Asshole was doing it on purpose.
“Eat your oatmeal,” Wolfe commanded.
“I can feed myself, you know.”
“Hush, Genevieve. Eat.”
“I don’t want oatmeal. I want cake.”
“Cake is not a breakfast food,” Wolfe told her.
“It is in Europe,” she countered.
“We’re not in Europe.”
“So if we were in Europe, I could have cake for breakfast?” she asked.
“No, if we were in Europe, you could have oatmeal. Oatmeal is good for you.”
“Says who? It’s just rolled oats and milk.”
“It’s on the list.” Wolfe set down the bowl of oatmeal and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.
“What’s that?” she asked suspiciously.
“This is a list of food you should be eating in order to build up your strength and improve your health. Oatmeal is on the list.”
He turned it around and pointed to where oatmeal was listed. Damn it.
“Eggs are on there too. I could have eggs.”
“You can. Once you poop. Have you pooped?”
She gaped at him for a moment, feeling her cheeks grow red. Then she looked at Caleb and Aleki, both of those jerks were biting their lips and couldn’t meet her gaze. Aleki was jolting the bed, he was shaking so hard with suppressed laughter.
“I really don’t think that’s a question I need to answer,” she said primly.
“Do you want to poop?”
“I don’t know that anyone ever actually wants to poop,” she countered. “It’s just something you have to do.”
“Exactly. And if you want to leave here, you need to be peeing regularly and pooping. Oatmeal will help you with that. Do you want to leave here?”
“Well, yes, of course, but—”
“Then you’ll eat your oatmeal.” Wolfe grabbed the bowl once more and spooned some up for her.
She sighed and took the spoonful. Damn, that was some weird logic right there.
“To pooping,” Aleki cheered before he burst into big guffaws of laughter.
Caleb held out. For all of five seconds. Before he joined them.
“Imbeciles,” Wolfe muttered.
Okay. So the oatmeal wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.
But she wouldn’t be telling Wolfe that. Last thing she wanted was to encourage him. The guys had left to grab showers then they were coming back. She picked up the TV remote.
She needed something to watch to take her mind off all the things running through her brain. Now that she was feeling better and her temperature had broken, she was starting to worry even more.
What was she going to do?
Whatever she did, she knew she couldn’t involve the guys. She couldn’t risk them like that.
Look at what had happened already.
William was dead. She was shot at. How had they known she’d be in that basement? She’d only told William’s contact.
They must have followed her. It was the only explanation.
Nothing had gone as planned. Everything was a mess. And she had no idea what was going to happen next.
The TV went on to a news site. She raised the remote to change it, but something familiar caught her attention and she lowered her arm. A reporter was standing outside her house. She tensed.
“In breaking news, it has been revealed that Lieutenant Governor William Davidson, who died of a heart attack nearly a week ago, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only had months to live. His wife, Genevieve Davidson, who is also the daughter of Governor James Mason, has declined to make a statement. The funeral is expected to take place a week’s time.”
Her breath started sawing in and out of her tight lungs. Declined to make a statement? How could she decline to make a statement when no one had spoken to her?
And the funeral. Would she have to go? Would it look suspicious if she didn’t? But she couldn’t go. Not when she didn’t know who to trust.
“What are you doing watching that?” Glancing over, she saw Caleb stride into the room. “You’re not supposed to be stressed.” He grabbed the remote and switched it off.
Breathe. She needed to breathe.
“Shit. Baby, breathe. Fuck. I’ll get Aleki.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand, tight. She just needed him to stay with her.
“Don’t . . . leave . . .” she gasped.
“Okay. I won’t leave. I need you to breathe for me, though. In then out. Come on, you can do it. In then out.” He lightly placed a hand on her chest. His touch brought a sense of safety. She managed one breath then another. Sweat coated her skin and that oatmeal threatened to come back up.
But at least she could breathe.
She looked up into Caleb’s concerned blue eyes. He watched her carefully. “Better?”
“Yes,” she said hoarsely. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me.” He grabbed a glass and held the straw to her lips as she lay against the bed tiredly. She took a few sips then he set it aside.
“No more watching TV, understand? You need a mental health break from what’s going on out there.”
He cupped her face between his hands. It felt as though his strength and confidence were being infused through her skin. She calmed, her heart starting to slow.
“The funeral is in a week.”
“You want to go?” he asked her.
Panic flooded her. “No. I can’t go. They said I declined to make a statement.”
“Seems someone is covering for you being missing.”
Yeah. Appearances must always be kept up. For her to go missing now might raise suspicions.
“Sorry for panicking like that.”
He placed his thumb over her lips. “Hush. You don’t need to apologize.”
“You keep having to come to my rescue.”
“And that is my privilege. And joy. Losing you affected us all. Maybe more than we thought it would. You were Aleki’s girl. But you were ours too.”
“Wolfe hates me. He told me that if I walked out on Aleki, he’d never allow me to get close enough to hurt any of you again. That I was basically dead to him.”
“If you were dead to him, he wouldn’t even acknowledge you. You know Wolfe doesn’t handle emotions well. Especially softer ones. Hate. Dislike. Anger. Those he knows and trusts. But kindness. Affection. Love. Those he doesn’t get. Wolfe needs to learn to trust you again. And Aleki feels things more strongly than the rest of us, he just tries to hide his sensitive side. You hurt him.”
She winced. She hated thinking of him hurt.
“But I think he’s as upset with himself as he is with you.”
“And you?”
He smiled at her gently. “I have always had a lot of guilt about my feelings towards you. Wanting your best friend’s girl tends to do that.”
“You . . . you wanted me?”
“Oh yeah.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “I’ve always wanted you. You damn well ruined all other women for me, you know.”
“S-sorry?”
“What did I say about saying sorry?” he said sternly, raising his eyebrows.
She gulped. Caleb had always been dominant, but it seemed he’d gotten more so over the years.