Page 69 of Capture Me
A creak in the floorboard pulls my attention. “Hey,” Dec says as he approaches, hands in the pockets of his joggers and hair wet from his shower. “Couldn’t sleep either?”
“Nah.” I step back from the door.
“Same.” He sighs and leans against the opposite wall, tilting his head back. “Is she not answering?”
I shrug. “Haven’t had the balls to knock. Don’t really want to wake her if she’s sleeping. Did you and Teo take care of the body?”
“Yeah, we got it done.” He stares at Fallon’s door like he can see through the wood into the room where our girl is. “Fuck,” he breathes as he reaches up to mess with his eyebrow ring. “I don’t know how to help her. I feel so fucking useless right now.”
“Me too, brother.” I check the time on my phone and sink down to the floor, feet out in front of me. “Think I’m going to wait here until she’s up. I don’t want her to be alone.”
We don’t say any more as we wait, both of us wrapped up in our own minds about the girl just a wall away. Not until the door cracks open hours later and Fallon steps out, eyes puffy, cheeks pale. While she’s obviously spent the night crying, there’s no denying how beautiful she is. My eyes scan over her make-up free face, over the long locks of black hair that curl over her shoulders and down her back.
Declan and I immediately scramble to our feet.
“Morning,” I say breathlessly.
“Hey,” Declan says.
She stares back at us in silence. There’s no smile, no quip about us waiting outside her door like loyal dogs. She just swallows, eyes dartingaway and murmurs, “Good morning.” Then she walks down the hall to the stairs without another word.
Declan and I follow at her heels, exchanging looks. What do we do? What do we say? How can we help? Neither of us knows how to handle this subdued version of Fallon. It doesn’t feel right. This isn’t her.
A delicious smell hits us before we round the corner to the kitchen. Fallon stumbles to a stop, staring at the man in the apron and the massive display of food covering nearly every inch of the countertops.
Teo wipes his hands along his apron nervously when he notices her arrival. “Menace,” he says gruffly. “I made breakfast.”
Fallon’s eyes rove over the pastries, donuts, eggs, bacon, fruit and casseroles. Fucking hell, he must have been at it all night, and not gone to bed after taking care of O'Brian’s body.
“I see,” she says, eyeing him strangely. She heads for the espresso machine, but Matteo is already a step ahead of her, grabbing her a cup and filling it just the way she likes.
Declan leads her to the breakfast bar to sit while I start piling things on a plate for her. Once we set the plate and coffee in front of her, she stares down at the food blankly, then glances back to the three of us who are watching her like she’s something precious.
“Do you need anything?” I ask, ready to give her my bleeding heart if that’s what she fucking needs.
“I’m fine,” she says thickly, then picks up her knife to cut into a raspberry cream danish. Her eyes line with tears as she stares down at the knife. Then it clatters to her plate, and she suddenly pushes to her feet. “I-I’m not hungry.” Fallon flicks her tear-lined gaze up to Matteo. “I’m sorry.” She flees from the room, but not before I see a tear tracking down her cheek.
None of us move. We all stare after her until her footsteps disappear up the stairs.
I huff a sigh, dragging a hand down my face. “She’s going to need some time—”
Glass shatters, interrupting me.
My eyes shoot to Matteo who has flung a casserole dish onto the floor, the jagged pieces scattered across the tile. “The fuck was I thinking?” He rips off his apron with a growl and tosses it in the sink. Then he reaches up on top of the cabinet, unhooking the Glock we keep hidden there in case of emergencies; one of the many hidden weapons throughout the house.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my brows drawing together in confusion.
He looks up at me, a wild, dangerous glint in his eyes. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker Clay Ensling before he causes any more harm.”
“Fuck yes!” Declan rubs his hands together while coming around the counter. “About fucking time.”
“Wait.” I move in front of the doorway to the garage, holding up my hands. “We have a plan in place for him, remember? Let’s talk about this, Teo.”
“Talk about what?” he shouts. “How we could have dealt with Clay years ago and didn’t? How maybe because we waited, we’ve allowed him to hurt others, to hurt Fallon?” He’s breathing hard, stepping around me and pushing into the garage to gather supplies from the storage cabinet before I can stop him. Declan is right there with him, already opening the back of his Hummer. “She doesn’t need breakfast.” Matteo laughs, the sound low and dangerous. “She needs Clay’s fucking head on a spike.” He hauls a coil of rope over his shoulder as he heads to the car.
“Clay’s been safe for too long,” Dec adds. “Let’s fucking end him. Today.”
“Stop!” I bark, and both of them reluctantly turn back to me. “You’re both running on emotions right now. I get it. Trust me. I want nothing more than to tear that piece of shit apart but we can’t.”
