Burned Hearts (Burned 3)

With a nod, I told my bodyguard, “I assure you, we won’t be out of your sight without you knowing about it.”

“I’ve seen that you take precautions, and I’m not saying you haven’t done a good job. But my responsibility is to protect you. I can’t do that when you run off with Kyle.”

“I understand,” I said, contrite. “And I’m sorry. I know we worried you—pissed you off—when we went after Wayne’s confession. That was never our intention. Never my intention. I was feeling hopeless, Amano. Worthless, even. Like all of this stuff was happening around us and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Then this opportunity presented itself, and I needed to step up. Can you at least accept that?”

“The way this arrangement works,” he said in a stern tone, “is you stay put and I keep you safe.”

I shoved back my chair and stood. “Maybe I’m not the stay-put type. Maybe it’d be okay if I were a bit more proactive than reactive.”

He set aside his iPad. “What do you want?”

That was a bit too point-blank. I didn’t have an answer. Except to say, “You didn’t tell Dane about my plans for the Lux.”

Amano simply stared at me.

“Come on, I know you know what I’ve been up to. You keep giving me phones.”

“I’m glad you want to rebuild the hotel. I knew Dane would be happy about it, too. You’re managing it remotely, not putting yourself in any danger. I don’t have any problems with the way you’ve handled the project. So I didn’t feel the need to tell him.”

“And you wanted him to be surprised, didn’t you?”

“He deserves some good news.”

“Yes, he does.”

I sank back onto the cushioned seat. “I’m sorry I caused you trouble and worry. It won’t happen again. And I apologize for asking you to not call Dane when I was about to have the baby. I didn’t want him freaking out because I was delivering early. Nor did I want him to know—” I shook my head. This confession was even harder to make. “I was concerned about having Amsel prematurely. It scared me. For all the obvious reasons—his health and well-being. But also because I considered it a shortcoming that I couldn’t carry Dane’s baby all the way to term.”

“Ari.” Amano gave me a firm look. “That is not a shortcoming.”

Tears stung my eyes. I was having quite the emotional night. “Are you married to an overachiever?”

He actually cracked a smile. “Thankfully, no.”

My tension didn’t abate. “Does make for difficult times on occasion.”

He regarded me a few moments, then said, “Maybe you shouldn’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

“And if someone were to say that to you?”

With a smirk, he said, “I’d ignore them.”

“Hmph.”

Perhaps that was one of the reasons we got along so well. We shared the same fabric.

We sat in silence a little while longer. Eventually, he asked, “Do you want to learn how to stream the GoPros?”

“Oh, hell, yes.”

* * *

“Where have you been?” Dane asked when I finally retired to our bedroom.

“Making the rounds,” I said as I changed into my nightgown. “We have quite the loyal crew. I couldn’t scare them off.”

“That’s funny. I couldn’t pay them off.”

“Neither Kyle nor Rosa?”