Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,52

would start to tire quickly after the movie came to an end and I'd be able to get everyone out of the house and my youngest put to bed so the second half of my night could begin. From the way Matias was watching me from across the room, I had to believe that his mind was on the same track.

"Dino done," Elliot announced. Ryan's giggles quickly settled down as the action in the film picked up. I found myself getting caught up in the final scene where the heroes of the story were running from the most dangerous of the dinosaurs, so I didn't notice anything amiss at first. When I happened to shoot Matias a quick glance, I saw that he was staring at his cell phone. That, in itself, wasn't completely unusual, but when I looked at Cruz, I saw that he was watching Matias as well. And Cruz did not look happy.

I tried to focus on the movie, but I kept finding myself looking back and forth between the two brothers. It seemed like there was some kind of silent argument going on between them, though Cruz was clearly coming out as the loser. Elliot began to notice as well, but fortunately, Ryan continued to focus on the film.

Suddenly, without warning, Matias stood and then he was heading for the front door without a word. His eyes were still glued to his cell phone.

Cruz shot Elliot a brief look and then he was climbing to his feet and hurrying after his brother. Elliot, for his part, remained focused on his little brother. I stayed where I was, even though all I really wanted to do was go after Matias and make sure he was okay. But I didn't have the right to do that. Despite the volume on the television, I could still hear raised voices coming from outside. Elliot looked up at me, clearly concerned, but I knew he wouldn't leave his brother’s side. I used that as an excuse to get up and move across the room. As I made my way to the front door, I heard Cruz say, "Matias, I’m asking you, for once, not to!"

By the time I got the door open, Cruz and Matias were no longer in conversation. In fact, Cruz was making his way back up the walkway toward the house while Matias was heading to his car.

"Everything okay?" I asked Cruz as he reached the front door.

"Yeah," he murmured as he glanced over his shoulder at his brother. I didn't believe his response for even a moment. Nothing about what was happening was okay. Cruz stepped past me and went into the house. I knew I should've followed him, but as I watched Matias’s broad shoulders get swallowed up by the darkness, I had this weird sense of foreboding. I remembered the last time I'd said goodbye to Mac. I hadn't really said goodbye to him because I hadn't seen him that evening when he’d left for work. Instead of making an effort to get home to join my man for dinner, I'd stayed late at the office because I'd been desperate to climb the corporate ladder.

The idea of having this particular image of Matias being my last one was unacceptable to me, so I pulled the door shut behind me and hurried down the walkway.

"Matias," I called as I quickened my pace to catch up to him. But he didn't respond, which hurt.

It hurt like a motherfucker.

I called his name again on the off chance that he hadn't heard me, but all he did was pause momentarily and then he continued walking. He didn't look over his shoulder at me. He didn't say anything to me. He didn't do anything but get to his car, climb in, and drive away.

I told myself to pull my phone out and call him. To send him a text to make sure he was okay. But I couldn't get my mind off that last moment. The one where he’d had the chance to talk to me, to send me a look telling me everything was okay, but hadn't.

Pain mixed with nausea in my belly as I stood there staring at the receding taillights. As I turned and walked slowly back toward the house, I thought about what Matias had said about not being able to say goodbye to me after we'd had sex in my garden shed. He’d said it was because he'd known it wasn’t really goodbye. That being