Depends on Who's Asking - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,16

will.” Then he was gone.

I lay there until I heard him out of the shower, then quickly stood up and headed to my own shower.

All the while, I wondered what in the hell had made Saint Nicholson think that he could never escape.

• • •

“Hello?” I answered my phone, thankful for the reprieve in the intensity that was Saint.

After his explanation earlier about his wings, I’d wanted to ask more. But it was more than obvious as I started to broach the subject each time that he wasn’t willing to talk anymore about it.

“Hey,” my dad said softly. “Got some bad news.”

I frowned. “What?”

“Someone broke into your place last night,” he said. “Trashed your place. Burned your couch in the middle of the living room then put it out. When I went by there this morning to feed your fish, I found it like that.” He sighed. “They killed all your fish, too. Turned a hairdryer on and stuck it in the tank.”

I gasped, my hand covering my mouth.

The sound and the movement drew the attention of the man that was sitting next to me on the bed.

He pushed a button on the television remote and the TV screen went dark.

“Did the camera feed show anything?” I asked, sounding more hopeful than I actually felt.

“It did,” he said. “It was a couple of teens who saw an opportunity. They’ve already been questioned and said that they saw no one was home and thought to have some fun. I’m sorry, baby.”

I drooped. “That sucks.”

“It does,” he confirmed. “I just wanted to let you know in case you heard it go over the police scanner or something.”

I looked over at the man next to me that was lying on the bed.

“We don’t have a police scanner,” I told him. “We’re like isolated little castoffs right now. Nothing in or out unless y’all tell us. The Wi-Fi isn’t working just yet—but they’re working on it—and for some reason, the hotel itself blocks signal. I’m only able to get signal at one single spot in this whole place. I feel like I’m in the dark ages.”

My dad chuckled.

“Damn,” he said. “That sounds like it’s so tough.”

I mentally flipped him off.

“Anyway,” he said. “I don’t want you to worry. We’ll fix it up and get it set to rights. I just wanted you to know.”

I sighed.

“Okay, Dad,” I murmured. “Thank you.”

“You holding up okay?” he asked. “Saint treating you okay?”

I paused.

“How did you know that Saint was with me?” I questioned. “I didn’t tell Mom that.”

He scoffed.

“Well,” he said. “It happens to be that I’m a cop, and I can go up there and talk to people that have information that I want, and most of the time they give it to me without too much lip.”

I moaned. “Dad.”

“Are you in the same room as him? Or are you sharing a hotel room that’s next door? I didn’t actually understand that part,” he continued.

I looked over at the man that was staring at the blank television screen now.

“Same room,” I answered. “It’s not bad. He’s a gentleman.”

Saint snorted so loudly that my dad asked, “What was that?”

“That’s Saint,” I answered, not seeing a point in lying. “He snorted at the comment of me saying he was being a gentleman.”

Dad was about to say something else when I saw my phone ping with an incoming call.

“Your wife is calling me,” I said. “Should I answer it?”

My dad hung up instead of answering my question, giving me my answer more effectively than anything he could’ve said.

I let my head fall back against the headboard, then answered the phone and put it on speaker.

Might as well share this little nugget of fun with Saint.

He’d ask anyway.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Baby,” Mom said. “Your dad told you about your couch and your fish.”

“He said that my couch was burned, and my fish were electrocuted, yes. He said that someone broke in last night,” I answered, looking over to Saint when he went stiff.

“Yes,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, baby. We got the place pretty cleaned up. Daddy is putting in a new security system, and we’re moving your car into the garage so nobody can touch it without actually breaking in. Daddy said that the alarm system he’s putting in won’t be connected to the Wi-Fi, so it won’t matter if they somehow cut the power. He’ll be alerted if the power goes out suspiciously, too.”

Saint sat up and turned slightly toward me.

I knew he wanted to talk, so I said, “Mom, Saint