Page 50 of Dichotomy

“How long would you wait for her to be ready?” I asked him.

“I’d wait forever if I needed to,” he said.

“Then tell her that when she wakes up. Just be there for her, and it’ll all work out.” I reached across the bed and squeezed his arm. He covered my hand with his before I could pull away and squeezed it. I settled back in my chair, hand still holding Grace’s, as the silence settled comfortably in the room while we sat in silent vigil for her to wake up.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Izzy peeked her head in. Alexander hovered behind her in the hallway, and I gently untangled my fingers from Grace’s before I rose from the chair. Izzy squeezed my shoulder as I passed her, then she slipped into the room to see Grace. I shut the door behind her and turned.

Alexander stood there in a faded long-sleeved shirt and soft sweatpants, attire meant for home, not a hospital hallway. Exhaustion suddenly tugged at me hard, slowing my feet. He held open his arms, and I stepped into them. I rested my forehead on his chest and slipped my arms around his waist. He wrapped one arm around my lower back and threaded a hand into the hair at the base of my skull. His fingers massaged the back of my neck, and I groaned softly. I soaked up his solid presence and strength, enjoying the bubble we found ourselves in for a few moments before the sounds of the hospital started filtering back through my mind. The beeps of machines in the rooms, the chatter of nurses at their workstation, the squeaky wheels as carts and patients were wheeled down the hallways.

Reluctantly, I lifted my head to meet Alexander’s blue eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered. I still defaulted to handling everything on my own, but he was always there—they were always there—reminding me that I wasn’t in this alone.

“Of course,” he said, cupping my cheek and resting his forehead against mine. “It’s not your fault,” he whispered, staring into my eyes like he could push those words deep into my brain. If only it worked like that.

My lips twitched, but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t the one who had shot Grace, but I still should have been there. Grace and Danny had fought before, and I was always the one Grace called to vent. But instead, she had gone to the train tracks because I wasn‘t there. But I could be there now.

“Let’s go catch the bastards who did this.”

CHAPTER 22

SEBASTIAN

Normally, the clacking of keyboards was a familiar, comforting sound, but this morning, each tap of the keys carried a tension that settled over the room like a stifling, itchy wool blanket.

After Evie and Danny left, the room had sprung into action. Liam pulled another laptop out of his bag and handed it to Maya, who opened it quickly. Their movements spoke of years of familiarity as they settled in side by side to watch traffic camera footage. Alexander and Adrian stood against the wall, quietly discussing security before Alexander left to call Sanders. Marcus followed him. We weren’t sure who had attacked Grace. Was it an isolated incident, or a targeted attack? When Izzy informed us that it wasn’t uncommon for my Evie to go on those missions, my heart dropped into my stomach.

I knew in theory that the work she did was dangerous. The people they took down did not like their secrets being exposed, and I wasn’t naïve enough to think the Archers hadn’t accumulated enemies. But I hadn’t realized how often she had put herself in situations like this, often after working a full day with us. That had to change. It was going to change. I would never ask her to stop running the Archers. The work they did wascritical and life-changing for the people they rescued. I wanted to help her expand the organization, and I wanted us to help her. No more doing this by herself. Not when she had me; not when she had us.

It was going to take time to convince her of that, though. I had seen her face when she realized what had happened. I had obsessed over her for years, and I would bet all the money in the world that she felt guilty she hadn’t been there when Grace had been shot. Or even worse, that she had been enjoying her night with Adrian and Marcus when it happened. It had been out of her control, but my Evie didn’t think like that. She believed the weight of the Archers rested on her perfect shoulders. But she was going to learn that I had a perfectly broad set of shoulders that could carry some of the weight. And if she thought she was going to pull away from us after this, I was going to stick to her like a barnacle to her very lovely ass.

Izzy’s phone rang, and she left the room just as Marcus entered, rolling two whiteboards in front of him. I arched an eyebrow at him, and he flushed.

“She likes whiteboards,” he mumbled as he positioned them at the end of the table.

I grinned but didn’t say anything. He had finally gotten his head out of his ass around her, and I wasn’t going to discourage her getting loved and worshipped like she deserved. Even if it was with a whiteboard.

“Are you looking into Donald Jefferson?” Maya lifted their head from their computer and looked over at me. Their purple hair was pulled back into two low pigtails.

“Yes,” I said. “Any starting points you would recommend?”

Maya tapped on their computer. “I just sent you the file we had on him. Typical rich-boy case. He and his friends were drugging girls at parties and filming them. Danny’s team gave them a warning, then they were put under observation.”

“Typical rich prick behavior?” I seethed. Seriously, how hard was it to be a good human being?

They nodded. “If I had to start somewhere, I would trace where they got the drugs. We haven’t been able to track that down yet.”

I nodded, impressed by their suggestion. I hadn’t been around Maya very much, but from what I’d observed, they were really good at putting things together and seeing things no one else thought of, kind of like my Evie. I wondered how much Evie had taught them or if that was why Evie recruited them. A question for later.

“I’ll get started on that.”

They nodded and leaned over to murmur something to Liam, pointing out something on his screen. He mumbled back, and they got back to their own screen. Maya got along with Liam really well, but it seemed like a sibling relationship, not like Danny and Grace’s relationship.

Focusing on my work, I reinforced the laptop’s security and set up a locked-down connection to the printer in the corner. Marcus was right. Evie was a visual person, which was why she liked whiteboards. I could get some things printed and ready for her to review when she got back from visiting Grace.

Izzy opened the door and poked her head through. “Are you ready?” she asked Alexander.

Alexander nodded and slipped his phone into his pocket. “Adrian and I finished arranging security. We’ll have one team on her floor and one team outside the hospital. I’ve arranged with Mr. Lawrence to move her to a private floor as soon as she’s out of recovery,” he told us. “Izzy is going to sit with Danny while we fill Evelyn in on everything.”

It would be good for Evie to know what was happening. Less chance of her spiraling or rushing off to handle this herself. Plus, Alexander had this magical ability to make you believe it was allgoing to be okay. Part of his big brother charm, I suppose. He and Izzy left the room.