by Fable Gray
“And we are,” he said, voice softening.
He took a step toward me, and I backed up until the backs of my thighs hit the bed. “Don’t. I’m upset right now, and it would be better if you just don’t touch me.”
“It would be better for both of us if you would sit down and talk with me.”
“You want to talk?” I asked. “Okay. Who was on the phone? Today in your office. Or two nights ago?”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Ragged air escaped my lips, and my heart squeezed in pain. “I need to go.”
“I thought we were going to go to your dad’s house together later.”
“I’m going now. I promised him I’d be there and right now I need to get away from here.”
“Royal—I can’t—” He put his hands on his hips and lowered his chin to his chest. “I need to go somewhere first, but it won’t take long. And then I’ll be back, and I’ll go with you to your dad's house, and then we can talk.”
“You want to go with me? Come with me right now. Tell me the truth on the way. And then tell my dad the truth about who you really are too so we can figure this out. There are other people involved in this now and it’s only fair that we know everything.”
Emotions raced across his face as I spoke. For a brief moment, I thought he might agree. I thought he might walk into his closet and start getting dressed so we could leave. Then he shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Then please let me get dressed so I can go.”
“Roy—”
“Stop,” I snapped.
“It's not safe for you to go alone.”
I spared him a glance. “I won’t be alone, I’ll have a driver or whoever –”
“You can’t call an Uber. You can’t—”
He broke off when he saw my face. And when he didn’t say anything else or do anything else, I snagged my wrinkled clothes off the dresser and brought them to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I changed quickly, eager to get out of here. If I kept moving, I wouldn’t cry. If I kept moving, I’d feel like I had a purpose.
When I opened the door, I wasn’t surprised to see Declan standing there. But I was surprised to find that he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. And he had his phone in his hand. “Parker is going to take you to your dad’s house.”
I barely managed a nod, and then strode from the room in search of my shoes. I found them by the front door where I left them when I arrived here on Friday night. Then I stepped outside in the cool air, surprised to see a black car. “This one?” I asked, turning back to Declan.
“Royal…” he said, his voice breaking.
Crap. I couldn’t stand to hear him speak like that. And it wasn’t fair. He was the one who wasn’t being honest with me, not the other way around. I was leaving out of self-preservation. Until I could get my thoughts together.
“Tell me now or I’ll call my own driver,” I told him.
“Yes, this is the car,” he said, but walked with me to the back door and yanked it open before I could.
I hopped in and reached for the handle, but he stood in the way. “Move, Declan.”
“Please, don’t go,” he said. “I’ll fix this.”
I drew in a calming breath, and then looked him straight in the eye. “If you don’t move and let me go right now, we’re through.”
He couldn’t have looked more surprised if I’d slapped him. His eyes searched mine for a brief moment and then he stepped backward, letting me close the door. It was a low blow, I knew it, but he wouldn’t listen and I was verging on losing it.
I needed to get away, to calm down so I could be rational about this.
I turned from him and the devastated look on his face as Parker pulled away and started down the long gravel road.
“I need to stop by my house first,” I told him.
He hesitated for only a brief moment, then dipped his head in an odd. “Of course, Miss Patterson.”
Once again, the drive seemed to take forever, but only because I was aching the whole way. I picked up my phone three times to call Declan and tell him we could talk later.
But I forced myself to set it aside each time and take a calming breath. The time apart was good. Important.
After I stopped at home to shower and change, we headed straight to my father’s house. I felt fresh and clean, but tired and sad.
I pulled my phone from my purse once again, only to find two texts and one missed call from Declan.
I read the texts quickly. I’m sorry about this morning, the first one said. And the next made my teeth clench. I’ll meet you at your dad’s house.
I didn’t listen to the voice message. I just typed in Don’t bother to his last text and then turned off my phone.
I wasn’t going to get any perspective with him constantly texting or calling me. Besides, he needed to focus on whatever business he had to deal with so that he could decide if keeping secrets from me was really worth it or if we even had a chance.
We drove a few blocks in silence, then I heard a call coming in on the driver's phone. He pushed a button on the steering wheel, which I figured took the call off Bluetooth so that it didn’t project through the car speakers.
“Yes, sir?”
Oh, crap. It was Declan. I folded my arms and listened to Parker’s side of the call.
“Yes, sir. We’re on our way now. No. I don’t know.”
Parker listened for another moment and then he straightened. He pulled his mouth away from the phone and met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Mr. Dark has requested you answer his call.”
I gritted my teeth. “Please tell Mr. Dark that it’s crass to get you involved, and no, I won’t answer his call.”
“She said—oh, you heard.” Parker listened for another moment, and then his gaze flicked to the rearview mirror again. I almost expected him to say something else to me, but he didn’t seem to be looking at me this time. He was looking at the traffic.
