CHAPTER 3
Protected
The east lobby smelled of wet stone and night-blooming flowers from the planters by the doors.
Rain blurred the glass so thoroughly that the city seemed underwater.
Elise stood close to the windows, one hand lifted toward the cold pane but not touching it.
Marcus moved to the security desk and spoke quietly into his radio.
Daniel pretended to check his phone.
There was no signal.
Of course there was no signal.
"Valet says ten minutes," Marcus said. "A road closure near the front entrance."
Elise turned from the window. "Then I suppose we're yours a little longer."
Daniel looked up sharply.
Marcus did not smile, but something in his face warmed. "My responsibility, Mrs. Rhodes."
"Elise," she said.
"Elise," Marcus repeated, and the name sounded different in his voice. Not stolen. Not claimed. Simply handled with more attention than Daniel was prepared to hear.
Daniel slipped his phone into his pocket. "You can call me Daniel. Since we're all apparently on a first-name basis."
Marcus inclined his head. "Daniel."
It was ridiculous to feel challenged by the way another man said his name. Daniel knew that. He also knew the body did not always wait for reason. His skin felt too tight under his tuxedo shirt. His bow tie had become a noose of silk.
Elise drifted toward the marble console, studying herself in the mirror. She touched one earring, then smoothed her hair where the rain-heavy air had loosened a few strands. Marcus watched from a respectful angle. Daniel watched Marcus watching.
The loop of attention became unbearable.
"Does your job require staring?" Daniel asked.
Elise's eyes flicked to him in the mirror.
Marcus answered without offense. "My job requires awareness."
"And are you aware of how you look at my wife?"
There. The sentence had escaped. Daniel expected Elise to scold him, to apologize for him, to smooth the moment over the way she smoothed napkins at dinner parties. Instead, she turned slowly from the mirror, lips parted, cheeks colored.
Marcus remained still. "Yes."
The single word hit harder than denial would have.
Daniel laughed once, humorless. "At least you're honest."
"I try to be."
"Then be honest. What exactly do you see?"
Elise whispered, "Daniel."
But she did not tell him to stop.
Marcus looked at her first, as if asking permission to answer a question her husband had asked. Elise held his gaze for one breath, then another. The permission was not spoken. It did not need to be.
"I see a woman who entered a room beside a man who loves her," Marcus said. "And spent the evening wondering whether love had made him stop looking closely."
The rain filled the silence afterward.
Daniel felt anger rise because it was easier than shame. "You don't know anything about us."
"No," Marcus said. "I know what people show when they think no one important is watching."
Elise's hand tightened around her clutch. "Daniel, maybe we should just wait quietly."
"Is that what you want? Quiet?"
Her eyes flashed. "No. That's the problem, isn't it?"
The words struck both men still.
Daniel stared at her. Elise looked suddenly frightened by her own honesty, but she did not take it back. She stood between the window and the mirror, the rain behind her, the room reflecting her from another angle. Beautiful. Embarrassed. Awake.
Marcus lowered his gaze, giving them space. That restraint again. It should have made him less threatening. It made him worse.
"I'm sorry," Daniel said, though he was not sure which wound he was apologizing for.
Elise's expression softened. "I don't want sorry. I want you here. Really here."
He stepped toward her. Marcus turned away, facing the glass doors as if the storm required his full attention.
Daniel touched Elise's bare shoulder. Her skin was warm despite the cold lobby. The contact steadied him and undid him at the same time.
"I'm here," he said.
She looked over his shoulder.
Daniel knew before turning that Marcus had been reflected in the mirror, unable to disappear entirely.
Elise's voice lowered. "Then don't pretend you don't feel it too."
Daniel turned his head enough to see Marcus in the glass. Tall. Controlled. Patient.
Protected, he thought again.
But the protection had become a cage, and the thing being guarded was not Elise's safety.
It was Daniel's secret.