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But before I can crack the book open, my phone rings.

“Hold on, buddy, I’ll be right back.”

He yawns and nods, and I walk out of the room and down the hall, where he can’t hear me.

“Report,” I bark.

“He’s gone,” Bacon tells me, and my eyes narrow. “The whole house is empty, all his staff is gone.”

“When?” My voice has rarely been this hard, and I hear Bacon swallow thickly on the other end of the line.

“Looks like in the last twenty-four hours, if I had to guess.”

“If he’s not found in the next twelve, I start killing people.”

“Yes, boss.”

He hangs up, and I drag my hand down my face before I open the security app on my phone and look through every single camera on the property, making sure everything is as it should be.

When I’m satisfied with that, I walk back into Charlie’s room, and find him reading the book.

“Hey, that’s a good idea. You read to me.”

“I can’t read the words,” he says. “I just make it up from the pictures.”

“That works.” I lounge next to him on the bed. “Tell me a story.”

Since I lost Rina seven years ago, nothing makes me uncomfortable. Nothing scares me. Nothing fazes me at all because nothing in this world can be worse than having her torn out of my life.

Until today.

Until my sunshine, the whole reason my heart beats, shut down on me. At first, I took it very personally and knew that bringing her here likely ended us. But then I realized that she wasn’t pushing me away. She hugged me. She leaned into me.

So all of this is not about me, but about the situation.

It’s well past midnight when I walk into our bedroom. Charlie’s been asleep for a few hours now, and the compound is secure. Spider went home, and guards are on patrol.

And I need my girl.

I strip out of my clothes and slide into the bed behind her, pulling her to me. She nuzzles in, letting out a little whimper, and I kiss her head.

I noticed earlier that she’d borrowed my shirt, and that pleased me. She can have every stitch of clothing I own if it’ll make her feel better.

“Is Charlie okay?” she whispers.

“He’s asleep.” She wiggles around so she’s facing me, laces her legs through mine, and burrows into me. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. A lot has happened.”

She clears her throat and leans back enough to see me in the moonlight.

“I’m so mad,” she says, keeping her voice down. “And ashamed.”

“Ashamed.” I frown and brush her hair back from her face. “What the fuck do you have to be ashamed about?”

Her lower lip quivers and she swallows hard. “I failed. All this time, I thought I was protecting Charlie and that we were hidden away. I was still careful, but I thought that no one knew where we were. But I was wrong.”