“Yes, sir. Three cars back.”
I spun in my seat, looking at the cars behind us. And there, just like Parker said, was another dark SUV three cars back. My stomach clenched, first with anger, and then with fear.
Declan wasn’t back there. It was someone else. That was probably why he wanted me to answer my phone, to make sure I was okay. Or maybe to warn me.
“I’ll try,” Parker said. “Yes, no problem.”
He set the phone aside and glanced in the mirror again. Then he switched lanes and took a quick right to drive down an alleyway that definitely wasn’t the most direct route to my father’s house.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“It’s no problem.”
But his voice was clipped. Shit. I didn’t want to distract him, and he was probably prepared for something like this, but I wanted to know what was going on. “Is someone following us?”
“Correct.”
More dread settled in my stomach. I mumbled under my breath, “Then we shouldn’t go to my father’s house…”
“Once I lose this tail, we’ll take an indirect route. Don’t worry, there are people at your father’s house.”
Meaning, someone was still watching him. It brought me comfort, but not much. Someone had already tried to hurt him once. I angled in my seat, trying to see who was in the car behind us.
It couldn’t be Christopher Dark. I doubted he’d get his hands dirty. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get someone else to do it for him.
Parker took another left and then pulled into a parking garage so swiftly, I nearly fell off the seat. He drove to the end of an aisle and parked the bulky SUV in a cramped spot.
I felt like the noise from my heart racing could fill the entire car.
I almost reached for my phone, to turn it back on. I might be mad at Declan, but I wanted to hear his voice right now and I wanted the reassurance that he was nearby and that I was safe. That my father and Xander were safe.
Parker undid his seat belt, and I wat
ched as he reached inside his jacket, setting his hand on something I could only presume was the butt of his gun.
Oh, God. He didn’t think they’d actually follow us in here? But then I thought back to the conversation we had with Declan’s father. How he’d warned Declan about sharing his secrets. It came off exactly like a threat.
After another moment with me holding my breath, Parker turned and looked at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded.
“Would you still like to go to your father’s house?”
“Do you think it’s safe?” I didn’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger. Or any more danger than he was already in.
Parker removed his hand from his jacket and his gaze softened. “Probably the safest place you can be right now. There are two other men stationed outside of your father’s house.”
I blew out a breath and nodded. “Yes, please.”
The rest of the drive was silent. It was only ten minutes but they felt like forever. I checked the roads around us constantly, looking for another car like ours. But this time no one seemed to be following us.
Once we arrived, Parker said to me, “One moment please.”
I realized he was indicating I stay in the car when another driver walked over to greet us. Parker got out, shut the door, and had a low conversation that I couldn’t hear with the other man. He also had a gun in his jacket.
My hand flexed on the seat next to me. If I’d waited, Declan would be here with me, to reassure me. He’d hold my hand and make sure everything was fine.
I closed my fingers into a fist, fighting off the urge to do anything rash. I’d already run out of there this morning, I didn’t need to make any other decisions I might question later.
After another moment, Parker opened the door for me and nodded. I stepped out and he walked with me to the front door, where my father greeted me. I shut the door behind me and then peeked out the window, surprised to find Parker still on the front porch. He was staying there instead of going back to his car.
My stomach clenched with nerves.
“Have they been doing that all morning?” I asked my dad.
“What? Standing on the front porch instead of waiting in their cars?” He nodded. “Since I woke up this morning. I went and asked what was going on, but they just said they were upping safety measures.”
Xander wandered in from the other room, carrying a bowl of cereal. “They don’t just up security measures for no reason. What happened?”
I had no idea about this morning. Maybe it was whatever Declan had been dealing with on the phone.
“Did either of you speak with Declan?” I asked.
“No. Yesterday was the only time we talked—the same time we talked with you.”
My dad frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Someone was following us on the way here,” I told them.
My dad’s concern was immediate. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course,” I said sounding a lot better than I felt inside. “We lost the tail and then drove the rest of the way here.”
Xander frowned. “Listen to you,” he said. “We lost the tail?”
I grimaced. He was right. This wasn’t normal, and certainly not what we’d signed up for when we decided to do our research on Dark Enterprises.
“I don’t like this,” my father said.
“It’s not…” I had no idea how to explain. Technically, we were in this situation because my dad had decided to help Declan in the first place. But none of it was anybody’s fault.
“Do you know who’s following you?” my father asked, walking to the window and looking outside. There were three cars stationed up and down the road. By now, the neighbors had to be getting curious. But I still felt better with them there than not.
I walked to the couch and sat down. Xander set aside his bowl of cereal and joined me, putting his arm around me. I leaned into his embrace, not realizing how much I needed a hug until this moment.
“I don’t know,” I said, almost miserably. “I think it’s Christopher Dark. He’s been trying to get Declan to talk with him too…”
I looked up at my father, who had his hands on his hips and was waiting expectantly for me to continue.
