Page 13 of Tethered

“For everything. Even if everything goes up in a fiery blaze, I’ll always remember this. Remember you.”

His hand slides around the back of my head as he pulls me closer. We stand there for a moment, soaking it all in before Riggs pulls away and takes my hand. “Come on. Let’s go check on our guests.”

Dawn and Hannah loved the space we’d created for them. I swear, Dawn looked on the verge of tears again, but she managed to fight them back for Hannah’s sake. We get them settled in before returning to the main house, where I help Riggs get a room ready for himself. He takes the one at the far end of the hall on the same floor as my workshop, but far enough away that I won’t disturb him.

“It’s fucking weird.”

I turn to look at him, placing the T-shirt I just folded onto his bed. “What is? Being in the house, you mean?”

”Yes and no. I feel like I’m supposed to be here, but being all the way in the back like this makes me worry about someone breaking in and getting to you without me noticing, which makes zero fucking sense when usually I’m farther away in the ranch house.” He tosses his hat on the bed so he can run his fingers through his hair.

“Nobody is getting in without the alarm waking everyone up.” Not to mention, the house would let me know. I tense upthinking about Austin, but I swallow it down, not wanting Riggs to see my fear.

“I know. Something has set me on edge, though. Maybe it’s just everything with Dawn and Hannah.”

“Probably. We both know this won’t be the end of things. But I’ve already called Jen, and she’s going to sort out the legal stuff.”

“Well, with Jen on the case, I almost pity the fool for messing with Dawn.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t. I want to kill him myself.”

“Don’t let anyone but me hear you say that. Some people will call that premeditated.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever really cared what people thought about me. Not until you anyway.”

I bat my lashes at him. He grins and stalks toward me, only to stop when my cell rings. I pull it out and check the screen.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta take this.”

He sighs. “Go. I’m gonna take a cold shower and crash. Don’t forget to lock your door.”

I salute him before leaving and close his door, so I don’t sayfuck itand climb into the shower with him.

I hit answer on my phone and hold it to my ear as I enter my workshop and close the door. “Hey, David, sorry about that.”

“No worries. So I went over that footage you sent me. Far as I can tell, it wasn’t tampered with. Or if it was, it was way more sophisticated than I’m used to. And not trying to toot my own horn here, Calliope, but I’m good. I’m really good.”

“So if you don’t think it was tampered with, then chances are it wasn’t.”

“Exactly. The problem is that means it has to be a glitch, and that doesn’t sit right with me either. This system is supposed to be better than that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Shit happens.”

“Yeah, no. Shit happens to other people’s systems. Not mine. If you’d gotten hurt because of an error on my end, I’d never forgive myself.”

“David. You can’t take on everything?—”

“No. This is my fault. This is what you pay me for, and I fucked up. Can I come out and have a look? I can’t see what’s happening on my end, but maybe if I look in person…” His voice trails off as I pull out my chair and sit in it. There is no camera in here, so I don’t have to worry about turning it off.

“Of course you can come. You don’t have to ask.”

“Yeah, about that. My sisters are on a school break.”

“Bring them with you. Word of advice, though, I have house guests. I don’t know if you went back over today’s footage and saw them arrive.”

“Yeah, I saw them. They okay?”