There was another thing that was odd. “Why is this one written in Greek when the others were in English? What’s his language preference with you?”
“Greek.” He lifted a brow, catching my drift. “Do you think they’ve been sent by different people?”
“Probably not. The ones before could have been sent by an assistant or something.” That was a comical idea – having some hired goon send your threat letters. But maybe it hadn’t been someone he’d hired at all. What if Petros had sent the previous e-mails? Maybe it hadn’t even been malicious. Petros could have simply wanted Reeve to know what was going on with Amber.
Whether Reeve was thinking along the same lines I was or not, I couldn’t tell. But he was obviously thinking something. “I’ll have Joe check into that as well.”
He seemed to disappear into heavy thought. He threw his head back against the chair and closed his eyes, his hands gripped tightly on the armrests at his side.
My chest tightened. I’d seen Reeve upset before, but I hadn’t ever seen him like this. I hadn’t realized until now that the situation was taking a toll on him as well. It was self-centered and pretentious to have been so oblivious. Sure, my heart was being torn over the two great loves of my life, but so was Reeve’s. And, on top of that, he had to deal with the stress of protecting us while trying to keep his family at peace.
Even with his eyes closed, his face wore the lines of stress. I studied him – studied his long dark lashes, the chiseled sweep of his jaw, the tight line of his mouth. I wanted to press my lips on each feature of his face, wanted to cherish it and distract him from his pain. I wanted to kiss his lips – how long had it been since I’d done that? Forever, it seemed. Since the night he’d made love to me back in Wyoming, when he’d slipped into my room while I was getting in the shower.
That felt like a lifetime ago now. I couldn’t stop staring at his lips. Couldn’t stop yearning for the taste of his tongue on mine.
His eyes opened, and mine flew up to meet his. He knew I’d been staring, I was sure. And the way he was looking at me now, it seemed he knew what I’d been thinking too. I wondered how long he’d stare like that before staring turned into something else.
I had to say something. “Are you okay?”
“I haven’t gotten much sleep lately.”
Because he was worrying? Or because…
The nighttime images attacked me – the ones with Reeve and Amber tangled up in each other. Of course he wasn’t sleeping well. Not with her in his bed.
It suddenly felt hard to breathe, the air lodged in my lungs, unable to recirculate the way it was supposed to. Stuck like I was on this island, in this heartache, in this love.
“Right,” I managed, my voice clipped. “None of my business.” I set the laptop down and scrambled from my perch on his desk. “Anyway, thank you for sharing this information. I’ll e-mail Joe and let you know when you can arrange for me to leave.”
I rushed to leave, knowing he’d call after me.
It was still unbearable and amazing when he did. “Emily —”
I turned around, but I didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Are you going to meet with Michelis?” I honestly wanted to know, but I also just wanted to look at him one last time and asking him the question was a good excuse to keep my focus pinned to him.
He opened his mouth then closed it, and I would have bet money he was trying to decide if he wanted to answer or if he wanted to say something else. After a few seconds, he asked, “Do you still think I should?”
“No. I don’t.” Not at all. It would mean a war, I knew it in my heart, and even if I couldn’t have Reeve for myself, I still wanted him safe. I still wanted him alive. I hoped he understood that from my body language, because I couldn’t say it any clearer without breaking down, but it was something I needed him to know.
“Anyway,” I said, pushing my hair behind my ear, “I was just wondering what you were thinking.”
“I was thinking that if I met with him, I’d have to kill him.”
My stomach dropped. He’d always led me to believe he was the type of man who could do that. But now that I was faced with the possibility that he might, that it would be partially because of me, I couldn’t bear it.
Something about his expression told me he wanted me to give him my opinion. Wanted me to support him or talk him out of it.
I couldn’t be the one to do that.
With my eyes lowered, I gave him the best that I could manage. “You’ll do what you have to. It’s one of the things I admire most about you.”
“Emily —”
I didn’t turn around this time. I wondered if I would ever turn around for him again.
The phone was easier than e-mail, and after the long days of avoiding my island companions, I needed to hear a friendly voice.
“I picked up keys for the place this morning,” Joe said after we’d exchanged greetings. “My guy is coming out to check the alarm system tomorrow.”
“You have a guy?” That sounded more like something Reeve would say, and the idea of Joe having minions made me chuckle.
“Well,” he admitted, “he’s an ex-con with a record for getting past some pretty stellar security. If there’s a hole in the system, he’ll find it.”
“Okay then.” Maybe Joe was more like Reeve than I realized. Both certainly had questionable associates.
“Have you read any of my e-mails?” Joe’s tentativeness put my guard up.