I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,66

face me with their eyes bugging out of their heads.

I stifled a smile while nodding my response to their unasked question.

They squealed, causing the people around us to turn to see what was happening at our table.

“Shhhhhh.” I closed my eyes, embarrassed by the unneeded attention.

“I knew it!” Elodie said, completely proud of her foresight.

“Who caved first?” Alice asked.

I thought about her question. They still didn’t know we’d slept together and then all hell broke loose. “It was mutual. The more time we spent together…it just happened.”

Alice’s brows shot up. “It?”

I cocked my head. They didn’t know when to quit.

They squealed again.

I dropped my head and shook it, not bothering to mention that wasn’t what I meant. Because in the grand scheme of things, it had happened too.

They eventually stopped grilling me, and we finished eating dinner. We returned to the dorm a little while later accompanied by Tristan and Briggs. I stopped short when we stepped onto our floor. Marco stood against the wall outside my room. A smile spread across my face as I left the girls at their room and hurried over to him. “Welcome back.”

“Welcome back, big guy,” Alice called down the hallway.

“How’s your wife?” Elodie called.

“Good,” Marco grunted, before turning and opening my door so I could step inside.

Tristan and Briggs retreated to their rooms as Marco and I stepped into my room. He pulled out my desk chair and flipped it backward, taking a seat that way. “Sit.”

I sat on the edge of my bed. “You’re scaring me.”

“My wife is scheduled for a C-section in two days, so I’m only here because I need you to know what our guys at the office just found.”

My heart began to speed up. “Okay.”

“The man in the woods was paid to kidnap you. His name was Juron VanSang, and he was wired half a million dollars to take you, drug you, and get you back to France.”

“Okay.” I swallowed down the lump of emotion in my throat. “I figured it was something like that.”

“Do you have any idea why these men in France are so keen on getting you? It’s not making sense anymore. If they wanted a rich kid for ransom, there are plenty out there. Why are they dead set on you?”

I shrugged, just as confused as anyone. “Do you know where in France he was supposed to take me?”

He nodded. “A warehouse outside of Paris. We alerted the authorities there and some of our men are already on their way there to see if they can find anything. We figure VanSang would’ve had to let the people footing the bill know once he had you. When that call never came, they would’ve aborted the mission. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have left any clues. If they did, my guys will find them.”

I nodded, struggling to digest the information. “Does Tristan know about this?”

He cocked his head, clearly seeing the look in my eyes that accompanied Tristan’s name. “I’m about to fill him in right now. I just got the call and wanted you to hear it from me.”

“Thank you for telling me, Marco.”

He pushed himself to his feet, towering over me. “We’re going to keep you safe, Kresley.”

The sound of my name on his lips sent a chill through me. I’d wanted him to call me by my name for so long that now that he had, it scared me. It told me he was worried. And if Marco was worried, I needed to be worried too.

Once he left, I changed into my pajamas and attempted to work on my homework. But my mind was reeling, making homework impossible.

It wasn’t like I didn’t know VanSang’s intent when he appeared in the woods at the shelter. But hearing the actual plan—a plan that had been strategically put in place and paid for—made it that much more real.

This wasn’t some game. This was my life.

A little after nine, there was quiet tapping on my door. I slipped off my bed and went to it.

“Kresley,” Tristan said.

I opened my door, relieved to see him standing there in his basketball shorts and T-shirt with his holster under it. “Is it okay if I come in?”

I tipped my head to the side. “You’re asking now?”

He shrugged. I stepped back and he walked in, moving to my desk and leaning against it.

“I’m not a fragile flower, Tristan.” I closed the door. “You don’t need to walk on eggshells with me.” I walked over and stood in front of him.

“Do