Page 138 of The Quiet Witness

Her arms went heavy beneath Lucien’s touch. She bit her lip, trying to fight the hold he had over her. Firm and gentle, threatening and kind. Lucien switched between the two like he flipped a coin every couple of minutes, deciding which side he would show.

He drove the point home. “I’m waiting for you, you know.” Her skin tingled as he squeezed her gently. Waiting, he was waiting for her to set her legs in motion. Letting precious seconds, a minute, go to waste to let her decide.

An idea formed. She would go alright, would face the nightmares that waited for her in the sanctuary, but there would be something she’d leave behind… because she deserved to know.

“Fine.” She sighed. Half turning to leave when his hand clenched around her shoulder, stopping her for the briefest of moments.

“We good?”

Kate forced her lips into a weak smile. “Of course we are.”

***

It took two minutes for her to shrug herself out of the still soaked clothes, one minute to throw water over her face and freshen up before she stood in front of Lucien’s room. Time to see if this plan of mine will work.

“Lucien?”

“Yes?” His voice sounded distanced behind the wooden door, and was that the tap being turned off?

“My, uh, my phone is flat.”

Not five seconds later the door in front of her clicked open to show a still dripping wet Lucien standing in the opening, with a towel wrapped securely around his lower abdomen, leaving his eight pack and pectorals wide open for scrutiny.

“Oh, my God, Lucien…” Kate’s hand flew up, shielding her eyes from the view. A teasing laugh rippled out through the hallway, taunting her ears.

“What’s wrong?” A coy smile played over his lips. “You know you did mend my shoulder when I was in the same state, right? I didn’t see you shrinking away and squeaking like a shy schoolgirl then.

What’s wrong? Literally nothing’s wrong with that display.

“You were covered in blood and to be honest looked quite pathetic.” She kept her hand firmly plastered to her temple while he kept chuckling.

“I’ll have to tease you about this some other time, but for now.” He shut the door behind him, crowding her in the slim hallway. Kate jumped back, as fast as if a rattlesnake was thrown at her feet with its mouth snapping and hissing at her. Lucien merely shook his head at her behavior, tutting like one would to a child. “Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.” He brushed past her muttering. “Follow me, miss can’t keep her phone charged.”

If she wasn’t about to take a huge risk that could end with her damaging the fragile trust between Lucien and her, she might have taken the chance to admire the honed man in front of her. As it were, Kate kept her attention strictly on the wildlife pictures framing the walls. Wondering what the hell Lucien would do if he walked in on her a couple minutes from now. Would it stop with her being dragged out to the car, as he had promised her would happen, or would he be more creative?

I honestly don’t want to know.

As much as she was winning ground in martial arts, she was still easy prey when it came to the man in front of her. Even though it pained her to admit that tiny fact.

Fuck. Kate almost crashed head-first into said back when he stopped in front of the study, throwing her a mocking side-eye. “Better watch where you’re going.”

She huffed. “Honestly, Lucy, the pictures are more interesting than whatever you.” She moved her eyes up and down his form with a cruel smile, not shrinking away from his attention zeroed in on her. “have on offer.”

A laugh bounced against the walls before he leaned in closer, putting his lips beside her ear and smirking at the goosebumps rising along her skin. “I beg to differ, sweetheart, judging from that wiggling of yours.” He winked at her, glancing between the door of the training room and her, telling her he knew exactly where her mind had strayed during their showdown. “Oh, if only we had more time to test that theory.” He shook his head in regret. “We’ll get back to this soon though. Don’t worry.”

Kate would in fact put his promise on the shelf of things to start worrying about. But first things first.

Lucien pushed into the study, heading straight for his desk to open a drawer. She followed him in, peeking over his shoulder to see a false bottom, whorls and all perfectly matching. She raised her eyebrows while he flipped out the wooden board, showing multiple burner phones waiting to be used. Two seconds later he pressed one of the phones into her hand, folding her fingers over it as he held her gaze steady, all attempts at a smile had faded from his face. “Keep it close no matter what.”

Oh, I will. She nodded, but had to ask. “But… why the fuss? I mean, a step up the ladder, right?”

His head lifted to the clock on the wall, eyes narrowing to see how much time they had left. Minutes… it had to be enough. “Preparation is everything, but shit can always go sideways. In case it does.” He reached into the drawer again, pressing a passport and a thin plastic card into her hands. “I wanted to do this another time but… congratulations on passing your driver’s test, miss Willows.”

“What?!” Her eyes snapped to the card in her hands. A photo of her, the same one she had on her old I.D. peered up at her. And a driver’s license with another name on it. Haley Willows.

“You might not have passed the test yet, but Haley sure did.” He clicked his tongue. “I’m confident you won’t smash any car into a brick wall, or cause an accident on the highway or—” He stopped his teasing when she shot him a surprised glance, not knowing whether she should show irritation at his jests or be thankful because this… wasn’t just help, it was planning for whatever lay ahead of them.

“Thank you, Lucien. I mean, I don’t know what to say.” He’d just handed her a key to her freedom.