𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 | 𝟏𝟖+

18 | Tension

Weeks go by since the gala.

My duties as a seductress have been put on hold, and when I ask Thomas if Cato will be my only target, I can tell by the clench in his jaw and tense posture that he has no intentions of sending me out into the field again. Instead, I find myself assisting him wherever I can-which seems to be as far away from his business as possible. Most days, I help Vince down in the bar, cleaning tables and waiting for the few customers that come in throughout the daylight hours.

Yet, after every long day, it's Thomas that drives me home.

Tonight, we settle in his car. Thomas laces his fingers between mine. He squeezes them in such a tight hold as if I were a lifeline. I squeeze his palm in return.

I've grown accustomed to his silence, but I've picked up enough on his body language that something bothers him, and has been ever since the night we laid together.

"Do you want to talk?" I whisper, filling the silence. It's a question I've already been asking him for weeks.

Those ocean eyes strike mine. They're like a window pane of glass, and I see right through him and his exhausted soul. They fall heavy, almost lidded, until they close shut. He lowers his mouth against mine as our lips brush, and he captures me in his kiss. It's one so strong that it's weighted with an emotion I long to read but just can't. His hand reaches up to my jaw, his touch drifting down the length of my neck as he pulls my body closer. These small intimate moments have grown rare with Thomas, and I've learned to savour every one of them. His brother called me a distraction, an obstacle in his way of his duties.

But the moment the kiss ends, Thomas shifts the car into gear, and off we go. Maybe I am a distraction, but I believe we all need to take our mind off the world's chaos every once in awhile.

He parks the car at the estate's gates-his tired blue eyes glazed forward, lost in thought.

My eyes fall down to his hand on the gear shift, and I set my hand on top of his clenched knuckles.

"Thomas?" my voice breathes.

He looks in my direction, his low voice raspy as it fills the space between us. "Yes, daffodil?"

I place a soft kiss on his cheek. The skin beneath my lips blushes at the touch. "Thank you."

When I part, he only fixates his eyes on the road ahead of him. Thomas might have closed himself off from me, but there's still a part of him that aches to be the man he was when we first met.

I leave the car and wander back to the estate, but my mind remains in that passenger seat beside Thomas. Whenever I see him, I remind him to rest, to sleep, to do something that isn't stressing over that "business" he operates. Whatever is happening with the Patton's displacement of all those people and Thomas' other undisclosed projects, it's more than he can handle. In return, Thomas only gives me this look that tells me that he's too deep into the thick of it that he can't stop now.

Chores within the Leveque estate go by as expected. Annie and I work under Augustine, which seems to be more often than not nowadays. I don't mind to work with him, because I usually get the benefit of sneaking a few leftover deserts.

Dinner winds down and Augustine prepares to head home to his wife, but places a plate full of freshly baked cookies on the counter beside us: another benefit to the chore.

Annie's grin stretches wide across her dimpled cheeks. "Is that for us?"

"You caught me in a good mood," Augustine shrugs as he puts on his jacket. "I want this kitchen spotless in the morning! Including that plate of cookies." He winks, then exits the kitchen without another order.