Page 51 of Deadly Oath

“It’s getting better.” I lead him to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator to see what I have to drink. There’s the bottle of cold coffee and a pitcher of water, and I take the water out, pouring him a glass without waiting for him to ask. I need to do something with my hands.

“Better, how?” He sinks into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, accepting the glass when I bring it to him. I feel too nervous to sit, so I lean against the counter instead, clutching my own glass of water. It reminds me uncomfortably of that first morning when Kian visited, when he sat where Caldwell is now and looked at me, making me feel strange, jittery sensations that I realize now were the beginnings of desire.

I think about him coming up behind me as I washed the dishes, too, his finger running down the back of my neck, and a shiver runs down my spine.

Kian has managed to invade my house, to leave marks of himselfeverywhere, claiming me in ways that go beyond the physical. It should make me fearful, but instead, it just makes me miss him, makes me want him here instead of the fatherly FBI agent who I know will push and pry until I feel exhausted from trying to tell him only what I want him to know.

“I joined a book club.” I take a sip of my water. “And I think I’ve made a friend.”

“You think?” Caldwell looks amused, and for some reason, it makes me bristle.

“I’vemadea friend,” I amend. “I see her a few times a week.”

“Has she come over? Invited you to her place?” he questions, and I half-expect him to pull out a small notepad and start making notes of my answers.

“She’s come over here. I’ve dodged any invites to her house. She has kids,” I explain. “If there was any danger, I wouldn’t want to put them in harm’s way.”

“Do you have reason to think there’s danger?” Caldwell frowns. “We’ve kept tabs on the Kariyev Bratva and their associates. There is—movement, there, but it should only keep you safer, not less so. If there’s something that concerns you, though?—”

This is where I should tell him.I know I should. But the thought of Kian finding out all of this, of him truly knowing who I am, makes me shy away from it. Besides, Kian can handle it. These men are rough, he’d said, clearly up to no good, but not the kind of danger that Caldwell is worried about. Whatever this is, Kian is capable of making sure that they stay away from me.

“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “Nothing like that.”

Caldwell looks at me for a long moment, as if he can see through my abrupt answer. “You’re sure? I need to know anything that you do, Sabrina. I can only protect you if I know what’s going on. If there’s someone who is worrying you?—”

“No one,” I insist. “Everything is fine, I promise. I’m just getting used to things around here. But it’s getting better.”

He exhales. “I’m glad to hear that. I know this can be difficult,” he adds, not unsympathetically. “Abruptly saying goodbye to everythingyou knew, without actually beingableto say goodbye, and then starting over somewhere entirely unfamiliar is something that would be extraordinarily difficult for most people to handle. It takes someone very tough to be able to make the best of it. You’re a tough woman, Sabrina…” he trails off, clearly stopping himself before he uses my old name. “This is no small thing,” he adds, giving me that sympathetic, fatherly smile that I’ve come to associate with him.

“Thanks.” I shift against the counter, still nervous that Kian might make an abrupt appearance, but I can’t help but feel warmed by Caldwell’s concern. I can tell he empathizes with my situation. “That means a lot,” I tell him, managing a smile. “It hasn’t been easy. But there wasn’t really any choice but to keep going.”

“That’s the spirit.” Caldwell returns the smile, genuinely. “What about money? Is the stipend enough for you, with rent and utilities covered? There’s not a lot of wiggle room in the budget, but if you need something?—”

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “I got a freelance editing job that gives me some extra cash. The documents that you got me set up with that have my new name worked fine for it. I haven’t had any issues.”

“Oh, good.” He lets out a relieved breath. “Well—that’s that, I think. If you’re feeling safe and settled and you don’t need anything, then I’ll just come around next month to check on you again. And we’ll go from there.”

“Sounds good.” I keep the smile pasted on my face, not wanting there to be any chance that he might have reason to think that something is wrong. “And I have the number you gave me still. If there’s an emergency.”

Caldwell nods, standing up. “I’ll be in touch, then,” he says, and nods to me, heading for the door.

I trail after him, closing the door securely once he’s gone and locking it. The moment the sound of his car’s engine fades away, it all feels too quiet, and I let out a heavy sigh as I lean back against the door.

How long am I going to have to stay in here, waiting for Kian to tell me it’s safe again?A part of me wants to think it’s some kind of odd powerplay on his part, something he’s getting off on, some new trap for hislittle rabbit, and that he’ll tell me that in a day or two, only for us to fight over it and then take all of that out on each other in bed. The thought doesn’t make me as upset as it should, but I think it’s more than just the fact that I know how explosively pleasurable that scenario could be now, even if it pisses me off just imagining it.

If thiswassome kind of twisted game on Kian’s part, then that would mean that there is no real threat. That’s infinitely preferable to there really being danger, to the idea that these men he’s seen might truly mean me some harm. I’d rather he be playing some game with me than there really be someone out there who has tracked me down, who wants to kidnap or hurt me.

But who could it be, if that is the case?The man in the jail looked like no one I’ve ever met. Kian said his officers saw other men who matched that description—but that also means that they don’t call back to anyone I knew in my former life. It doesn’t make sense why they would want anything to do with me.

Staying in the house is making me feel stir-crazy—not because I went out all that much before, but because now Ihaveto stay in. I told Marie that I was too tired to make the book club meeting last night, and I’m not entirely sure that she believed me. I don’t have any editing work left to do, and the thought of sitting down with the mystery I should be reading for book club just upsets me, because it reminds me that I should have been at the meeting.

It’s funny,I think as I walk down the hall to my room, considering just finding something on TV to watch and curling up in bed. I hadn’t really wanted to join the book club at first, but now that I couldn’t go, I’m realizing that it started to feel like something that anchors me. A part of a new routine that I’m building for myself.

That’s being upended again, which is making me feel anxious and jittery.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I jump, pulling it out. I’m hoping it’s Kian, telling me that it’s all clear, but instead, I see Marie’s name on the screen and a flurry of texts.

I scan them, realizing that she wants me to come out with her andmeet the other girls at the Crow Bar. My stomach immediately sinks, because I know I can’t go. Kian would have a fit if he found out that I went out to a bar right now, when he’s specifically told me not to go out unless I absolutely need to.

---