Page 33 of Defenseless
“Will you please go get Colton, and maybe bring Ava in, too? Once everyone is here, I’ll tell you everything I know about Kevin Jacobs.”
Ethan frowned. “The senator from Kentucky?”
She nodded. “And the man who got away with killing my mother.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Chad steppedout of the shower, dried off, then wrapped the towel around his waist. Two hours in his home gym should have tired him out after the night he’d had, but he suspected sleep would still elude him.
Not bothering to get dressed, he walked straight to his bed, dropped the towel on the floor, and climbed under the covers. Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling. How had everything gone so sideways? He’d been making progress with Sabina, or so he’d thought. Funny how that had turned out. Not that it was funny at all. More pathetic. He was still struggling to accept that he hadn’t figured out her aversion to him was deeper than just not wanting to talk about her past.
All those looks he’d been so sure he’d seen…
As he thought back over the past few months, images flashed through his mind. Sabina sharing a smile with him as Ryan relayed yet another “let’s embarrass Chad” story. The gentle touch of her hand on his arm as she leaned in to say something to him during a meeting with Stella and Hunter. Those moments, and so many others like them, had led him to believe there was, or could be, more between them. Well, suffice it to say, he definitely needed to brush up on his people-reading skills.
Forcing his thoughts away from reinterpreting every interaction he’d ever had with Sabina, he started to think about office logistics. Tomorrow, he’d ask Colton to move his office from the third floor to the first. Sabina shouldn’t have to work on the same floor as he did if his presence made her uncomfortable, and he didn’t have a problem being the one to move. He was working through which of the small conference rooms would make the best office when his phone vibrated on the bedside table.
Grabbing the device, he opened the app for his security system then frowned. Hitting a button, he dialed Ethan’s number.
“Why is Sabina driving up my driveway?” he asked.
“Because she wanted to see you, and you need to see her,” he answered.
“She’s alone. Weren’t you supposed to protect her?”
“Teague and I escorted her here in our own vehicles. We’re waiting at the end of your drive until you tell us to leave, or she comes back out.”
“Since I’m not going to answer the door, your wait won’t be long.”
Ethan grumbled something Chad couldn’t quite catch. “You should let her in,” he said instead.
“As I said to you earlier tonight, it’s not a good idea for the two of us to be alone, and now you know why.”
“And as I said to you earlier tonight, I don’t think she meant what she said when she said what she did. In fact, I know she didn’t.”
A tiny weight lifted from Chad’s chest, but his brain wasn’t ready to latch onto that yet. “That’s nice. And yet I still don’t think it’s a good idea for her to come here.”
“Why? Is your pity party getting a little too wild and crazy?”
Chad was glad his cousin wasn’t in the room with him. It would have taken more effort than he had not to deck him. “I’m being smart,” Chad bit out.
“You’re being stubborn. Trust me on this. You need to give her a chance to talk to you. No, wait, more to the point, you need tolistento her.”
“Why are you so Team Sabina now?” Chad muttered as his doorbell rang.
“I’m team Chad-Sabina, and you’ll figure that out if you listen to her. Now stop acting like a three-year-old and go answer your door.” And with that, Ethan ended the call.
Chad tossed the phone onto the duvet and debated whether to wait Sabina out. He was nice and cozy, tucked up in bed. She was standing out in the cold October night. Outlasting her persistence, if she had any, wouldn’t be hard.
The bell rang again.
He reached for his phone and pulled up the security app. Standing at his door, Sabina was hunched against the cold with her arms crossed over her stomach. She was wearing little more than a lightweight jacket and a look of determination. A look that would have been fierce had her teeth not been chattering.
When she reached for the bell again, he threw his blankets off. Sometimes he really hated being a good guy.
Chad:Getting dressed, be right down
He saw her look at the text on her phone and didn’t miss the visible exhale as her shoulders relaxed and her eyes closed. Before tonight, he’d swear her body language screamed relief, but he wasn’t ready to trust himself—or her—yet.
