A slow grin spread across my face. “Kinsley is lucky to have you.”
Bodhi scoffed lightly, “I think I’m the lucky one.”
I smiled into my cup, picking it up again as I felt something inside me ease for the first time since meeting Silas. “So, I shouldn’t tell him to fuck off?”
He full on laughed this time. “Not unless you really mean it, Em.”
I nodded and moved next to him, pulling him into a hug and kissing his forehead. “Thanks for listening and not making it weird,” I said.
He leaned back slightly. “That’s kind of my job.”
“Being annoyingly perceptive?”
“Being a good big brother,” he corrected.
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the small smile that followed. The chaos in my head hadn’t disappeared. Silas was still there, lingering in every thought. It didn’t feel quite as overwhelming now. In some weird way, it felt exactly right.
I placed the cup into the sink and said goodnight to Bodhi before heading for my room.
19
Silas
I shouldn’t have left her.
I hadn’t even wanted to in the first place, but it wasn't exactly a choice. I had to basically force my feet to move in the opposite direction. My body fighting against each step, reminding me that I belonged with her.
The thought stayed with me the entire drive. For almost an hour, my knuckles stayed tight on the steering wheel, my foot heavier than it needed to be. As each mile passed, I replayed the night and every look on Ember’s face. Once I watched the slimy manager touch her, I had decided to fortify my claim on her, rather than hunt him down. But still, I definitely shouldn’t have left her. Pulling up the cameras, I checked on her to make sure she was home safe. From the TV in her room, I could see her curled up in bed, reading a book. The sight of her calmed some of my agitation.
As soon as I was done with this, I could go back to her. But for now, Knox was the only one I trusted to make sense of things before I did something reckless. I turned onto his street too fast, braking hard in front of the house with the white picket fence. It looked exactly like it always did—too clean, too normal.Toys were scattered across the yard with a plastic truck tipped over in the grass. His house was the kind of place that screamed average, when the man who lived there was anything but.
I killed the engine but didn’t get out right away. Clients dropping in wasn’t exactly something he loved. In fact, he’d made it clear on multiple occasions that it was not allowed if you worked with him, but we’re family, so I figured I could bend the rules a little. Grabbing my phone, I called him. He picked up by the third ring.
“Yeah,” Knox said quietly.
“I’m outside.”
There was a pause before I heard something faint in the background and then the line went dead. Staring at the screen, I hoped he was in a good mood. A couple minutes later, the front door opened and Knox stepped out. One hand dragged through his dark brown hair as he spotted me by the curb. His expression only tightened further as he walked down the path.
“You just show up here? Unannounced?” he asked the second he was close enough.
I didn’t bother pretending. “I need help, and you’re the only one I can ask.”
His jaw ticked as his green eyes narrowed in on me. “Youalwaysneed help.”
“I need us to figure out the tracker, Knox.” I cut in, my voice low and sharp. “I can’t just sit here and pretend that’s nothing. Something is going on with her.”
That stopped him from glaring at me, but the anger didn’tdisappear completely. He leaned into my car door before looking around his neighborhood, clearly weighing his options. After a moment, he motioned toward his house. “Garage. Keep your voice down.”
Moving fast, we cut past the toys and around to the detached garage. Unlocking it, he flipped on the light and ushered me inside. The space was exactly what you’d expect from Knox, organized chaos. His workbench was lined with tools, and multiple monitors were mounted against one wall. Different wires and components had been laid out in neat, almost obsessive patterns. He was already moving toward his monitor before I said anything else. Waking up his system, he pulled up several windows.
“I’ll give you what I’ve found so far,” he said, as we started going through everything he knew about Ember.
Her routines, her job, anyone who’d gotten too close. There were names and faces associated with her, along with places she frequently visited. Knox had been busy, pulling records and cross-referencing information.
“No one has stuck out,” he said after a while, leaning back in his chair. “No recent incidents, no reports, nothing online. Whoever this is isn’t making anything obvious.”
“I don't like it,” I muttered as I shook my head. “People don’t just plant trackers.”
