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“I’m fine,” she muttered through the crack.
“I’m glad,” he said softly. “I need to see you to make certain you are safe.”
“Fine,” she snarled, flinging the door open. She looked upset, vulnerable, and in need of him holding her close. Holding her arms out wide, she shot at him, “All in one piece and no bad guys hiding in my room.”
“I had to make sure.”
She nodded and dropped her arms, apparently reading him and knowing he wanted to step in and wrap his arms around her.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
“No.”
“Later?”
“Goodnight, Miles.” She shut the door.
Miles stared at the closed door for far too long. She’d shut him out. Out of her heart.
He’d feared when he finally was able to do the honorable thing and break up with Lily face to face, he would have lost his chance with Eva.
Turns out, his fears were more than grounded.
Miles woke early the next morning and went to lift weights. He was back and showered before any movement came from the room next door. He took to pacing in front of the door. He hadn’t slept well and had spent most of the night analyzing what he could’ve done differently, what he could do to fix things now, and praying for some kind of insight because he had none.
His phone buzzed on his hip. He pulled it out. Aiden.
“Hey.”
“Autumn was attacked early this morning.”
“What?” Miles stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, clinging to the phone.
“Yeah. Good old Agent Ryken Henderson let himself in, went right into the bedroom, and when he realized she wasn’t Eva, he went ballistic.”
The door opened slowly behind him. He spun. Eva stood there in a white sundress, her expression guarded. There must’ve been something in his face because immediately her eyes widened in concern. “What’s going on?”
“Aiden. Eva is here. I’m putting the phone on speaker.”
Eva edged up close to him, her coconut scent washing over him.
“Eva. Ryken attacked Autumn this morning in your bedroom.”
“No!” Eva cried out, swaying on her feet.
Miles wasted no time shifting the phone to his left hand and wrapping his right arm around Eva’s waist, pulling her into his side. He couldn’t let himself get distracted by how perfectly she fit against him.
“Is she all right?” Eva asked.
“Of course she’s all right. She’s Autumn Cardon. Even with the jump on her and surprising her out of a sound sleep, a loser like Agent Henderson couldn’t defeat Autumn. A few bruises and scrapes and you might need to redecorate your bedroom. She broke a few knickknacks on his skull.”
“Oh, thank heavens she’s all right.” Eva relaxed into Miles.
Miles relaxed too. Autumn wasn’t seriously hurt, Henderson would be arrested, and Eva was cuddled against his side. Maybe all his prayers would be answered.
“I spoke with Agent Henderson at length,” Aiden continued. “He placed all the blame on Jorge Augilar. We finally found a money trail from Jorge’s uncle to Henderson. Apparently Henderson and Jorge had an agreement for Henderson to gain your trust and then abduct you, get you across the border. When Henderson failed the other night, Jorge changed the plan and had an associate put all the hits up on the dark web. Jorge is on lockdown and the requests have been removed from the dark web. We’re still not sure who was going to help Jorge escape. Hopefully we’ll find them.”
Aiden paused. Eva looked up at Miles. There was longing and frustration in her eyes.
