Page 32 of Her Noble Protector

She shook her head.

“Okay. Well, you did the right thing installing the padlock.”

“It scared the crap out of me going outside,” she admitted.

“But you did, and that’s pretty impressive. Now you better dig into your eggplant before it gets cold.”

* * *

He watched as she went back inside. It had been a great meal. She hadn’t eaten a lot, but he’d bet his bottom dollar she’d consumed more calories today than she had in the last week. Raiden picked up the rest of the trash from the meal, then hopped the fence and went to the garbage bins under her carport and saw that they were overflowing.

“Ah, shit.”

He looked out into the cul-de-sac. Nope, nobody had their trash bins sitting out by the sidewalk, so tomorrow wasn’t a pick-up. But what was worse, he couldn’t imagine how much trash she probably had accumulated inside her house. Was that part of the reason she didn’t want him inside?

He thought back to her vehemence and wondered if it might have been hiding shame.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

He looked back at her house with a pang of regret. Why hadn’t he thought to check on her sooner? Why had it taken Cami to call his attention to this?

He walked slowly back to the fence, berating himself the entire way. Great, he wanted to give her time, but he should have fucking known better. He should have fucking known better. At the very least, he should have called Paula.

He hopped the fence and looked at the little tableau on the patio. It had been a nice dinner, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more help than just him tempting her out of her house. It was time for some big guns. He took out his phone and sent a text, knowing it was too late on the East coast for a phone call. He’d wait until morning for a discussion. In the meantime, he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep. He turned the lounge chair around so it was facing the house, then he snagged his sleeping bag from where it was sitting near the pergola post, rolled it out on top of the chaise, and settled down. He could see a light in a different bedroom than the master, shining through the blinds. Lisa must be in the guest room.

God, he hoped she wouldn’t have another nightmare. Who in the hell was Damon, and where in the hell was he, because wherever the fuck he was, Raiden wanted to get his hands on him.

He moved the lounge chair closer to the guest bedroom so he would hear any sound that Lisa might make during the night, then he teed up his phone and downloaded the next book in the Ender series. It was going to be a long night, so he might as well keep himself entertained.

10

Raiden’s phone vibrated first thing. He’d been using Lisa’s outside electrical socket to keep it charged.

“Hey, Cami, thanks for calling.”

“Raiden, I’m so glad you called. I’ve appreciated the texts, but I was really hoping to talk to you. How is Lisa doing? How are you doing?”

Raiden smiled. And wasn’t that just the wonder of Camilla Ross? Not only was she worried about Lisa Garcia, but she was worried about how the situation might be affecting him. Nic had tied himself to a good woman.

“I’m doing fine, but Lisa is not doing well. She’s been holed up in her house for the last seven weeks. She’s gotten some groceries off her porch and went into her backyard once, but that’s been it. All of her blinds are shut, and she won’t let anybody inside. She’s lost a lot of weight that she couldn’t afford to lose.”

“If she’s not coming out, and nobody’s coming in, how do you know she’s lost weight?” Cami asked.

“We had breakfast together and she opened her sliding glass door a bit to sit with me. Then she came out on her patio last night to eat some Italian food.”

“Go Team Raiden,” Cami whispered.

Raiden smiled again.

“But it’s not enough, Cami. She’s having bad dreams. She’s terrified of me seeing the inside of her house. I’m worried it’s a mess and she’s embarrassed.”

“That shouldn’t matter,” Cami objected.

“Exactly. It’s just part of her depression. But she doesn’t see it like that.”

There was a long pause. “She wouldn’t.”

“Cami—”