Taking You HOME | EN

Chapter 56 II - Heart over Reason

Only now did he realize that another worry was increasingly taking hold of him.

Ray looked out of the window and stared into the darkness. Ever since Eve and Riona had left, he had felt this tightness in his chest. The feeling of not getting enough air, no matter how deeply he breathed in and out. He was restless, even though he constantly tried not to show it so Liam wouldn't notice. Nevertheless, his eyes kept glancing at the clock, only to realize how little time had passed since the two women had left the old house.

He would undoubtedly have been calmer if Riona had accepted his offer to drive them there and pick them up. Well, a little.

... No.

Not really. He would undoubtedly have been on pins and needles.

But the women had been right: someone had to stay here and look after Liam. So Riona had organized a friend to bring the pick-up back, and he didn't see himself in a position to question that. After all... he was just a guest ... and ... it was only one night.

But now, the silence seemed almost suffocating as he dropped onto the couch in the next room next to the softly crackling fire in the fireplace. From here, he could see the street through one of the windows, and this position enabled him to recognize sources of light approaching the house in good time—a tactically clever position, as he had learned. Perhaps that would calm his troubled mind.

His thoughts returned to the moment in the garden as if of their own accord. He remembered Eve's look and the slight blush on her cheeks when he brushed the soft strand of hair from her face. He had meant what he had said: she was beautiful. She always had been, and the burn scar didn't change that—at least not in his eyes. Out there, he was completely smitten by her. Not even a stubborn man like him could deny that.

Even a blind man with a cane would have recognized how he was struggling with the feelings that threatened to overwhelm him. Part of him didn't want to let Eve go. The thought of her driving into town and being touched by some random guy almost drove him crazy. The worry that someone might hurt her and he wouldn't be able to protect her was also overwhelming.

Ray felt torn.

He had no right to force his protection on her or put himself in that position, but he wished he could. This dichotomy and the circling thoughts, mixed with bitter jealousy, had been weighing on his shoulders all evening. It was becoming increasingly unbearable with the silence and without the boy's distraction.

He was just about to sink deeper into the cushion and reach for one of the grayish fabric cushions to make himself comfortable when an unfamiliar noise sounded outside.

A loud, excited, almost feral bark shattered the silence.

"Bloody hell," Ray hissed and scrambled to his feet. At first, his mind searched for the usual answers: The dog had probably seen a squirrel or something similar scampering through the night. Only two days ago, it had barked and come running with a dead rabbit in its mouth and its tail wagging proudly. The dog was and remained a hunter. And anything else would be completely absurd, wouldn't it?

His heart was pounding in his chest. Chief yelped as if the devil himself was at the door. Instinctively, the muscles under Ryker's skin tensed as he turned his gaze back to the window. Deep furrows crossed his forehead, and his dark eyebrows twitched to draw a grim expression on his features. It wasn't often that the male dog barked like that, especially not at this time of day.

But who was crazy enough to sneak around the lonely house in the middle of the night?

They were in the middle of nowhere. And even Dylan wouldn't be that crazy ... would he?

He didn't have time to think about it any further.

With his eyes fixed on the window, he saw a fleeting movement, a silhouette in the darkness of the night.