I looked over Daphne’s shoulder into the house. “Where’s Caroline? How is she doing?”
“Come in, pretty boy.” Daphne held the door open and swept her arm inside. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “She’s hanging in there. She’s tough.” Daphne was right. Caroline was tough, resilient, and damn strong. She hadn’t let this break her. My chest swelled with pride. I didn’t want Caroline to have to deal with someone invading her life, but I was glad to know she was just as strong as she was beautiful. I shook off the thought that she would fit right in with the other woman in my group of friends.
I followed Daphne from the entryway into the living room. Caroline sat in a plush brown leather chair with her feet tucked under her, holding a glass of deep red wine. Her hand was propped under her chin as she stared at the empty fireplace, lost in her own thoughts.
I crossed the room and crouched in front of her. I heard Daphne’s bare feet padding across the wood floor, gradually getting quieter as she gave us more space. I placed my hand on Caroline’s thigh. She was in tight leggings, which I knew would damn near kill me if I caught the sight of her delectable ass, and a loose T-shirt that was falling off of one shoulder. Her dark hair was swept up into a knot at the top of her head and messier than she usually wore it. She looked more relaxed and tired than usual. My thumb stroked the fabric of her leggings, and she slowly turned her head toward me. Our eyes were level with each other, and I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.
“How are you doing? Walk me through everything.”
“I’m okay. I’m freaked out.”
“I’m going to find this person,” I promised her.
“I know you will.” The corners of her lips tilted up slightly. She glanced down at the wine glass in her hand and sucked in a deep breath before meeting my eyes again. “I trust you. I know you’ll find them and, to be honest, I think that’s about the only thing keeping me sane right now.”
My chest clenched with her words, and even more resolve than I’d already had settled in my gut. My muscles turned to steel. I hadn’t been sure if I’d ever have someone place implicit trust in me. If I’d ever be worthy of that. Caroline had dismantled me with a few simple words. Humbled. Honored. Proud. Emotions I could barely translate were filling me. I was sure of one thing. I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t quit. I’d take the bullet, walk through the fire, meet the edges of the Earth, all to make sure she was safe and her trust in me was worth it.
I’d be worth it. For her.
“Thank you,” I said quietly and squeezed her thigh. I didn’t want to let her go, but I needed to, so I lifted my hand and grabbed the ottoman in front of the couch. I placed it in front of Caroline’s chair and sat, leaning forward, with my elbows on my knees. “Walk me through what happened? Did Maddox meet you there? I called him. Even though you called the police, I wanted someone I knew to be there with you since I couldn’t be.”
“Yes, Maddox arrived right as the other officer did.” She sighed and placed her wine on a coaster on the side table. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and grimaced. “I really hate this. I feel like I’m being watched constantly.”
“I’m sorry, Caroline. We’ll find this guy and make sure that you’re safe, I promise. My guys are rounding up equipment to install at your house, but I think you should stay here until it’s complete.”
“I will. Are there different levels of the security package? How much are they?”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” I said. “Let’s get it all set up and we’ll figure it out.”
She groaned. “Kiernan, I need to know how much I’ll be paying, and I won’t accept it as gift from you or from your company.”
I smirked. “I already knew you’d say that. I only meant that if you don’t want to pay it all up front, you don’t have to. If you’d like to break it into payments, that’s fine too. Let’s get it set up and we’ll figure it out.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine.”
Daphne came back into the living room carrying a board of cheeses, meats, and crackers. “You need to eat a little something, Caro.”
Caroline nabbed a pretzel from the tray and nibbled the end of it. “Do you mind if I sit and listen? I’d like to know what’s going on,” Daphne said.
“Of course. Stay,” Caroline said. “I’d tell you everything anyway. It’ll be easier only going over this once.”
“I’m going to set up a security system at Caroline’s house, but she’ll need somewhere to stay until it’s done.”
“She’ll stay here.” Daphne nodded, sinking into the couch with her arms crossed over her chest as her gaze bounced back and forth between Caroline and me.
“The system goes to my company. We have people working twenty-four-seven, monitoring our systems, and will send police, fire, or EMT, based on what the alert may be. I’ll have any alerts from Caroline also come to me, so I’ll be there if something happens. What did Maddox and the police say?” I asked Caroline.
“My car had been wiped clean, there were no prints on anything. They took the note and photos as evidence, but Maddox said, without further evidence, there isn’t much they can do.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But it’s always better to have it on record, so when we catch this guy, we’ll have evidence stacked against him.”
Caroline nodded. “Maddox said the same. I did take a picture of the note and photos on my phone so you could see them.” She grabbed her phone from the side