Well, Declan wasn’t here to tell the truth himself, but it wasn’t fair to keep it from my father anymore. Not when he was stuck in this mess.
“I already told you that Declan got the serum several years ago and that he’s been experiencing side-effects.”
He nodded and sat on his recliner but leaned forward and placed his forearms on his knees. “I think it’s time you told me what these side effects are, and just how you’re involved.”
With Xander’s arm still around me, I told my father everything. I told him about our plan to get information, what we’d done to infiltrate Dark Enterprises. I told him about the research we’d done on people there, including Declan. And I told him how I’d caught Declan with my camera. How he was fast and strong. How he could heal himself and how he never got sick. I told him everything, including the fact that I was getting in pretty deep with Declan myself.
We were in a relationship—or at least we were before this morning.
I rubbed my hand over my heart at the idea of things being over between us. It was bad enough that they were even strained, let alone to the point they’d reached.
“So Christopher Dark is aware that something has changed with Declan,” my dad surmised.
“I’m assuming so. He probably figured out Declan was doing research and started to think that maybe Declan wasn’t telling him the whole truth about his abilities. Then you got involved, and things got messy.”
“So why are they following you?” Xander asked.
My dad grumbled and shifted in his seat. “The same reason they were following me. Because I knew something I wasn’t supposed to know.”
My gaze snapped to his. “What? They were following you?”
My father nodded. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone this weekend, but I remember that day. I remember leaving to go meet Dark and tell him what I’d found. And I remember seeing someone following me. I was headed up the highway and that car was behind me almost the whole time. It kept getting closer and closer and I was trying to get away from it. I swear, it was trying to drive me off the road. And, well…you know the rest.”
“Oh my God,” I murmured. “But—but you didn’t even know anything.”
“And you do,” my dad said, his voice low and worried. “Which means you’re in even more danger.”
“What do I do?” I asked them both.
“Stay away from Dark,” my father said firmly. “If they think you don’t have anything to do with him anymore, maybe they’ll leave you alone.”
My mouth opened soundlessly. Stay away from Declan? I put my face in my hands. Who knew—maybe after today he wouldn’t want anything more to do with me anyway.
“Are you going to be able to do that?” Xander asked.
I bit my lip to keep it from shaking. And then I swallowed. “It might easier than you think.”
Chapter 33
That afternoon I went back to my apartment with Xander. I needed my own bed, my own clothes, my own space. I needed the comfort of something familiar and something I’d grown to love.
I could tell my dad needed that too. He wasn’t used to having so many people around. Two men still stayed outside of his house as we left, though, telling me that’s where they were instructed to be for the foreseeable future.
I appreciated it. I knew it was because of Declan, and even though we weren’t communicating right now, I appreciated what he was doing.
Parker also took me and Xander home and told us that he would be nearby if we need anything. Before I got out of the car, he passed me a card with his number on it.
I was sure Declan had probably instructed him to do that too since I wasn’t taking his calls. I hadn’t even turned on my phone since the car ride this morning.
&n
bsp; “Hey,” Xander said we walked through the door. “You look beat.”
I sighed. “I am. I need…a break.”
“I get it. So, go change into your comfy clothes and think about what you want for dinner. When you come out, I’ll have a glass of wine waiting for you and we can binge-watch something and distract ourselves.”
“Thank you, Xander.” I hugged him.
It was exactly what I needed. I had to figure out what the next steps were. It was pretty clear the direction my father wanted me to go. Stay away from Declan. But how was I supposed to do that when we worked together? When he already had my heart?
When I got to my bedroom, I gave in and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I turned it back on and found my sweats and a thick pair of socks while it powered up.
There weren’t any additional texts from Declan, but there was one more voice message. My finger hovered over the button for a long moment, but then I finally pressed it and put my phone to my ear.
His voice came across, sounding tired and strained. “I’m sorry about the way things went this morning,” he said. “I’m still learning how to balance the person I used to be with the person I am now and keeping open lines of communication. The most important thing right now is for you to stay safe. Please, Royal. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. I’ll call you tonight. I love you. Bye.”
I sucked in a breath of air that turned into a sob. I missed Declan already. And he was probably expecting a call from me soon. Or for me to answer when he called. He was probably expecting to come over tonight so we could sleep in the same room and be together.
And God, I craved that with every fiber of my being. But my father’s words kept echoing over and over in my head. Stay away from Dark.
If that meant keeping my father safe, I needed to consider it. And maybe, that would keep Declan safe, too. And Xander. It seemed like the smartest choice.
I turned off my phone again and walked back to the living room, where, just as promised, Xander had a big glass of wine prepared for me. He’d also piled blankets on the couch and had the TV on, ready to stream whatever we chose.