Page 53 of Reverie

I turn my face to kiss her palm. She’s so, so right.

“But when you set me aside and don’t let me be an equal member in your planning, it’s not only heavy-handed, it’s hurtful.”

Pain hits me in the chest where her words land.

“I love you, Hunter Brigham,” she rasps, her tone heavy.

Control.

“I’m sorry, Sunbeam.” I say the words as I stare directly into her eyes. “I’m sorry for this. I’m sorry for before the raid. I’m just…I’m sorry.”

But would I have done things any differently?

The position of her body against the screen causes her face to lay in shadows, but I don’t miss it when she bites her lip. I reach over, pulling it from between her teeth and caressing her cheek.

“Stop distracting me, baby. We have work to do.” I feel the contraction of her facial muscles against my palm when she smiles.

Readying myself, I say, “I got a call from Morris Winthrope while you were getting medical help.”

She puts a palm up to stop me before jumping out of the bed. “Wait, I need to take notes.”

She hops around the room, pulling on drawer handles until she finds a pad of paper and a pen, taking a detour to turn on the desk lamp in the far corner to give us more light.

“You know I’m an external processor,” she says, settling over the comforter with the notepad in her lap. “I’ll ask a kajillion questions and prevent you from getting through what you want to tell me if I don’t write them down.”

She pulls the soft throw blanket from beneath her hip and places it over her feet. “Okay, go,” she says.

It takes me a moment to catch my breath from my amusement and awe, because even in the middle of this incredible shitstorm, she manages to make me smile.

She lifts her eyebrow in expectation before spinning her hand in front of her, signaling for me to get on with it.

“I heard from Morris Winthrope. It was a very short call, but I was in the room with Leo, Misha, Luna, and the rest of them when the call came through.”

“Was Amelia there?” she adds with her gaze focused on her writing.

I grunt. “Yes,” I clip out.

She noticeably bristles, pausing as she writes, but after a moment, she returns to her note-taking.

“The critical thing is he wants Ella, and he wants her by,” I turn my head to read the digital clock across the room, “a little under two hours from now.”

Winter’s eyebrows go up toward her hairline. “Well, obviously, he can get fucked,” she says.

“That’s what I said,” I reply. “Misha, however, was of a different opinion.”

Her eyebrows slam down. “Come again?” Darkness coats her voice.

“Basically, he wants to send Ella over as bait but then pull her out before she ever changes hands. He swore up and down that he could keep her safe, but I don’t trust it.”

“Understandable, H,” she says. “What does Ella have to say about it?”

I pause, and the silence is damning.

“Youhavespoken with Ella about this, right? Seeing as it pertains to her.”

I try to go for a meditative, deep breath, but it comes out in a rush instead.

“Hunter James Brigham, this is what I’m talking about!” She throws her pen and paper on the bed and stands.

---