Chapter 23
Ididn’t sleep at all last night. Donovan arrived at the house, irritated by the abandoned call for backup, but his tone changed when he learned about the research. Project G is real, and I had proof of it.
Lily fell asleep on the couch next to the bookcase as Donovan and I went through every paper in the folders, piecing together what Dimitri had developed to dilute the gas supply and make us filthy rich.
The notes were solid, but we came just short of the final chemical compound.
Now, as the sun creeps through the blinds and falls across my desk in slanted bars, Donovan and I go over the research for the fifth or sixth time, trying to figure out what’s missing. My eyes sting from the lack of sleep and cigar smoke, but I don’t want to stop until I know there’s nothing more to learn.
Donovan is the first to call it a day. The coffee isn’t keeping him awake any longer, and his eyelids are threatening to fall over his bloodshot eyes and keep him from reading anymore. It’s involuntary at this point.
“We need to get this stuff to a real scientist. I can’t understand half of it, and what I do understand is incomplete,” Donovan says, tossing a paper onto my desk. “It’s all so tiring.”
I want to be annoyed with him, but he’s right. We can’t figure this out on our own. We have experts who will be able to take it from here, but it helps that we know how far Dimitri came with the initial research.
I look over at Lily, who is still sleeping like an angel on the couch. Her pretty little face is pressed into the leather on the couch seat, a spot of drool just beneath her lips. She probably would be embarrassed, but I think she looks more beautiful than ever when she’s sleeping.
I’d like nothing more than to scoop her off that couch, carry her to the bed, and cuddle with her for as long as she’ll allow before she wakes up and wants breakfast. I’m simply exhausted, and I’m craving intimacy of the most precious kind. I want to be close to her, to feel her skin on mine, and to listen to the softness of her breath while she dreams.
I raise my hand to Donovan, giving him a look of understanding. “You can take the guest bedroom now, if you wish to sleep. I don’t want you driving home in your current state.”
A look of relief washes over his tired face. “Thank you, Ivan. I’m very grateful for your hospitality.”
“It’s nothing,” I reply, standing up from my desk. “Just let me know when you wake up so I can let you out. The guards are trained not to let anyone in or out without my permission.”
He nods. “Understood.”
“Great, then I will show you to your room.”
Donovan’s shows more energy as we leave the office, but maybe that’s because we’re finally able to breath air that hasn’t been tainted by cigar smoke for the past eight hours. Even I feel better, like I could look over the research for another hour or so, but I know doing so would sacrifice time I could be spending with Lily.
No, once I drop Donovan off at his room, I will take Lily to our bedroom to sleep together. I owe her that, especially after how well she did on our first mission together.
What little energy I found myself with when Donovan and I first ventured out into the hallway is sapped from my body by the time I arrive back at the office. I open the door carefully, making my footsteps as soft as they can be as I walk up to Lily.
She doesn’t awaken as I pick her up from the couch. She just nestles into my arms, breathing out a gentle sigh as I carry her upstairs to the master bedroom.
The stained-glass window shines blood red light onto the floor, lit up by the morning sun. Blood has been spilt by my precious Lily, but she sleeps like an angel still. I hope she never loses that innocence about her.
But I doubt she can stay like this for long.
Power corrupts, and innocence never lasts in the face of cruelty.