Page 50 of Noel
She opens it and starts scribbling something—plans, names, maybe ideas for this damn charity gala she refuses to give up on.
I let her have the space.What else can I do?
She can’t use her laptop.Her tablet’s toast.And she needs something—anything—to feel like she’s in control.
Even if it’s just paper and ink.
I understand.I only wish I could do more.And I plan to.
“Still don’t get why I can’t use my computer,” she mutters under her breath, flipping to a fresh page.
“I told you.He can use that to track you.”
“Yeah, but did you have to murder it?”
A snort escapes me before I can stop it.
“Technically, no.But in my defense, I didn’t kill it.Justneutralizedit.”
She lifts her head and narrows her eyes.
“Neutralized?”
“It’s not dead.It’s in pieces.In a Faraday bag.In my trunk.”I glance over.“You’re welcome.”
She glares at me, but I catch the twitch of her lips.The tiniest crack in the armor.
“Well, I know what you’re buying me for Christmas,” she mutters, and my face nearly splits in two with my responding grin.
Good.If I can get her to snap at me, she’s not spiraling.And right now, that is a win.
“For the record, I liked that laptop.”
“For the record, I like you more, Tinsel.I like you safe and here and with your heart still beating.Guess we all make sacrifices.”
She snorts this time, but it’s tight.Tense.
Her shoulders are still hunched, her pen frozen halfway across the page.
I don’t push.Not yet.
Instead, I reach over and turn up the heat.She’s still got that damn notebook gripped like a life raft, and if pretending to focus helps her hang on, I’ll drive through every blizzard between here and D.C.to buy her that illusion.
But I’m not stopping there.
Whoever this bastard is, he’s already too close.Too clever.Too damn bold.
And I swear on everything I’ve ever bled for—he won’t get close.
He won’t ever get the chance.
Not with her.
Not on my fucking watch.
Chapter16
Holly
