Page 78 of Control

Something about the encounter with Bethany and Reed had left me feeling wildly unsettled. Bethany was far too concerned about smoothing things over with Alana as soon as she knew they’d been caught, and Reed sneered at Alana in a way I didn’t like.

If I’d been holding out hope for the sake of the memory of the woman who’d died that her brother couldn’t have been involved in her murder, his actions early today made it difficult to cling to that hope. He was too bitter, too angry, for someone who most would have suspected would be distraught or, at the very least, melancholy.

My mind had been so wrapped up during that encounter on what our next move was going to be and how I was going to keep Alana safe while we focused every effort on proving his involvement in Annie’s murder that I hadn’t anticipated there could be any other threat.

Then Alana got that call from Georgia.

And I went from feeling an overwhelming sense of unease to crushing dread. There was a heaviness in my chest that weighed me down more and more as I continued to play out the worst-case scenarios in my mind.

As we took each stair, I felt the sweat break out over me that had nothing to do with physical exertion. Was I leading Alana into something that could have been a setup?

Georgia had called and requested that meeting that her boss apparently didn’t know about, and I wondered how truthful she’d been.

Did she really have something to share, or was Alana about to be put in an even more compromising situation?

I didn’t want to believe the worst, but I couldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

Georgia had asked Alana to meet her at the library—the same library we’d visited not that long ago—in one of the private study rooms. Being in the library felt less vulnerable than, say, a public park, but I still wasn’t fully reassured.

So, I called in reinforcements.

When Alana and I reached the top of the staircase, I took her by the hand and moved off to the side. “You’re going to be okay,” I promised. “I’ve got three guys in this building with us right now, and there are two more outside. If there’s even a hint of anything going awry, if anyone even appears suspicious, they’ll be on it.”

“You seem to be a little on edge, though,” she noted. “Is that necessary for Georgia?”

I refused to lie to her, so I nodded. “I seem on edge because I am. It’s one thing to do what we’ve been doing for a few weeks now and sort of surprising people along the way. It gives us an advantage. This isn’t that, and I can’t trust what Georgia’s true intentions are.”

“But she was so shy and quiet,” Alana argued. “I think this might be overkill.”

“A lot of times, people will tell you it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” I reasoned. “Besides, I’d rather assume the worst in a situation like this and be wrong than pretend everything is fine and have the worst happen. You’re too important to me for me to take any chances.”

Her hand squeezed mine just moments before she lifted on her toes and touched her lips lightly to my mouth. “Thank you for protecting me, Ty,” she whispered.

“Thank you for not fighting me on this and allowing me to do it the way I see fit.”

She kissed me again. “I trust you.”

With just three words, the heaviness I’d been feeling as we made our way through the front door and up the stairs had seemingly vanished. Warmth hit the center of my chest, and I lifted both of her hands between us. I kissed her knuckles, allowing my lips to linger a moment. “Let’s get this done so I can take you home.”

Alana didn’t hesitate, and the worry that had been in her expression moments before was gone.

The two of us walked down the corridor to the study rooms until we stumbled upon the one Georgia was in. Not more than twenty feet away, I was reassured at seeing Jagger, one of my fellow bodyguard and private security unit coworkers, sitting in a chair with a book in his hand, looking unassuming.

Alana opened the door to the private room, and I reached around her to hold it open. When she stepped inside ahead of me, I noted the way Georgia looked at me. She wasn’t relieved to see I’d joined Alana.

“Hi, Georgia,” Alana said, stepping forward toward the table in the center of the room.

“Hi, Alana,” Georgia returned. “Thank you for meeting with me. I didn’t realize you wouldn’t be coming alone.”

That statement right there set all my senses on alert. I’d been with Alana when we went to meet with Georgia’s boss, so there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t have expected me to be here now.

Alana was quick on her feet. “Oh, well, Ty has been with me for weeks while I work on this story. He’s been involved in all of it, so I hope it’s okay that he’s here now.”

Georgia’s eyes slid to me one more time, and I could sense the overwhelming unease radiating from her. Regardless of that, she returned her attention to Alana and nodded. “Sure. It’s fine.”

Alana and I took seats on the opposite side of the table, and the moment we sat down, Alana said, “So, I have to admit, I’vebeen curious ever since you called. I imagine you’ve had some personal encounter or interaction with Annie that you want to share.”

Georgia nodded. “I do.” She hesitated briefly, a real sense of fear creeping in, and that look only served to put me on alert. But a moment later, all the thoughts I had about what might happen instantly evaporated. “My mom is disabled.”

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