Chapter 34
Lizzy
Bash has been acting strangely all evening. I can tell he knows something, but he’s nervous to tell me. As much as I know he’s trying to protect me, my curiosity overcomes me.
“Bash, you can tell me what’s going on,” I assure him from my spot on the couch next to him. There’s something comforting about this spot. Maybe it’s that despite all the bad these past twenty-four hours, this couch has been a place of good.
“Lizzy, there’s something you need to know. I don’t want to scare you, but I refuse to keep secrets from you.” He pulls off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. Placing a hand on his thigh, I try to calm him.
“Bash, I trust you. Ignorance may be bliss, but that bliss doesn’t protect me from the reality of danger. I need you to tell me,” I beg him. He searches my eyes, then nods.
“Vincent is alive.” With those words, my world tilts on its axis. Every truth I’ve known is in question. As if he can sense my inner turmoil, Bash drags me into his lap. “It’s going to be okay. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
I nod absentmindedly at his words. He’s going to keep me safe. I know he will. Vincent can’t get to me through Bash. Bash won’t let him. He won’t, right?
He brushes my overgrown bangs aside, clearing my view of him. Cupping my face between his palms, he leans over and kisses my forehead. I lean into his lips, basking in their comfort. In the comfort only he can provide.
“Are you sure?” I know he is. He wouldn’t tell me this if he wasn’t positive.
“I interrogated the men from the break-in today. Vincent sent them to get you. He’s here, in Boston.”
The air is heavy with words I know to be true. Words I wish weren’t being spoken, that I’d refuse to believe if I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes.
“I know,” I whisper, succumbing to reality. “He’s been watching me at the zoo. I saw him again today.”
Bash tenses, his arms wrapping around me, cocooning me. “When? Where? What happened?”
“He was in the parking lot as I was leaving. I convinced myself it wasn’t him, but I knew deep down. I just don’t understand how this is possible. I watched him die.” The jarring juxtaposition in my mind of his body on our living room floor versus the man in the parking lot haunts me.
“You watched him bleed out. He sought medical attention and survived. They were able to save him.” He sighs, then his expression softens. “But angel, this means you never killed anyone. You can let go of all this guilt.”
“But I’m trading guilt for fear. The safety I’ve felt knowing he was gone has just been ripped from me.” I hate how my tears well in my eyes. He doesn’t deserve my tears, and yet, he still elicits them.
“I know. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling. But trust in me, angel. Trust that I’ll take care of you. You’re not leaving my sight until this is settled. My brothers and the Syndicate are involved.”
“I don’t want you to leave me alone,” I whisper against his neck that I’m tucked into.
“I won’t,” he vows.
“But I also don’t want to stop living. I love my job. I don’t want to stop working.” The idea of giving up the zoo fills me with a heavy regret. I won’t let him ruin my life again. I won’t run from him. But if it’s my life or my job, the choice is obvious.
“You won’t. I’m going to join you at the zoo every workday. You’re never going to be unprotected. I will have to insist that you let me know everywhere you intend on going so I can join you.” He winces, worrying me.
“What is it?”
“This all just reminds me of when Margot was taken.” His grip on my back tightens as his fear takes over. I know he stayed away all these years to protect me out of fear that what happened to his sister-in-law would happen to me. And now, as soon as he has me, his fears are unfolding.
“What do you suggest we do?” I’m willing to do anything he says. If he thinks handcuffing us together is the best answer, I’ll go along with it.
“If you’re willing, I’m going to get a tracker in a piece of jewelry for you to wear at all times.
They’re not going to get you. I won’t allow it.
But in the worst-case scenario, I want to be able to find you.
I track you on your phone, but that’s not as reliable as something on you.
” His idea makes sense, except it’s just as easy to lose jewelry.
Also, there’s another issue with jewelry.
“I can’t wear jewelry around the animals at the zoo,” I admit regretfully. The implant in my arm comes to mind as an idea forms. “What if you implanted a subdermal tracker in me. We do it with the animals at the zoo. Plus, I already have an implant. What’s one more?”
He leans back and searches my eyes, an incredulous look in his. “You’d let me do that?”
“Of course.” I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like he hasn’t tracked me for the past six years.
He pulls me in for a hug, crushing me to his chest. Each inhale that expands his chest is met with an exhale in mine. We sync up perfectly, matching one another. And in this moment, in his arms, I feel safe. Despite all the horrors that await outside this house, Bash will keep me safe.
“Will you show me the cameras in my house? I want to see the damage.” His whole body freezes as if caught committing a crime. “I already know you watched me. It’s not like you’re hiding anything.”
“Okay. But just know, it was all out of love.” He lifts me to him as he stands, wrapping me around his front like a monkey. My legs clench around him, holding me up, and his hands on my bottom keep me stable.
Wrapping my arm around his neck, I kiss his chin as he climbs the stairs.
He groans at the contact but remains focused on the task at hand.
When we enter a room I’ve never been in, the first thing I note is the windows facing my house.
Ironically, the windows he used to spy on me through are the same ones I used to look up to in hopes of catching glimpses of him.
He sets me on a couch, then approaches the desk in the center.
I’m not paying him much attention because on every wall there are puzzles of zoo animals.
Puzzles I left out for my snow shoveler.
There are little odes to me all over this room.
And when he powers on the screens mounted to the walls, pictures of my house appear.
True to his word, no cameras are in my bedroom or bathrooms. But at the sight of my neglected pets, I’m filled with guilt.
I haven’t checked on them nor have I fed them since the attack.
Granted it was only last night, and some don’t get fed for weeks at a time.
But still, they haven’t even crossed my mind with everything going on.
“I need to go feed my pets,” I tell Bash hurriedly.
“There’s no need. I already did. I figured you might need some time before returning to your house.” He says it so nonchalantly, as though his actions aren’t above and beyond what any man has ever done for me.
“You did?”
“I’m here to take care of you, angel. I packed up a bag and cleaned what they messed up. If there’s a burden I can bear for you, I’ll happily take it.”
Crossing the room, he pulls me into a hug.
I pull his neck down so I can express my gratitude through my lips.
He returns the kiss fervently, removing every ounce of doubt from me.
I may have reason to be wary of Vincent, but never Bash.
This man will always be here for me. And he’ll never let anything happen to me.