Page 34 of The Question of Us
Lee’s gaze snapped to my face and his body stiffened.
“Or rather, Graham Cunningham?” I stepped away and turned to face him.
Lee’s eyes met mine in a horrified silence, and then he bolted.
Fuck.I hadn’t expected that.
I abandoned my basket and did my best to keep up as Lee quick-walked his way toward the exit.
“Lee, wait,” I implored in a low whisper, trying not to draw more attention than we already had. “I just want to talk. I saw you on the boat. In Auckland. It was me in the next cabin.”
His gait faltered for a second, then picked up again.
“Lee, please?” I stayed on his heels. “We just want to help.”
Just before the exit, Lee looked both ways and then, instead of heading out the main doors, he turned left. I did the same, noting the bathroom sign on the wall as I followed him down a short hallway. He never looked back to see if I was following, never said a word, just made a beeline to the accessible bathroom at the end of the hall and ducked inside.
I hesitated at the door, which had been left slightly ajar, and wondered if this wasn’t the creepiest or stupidest thing I’d ever done in my life. I could only imagine what Nick was going to say, but what the fuck else was I supposed to do? I glanced back toward the exit doors and saw the man himself bugging his eyes threateningly my way.
Oh well.In for a penny, as they say. I opened my hands in a what-choice-do-I-have gesture, and without waiting for a response, I slipped inside before he could stop me.
Lee paced the far side of the room like a caged animal, and I was able to get a good look at him for the first time. Damn, he was beautiful. Shorter than me by a few centimetres, he sported the strawberry-blond hair of Graham, not the dark locks of Lee. The change in colour had thrown me at first, but his skin was still that silky flawless alabaster that made you look twice and told me straight off I had the right guy. He was doing a good job of pretending to be annoyed, but there was no hiding the feral panic in his eyes.
I closed the door and leaned against it.
Lee stopped his pacing and glared at me with those ice-blue eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, his gaze flicking to the door behind me. “Is that locked?”
I stepped aside so he could see and he seemed to relax a little.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. “You better start talking. I have to be somewhere and I don’t have time for this.” He shoved the phone back in his jeans and made for the door.
“Wait, please.” I held up my hands. “Just answer me this. Itwasyou on the boat, wasn’t it?”
Lee’s eyes narrowed and he swallowed hard, his jaw working, his breath coming hard and fast. “You shouldn’t have come here” was all he said by way of an answer. “The only reason I’m talking to you is so that you don’t come to the house.”
It was a start. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, leaning back against the wall. “Look, we haven’t come to mess things up for you?—”
“Who’s we?” His frown deepened and he folded his arms over his chest. The move pulled his sleeve up his arm, exposing a sea of mottled bruising.
My heart stuttered in my chest and I arched a brow. “Run into some furniture?”
Realising his mistake, Lee immediately dropped his arms and tugged the sleeve back into place. He shot me a sour look and simply repeated, “What do you mean, we?”
I held his gaze so he’d know I wasn’t buying his bullshit. “It doesn’t matter who I came with. The point is, it was me in the cabin next to you that night. Me who tapped the SOS code on the wall. Me who tried to open your cabin door, and me who watched them drag you up the stairs. Isawhow terrified you were and I couldn’t leave things without checking you’re okay.”
Lee’s face blanched even whiter than it already was and he swallowed hard. “You saw me?”
I nodded. “I was hiding in the galley.”
His gaze never wavered from mine. “Why were you there that night?”
I blew out a sigh. “I was kidnapped because I’d worked out the code for an encrypted list of names that included yours, as it turned out.”
“Kidnapped? A list of names?” His eyes blew wide. “Just who the fuck are you?”
“Nobody, not really.” And wasn’t that the truth. “Just some random guy who got caught up in all this bullshit. My... friend and I mistakenly ended up with this list that belonged to the guy who created your new identity. Your old name and your new one were on that list. That’s how I knew who you were and that’s how they found you. We’d already guessed it was a list of people looking to escape—” I hesitated. “—difficultsituations.” I drew a deep breath. “I’m so, so sorry that you’re here partly because of something I did, even if I really didn’t have any choice at the time.”
Lee’s fingers drummed nervously on his bicep and I suspected he was deciding the fastest way to get rid of me. “Justin kept a list?” He shook his head in disgust. “That arsehole.”
