“I want to wake Freddie up to eat and at the same time…”
“Don’t,” I said. “Pizza is good cold.”
“Yeah.”
When she finished, I put the pizza boxes back and moved the blankets so she could get into the bed. Liam returned with the sodas. They went into the little fridge, then he locked the door. Once everything was secure, he tugged off his shoes then stripped down out of his jeans. I did the same and he climbed in on one side of her and I climbed in on the other. The bed wasn’t that big, but she really didn’t take up any space.
Liam took the side closest to the door. He also put his gun on the table over there. There was another in the drawer if I needed it.
“Is this all right?” Liam asked.
Emersyn let out a sigh only to yawn in the middle of it. She burrowed against me and held out a hand to Liam.
That was an answer. Meeting Liam’s gaze over her head, I read the concern. With a nod, I shut off the light and pressed my lips to her damp hair.
She was back where she belonged.
Tomorrow, we would take care of things so we could take her home.
Liam woke me at dawn. Freddie was in the shower and Emersyn slept. She’d barely moved throughout the night. Even in sleep, her expression didn’t relax.
His damp hair suggested he had also showered. Liam said, “I’m going for food and supplies for them. Shower when Freddie is done. I’ll be back soon.”
Rubbing my face, I nodded. “What time do we leave?”
“By eight.”
Emersyn was still asleep when I ducked into the shower after Freddie. I left him eating cold pizza and drinking a soda. Liam was back and she sat up in bed when I came out. The smell of eggs, bacon, waffles and more filled the room. He’d gotten her a little bit of everything.
“You’re leaving?” Instead of eating though, she stared at Liam with uncertainty.
“Yes,” he answered. “Don’t worry, Hellspawn. We’ll be back within a day. That’s why I brought you two supplies.” The bags lined the top of the desk. “There are microwavable meals in there too. More drinks. I also bought a real coffee maker. “
Freddie leaned forward. “It’s gonna be fun, Boo-Boo. You and me. I bet they have porn on the hotel tv. We can charge it all to Liam.”
The comment worked, a flash of a smile dispelled some of her worry. But when her gaze tracked to me, it all came back.
“You’ll be safe, Starling. We’ll be fast.” As possible. I didn’t say the last two words aloud.
I wasn’t sure if she believed me, but she nodded.
“Hellspawn,” Liam said and the snap in his voice made all of us look at him. “Behave. Stay in the room. We’ll be back. Listen to Freddie—except about the porn.” The last he said with a hard look at Freddie, who just grinned.
“Do you have to go?” The quiet question had me ready to toss all of it and stay. I would, except… Except staying meant we didn’t deal with this Mr. Cole. Mr. Cole needed to be dealt with. She needed to know he would never touch her again.
“Yes.” I crossed to the bed and nudged her plate. “Eat. Sleep. Shower again if you want. The bag by the closet is yours. We brought things for you from the apartment.”
“Boo-Boo and I are gonna be fine,” Freddie said. “Aren’t we?”
She smiled, but it wasn’t a real one and it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“We’ll be back,” I reminded her. “I promise. Promise to stay in the room?”
Another soft exhale, then she nodded slowly. “I will. Promise.”
“I don’t.” The comment made her smile for real. “I am done with rules.”
“Freddie,” Liam said with the most aggrieved sigh.
“Damn, take the stick out man. I’m kidding. We made it. We rescued Boo-Boo. Well, I did, but I'll give you guys twenty percent of the credit. Go and do all the things and come back. We’re gonna be fine, right?”
“Right,” she said, though her voice didn’t sound as solidly believing it as he did. “I’m sorry,” she said again as I straightened.
“For what?” Liam asked, he’d already turned to the door.
“I’m not usually this needy.”
“You’re not needy,” I told her, then did what I’d been wanting to do since I picked her up in the woods. Cupping her cheek, I nudged her chin up and then brushed a kiss to her lips. Just a touch. To remind myself she was real. “We’ll be back.”
“Okay.” There was a real light in her eyes again. Not as bright as it should be, but at least one shadow seemed to have drawn back. "Hurry?”
“Yes.”
Hurry. Go and deal with this. Then come back. To her.
I glanced at Freddie.
“I got her.” It was a promise. Just like when he said he’d get her back. I cut a look to the drawer. Had Liam told him? He nodded. He knew.
Good.
Leaving was harder than I thought. Liam didn’t seem as troubled by it. Once outside of the room, he led the way to the SUV. “They’ll be fine and we’ll be back before morning.”
“We’ll be back tonight,” I told him as I climbed into the passenger seat.
“Or we can be back tonight,” he agreed. Almost too easily. “First, Ezra. We’re gonna have to let him go.”
I didn’t like that idea. “Do we?”
He pulled out of the spot, not once looking back. I kept cutting my gaze to the side mirror. I didn’t want to leave them at the hotel alone. But this one was even more anonymous than the other. Freddie would look after her.
“Yes, Rome,” Liam said in a firm voice. “We do.”
“He attacked you.”
“Well, he had his reasons.”
Whatever. “If he does it again…”
“Leave it.” We didn’t argue much. “Just don’t bring up Lainey while we’re there.”
“Why would I bring her up?” I’d barely thought about her, other than she’d given us the info on where Emersyn was.
“You know, just—never mind.” All at once, he sounded aggravated. I left it alone. The other hotel was a good fifteen minutes away. We’d moved after we parked Ezra at the other one. The silence lasted until we were pulling into the parking lot at the hotel. “You up for this?”
“Letting him go?” I frowned. “No, but you said you wanted to.”
My brother twisted in the seat and stared at me. “I meant what we’re doing after. Going after Cole. I have a line on him, it’s gonna take us a couple of hours to get there, then we gotta track him down…”
“Him? Yes. Him, I’m ready for.”
At least four hours in travel time and there was still Cole to deal with. We could spend a few hours and make it back before she went to sleep.
“Rome.” The snap jerked my attention back to Liam. “Focus, bro. If your head is back at the hotel, I can take you back and leave you there.”
Tempting.
“Cole first. He hurt her.”
Liam nodded. “Then focus. You’re not gonna get hurt cause you can’t stop thinking about her. Got it?”