Chapter 246

My eyes fly open when Kent’s arm tightens around me the next morning, but it wasn’t his touch that woke me.

Instead, it was the knock at the door.

“Shit,” Kent growls, still not moving and holding me close, clearly working at once to wake the hell up and decide what to do. “Maybe it’s Daniel?” I squeak softly, my voice hardly higher than breath. Kent shushes me anyway.

The knock comes again.

“Zio?” a voice calls, and Kent’s arm tightens around me again.

I spin frantically beneath Kent’s arm as I recognize the voice as Gio’s, trying to read Kent face and figure out what he wants – me to go out the window? To…to jump off the balcony? What -“No time,” he whispers, his voice soft. Then he lifts his head. “A second, Gio!” he calls, moving faster and snatching me up into his arms, carrying me with fast steps into the closet, snatching his phone off the bedstand as he goes. When we get into the closet, Kent puts me on my feet and presses me up against the wall closest to the door. Over my shoulder, I hear Gio call back his assent, but my eyes stay focused on Kent.