Their gazes held a heartbeat longer before Cera carefully padded across the tiled floor, disappearing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.
She blew out a breath as she set the bag down onto the sink’s narrow ledge. Moving as quickly as was safe, she replaced the gown with her jeans, long-sleeve T-shirt, and canvas shoes.
Her reflection in the room’s modest mirror caught her attention. Cera sucked in a sharp breath when she saw the woman staring back at her.
Disheveled hair, dirt and soot smudged sporadically across her skin. A fresh cut she already knew was there ran horizontally along her hairline. The skin surrounding it was still slightly swollen and already starting to bruise, and there were three tiny white strips holding the damaged portion together so it could heal.
But it was the look in her eyes that took Cera aback most of all. The same fear that was always present hadn’t left or been diminished. If anything, she thought it was even stronger now.
Nearly getting blown to bits would scare the shit out of anybody.
Fresh tears threatened to fall, and it would be so easy to simply let them. But she held back, because there was also something else in her wary gaze. A new look of determination she’d never seen there before.
Determination and desire to do more with the life she’d been given than spend her days running and hiding.
I could’ve died today, and what would I have to show for my life? I have no friends. No lover. No kids of my own to keep the family genes going.
And as Cera rolled up the light blue gown into a ball and shoved the plastic bag into the small trashcan near the sink, she realized this pivotal moment didn’t have to be about her past. It didn’t have to be about a deranged stalker or even the future.
It was about the here and now.
That’s all anyone was ever promised. The only thing she had the power to truly control.
The past was done and gone, and her future—like everyone else’s—was left to the unknown. So for right now—for the rest ofthisday, at least—she was done worrying about that which she couldn’t control.
If Ivan decided to kick her ass out of the suite, so be it. She still had her car—which was still tucked safely inside The Douglas’s private guest parking garage—and a little bit of cash. She also had enough clothes to get her by for a while, thanks to the man waiting on the other side of the door.
Other than the shoes, this particular outfit’s toast.
Another quick glance down at herself confirmed the thought, but Cera found she didn’t care. A pair of jeans and one shirt didn’t matter. Like the rest of the things that had been destroyed by a nameless, faceless monster, the clothes she had on could be replaced.
Her life, however... she only had one of those. And as usual, Ivan was right about that, too.
She could either let some coward hiding in the shadows dictate how the rest of her days were spent, or…
I can keep that power all to myself.
Decision made—and to hell with the consequences—Cera opened the door and stepped back out into the room. As promised, Ivan was there.
Waiting to catch me if I fall.
“You okay if I let the Feds in so you can give them your statement?”
She stared up at the man who’d rushed so quickly to her side after his car went up in flames and nodded. “I’m ready.”
And for the first time since taking the leap to move from home and pursue her dream of becoming a cop, Cera felt as if she finally was.
* * *
Ivan tooka sip of his beer and stared out the living room windows. He and Cera had both retreated to their respective bathrooms upon returning to the suite, but nearly forty-five minutes later, he could still hear the water running from down the hall.
It took everything in him not to go storming back there to check on her.
She’d assured him she was fine. At the scene. At the hospital. On the drive here. Right before she vanished into her room. So as hard as it was not to hover, he had to trust that she was telling him the truth.
After all, the E.R. doc wouldn’t have discharged her, if she wasn’t. Right?
Swear to God, if something else happens to her…