“I tried to keep you out of the light,” he said. If I didn’t know him better, I could have sworn there was a hint of remorse in his voice. He shook his head slowly. “You had to go and get yourself on the fucking news. Damn, Bastian—how am I supposed to cover that up? You’re out in the open, sober, and hooked up with the daughter of Henry Gayle. Do you really think he’s going to ignore that?”
“I didn’t fucking do it on purpose!” I growled.
“Do you think that matters?” Landon took a step closer to me, his eyes cold again. “Do you think that changes anything? In the eyes of the cops, you’re a potential source for more information. In the eyes of Franks, you’re a potential threat. You knew that the minute you walked up to the Seattle PD and told them about that night. You told them he’d killed two cops, and since then, I have done everything I possibly could to keep you hidden, to keep you alive.”
He shook his head slowly.
“And now you come back like this? With her?”
I could practically hear my own heart beating.
“Convince him,” I said.
Landon rolled his eyes, and I reached out and grabbed his forearm.
“You can convince anyone of anything,” I said. “Tell him I’m not a threat. Tell him I’ll behave. I swear to God, Landon-”
“You don’t believe in God,” Landon interrupted, shaking his arm free of my grip.
“Then I’ll swear on whatever the fuck you want,” I snarled back. “I’ll do anything—just keep him away from her.”
Landon stared at me with his stoic and intense eyes.
“He’s going to want you to fight,” he said. “Prove your loyalty again.”
“I can’t do that anymore.” I shook my head quickly. “Not with her around me.”
“You may not have a choice.”
“You told me there is always a choice,” I reminded him.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “live or die. You’ve managed to weave yourself a noose and wrap it around your own neck.”
“There was nothing I could do about that,” I insisted. “I didn’t even know—not until we were in Venezuela. Whoever went digging for information found what he wanted. It’s not like I told anyone my real name; they already knew.”
“He might not believe that.”
“Convince him.” I tried to make my words sound like a command, but we both knew it was a plea. If Landon went to bat for me, I had a chance. If he didn’t back me up, I was going to have to grab Raine and get back into hiding as quickly as possible, and I was fairly certain she wouldn’t go willingly.
“I’ll try to hold him off,” Landon said. “I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”
With a sharp breath, I closed my eyes in a moment of relief. When I looked back up, I caught a strange expression in Landon’s eyes—one I hadn’t seen before. I had no idea what it meant, and he went icy as soon as he realized I was looking at him again.
“I’ll keep quiet,” I promised. “Not a fucking word. I swear, Landon.”
He nodded.
“Bastian?” Raine’s voice fluttered from around the other side of the shrubs lining the doors to the building. I turned my head to look at her and then looked back to where Landon had been standing, but he was already gone.
“Right here,” I called out.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked.
“Just having a smoke,” I said, fully aware that I no longer had one in my hand. I quickly reached into my pocket, pulled out another one, and pointed it toward the doors. “I couldn’t take any more of that shit.”
“Well, that shit is pretty much over now,” she informed me. “Congressman Howard is putting us up for the night in the hotel across the street.”
“Congressman Howard wants to shove his dick into you,” I growled as I shoved the cigarette into my mouth and lit up.
“Oh, he does not!” Raine said, scolding.
I rolled my eyes.
“Did he get you a room adjoining his?” I asked.
I was being a dick, and I didn’t care. I had no doubt what that asshole wanted, and what he wanted was mine. Fucker.
Raine just narrowed her eyes at me.
I shrugged and smoked some more. If she didn’t want to admit that he wanted in her panties, that was her problem. If he actually tried to touch her, I was going to be his worst fucking nightmare. I could already see it in my head: the fucker leaning in just a little too close, dropping his hand down to cop a feel of her ass, and me coming up from behind and snapping his neck.
Nah, too quick. I’d have to make him suffer.
Raine’s voice brought me out of my musings.
“I’m really tired,” she said. “Are you going to come with me or let the good congressman walk me to the suite he has arranged?”
I narrowed my eyes and growled.
“So, you’re coming then?”
I growled again, tossed the end of my smoke on the ground, and smashed it under my heel.
“Let’s go.”
Raine smiled and took my arm.
The suite was actually pretty nice. There was a big living area and a separate bedroom with a king-sized bed. Raine collapsed into it without even taking off her clothes, and I crawled in after her. As Landon’s little visit resonated in my brain like a bad pop song, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest. I looked to the door of the bedroom and listened closely for any sounds outside, but there weren’t any. Still, I pulled her closer and tossed one leg over both of hers.
Raine tucked her head into my shoulder and sighed, content.
“I can’t believe how good this bed feels,” she said sleepily.
“Hot shower in the morning, too,” I replied. I couldn’t have cared less, but it was one of the things Raine had missed the most when we were stranded on the island. Remembering one of her other complaints, I knocked my head against the pillow a couple of times. “Nice soft pillow, too.”
“Hmmm…”
Hearing her so obviously happy filled me with both joy and dread. Closing my eyes, I thought about our nights in the shelter I had built for her, the sound of the waves as they crashed against the shore, and the steady ocean breeze.
I wanted to go back.
“Sorry I was such a jerk tonight,” I told her.
“I know you are,” she replied simply.
“That guy is an asshole.”
“Who?”
“The politician.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“If he did, I’d fucking rip his arms off,” I promised.
“Bastian!” Raine snapped as she looked up at me. “You can’t say things like that!”
I rolled my eyes in the most obvious way possible. I could kill him, and she knew it. She’d seen first-hand what I could do when she was threatened.
“We’re back in the real world now,” she reminded me.
As if I needed the fucking reminder. I knew exactly where we were, and I was pretty sure I hated it. As stupid as it was, I missed the barely-comfortable-enough-to-doze-off floor of the palm frond shelter at the end of the beach.
I tightened my arms, pulling Raine securely against me.
“Bastian?”
A shudder ran through me.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered against Raine’s hair. “I don’t know how to be us here.”
She wrapped an arm around my chest and held me as tightly as I was holding her.
“I love you,” I said as my lips pressed to her neck. The sound of my voice echoed everything inside my body—full of fear and dread.
“I love you, too,” Raine replied. She moved her hand up to stroke my hair.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I said again.