“Javier!” I call, waving. “We’re here, we’re okay!”
No. We are not okay. We are not okay at all. Because Aiden’s shoulders just creaked in my ear and a low, deep growl whirls in his chest. His eyes go blank—the way a man might turn off in order to execute someone.
“Aiden, look at me,” I whisper but he doesn’t. He stares at Javier, who is jogging toward us.
In seconds, the Rover screeches to a stop on Aiden’s left. Without a word, he opens the back door and lowers me on the seat. He moves sharply, like a machine. He cocoons me in Benson’s jacket, eyes unblinking.
“Get Miss Starr in the car,” he fires off at Benson, and slams my door so hard the Rover shakes. He whirls to face Javier. Peripherally, I see Benson usher Reagan to my side but I cannot look away from Aiden’s back. It’s rippling, the muscles’ vibration now visible under his blue shirt. I’m abruptly afraid for Javier.
“Aiden!” I call through the inch-open window but he does not react.
Javier comes to a sudden halt a few feet away. I don’t know what he sees in Aiden’s face but it must be something else because his eyes widen and he takes two steps back.
“Where were you?” Aiden’s voice whips through the air, colder than I’ve ever heard it.
Javier swallows once. “What do you mean, Mr. Hale?”
“I mean where were you when your adopted sister was almost burned alive?” Aiden clenches his teeth on the last two words.
Javier looks at me in the window. His eyes deepen and his eyebrows quiver. “I’m sorry,” he mouths.
“It’s okay, Javier. It was not your fault. Aiden, please! It was an accident!” I call, knowing that if I can hear them, they can hear me.
Javier looks at Aiden. “I—I had to step away,” he stutters.
“You had to step away? You had to step away while her mother’s dress went up in flames and now she has to miss one more thing in her life. Why?” Aiden explodes, his voice so thunderous that I jolt back in my seat, colliding with Reagan, who is watching over my shoulder.
“I saw the guards come in. I didn’t mean—”
“You promised to take care of her!” Aiden roars. “Did you even think to grab her before slinking off? Or do you keep your promises only when convenient?”
“Aiden, stop!” I shout, rattling the door.
He takes two steps toward Javier, his voice dropping to a vicious, low timbre. “Let me make you a promise, Mr. Solis. If anything happens to her again while she is with you—whether she breaks a fucking nail or ICE itself comes after her—you will be tango dancing across the Mexican border with one leg. And I keep my promises.”
Reagan gasps. It’s the last sound I hear before the world goes silent. My hair stands on end and I taste metal at a sharp bite on my own tongue. I shove at the car door—not to get Aiden’s attention but to rip it open.
Javier’s shoulders hunch a little but he nods. “You’re right, Mr. Hale.” His voice is very quiet. “I screwed up tonight. But I have a question for you. If you want her so safe, where were you? Not your henchman or your money—you!” He points at Aiden, then looks at me. “See you tomorrow, Isa,” he says and stomps off toward the parking lot, my purse still in his hand.
“Isa,” Reagan whispers, shaking my shoulder. “You have to rein Aiden in or you’ll end up losing them both. Talk to him. I’m going to drive Javier home.”
I can’t speak over the tangy rage in my mouth. She gets out of the car and starts running after Javier. Benson leans close to Aiden and mouths something. There is no movement from Aiden whatsoever but he must react somehow because Benson nods and retreats some distance away.
Aiden does not move for a while. Then, slowly, his back relaxes. At last, he turns to face me, eyes lightening. But for the first time, I detest my effect on him. I don’t want to numb anything about what just happened. He strides back to the Rover. With every step he takes, my anger becomes static. My throat starts burning as though it’s warming up for a scream.
He opens my door. “Come, Elisa, let’s go.” He reaches to pick me up.
“Don’t touch me!” The words slip out of my gritted teeth.
“What the—” He stops, his eyes widening as though he is seeing me for the very first time.
“Are you so blind that even with your genius brain, you have no idea that you just humiliated Javier in the worst possible way?”
The V cracks between his eyebrows. “You must be joking! He put you in danger!”
“He did nothing of the sort.”
His jaw locks. “Elisa, he left you behind. You could have been burned.”
“But I wasn’t! And even if I had been, I’m not his responsibility. He looks after me because he cares, not because it’s his job. And now you’ve made him feel like a failure when he’s a big reason I’m here at all.”