Page 84 of Bound

Hand in hand with the queen who made him so.

As we walk back to the cars, she whispers to me, “You know I like gold, right?”

“What?”

“For the ring. When you propose,” she smiles up at me. “I always pictured it in gold.”

A laugh comes from the center of my chest. “Gold. Okay. Gold it will be.”

She narrows her gaze, giving me a curious smile. “What’s so funny?”

“Compromise,” I say. “Partnership.”

“You inhaled too much smoke, silly.” She stretches up on tiptoe to kiss me.

I need her comfort, her warmth. I need to feel that she’s alive. Safe.

“Come here.” I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling tight against me. “Maybe. Or maybe you just make me deliriously happy.”

“Come on, let’s go,” she says. “You know Isobel doesn’t eat if I don’t feed her. And she’s looking extra peaky right now.”

That’s so Erin, it makes me smile. We pile up in the convoy, Rafe glued to his screen. Before we loaded up, I told him to keep his eyes out and his guard up.

Something feels off to me.

On the ride to our next destination, Erin rests against my shoulder, her breathing slowing to a relaxed rate.

I’d say I almost nod off myself. And I would.

If I felt relief, I would.

But I don’t.

I rest the back of my head on the headrest and try to convince myself that the scene in the office of Bachman’s Jewelers was the end.

Then, Rafe looks up from the screen. He catches my eye.

He mouths, ‘Another message.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

Erin

For the first twenty-four hours after Bachman Village, I let Lucian cage me.

Not because I don’t notice.

I notice everything.

The extra guards outside my room. The way the hallway goes quiet when I open the door. The way Mack appears every time I move more than six feet from the bed. The way my phone disappears for a “security review” and returns with a new encrypted system I didn’t ask for. The way every window has men beyond it now, shadows moving between trees with guns and orders and grim little earpieces.

I notice the doctor checking my wrist twice because Lucian tells him to. I notice the nurse getting searched before she enters.

I notice Lucian watching me like blinking is a risk.

And for twelve hours, I let it happen.

Because I am tired.