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Damn—he knew him too well sometimes.

Soren looked back toward the monitors. "I'm moving Lily."

Luca blinked. "Again?"

"Moving her to my suite wasn't enough," he said. “I need to find someplace more secure.”

"Where are you thinking about?" Luca asked.

Soren pressed a button on the security console. A blueprint of the estate appeared. "There." He pointed to a section beneath the house.

Luca stared at the blueprint. "The panic rooms?"

Soren nodded. "If they have Rachel and she talks, they'll know everything."

"And if Rachel escapes?" Luca asked.

He could only hope that they’d be that lucky—but things never worked out that way.

"They'll become unpredictable,” Soren said.

Luca rubbed a hand across his jaw. "You really think they'll hit the estate?"

"I think desperate men stop caring about consequences."

"And Lily?" Luca asked.

Soren's voice turned quiet. "They've already photographed her sleeping in my guest room." The words hung between them, and neither man spoke for several seconds. Soren looked back at the monitors. "No one gets close to her again. No one."

He found Lily exactly where he'd left her. She'd unpacked and filled every empty drawer that he had. His shirts hung beside her clothes. Her sketchbook rested on the nightstand near his side of the bed. Little pieces of her already lived throughout the room.

She looked up as he entered. "Everything okay?"

He hated lying to her, but he hated frightening her even more. "We identified the second witness."

She immediately set down the sweater she was folding. "Is she safe?" Soren didn't answer quickly enough, and her face fell.

"We’re not sure yet,” he admitted.

She walked toward him. "So they're still looking for me?"

"Yes,” he whispered.

She reached for his hand. "I wish there was something I could do."

He turned her hand over in his and laced their fingers together. "There is."

"What?" she asked.

"You can stay alive."

She smiled sadly. "I can do that."

"You'll do more than that." He pulled her gently against him. "You'll let me protect you."

She rested her forehead against his chest. "I'm getting better at that."

"Yes, you are,” he said, running his hand down her back.