pisses me off, but you’re right.”
My eyes stay locked on Adeline. Risking her is so far outside my comfort zone that my shoulders tense at the thought of it.
“What do you think?” I ask her, my voice cautious. She’d just started fighting again, just started finding herself beneath the wreckage that Grant left of her.
I hate to think exposing her this much would send her running back to the safety of her scared bunny shell.
Her blue eyes meet mine. “Where would I go after the police?”
“Home,” Lincoln answers for me. Adeline’s stare doesn’t waver from mine, though. She’s looking to me for strength, for the promise of my protection.
“I’ll watch you the entire time,” I promise.
She smiles at that. “Why am I not surprised?”
“We’ll just call the past few years practice for what we have to do now.”
“Well, shit, you two aren’t leaving me out of this equation,” Lincoln grumbles. “Guess we’ll take shifts like old times.”
“I’ll need a week at least to prepare,” I say, looking at him. “You can escort her to the police since Grant won’t recognize you. And while you’re doing that, I’ll head to Adeline’s house to wait.”
Adeline’s voice draws my attention back to her. “Do you think he’ll show up the first night?”
“No,” I answer with confidence. “Grant is too smart for that. He’ll wait a week or so.”
“And I’ll be alone at my house for that amount of time?”
“Not while Grant’s alive, no. But you’ll start putting your life back together in the meantime. Get new furniture. You can have the instruments from here, if you want. I can’t play them.”
Something unsaid flickers behind her gaze. I want nothing more than to hold her down and demand she tell me everything she’s thinking, but I don’t.
It’s an eventuality that Adeline will return home and build a life for herself. I was never guaranteed to be a part of the equation. Not after she learns the truth of how I know her.
It kills me to think that despite all the promises I made myself about refusing to let her go, it’s what I’ll do in the end. Especially if it’s what’s best for her.
But not before I annoy the shit out of her some more and draw out the person she once had been. A few weeks tops and she’ll be back to giving the world the finger.
It’s too bad I’ll be part of that world.
“Then it’s settled.”
I don’t like it. Hate it, actually. But if it removes the threat to Adeline, I’m willing to go along with it. Plus, Grant and I have an appointment with fate. The sooner I get to him, the better.
“One week,” Lincoln agrees. “Do what you have to do, and I’ll -“
“What if they don’t believe me?”
We both turn at Adeline’s voice, scared blue eyes staring back at us. “The cops, I mean. My injuries are almost healed. In a week, you’ll barely be able to see the discoloration. What if they don’t believe Grant almost killed me?”
“They won’t,” I answer. “It’ll be a he said/she said situation. Which is why Grant won’t be arrested immediately. Perfect for us. Not so much for him.”
“Then why tell them about what he did?”
My brow cocks in question. “I don’t follow.”
What the hell was the little monster getting at now?
Spinning over the bench, Adeline faces us both, her shoulders rounding back as her spine straightens. I see the faint glow of her wild spirit glimmering behind her eyes, the hint of a mischief in her expression.
“I may not know all my husband’s business dealings. And I may have been blind to the fact he was apparently fucking his secretary. But I do know my husband is a jealous son of a bitch, and if you want to piss him off to the point of murder, the best way to do it is to embarrass him. He’ll claim I’m lying about what he did, and most will believe him. He has influence, money. You know how that is. It’ll be swept under the rug.”
“Your point?” Lincoln asks.
Shrugging a shoulder, Adeline smiles. “Grant will brush off the abuse claim by pointing out a lack of evidence.”
I sit forward to brace my elbows against my knees. “There is evidence. Your blood was all over that room.”
Blue eyes snap to me. “But wouldn’t it be a better story that he caught me in bed with another man? That a fight occurred because of it. And that I left him for Harrison Nash? I know Grant