Page 59 of Born for Starlight

The photo stayed lit up in my head.

Chapter Nineteen

The second time I woke up alone, the sun was shining.

I found him in the living room. He was dressed for the day, dark shirt, dark pants, hair still damp from a shower I never heard. That wasn't what stopped me in the doorway.

What stopped me was the leather harness he was buckling across his shoulders, and the gun he seated into it under his left arm.

A gun.

My security consultant was putting on a gun to go have coffee with an old friend.

"Good morning," he said, without turning around. He knew I was there. He always knew.

"Morning." I crossed my arms. "Interesting accessory."

"It's Brazil."

"It was Brazil yesterday. You didn't wear one to Casa Semente."

"Different neighborhood." He shrugged into a loose jacket, and the gun disappeared. "Go back to bed, sweetheart. I'll be back before breakfast."

"Where are you going?"

"I told you. To see an old friend."

"An old friend." I looked at the spot where the gun was hiding. "You didn't need a gun for seventy orphans and a press caravan. So why do you need one for coffee with an old friend?"

"Because I'm naturally cautious."

"You're naturally something, alright."

He came over and put his hands on my shoulders. His voice became reasonable, the voice he used when he was attempting to manage me. "The hotel has strong security. On top of that, I've put a guard on this floor. You'll be safe for two hours."

"A guard. On our floor in this swanky hotel." I stared at him. "That's a little overkill, don’t you think?"

"Humor me."

"No. I'm coming with you."

"Angelica."

"You told me you're working on finding Luzia. You told me to give you twenty-four hours. Fine. But if this meeting has anything to do with her, I'm not going to sit in a marble box eating room service while you do it." I lifted my chin. "I'm. Coming. With. You.”

We stood there, eye to eye. I watched him run the odds. It was funny, I’d only known him for seven weeks, and I already knew when he was running odds. He got this look on his face. He’d probably hate knowing I could read him so well. I hid my smile.

"Fine," he said. "Three rules. You stay next to me. You follow my lead. And you don't ask questions until we're back in this room."

"Two rules, I get to ask questions in the car."

He stared at me for a long moment.

"God help me." He handed me my sunglasses off the side table. "You’ve got five minutes to get ready. Wear flat shoes."

The man in the gray suit sitting in the alcove by the elevator got a nod from Matthew as we passed.

So, the guard was real. I filed that away along with the gun. On some level I’d known Matthew was the real thing. But he was really the real thing, just like my brothers, maybe even more so.