Page 370 of Still Here

“Thank you both. For being so kind to me. And patient. Especially that.”

“We love you, Jess,” Leslie said. “Always.”

Jesska’s heart floated as they walked her to the door. She hugged them and then stepped outside... to find a seething Kaspar stalking toward her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He glanced at Seth’s parents and then back at her. “Jóvin informed me you’d left the safety of the hotel,” he said, carefully. A little too carefully.

“Yes. I needed to do something.” She turned to the Kings. “Um, Brian and Leslie King, this is Kaspar Baldursson.”

Kaspar shook their hands in greeting, his smile tight, his body locked. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“You too, son,” Brian said.

Jesska smiled at Seth’s parents. “We should probably head back. Thanks for everything.”

She hugged them once more and then Kaspar’s hand was on the small of her back and guiding her to Austri’s car. It appeared that Jóvin was gone, and she hoped he wasn’t in trouble for doing her bidding.

Jesska slid inside and secured her seatbelt while Kaspar climbed in beside her. He pulled the door closed and raised the privacy glass. “If you ever do anything like that again, Jesska, I will take you over my knee.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“We are in the middle of sorting out who’s behind the attack on your sister and niece, and you leave the safety of the hotel?” he snapped. “I will have Jóvin’s head for this.”

“Um, no, you won’t.” She scowled. “For the record, Jóvin tried to stop me, but a pretty glaring fact you seem to want to dismiss, is that I’m a grown-ass woman and I can make my own goddamn choices and go wherever the hell I want to because I’m an adult. Jóvin drove me here, which apparently was the wrong thing for him to do, because you’re obviously pissed at him, so next time I’ll just drive myself.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“Fuck you, Kaspar. I’m not your prisoner!”

He dragged his hands down his face and took several audible breaths. “You could have been hurt.”

“Bullshit,” she snapped. “Jóvin had me fully safe and protected. For the love of God, Kaspar, you have to trust your security detail to take care of me. It’s what you pay them for, after all.”

Austri pulled the car into the underground parking lot, and Jesska grimaced when she saw Jóvin waiting by the elevator bank.

Kaspar pushed open the door and stepped out, extending his hand to her. She ignored it and climbed from the car.

“I have to return to what I was doing,” he said. “Go with Jóvin, and I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

“Oh, now Jóvin’s on the approved list of jailors?”

“Jesska,” he ground out. “Do as I say. We’ll discuss this later.”

“Fine.”

He slid his hand behind her neck and gave her a gentle squeeze. “I love you, elskan.”

“Good for you.” She tried to pull away, but he held firm.

“We’ll talk later. I will come to your room.”

“Don’t bother,” she whispered, dropping her chin. “I’d rather just go to bed.”

He tipped her chin up. “We’ll talk later.”

She shrugged.

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