The details continue without me as if I hadn’t spoken at all, which is best. It takes great effort to ignore Damon’s stare that burns into the side of my face.
It doesn’t take much for her to agree. It’s a battle she seems not to want to fight.
He carries on with the daily schedule, the rest of us shifting in our spots, listening along with Eleanor. My heart beats too fast for what this is. A status meeting, essentially. A way to get the lay of the land. Time set aside for all of us to be in the same room before we’re on rotating shifts, in and out of the house, devoted to her care.
By the time Cade gets to the end of his list, shadows have fallen over Eleanor’s face. The sunset is on its last gasp. It’ll be pitch black soon. I peel myself away from the windowsill and reach for a lamp in the corner. With a gentle click, it bathes the room in a warm glow. Eleanor tips her face toward it like it’s the sun and all I can see are the dark circles under her eyes. What is it that keeps her awake at night? At first glance, she was striking, although slender. Too slender. After spending the last two hours watching her, it’s more than obvious she’s not well. Kamden Richards is full of shit. It’s not a misunderstanding.
“With that settled,” Cade announces, “I believe that’s the end of my agenda. That’s all the information we have to give you right now. Was there anything you wanted to discuss before we call it a night?”
Eleanor shakes her head. There’s plenty I want to discuss and unravel. Too much. I’m too curious, and I know it.
She’s already standing when Cade offers to show her upstairs. She clears her throat with a hint of amusement. “I think I can find the way.”
Cade gets to his feet, the rest of us hanging back although we’re all standing now. I don’t know what this woman’s been through, but I’m certain she has no idea what to expect from us. Even after hours of going over details.
“This arrangement included minor changes to each room I’d like to go over with you.” His tone is gentle, but not patronizing. Eleanor hasn’t been through the whole house yet. She should be aware of the cameras and intercoms.
She seems to hear Cade’s words a few seconds late. I see the moment they land. Her eyebrows go up, eyes widening, and her shoulders tense. If I hadn’t been staring at her all this time, I might not have caught it. She begins to lift her hand but catches herself. “Not the west hall, though?”
Kam speaks up, his tone calm, “Everything in the west hall is untouched. Every room up there is just how you left it, Eleanor.” Although his outward appearance is at ease, his grip tightens on the back of the stool. So tight, I can see the whitening of his knuckles from here. Kam’s glance flickers to Cade when he adds, “I gave explicit instructions.”
Heat trickles down my shoulders. Cade confirms nothing has been touched in that wing. We don’t have access to it and neither will Eleanor.
Relief is exhaled along with her response. “Good.” She mouths the word more than she says it. Eleanor crosses both arms loosely over her belly. She’s still not comfortable—who would be?—but the fearful shine that flashed in her eyes is gone. Easing the tension out of my shoulders, I note that I’m left with more questions than anything after this meeting. So many that I consider reading the file. The idea lingers in the back of my mind.
“Let me walk with you upstairs?” Damon offers with an easy smile. He’s muscular, as we all are, and the kind of guy you want to have in an emergency. I would know. He’s helped me before.
Eleanor doesn’t quite smile back, but she looks like she might simply to be polite. When Damon steps to her side she moves along with him, the two of them striding past her manager, who trails a few steps behind. He’ll take her through the great room and into the foyer, and then they’ll climb the herringbone steps.
Besides my brother, I’m closest to Damon. He’s the one friend I could count on without fail in the last four years. Damon’s a good conversationalist but given her sore throat, he’s also comfortable with silence. There won’t be a second of awkwardness between them.
Friendship doesn’t do a damn thing to ease the possessive knot that coils my muscles as I watch him lead her away. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to look anywhere else.
This isn’t like me. I’m not jealous, and I never have been. Let alone the unethical thoughts that have run rampant since I first laid eyes on her. Excuses come to mind and pile up, the most obvious being the call I took first thing this morning and how much that fucked me up.
Dane and Silas call me over to where they’re standing, more than likely discussing the schedule and their thoughts of our new client. Holding up a finger and then the empty water bottle, I silently motion to the kitchen as if I need to throw away the trash before talking to them.
In the bright light of the kitchen, I steady my thoughts and my breathing.
It must be because Eleanor is not well. It makes her seem delicate. In need of protection.
Or in need of someone to take control.
All damned good explanations for why I feel like sprinting up the stairs after them, and for the same reasons I stay where I am, my mind shuddering away from the possibility.
I shake it off and come back to the task at hand. Cade has joined the other two men in front of the fireplace. I don’t think any of them have noticed how scattered my thoughts have been. Or how the majority have been focused on Eleanor in a way they shouldn’t. They’ll notice if I keep this up, which I don’t intend to do.
“Have you had a chance to read through the file?” Cade asks me as I join their circle.
“No. I’ll get to it.”
Cade doesn’t push me on the lie. It wouldn’t matter if he did. I want to hear her side of things. I want her to tell me what the hell happened to her.