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"I know,” she said.
His smile widened.
She reached toward him without opening her eyes completely, and he slipped his hand into hers. "Now I can go to bed."
Soren chuckled softly. "That's all it took?"
She nodded. "I just needed to know you came back safely.” Those simple words settled somewhere deep inside him. No one had ever waited up for him before—not in all his thirty-five years.
He slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back. She made no protest as he lifted her from the floor. Instead, she instinctively curled against his chest. "You know," she murmured with a yawn, “a girl could get used to being carried around.”
He chuckled. "I think you're tired. And for the record, I was just trying to help you get to the bed.”
“I think that you like carrying me around, don’t you?” she said.
He nuzzled his nose into her hair, loving the way that his shampoo smelled on her.
"You didn't answer,” she said.
He looked down at her. "No."
"No, you didn’t,” she said, giving him a little pout that he found completely adorable.
"I love carrying you around, babygirl,” he said.
Her sleepy smile could have stopped wars. "I knew it." He carried her to bed, and his secure phone rang. Only three people possessed that number. Soren carefully settled Lily onto the mattress before answering.
"Kane,” he barked.
"Boss," one of his field team leaders said. "We found Rachel Monroe."
Soren's entire body went still. "Is she alive?"
“Yes, but just barely."
"Where did you find her?” Soren asked.
"St. Gabriel's Church."
Soren frowned. "The abandoned one?"
"Yes, and boss, she asked for you."
Soren looked toward Lily. She had already fallen asleep again and was completely trusting that he'd keep watch and keep her safe.
His jaw hardened. "Keep her alive."
"We're trying,” his man said.
"I'm on my way." As he ended the call, he knew one thing with absolute certainty. Rachel Monroe hadn't survived by accident. She'd stayed alive long enough to tell him something, and whatever it was, people were willing to kill for it.
Chapter Thirteen
Lily
Lily woke up alone, and she was disappointed to not find him lying next to her. Soren had carried her to bed the night before. She remembered that much. She remembered pretending to be more asleep than she actually was because she liked the way his arms felt around her. She remembered him tucking the blankets around her as though she were something precious instead of broken. She also remembered hearing his phone ring and after that, nothing. She reached across the mattress. The other side of the bed was cold, and she knew that he'd been gone for hours and for reasons she couldn't explain; that realization left an ache in the center of her chest.
"You've known him for three weeks," she muttered to herself. It had been three weeks since he basically kidnapped her and forced her to stay with him—claiming that it was for her own safety. But somehow, in that twenty-one-day span, the estate had begun to feel more like home than any place she'd ever lived. Which was ridiculous—wasn’t it?
