“I have her DMV information. It’s for some place in Koreatown, not her current address.”
I blinked in surprise. “So she’s safe?”
He sighed. “As far as we know. But if there’s a risk for you, we need to call it in and scrub you.”
“It’s not a risk.” I knew what would happen. If I’d been compromised, I would be moved. Sent to some other city. New name, new cover, new lies. It would be as if Marcus Black never existed. And that would leave Lyra a sitting duck. She would have no protection. I tried to reassure him. “No. It’s safe. Just double-checking.”
Curtis sighed. “You are my most thorough agent. You bend no rules for anyone.”
“I know. I’ll assess and confirm.”
“Let me know if we need housekeeping.”
“We won’t need housekeeping,” I said, unable to keep the exasperation out of my voice.
“Mm-hmm. I like to be prepared.”
“So do I.” I hoped to Christ he’d believe me.
I jumped out of bed and into the shower. Within twenty minutes of my call with Curtis ending, I knocked on Lyra’s door.
It was nine o’clock, and I hoped if she was going into work on the weekend that maybe she hadn’t left yet.
She answered in her robe and was brushing her teeth. Her eyes went wide when she saw me, and she mumbled, “Hi,” around her toothbrush. Then she indicated that she’d be right back and went to the bathroom. When she came back, her face was free of toothpaste suds.
She gave me a curious look. “Ah, is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “No, I just came to check on you.”
She blinked, then blinked again, her dark brown eyes searching for something in my gaze. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m perfectly fine.”
“I know. I figured you’d say that, but I had to see for myself. You had a hell of a scare. Were you able to sleep at all?”
Then she did something I’d never seen her do before. She shuddered. I asked her a simple question, and she shuddered, preparing herself to lie. “Yep. Oh, you know, a couple of bad dreams, but I’m fine. Not the worst thing, I guess.”
“Lyra, is that the truth?”
The question was met with more owlish blinking and a raised brow. “What answer are you looking for, Marcus?”
“Just how you are actually feeling.”
Her brows furrowed, and then she said, “Fine, really. I slept like a baby.”
That was the truth. And I wondered how often she’d evaded my questions and I hadn’t noticed. But I could tell she wasn’t being malicious. There was just a wall, a screen she’d put up between herself and the world. Some kind of deep-seated stuff made her keep herself closed off.
“Okay, good. I was just worried about you because he got your purse.”
She blinked at me in surprise. “Oh, uh, it’s actually okay. I’m going to get a new license today.”
“Yeah, but he has your address.”
She winced. “Actually, I never changed it when I moved. I know you’re supposed to after thirty days, and it’s been a year and a half. But I loved my photo and didn’t want a new one.”
I chuckled low, tamping down my unease. “Of course. Anyway, at the very least, I wanted to check your locks and see if they’re okay.”
I turned to the door, and was surprised to see that she had nearly as many locks as I did. “I can’t say I’m not happy to see those.”
“My dad was kind of a freak about safety, always insisting that we should have the right locks on our doors and windows. I guess I kind of adopted that practice when I got a place of my own.”
“Smart of him to do that. And so are you. Still, I’d like you to know I’m here. I can help.”
Her smile was warm. “Ah, that’s sweet. But honestly, Marcus, you don’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“I am well aware that you can. I have zero doubts about that. But I’m your neighbor, so you know, I’m just being neighborly.”
She laughed then. And I wondered why the hell I had never heard that sound before.
“You already saved my life last night. You didn’t need to check on me this morning.”
I pulled out the bag I’d gotten from the doughnut place down the street. “If you say so. But surprise! I also brought you breakfast.”
She stared at the bag. “You went to Dell’s Doughnuts?”
I nodded. “Yes. Because sometimes you need a sugar hit in the morning to get over not sleeping. But since you slept fine, I guess I will just take the doughnuts and go then.”
She reached her hands out. “No, hold on just a minute. Who am I to turn down perfectly good doughnuts?”
I laughed. “I knew you’d be a sucker for sugar. Do you have coffee?”
She nodded and then indicated the kitchen. I searched the cupboards until I found plates for the doughnuts.
“So, we’re having breakfast together now?” she asked as she joined me at the counter.
I smiled down at her. “Relax, it’s just breakfast.”
“Right. Are we going to talk about that kiss?”
I smirked at her. “Why? Are you going to try and tell me we should just be friends again?”
Slowly, she shook her head back and forth. “No, but I’m going to tell you that I’m not really dateable. I’ve got bags and bags of issues, and I’m telling you, you don’t want to deal with this.”
A powdered sugar dusted the corner of her mouth, and I wanted to lick it right off of her lips. But I settled for using my thumb as I reached over and wiped it off. Her tongue chased my thumb away, and I wanted to feel that sweet flick. She looked up at me and said, “You are dangerous.”
I grinned. “Um, no. I’m perfectly safe. I’m not dangerous at all. I’m your next-door neighbor, remember? I program computer games?”
“Yeah, but suddenly there’s something very, um… I don’t know how to say it. Before last night, you were
