Page 36 of Desire Me
Saint frowned. “I already told my sister Rae is my girlfriend, but it’ll only take one look at you three for her to know there’s more going on.” His family had met his team more than once, and it didn’t take a genius to know they wouldn’t all be visiting on a weekday for pleasure.
Dain narrowed his eyes a moment. “Then I’d suggest we tell her the truth. We need to keep your family away from here just in case.”
“We tell them there’s trouble and the whole horde will descend,” Saint said. “They’d think they can help, but…”
Dain nodded. “So how do you want to handle it?”
“I already mentioned that Rae was just released from the hospital. Mercedes will know it’s more than that, but I’ll emphasize that Rae needs rest when she leaves. That’s probably the best I can do.”
They walked into the living room to hear Mercedes in the middle of a story about Saint taking his diaper off and running around naked at their grandparents’ forty-fifth anniversary celebration. “That little brown tushy was so cute!” Mercedes said, laughing.
Saint groaned. Too late to make sure his coworkers didn’t hear that; Elliot was already sniggering next to him. “Mercedes!”
His sister raised an eyebrow, and he could tell by the look on her face that she’d deliberately saved the mention of hislittle brown tushyfor their reentry. His glare promised swift retribution.
Mercedes shifted her focus to the three people with him, and immediately he could see the speculation starting in her brain. He ushered his team into the living area.
Rae’s face came into view as he swung around the end of the sectional. A smile graced her lips, but her olive skin was tinted gray, the skin surrounding her eyes tight with strain. Oh, she was good at hiding it, but not from him. Never from him. “Rae?”
He rushed forward, intent on getting to her. Rae put a hand up, her gaze meeting his with a desperation hidden from the rest of the room behind him. “I’m fine,” she said under her breath. “Don’t—”
He paused in front of her, his wide shoulders blocking everyone’s view. He bent to cup her face. “What is it?”
“Don’t let them see,” she whispered. He studied her for a moment, then nodded. Turned, using his body to screen Rae from the rest. “Mercedes, you know my team.”
King took over, drawing attention to the opposite end of the sectional as they all took seats. Behind Saint, Rae stood. When he protested, she shook her head. “Just give me a few minutes, okay?”
He watched as she escaped to the bedroom, but when he turned back to Mercedes, her sharp gaze drilled a hole through him. “What’s going on, Iggy?”
Saint looked to his team, and Dain shrugged. “You’ve got smart genes; what can we say?”
Saint sighed. “Sit down, Mercedes.”
He gave her the bare, vague minimum—head injury, slow recovery, a situation that gave them some concern for her safety—needing to press home the fact that his family could not descend on them while still protecting Rae’s privacy the best he could. Rae needed peace and quiet and safety, not drama and chaos. And questions. But the entire time he talked, half of him was focused on the silence from his bedroom and the fact that Rae had not returned. Finally he left Mercedes to gather up the twins while King and Elliott began schlepping equipment in from the van. Dain shooed him down the hall. “Go on, go check on your woman.”
He didn’t wait. The bedroom door was closed. Saint pushed it open, quiet in case Rae had lain down, but the bed was empty. He closed the door behind him. “Rae?”
Something rattled on the counter in the bathroom, and then Rae was in the doorway, her face a mess of blotches, eyes red with tears. “Cariño, what is it?” he asked, rushing to cross the space separating them.
Rae stepped straight into his open arms and buried her face in the hollow below his shoulder. Sobs racked her body.
“Beautiful, what—”
She shook her head, and he shut up and let her cry. The force of her emotions scared him. His Rae always seemed in control, even when she’d been at her weakest in the hospital, her emotions under wraps except during those few moments when he’d brought her to the edge of pleasure. This— This was nothing like her, and yet he couldn’t stop it. Instead he held her safe in his arms until the tears began to subside and the shaking lessened. Only then did he lead her to the bed and lay her down before crawling in beside her and pulling her close once more.
The silence stretched out for long minutes before Rae stirred against him. “Saint?”
The pain in that one word nearly shattered him. “Yeah, cariño?” he asked against the crown of her head.
Rae eased back, and drenched, devastated eyes met his. “My parents are dead.”
Chapter Eighteen
Saint had acetaminophen and a drink waiting when Rae walked into the kitchen a couple of hours later. She’d spent the intervening time sleeping in that big bed in Saint’s room, circled in the safety of his arms. The emotional storm had taken its toll on what little energy she had such a short time after the accident, but the rest, the quiet, the peace of Saint’s embrace had helped. Well, helped everything but her head.
She’d slipped into the bathroom to splash some water on her face, shock herself awake, while Saint joined his team. Now she gratefully downed the meds in anticipation of the questioning she knew was coming.
“So, Rae,” the lone female on Saint’s team, Elliot, began. Saint had brought each member by the hospital over the past couple of weeks, so no strangers in the kitchen, only knowing stares.Time to fess up, Raegan.
