“Aye aye, sir,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“That’s the spirit,” he said approvingly. “Consider this a quasi-military operation. I’m the superior officer. You do what I say without questioning anything.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, that’ll be the day!”
“Indeed.” He shook his head and turned to go. “I have to go out to make a phone call.”
“Why can’t you do it from here? Don’t you have your cell phone?”
“I’ve got my mobile,” he responded. “But it’s not the phone I want to use for this call.”
“Oh.” More likely, she thought, it was a call he didn’t want her to overhear.
“I’ll be back.”
She didn’t bother to ask again. It was confusing at times. For whole moments he would seem to warm to her, and that special connection would spark between them. Then, in an instant, it was gone again. She wished she knew how to extend it.
But she had other things to think about. She got up off the bed and puttered for a bit, putting clothes away in the closet and cleaning off the dresser of things David had thrown there. Cici still slept. Maybe she would be able to get that nap in as David had suggested she do.
Something drew her to the side window, and peering down into the gathering gloom, she could see the walkway along the front of the hotel. Suddenly, she caught sight of David. He had a cell phone to his ear and seemed to be carrying on an energetic conversation with someone. She could see him gesticulating with his free hand. As she watched, he ducked into the side alleyway beside the hotel and she lost sight of him. She wondered who he was talking to. Hopefully it was someone who knew Cici’s father.
Funny how she always thought of him that way—Cici’s father—instead of Darius, the Ambrian Prince, or the lost royal. Was that because, deep down, she was pretty sure that either Sam had been fooling her or someone had fooled Sam. The story didn’t really seem to hold together. But maybe David would find out the truth.
It was interesting how she trusted him and she really didn’t want to analyze why that was. She had a feeling it had something to do with a deep need for a sense of stability in her life. She wanted him to be good. Therefore, he had to be good. Simple as that.
She looked at Cici. Babies were so adorable when they slept. She was starting to get a handle on how to care for a baby. At least, she thought she was. She was trying to copy everything that David did. It was obvious that a strong, steady hand, a soothing tone of voice and a sense of confidence made all the difference. Cici hadn’t been crying much at all and that was certainly a relief.
“I’m a fast learner,” she muttered to herself. “I will survive.”
Turning from the window, she lay down on the bed and fell instantly to sleep.
Chapter Seven
DAVID had made a couple of calls, but now he was talking to his brother again. Monte had some information on the requests he’d made earlier. Ayme’s background checked out perfectly. She did have an adoptive sister named Sam who had a few teenage arrests for petty crimes and who had died in a car accident just days ago. But that wasn’t all. The girls’ parents had died in the same accident.
“That’s odd,” David said almost to himself, reacting to the horror of what Ayme must have gone through. “I wonder why she would have held that back from me?”
“Never trust a woman, David. You aren’t falling for her, are you?”
“Hell, no. Give me some credit, okay?”
“Sure, I’m only kidding. I have no doubt about your ability to hang tough. But on to other matters, there is nothing new on the impostor pretending to spread your love about the land. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”
“Thanks.”
“In the meantime, there’s news. Our Uncle Thaddeus has died.”
“Oh, no.” David felt real remorse. He was the last of the old guard. “That’s a shame. I was looking forward to meeting him someday, and hopefully hearing stories about our parents and the old days.”
“Yes, so was I. It is not to be. But his funeral is another matter. We must go to it.”
David frowned “Are you serious?”
“Yes. As luck would have it, the ceremony will be held in Piasa during the clan reunion gathering. It will be a huge affair. He’s considered the patriarch of the Ambrian expat community. Everyone who means anything to Ambria will be there. It’s our chance to begin to step forward and take the reins of the restoration movement. Whoever takes charge at the right time is going to rule the future.” He paused, letting the importance sink in.
“Darius, you must come. I need you by my side.”
“Of course. If you need me, I’ll be there.”
Monte gave him the details. “The town will turn Ambrian for a few days, it seems.”
“Our covers will be blown.”
“Yes.”
David smiled. “Thank God.”
“Yes.”
They both laughed.
“Don’t forget. Italy. Be there or be square.”
“You got it.”
He rang off, bemused and filled with conflicting emotions. He was looking forward to Italy. It was bound to be an exciting, important lesson about his own past, as well as a chance to lay the foundations for a new future. But as he turned back toward the hotel, it was Ayme and the information he’d heard about her parents that filled his thoughts.
He went back up to the room and opened the door quietly. Ayme and Cici were both sound asleep. There was only one light on in the room, in the far corner, and he left things that way, pulling off his sweater and unbuttoning his shirt but leaving it and his jeans on as he came to the bed he was going to share with Ayme.
Looking down, his gaze skimmed over her pretty face, her lovely bare shoulder, the outline of her leg beneath the sheet. She appealed to him, no doubt about it. He waited as the surge of desire swept through him. That he expected. But what surprised him was another feeling that came along with it, a tightening in his chest, a warmth, an unfamiliar urgency. It took a moment to understand what it was, and when it came to him, he closed his eyes and swore softly.
Everything in him wanted to protect her. Every instinct wanted to make sure no one could hurt her.
Where had that come from? He didn’t think he’d ever felt that before. He’d spent so much of his life protecting himself, he hadn’t had the capacity to worry about others. In other words, he was a selfish, self-centered jerk. And he could accept that. So where had this new soft-headed urge to nurture come from?
Maybe it was just because of the baby. Maybe he was blurring the lines between them in a visceral way he couldn’t control. He knew he needed to watch that. It could put him in unnecessary trouble. He didn’t want to go doing anything stupid.
More likely the facts that he’d just learned about Ayme’s parents’ fate had something to do with it. And maybe it was just that he was so damn tired. Could be. He knew he needed sleep. And there was a bed right in front of him. Too bad it was already occupied.
She’d been so shocked by the thought of them sleeping together this way, he sort of hated to spring it on her with no warning, no time for her to prepare. But he wasn’t a predator. He was just a sleepy guy right now. And the bed was just too tempting to pass up. With a sigh, he began to prepare for getting some sleep.