An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Part 12

Echo pulled her car around the long drive that led towards the lake.  It meant that they would have to go around the opposite side and the drive would take an extra half hour but it was also the only way to get close enough to the pool house without being spotted from the house. It was also the closest she could get so that Luke would not have to walk far. 

As it was, Echo had absolutely no clue where he was going to lead her. She could be driving for hours but what real choice did she have. If she was honest, having a choice wasn't really an issue anymore. She'd started something and now she felt she had the obligation to finish it and, even if she didn't want to admit it, she needed to make sure that Luke would be taken care of.

He'd looked well enough during the day but the truth was, with a wound that deep, one that had bled through the bandages, and what she was sure was at least a set of bruised ribs, he would only get worse. 

"Hey." She said softly, walking into the pool house and stopping. She'd somehow expected to find him sitting there with his eyes wide open and the gun pointed directly at her and instead... he was asleep. 

She watched him for a few minutes, wondering if he was strong enough to walk down the hill towards the car. Again, she was struck with the notion that he looked tense, as if he would be ready to strike at the first disturbance and just the same, he looked quite harmless as he slept and without really realizing she was doing it, she was moving closer and closer to him. 

 He looked tired, she could only imagine how exhausted he must be. He really needed a doctor and she hoped that when he was home there would be one available. She must be crazy not to take him to the hospital but then again, she'd be crazy to try to take him to one. She sat down next to him and brought her hand to his cheek, prepared to wake him. The tips of her fingers moved across his skin slowly, inching... almost begging her to touch the scar, wondering if it would be rough or smooth, fascinated to find it was the latter. She almost gasped and how warm he was- his fever was high. 

She moved to wake him, thinking it was best they went on their way as soon as possible but then she saw it. Right there, sitting next to him on the sofa, just about a foot away... the gun.

Her eyes darted back and forth between him, then the gun, as she tried to make up her mind. Should she just go for it? She could pick up the gun and call the police before he even noticed, before he even had a chance to react. She reached out, her fingers grazing the handle as she remembered his words. He would send his men. She wondered just how important and powerful this man really was. Somehow she knew that he hadn't lied about that. Even if he didn't send for them, there were people who would not stop looking for him. They would come here, they would find her and they would pay her in kind. 

Then, she picked up the gun, more out of curiosity than anything. She'd never held a gun before, never even thought about it. It was heavier than she expected it to be.

"Feels good, huh?" She was startled, turning to find his eyes on her and she quickly set the gun back down where he had left it.

Their eyes met and as she realized her hand was still on his cheek, she pulled it away.

"I have my car down the hill." She said, jumping up and stepping away from him. He watched her, she was nervous. He'd woken the moment he felt her hand on his skin. She was warm... or maybe that was him. He knew he had a fever and so it was all the more imperative he get back as soon as possible. Still, he'd been surprised by how close she was, surprised by how comforting it was to have her near, surprised by how natural her touch had felt. 

Then he chuckled at his own thoughts- if that girl knew what he'd been dreaming, what kinds of dreams he'd been having about her... she would have a heart attack. He certainly hadn't expected to have those types of dreams. He was pretty sure it was the fever but he had to admit he found it amusing just how much he seemed to unnerve her.