Page 20 of Guarding Fable

I roll my shoulders and groan. He sets his computer on the coffee table and slips behind me on the couch. The moment his hands touch me and start massaging me, I let my head fall forward. God, that feels good. Tense muscles relax as he works his fingers down my back then up to my neck.

“Are you done?” he asks.

And all of a sudden, I don’t want him to look. Don’t get me wrong, I want him to get the bad guy, but this is the first time anyone other than Destiny has really had a look at my work. She loves me, so she could have lied.

“Yeah.”

I shift away, but he pulls me back, so my back is against his chest. I hold the picture up. He studies it.

“You said you’re not that good at drawing.”

“No. I said I preferred painting.” I knew it. I’m going to let Destiny have it when I see her again.

“This is,” he said, taking the paper from me, “fucking amazing! God, you’re good.”

I rise up and turn around to face him. “Are you telling me the truth?”

He holds up my drawing. “Are you kidding me? This is beautiful. I mean, not the subject matter, but it’s really, really good. The way you shaded it, all of it. It’s like you breathed life into a drawing.”

Joy sparkles through me, and I can’t hold back the grin. “Thank you. I had a little trouble getting his nose just right.”

“Do you know his name?”

“I remember Papa calling him Gregor. That’s all I know.”

He nods, then leans forward to give me a kiss. He rises from the couch. The casual affection is hard to take. My sister is the only other human who has ever shown me affection, so it takes some getting used to when Leo does it.

He puts my picture down on the table, then pulls out hisphone, snapping a few photos of it.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m texting this to Frank to see if this guy has been reported nearby.”

I nod as he has a text exchange with Frank. I walk over to the window and stare out the window. I know that we have to be close to where Destiny and I own a house. We’ve never been to it, but from the look of the area, it’s got to be close by.

Thinking about my sister and our plans sends a wave of sadness over me. I need to believe that she is safe. My life would be dull and unhappy if something happened to her.

“Hey,” Leo says softly, his arms coming around me and hugging my body back against his. “What’s wrong?”

“Just thinking about Destiny. I hope she’s okay.”

“Do you think she’s still in New York?”

“I have no idea. She never answered the email I sent. So I don’t know what happened.”

He turns me around to face him. “We’ll find her and get her to safety. She’s an adult, so if we have to, we’ll use the courts to get her out of the house.”

I nod as his phone starts ringing.

He frowns but clicks it on, keeping one arm wrapped around me.

“Yeah, what do you have?”

He’s quiet for a while, and I hear Frank speaking, but I can’t make out the words.

“They’re sure?”

I frown as he listens to Frank. “Okay, why don’t you get a picture of him, unless his face is really bad.” Silence again as he listens to his deputy. “What do you mean there’s a man in town asking about her? Did he ask for her by name?”

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