She shrugs a shoulder. “She’s a selfish person, sure. And she has a lot of faults. But since we were five, she’s been a constant in my life when my own parents weren’t. Nannies came and went. Security came and went. But Chelsea was always there. So yeah, she has her faults, but she’s my friend.”
Sighing, I lean over to kiss her cheek and brush my nose over her skin. “Okay, baby. Keep going.”
“I always felt guilty when we pulled off sneaking out.So guilty.” She shakes her head and bites her lip, looking lost andsad. “But that night, I didn’t want to sneak away as if I was doing something wrong. I was an adult, and I wanted to go to see the art of an artist that I’d admired for a long time. It didn’t feel dangerous to me, Gideon.”
“It shouldn’t have been dangerous,” I agree, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles.
“It felt like such a normal thing to do. Chelsea had no interest in going, but that was fine with me. I don’t have an issue doing things alone. Sometimes it’s better, actually. I was enjoying myself. And then all hell broke loose.”
She swallows hard, frowning.
“At first, all I could think was that some maniac had followed us there, and that I’d fucked up so bad.”
I shake my head but let her speak.
“And then it all happened so fast. But all that blood, and the cries and screams. Those shooters had dead eyes.”
Yeah. They did.
“They didn’t care that they were killing innocent people. They didn’t look excited, or angry, oranything. They had no expressions at all. And they weren’t wearing masks to even cover up their identities.”
“It was likely one of two things,” I reply. “Either they didn’t think they’d get caught, or they didn’t expect to leave alive.”
“Did anyone ever find outwhythey did it?”
I scowl and squeeze her hand and feel frustration bubble in my gut. “You weren’t kidding when you said that no one would speak to you about this.”
“No. I was completely shut out. I wasn’t allowed to knowanything, and it drove me crazy. How was there nothing on the news? I know that some things can be covered up, like what happened that night before I came here. But a mass shooting in a museum? Gideon, there wasnothingon the news, and I searched for it. No mention of you being hurt, of me being there, of any of those people dying.”
Taking a deep breath, I push my hand through my hair. “The press releases what your mother and her people want them to release. Whether it’s the death of one man near a restroom in an art gallery or the deaths of sixteen people in a museum. She’s in control of that.”
She blinks, clearly not understanding.
“I don’t know why the shooting itself wasn’t reported. I can tell you that she didn’t want anyone to know you were there, or that I was injured, because that would show weakness. Weakness makes your whole family more vulnerable.”
Lena rolls her eyes, making my shoulders finally relax.
“There’s my sassy girl.”
“I thought I could do it today, out there with you, but as soon as I saw that weapon, it took me right back there. You got shot, I was trying to stop the blood, and then you passed out on me.”
“I told you to go so you wouldn’t see that.” I use my pinkie to brush her hair off her cheek and behind her ear. “You shouldn’t have had to see that. I didn’t want that for you.”
“But it was the last time I saw you until you walked into my bedroom, and damn it, Gideon.” She blinks furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“Did you miss me, Rebel?”
She huffs out a breath. “Yeah. I did.”
That fills me with immense satisfaction, and I pull her onto my lap, needing her closer.
“If I hadn’t been shot, I would have stayed on your detail until your mother was out of office, and things would have been strictly professional between us. Ineverwould have allowed myself to look at you differently, Lena. Even now, I know that I’m skirting some serious lines when it comes to what’s appropriate.”
“Gid—”
“No, let me say this. I would absolutely, without a fucking doubt, do it again. There isn’t anything I would do differently, because if I hadn’t been shot that night, we wouldn’t be here like this, and there isnothingI want more than having you here with me. You’re mine, and it took that incident to take me out of the job so I could have this with you all these years later. And this?” I kiss her lips softly as they tremble. “There’s nothing better than this, Lena.”
“Gid, what if I don’t want to go when all this is over?”
