Because she was missing? Did she really mean that much to him? Shit. Caleb was right. She might not have realized it at the time, but William and her father had damaged her self-esteem. Over time, they’d picked away at her until she didn’t think she was good enough. For anyone.
Caleb stepped aside and Wolfe walked in. His face was cold as always, but in his eyes, she saw something frantic. Wild.
Conversely, something in her settled. If he was this worried that she’d gone missing, it meant he really did care about her. In his own Wolfe way.
“What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you in your bed? You should be napping!” he snapped. He turned to Caleb and slid his glasses up his nose, a sign of agitation rarely seen from him. “I was searching all over for her. I thought something bad had happened.”
She bit her lip. Usually, he kept most of his emotions under tight control. The only other time she’d seen him like this was. . .
When she’d left them.
Shoot. Why hadn’t she thought of how he might react if he went looking and found her missing?
“Easy, Wolfe. She didn’t go anywhere,” Caleb said calmly.
“She can’t just wander off. What if something happened to her? What if she got hurt?” Wolfe demanded.
“She didn’t go anywhere. She’s safe. She didn’t leave, Wolfe.”
“She can’t leave.”
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“She won’t,” Caleb reassured him.
She felt terrible. Wolfe could be demanding, especially with his schedules and need for control, but seeing him like this, she got it. He needed that level of control. She didn’t know much about his past, but there had to be a reason he kept himself so locked down.
He wasn’t locked down right now, though. This was raw emotion. Almost frightening in its intensity.
“Why did you bring her in here?” he snapped at Caleb.
“I didn’t bring her,” Caleb told him. “I found her in here.”
She groaned and shot him a look.
“We don’t lie to each other, jelly bean. It’s the only way this can work. If we’re all honest with each other.”
Yeah, yeah, she got it.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Aleki asked, practically skidding as he flew into the room. He held a wooden spoon in one hand and had a smear of flour on his face.
She blinked at him. “What have you been doing?”
“Making pies. What’s going on? What’s the emergency?” Aleki asked.
“Genevieve went missing,” Wolfe stated.
“What? But she’s right here. What’re you doing in here, baby girl?”
“She was coloring,” Caleb said with a satisfied look on his face.
“I’m really sorry I worried you, Wolfe,” she told him.
“You came in here by yourself?” Wolfe snapped, stalking towards her.
She gulped. Uh-oh. Now she felt like prey. Little red riding hood facing her own big, bad wolf.
That made her giggle a little. It might have sounded slightly hysterical.