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“I—I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to scare you. I just needed to know you were all right.”

“There wasn’t much you could’ve done if I wasn’t.” His mouth curved into a crooked half-smile.

“I was careful.”

“You really believe that?” he asked, cocking one brow. “You were behind a false door while Isabeast was waving a gun around and Ciro Delgado was losing his fucking mind.”

“Well, when you put it that way, maybe it wasn’t the best idea.”

I glanced toward the hidden panel.

“But still, what would you expect me to do? I wanted to help you.” Trying to explain an irrational impulse to Lachlan was probably hopeless. The man seemed to keep a grip on every one of his. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to come out when she climbed onto you. I wanted to grab her by the hair and drag her off you.”

That earned me a real smile, brief but unmistakable.

“But I didn’t. I stayed where I was because if I opened that door any farther, somebody would see me, and the first person they would punish was you.”

“So you waited without making a sound, even while they were shooting each other just feet away, so you could help me?”

I nodded, twisting the key between my fingers.

“It seemed like the least terrible choice available.”

His smile returned.

“There’s my Mouse.”

My entire body was trembling.

Wonderful.

Of course Lachlan noticed. He noticed everything.

I looked down at my boots because if I kept looking at him, I was going to cry, and I absolutely did not have time for that.

“Hey. Look at me.”

Chewing on my lower lip, I lifted my eyes to his.

“Thank you for coming back.”

The simple way he said it made my throat tighten.

“I promised I would.”

“And now you’re standing in the middle of a fucking horror movie with a key in your hand instead of halfway down the mountain by yourself. That’s brave, Isabella. Maybe a little insane, but brave.”

I swallowed.

“I’m not feeling particularly brave right now.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re here.”

One side of his mouth tipped up again.

“Now come get me out of this fucking chair before someone decides to come back.”

I nodded and finally pulled my attention away from him.