She sent him a wan smile. “Better.”
She knew he didn’t believe her, and she wasn’t that good an actress. He looked reluctant but also grim and determined. It was the determination that frightened her. As though despite any misgivings, he was determined to go through with his plan. Did she glimpse a gleam of conscience in those eyes? Apparently not enough for him to second-guess his intentions.
“I have to go out for a while,” he said. “But I’ll be back soon. Rusty is coming over to stay with you awhile. Just until I get back.”
She didn’t ask where he was going. She didn’t have to. Fear beat a steady rhythm in her chest. Her pulse thudded violently at her temples and she could feel the headache returning and with it the heartsickness that had filled her to bursting yesterday and well into the night.
“All right,” she said quietly, her heart breaking with every breath.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, leaving his lips there for a long moment.
“This will be over soon, honey. I promise.”
With that, he drew away and got up from the bed, walking toward the door.
She waited only a few moments before rising to look out the window as he drove out of the compound. Then she turned quickly away and went to her bedroom to pack a small bag. Just enough to carry in a backpack. A few changes of clothing. The little cash she had from before. Her mother’s jewelry.
She then went into the kitchen, knowing Rusty would show up soon. She dug out paper and a pen and hastily wrote a note for Travis and Cammie. When she had finished, her eyes burning with tears, she folded it and went to their room, where they were still sleeping.
She didn’t remain there looking at them for long. It was too painful and she didn’t want them to awaken until she was away. After a silent good-bye that ripped her heart right out of her chest, she propped the note on Travis’s dresser where he would see it, and then she went to find one of Donovan’s guns that he kept in a drawer by his bed.
CHAPTER 32
RUSTY pulled into Donovan’s drive and parked her Jeep beside Donovan’s truck just as he was walking out the door. He looked grim and resolved. Her nape prickled because she knew that look. Whatever shit was going down today was heavy.
Not that Donovan had volunteered anything in the way of information. He’d only said he needed her to come and stay with Eve while he “took care of business.”
Rusty pitied the poor fool Donovan intended to take care of. Though none of her brothers was ever overly descriptive in their accounts of the missions they went on, she’d gleaned enough—and hell, she had eyes—to know that a Kelly man on a mission was a very scary thing to behold.
“Thanks for coming, Rusty,” Donovan said. “I hope to be only a few hours, but I’ll keep in touch. I don’t want Eve to worry, so if you can keep her occupied and distracted I’d appreciate it. She wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I think the stress is getting to her. She had a headache and I had to give her an injection so she could sleep last night. I left her in bed, so don’t disturb her. I want her to . . . rest.”
Rusty could see the very real concern reflected in Donovan’s eyes. She reached out to squeeze his shoulder. It was odd to be offering him comfort since he was usually the one doing the comforting and reassuring in the Kelly family. But he looked as though he needed it, and while he’d mentioned the fact that he had to give Eve an injection to help her sleep, he himself didn’t look as though he’d slept a wink.
“I’ll take care of things here,” she assured him. “Now go kick some ass so Eve and her siblings can move forward with their lives.”
No, he hadn’t volunteered any information on the who and how of his mission today, but she wasn’t an idiot. She knew it had everything to do with Eve’s stepfather and that Donovan would be making his move in short order. She only wished she could be there to see the ensuing ass kicking.