Absolution (The Protectors 1)

“You need to eat something.”

I forced myself to sit up, keeping my back to him. “I want my phone,” I said.

Cole didn’t answer me but I felt his weight shift off the bed. I closed my eyes when I sensed him come around to my side of the bed and sit in the chair Mace had been sitting in last night. I hated that part of me wanted him to try to touch me again.

“We can’t risk turning it on. Someone could be tracking it,” Cole said gently. “There’s no land line here but we’ll get some burner phones as soon as we can, okay?”

I nodded. “Is he still here?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want him here.” Even as I said the words, I knew that Cole wasn’t the only one to hear them because I felt a chill go up my spine. I forced my eyes open and glanced over my shoulder to see Mace standing in the doorway, his shuttered eyes watching me. He turned away before I did and I heard his footsteps on the stairs.

“Jonas,” Cole said as he reached for my hand.

“Don’t,” I whispered as I pulled my hand from out of his reach. “I don’t…I can’t…”

I didn’t look at Cole as I spoke but heard him settle back down in the chair. “We need to figure out what’s going on,” Cole said. “Like it or not, Mace is the only one who might have some answers.”

I managed a nod. “Do you…do you believe the things he said about me?” I forced myself to ask.

The bed next to me shifted and I felt Cole’s thigh brush against mine through the blanket. I tried to pull away but his hand snaked around to grab the back of my neck to hold me still.

“Look at me,” Cole said, the soft order leaving no room for argument.

I opened my eyes even as I tried to hold back the pain that bloomed in my chest. “I don’t believe one fucking word of it,” Cole said angrily. “And neither does he…not anymore.”

Not anymore.

I knew he’d meant the words to comfort but they didn’t – they just reminded me of the lie I’d been living in from the moment Mace had walked into my gallery. I remembered the hatred in his eyes when he’d first looked at me and a shiver went through me.

“I saw it that first day,” I whispered.

“Saw what?”

“He wanted to hurt me. I was afraid of him but then he helped me. Some wood fell in the studio and he stopped it from hitting me.” I shook my head. “Why would he do that?”

Cole’s fingers began massaging my neck and I had to admit, it felt good.

“Because he knew on some level that whatever that shit someone told him you did wasn’t true. He was watching you long before he met you, Jonas. He probably had a lot of chances to hurt you but something held him back.”

My whole body began to shake as the reality I hadn’t even dealt with hit me. Mace was a murderer. He’d been hired to kill me which meant he’d likely done it before.

“I need a little more time, Cole,” I managed to say.

Cole nodded, his hand on my neck tightening just a little bit. And then he did something I hadn’t been expecting. He leaned forward and brushed his lips over mine. The contact was brief but it left me reeling. He released me the second his lips left mine and then stood.

“I left some breakfast on the nightstand,” I heard Cole say as he moved towards the door. “Come down when you’re ready.”

I nodded but didn’t look at him. As soon as I heard the door close, I lifted my fingers to my mouth which was still tingling. Cole kissing me was almost too much for me to handle. Almost. Because even though I couldn’t process what it meant, the warmth that spread through me afterwards helped chase some of the coldness away and I managed to climb to my feet.

As I made my way to the bathroom, I saw a cup of coffee sitting on the nightstand next to a plate stacked high with pancakes. I ignored the food and drink and went to the bathroom. I noticed the busted door but couldn’t remember how it had gotten that way. I didn’t remember much after climbing in the shower and letting the hot water wash over me.

I managed to find a new toothbrush in the cabinet under the sink and scrubbed my teeth and then got dressed. My clothes had been sitting on the end of the bed and I could see that they’d been freshly laundered. I eyed the food again but couldn’t stomach the idea of trying to force it past my lips. I took a couple sips of the coffee in the hopes that it would take away some of the exhaustion I was feeling. The coffee was sweeter than I’d expected and I wondered if Cole had made the assumption I liked it that way, or if Mace had had a hand in it since he knew I only ever ordered flavored lattes when I went to the coffee shop down the street.