The door slammed. Was he . . . was he trying to break in? She quickly finished and half-ran, half-hobbled to the door, unlocking it.
“Wolfe, what is going on?” The last word was more of a squeal as he grabbed hold of her arms. He just held her. His gaze running over her.
“What’s going on? What was that noise?”
She glanced over towards the open bedroom door as Caleb appeared. He stared at her, wide-eyed. “Are you both all right?”
Wolfe wasn’t. He wasn’t all right. But he slowly let her go. “We’re fine,” he told Caleb.
“Vivi?” Caleb watched her calmly.
All she had to say was that she was uncomfortable and Caleb wouldn’t leave them. But she also knew that if she did that something between her and Wolfe would break. Might become irreparable.
“We’re fine,” she told him.
Caleb looked at them both then nodded and left. When she turned back to Wolfe, he was staring down at her intently.
He pinned her with that obsidian gaze. A shiver ran through her at the agony in his eyes. Then he closed them briefly and that pain was gone.
But she couldn’t unsee it.
“You can’t lock the door,” he told her.
“Okay, I won’t lock the door.”
Her instant agreement seemed to ease something in him. His face relaxed. “Why did you lock it?”
“Sorry, I’m used to locking doors . . . with William . . .”
He winced. “Did I scare you? Fuck. Did I hurt you? I didn’t, did I?” He looked at where he’d grabbed her arms, guilt flooding his face.
“I’m fine. Wolfe, look at me. I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me. You couldn’t.”
He ran his hand over his face. “I’m sorry. Shit. I’ll go. I’ll leave you.”
Leave her? No!
“Wolfe, no, don’t leave! Please. Stay. Tell me why I can’t lock the door. Please.”
She thought he wasn’t going to listen, but he stopped at the doorway. Then he slid the door shut until it was open just a crack. When he turned, she moved towards the bed and sat.
“Didn’t I tell you not to walk around?” he grumbled.
“I know,” she said quietly. She glanced down at the floor, noticing a T-shirt, blanket, and small bag. She rubbed at her temples, feeling the tension growing.
“You’re stressed,” he said suddenly. “You need to relax. I’ll get your heat pad for your neck.”
“No, Wolfe, please can you stop taking care of me for a minute.”
He frowned. “What? You don’t want me to look after you?”
“No, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Shit. What I mean is . . . please tell me what’s going on. Why don’t you like there being a locked door between us?”
“Well, I imagine it has something to do with the fact that one of my aunts used to l
ock me in a closet when I annoyed her,” he said matter-of-factly. “But then again, I’m not a therapist. I’ve been to one, though. My aunt Clara took me to see one when I stopped talking for weeks. She thought I had abandonment issues. I only went to her once, though. I guess my uncle’s health insurance didn’t cover any more sessions. The irony is, it wasn’t that much longer before Aunt Clara abandoned me. Oh, but she’s not the one that locked me in the closet.”
She just stared at him. Her heart raced. “What? Your aunt did what?”