Page 272 of Innocent

Chapter Fifty-Three

“Oh, my god.Home.” Elliot face-plants on our bed, fully dressed, and I can’t even blame him for not dropping back into our protocols once we are alone. “I missed you, bed,” he mumbles into the duvet cover, arms spread wide like he’s hugging it. “Gawd, I missed you.”

He’s fricking adorable. He really is.

I leave his large suitcase at the foot of the bed, by the bench, to take care of later. I’ve got others that have to come up from the entry, but this one has most of his clothes in it. We also have dirty clothes for the laundry, which his valet will take care of for us tomorrow.

It’s almost midnight Sunday, and we’re both fricking exhausted.

And my day’s nowhere near finished yet.

I playfully slap his ass. “Sooner you let me get you naked, sooner you can go to sleep, boy.”

He turns his head and peeks up at me with one eye. “The bed has claimed me as its own,” he mumbles. “Resistance is futile.”

I snort and catch half of his playful smile. He likes making me and Leo laugh. He’s good at it, too, when he doesn’t have to deal with the minutiae of keeping our country running.

I wish he had more time to spend on making us laugh.

He finally sits up and turns around so I can get him stripped. In my back pocket is my personal phone, and I’m expecting a text any moment from Grace. I sent her one as soon asAir Force Twowas on the ground, asking if we can get together tomorrow night.

This won’t be a one-time thing. She needs to trust me a little before I can make my move. I need to feel her out and see what other info I can get from her.

Once the boy is naked and using his walker to head to the bathroom, I return downstairs to grab another load of luggage. Before I reach the bottom step, my ass buzzes.

Right on time.

I pull out my phone and, sure enough, there’s a text from her.

Tomorrow, 8?

Excellent. I reply and confirm, grimly smiling as I return my phone to my pocket to free my hands. I’d debated using a throwaway Google Voice number or something, tied to the burner, and then decided not to. She’s not stupid enough to say anything in text—I hope—that can be tied to her scheme.

There’s also the very real chance I might need to make it look like she and I are fucking.

By the time I finish moving everything, it’s after one a.m. and Elliot’s sound asleep in our bed. I stand there for a moment, staring at him.

Fricking adorable. He really is.

I strip, take care of business, and soon join him. We can sleep in a little this morning, until seven. Might not sound like that’s late, but for us, it is. We’re releasing the announcement about Casey joining the campaign later today, at a press conference at four. She’ll meet us at campaign headquarters just before then, and I’ll leave Elliot there with her while I go “handle some things.”

I get the impression, based on what Casey said to me that day in the hotel room, that she is intimately acquainted with having to go to extremes to protect someone.

It’s also something I’ll never ask her about, either, much less confide in her about Grace. Because I might trust her in some ways, but this is something else.

No one can know.

Besides, if I fuck it up, Elliot will need Casey every bit as much as he’s going to need Leo. I feel comfortable leaving Elliot’s political fortunes in Casey’s hands. She’s strong, savvy, and protective. She understands the depths of my loyalty to my boy and to my Sir.

Despite my exhaustion, I lie awake, Elliot rolling toward me and draping himself over me. I’m nearly asleep when I feel him grow restless and he softly moans.

Here we go.

This is one of the reasonsIcouldn’t sleep. Because I knew what was coming.

I carefully wrap my arms around him, slowly squeezing, my cheek pressed against the top of his head. “You’re safe, boy,” I softly murmur. “Wakeup, Elliot. It’s just a nightmare. I’ve got you.”

By the time he startles awake, I’ve already got a tight enough grip on him that he won’t thrash around and hurt me. But he’s gasping for breath and I feel his heart hammering in his chest. As he starts crying, I ease my grip on him and start stroking his back. Hopefully, he won’t even remember this come morning.