungry?” he asks.
I nod as the scent of bacon hits my nose.
“Good. I have eggs and bacon and, of course, coffee.”
“Thank you.” He sets the tray on the coffee table and settles next to me on the love seat. “Did you make this?”
“No.” He chuckles, but it’s brief. I doubt he laughs much. “I’m a pretty bad cook. Wraith made it.”
“Wraith,” I repeat. “How many guys live here?”
“Eight right now. Stealth is… away.”
I can tell from his tone that he doesn’t want to say more than that. “That’s a lot of people.”
“It’s a big house. Sixteen bedrooms in all.”
“Damn.” I take the plate he offers me and dig right in. I didn’t even realize I was so hungry. The eggs are fluffy and the bacon is that perfect balance between chewy and crunchy that I love. The coffee is strong as fuck, but I need it.
“How did you sleep?”
“Good, thanks. You?”
Specter shrugs. “I was distracted.”
“By me?”
He shakes his head. “By what happened to you.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He sips his coffee. “I’ll find him.”
“I believe you.” I chew a bite of bacon. “Did you eat?”
“I did, yeah. I’ve been awake a while.” He holds his cup to his lips but doesn’t drink. “Instead of watching you sleep, I hit the gym.”
“How uncreepy of you.”
“I try.” A slight smile tugs at his lips, and I wonder what a full smile would look like on him. Will I ever find out?
I have questions, lots of them, but no idea how to ask them. And questions always lead to more questions, and then he may want to know things about me that I’m not willing to tell him yet. Or maybe ever. Hard to say.
“Segreto is closed today, right? And you’re off tomorrow?”
“You really did stalk me.”
“I wish you wouldn’t use that word. I just took an intense interest in you, that’s all.”
That actually makes me laugh. “That’s what we’re calling it. Okay.”
His expression is dead serious. “I would never hurt you.”
“I think I know that, or I wouldn’t be here.”
He leans close to me. “And I’ll fucking kill anybody who does. I’ll hunt down every demon and drag them back to hell. Count on it.”
His words leave me breathless. I pride myself on my ability to take care of myself, but it’s kind of nice to think that maybe just this once I don’t have to.
