CHAPTER 6
Charlie
Despite everything that was going on in my life, I’d managed to sleep remarkably well after the long bath I’d taken. Knowing the dogs had to go out first thing in the morning, I slipped on the clothes Gavin gave me, and though they were far too large, the fabric was soft and smelled like him. I wrapped my arms around myself and breathed in his scent, before padding barefoot out into the living area with Ripley following behind me. I wondered if Gavin was awake yet.
It felt odd wandering through someone else’s home, especially when I didn’t really know him. He’d said to make myself feel at home, but it still felt odd to be walking through unfamiliar surroundings all on my own. He’d been too busy yesterday to give me the full tour, but I may have to ask for one today. The house was so large that I was likely to get lost if I didn’t know the layout.
I quickly let out Ripley and Thor, knowing the yard was fenced, and then continued my search for Gavin.
It wasn’t a huge surprise when I found him in his office, and it left me wondering if he’d actually gone to bed last night or if he’d been working this whole time. “Good morning. Please tell me you got to bed at some point last night.”
“I got a few hours, but… I don’t tend to need much sleep.” The light in his eyes darkened just a little, and his smile slipped, though only for a moment. It left me wondering if there was more to it than being an insomniac, though I imagined he was also a pretty busy guy, especially if he had his own company to run, in addition to his side projects. “Are you hungry? I was thinking we could head out and grab a bite before going shopping.”
“That sounds perfect, since I could do with more clothes.” I had clothes for today, since I’d washed what I had on yesterday when this whole nightmare started, but beyond washing and wearing the same things, day in and day out, I had few other options. “Will it be okay for me to leave Ripley here while we’re gone?”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. And we won’t be too long.” He got to his feet and crossed to my side, towering over me and making me feel small, though his smile had returned, making my heart skitter out of control, especially when he ran a gentle hand down my arm. “You should be safe for the next few hours, since I took down the new hit your boss posted. But I’ve also reached out to my connections in the FBI, and there’s still no connection between us, so I don’t want you worrying.”
“He already put up another hit?” My new reality slammed into me like a runaway freight train. Someone—my boss, presumably—really wanted me dead. And then it hit me. “Gavin… I don’t have any evidence on that weaponized virus. I handed it over to my boss, not realizing that he was the one behind it. What if he’s already destroyed it?”
Gavin gave me a sexy frown, looking as though he was mulling things over. “If he was the one to take the hit out on you, then they’d still have him for attempted murder, though that would carry a lesser sentence to what would amount as terrorism, or aiding a terrorist or foreign government, depending on who he’s working for. If he’s hiring a hitman, then it’s likely he doesn’t want his bosses to know that he basically screwed up. There may be a way for us to use that to our advantage.”
It was sounding more and more like getting the FBI involved would be inevitable—which was fine by me. I couldn’t deal with the fact that I was a walking target, and even worse was knowing that I might be putting other people at risk, like Gavin. I already had to live with the guilt of my brother’s death, and it’d ruin me to have someone else get hurt because of me.
“What if I went into work? It’s Sunday, and we’ll be running on a limited staff. Though I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on the specimens, I still have some of the data at my desk. That might be enough to allow the FBI to get a warrant, so they can lock him up on the greater charges.” I was willing to take the risk if it meant no one else got hurt, and the virus stayed out of our enemy’s hands.
Gavin’s brow furrowed as he looked at me with darkening eyes, shaking his head as he gripped my arms. “No. There’s no fucking way I’m letting you go back there when your boss wants you dead. That’s not happening, so get it out of your head. You’re not going anywhere near the lab or your boss, until he’s behind bars.”
“But once the FBI has the evidence to lock up my boss, this will be over—and the faster I get the evidence, the better. Don’t you think?” That way I could get back to my life. Though it was damn nice to have Gavin around. Having a hit out on my life was more than a little stressful and a whole lot scary.
“Not if the people your boss is working for decide they want to tie up loose ends and eliminate any witnesses.” He shook his head as I tried to fight back the panic that was running through my veins like ice. “I’m sorry, Charlie, but you just need to trust me on this one. And I get it—you don’t know me, so why should you do anything I say. But I swear, I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“I know.” It didn’t matter that I barely knew Gavin. For whatever reason, I trusted him, and until he gave me a reason not to, I’d likely listen to what he had to say. “It’s just that yesterday morning, my life was still completely normal. And now… It’s just a lot to take in and adjust to.”
“I know it is, love.” When he pulled me into the protective comfort of his strong arms, it felt all too natural to be there.
I held onto him, resting my head against his muscular chest as he engulfed me in his embrace and I breathed in his clean, masculine scent. There in his arms, everything felt so right, even if my life was in complete turmoil. It was almost as if fate was trying to bring us together.
Except that there was a reason why I’d been single most of my life—a reason why I was still a virgin. I had no self-confidence in anything but my work, and if my father was to be believed, I didn’t deserve to be happy. Not when my life had been chosen over my little brother’s.
Yet I couldn’t do anything but hold onto Gavin, as if he was the lifeline I’d been waiting for all along. And when he tightened his hold on me and pressed his scruffy cheek to the top of my head, it somehow felt as if, for just that moment, I’d been absolved of all my sins.
We stayed that way, locked together, for what felt like an eternity, as if all of time stood still in that moment. And though Gavin didn’t let go of me, he did pull away just enough to look at me, his blue eyes taking me in. He brushed my hair from my eyes and cupped my cheek, his touch lingering as I resisted the urge to lean in and kiss him. “You have me worried about you, Charlie.”
“I’ve got you watching my back, right? That means everything will be okay.”