Book 5 - Page 134 (2/2)

We all went to Gideon’s office. Chris was sitting at Gideon’s desk, talking on the phone. He pushed back and stood when we came in. “Whenever you’re done for the day,” he said to whomever he was talking to. “I’ll explain when I see you. All right. Talk to you then, son.”

“I need my office a minute,” Gideon told him when he hung up.

“Sure.” His concerned gaze raked all three of us. “I’ll pull out some plates and things for lunch. We all need to eat something.”

Chris left the room, which drew my eye to my dad, who was staring at the ma.s.sive collage of photos on the wall. The one in the center was of me, sleeping. It was an intimate image; the kind of picture a man took to remember the things he had done with his lover before she’d fallen asleep.

I looked at the other photos, noted one of me and Gideon at an event that I now knew had been captured by Hall. I turned my head away, feeling a p.r.i.c.kle running down my spine.

Fear? Hall had taken my mother from me, but who he’d really wanted was Gideon. I could be mourning my husband now. My stomach cramped at the thought, hunching me over.

“Angel.” He was near me in an instant, urging me to sit in one of the two chairs facing his desk.

“What’s wrong?” My dad hovered, too, his eyes wild. I couldn’t recognize my own feelings, but I saw his. He was frightened for me, more anxious than was warranted.

“I’m okay,” I a.s.sured them, even as I reached for Gideon’s hand and held on tight.

“You need to eat,” Gideon said.

“So do you,” I countered. “The sooner you two get done, the faster we can do that.”

Just the thought of food made me queasy, but I didn’t say that. They were both already too worried about me.

My dad straightened. “I spoke to my family,” he told Gideon. “They still want to come and be here for Eva. And me.”

Gideon half-sat on the edge of his desk, one hand running through his hair. “Okay. We were going to fly them direct to North Carolina. We’ll have to adjust the flight plan.”

“I would appreciate that,” my dad said, grudgingly.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Then why do you look worried?” I said to Gideon, seeing his frown.

“It’s just … It’s a madhouse on the street right now. We can bring your family in through the garage, but if word gets out that they’re in town, they may have to deal with media and photographers at their hotel or anywhere else they may go in the city.”

“They’re not coming to sightsee,” my dad snapped.

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