"Angel, what are you doing over there?" Mete's voice made me glance at him for a second, then I looked back out the window.
The tree was empty. No one was there.
I stepped away from the window and wrapped my arms around myself. That smile had crawled under my skin.
When I turned to Mete, tense, he was already right beside me. He grabbed my shoulders and studied my face.
"Duru, are you okay? What happened?"
"I heard a sound from the window. I looked outside to see what it was. There was a man by the tree in the yard. All black clothes, hood up."
The second I finished the sentence, he headed for the door.
"Do not leave this room."
He shut my door behind him and hurried downstairs. I went back to the window and stared into the yard for a long time. But in the dark, seeing every detail from that distance wasn't easy. When I spotted the guards spread around the yard, I stepped away and sat at the foot of the bed.
A loud, high-pitched ringtone filled the room and made me flinch. I cursed under my breath and raked my fingers through my hair. Whoever it was, they could wait. I was not in the mood to talk.
A few minutes later, Mete came back in and sat next to me. I looked at him expectantly. He shook his head.
"Sorry, angel, but we couldn't find anyone. Worse, there's no sign someone entered the yard at all. But the guards will be more alert now. Don't worry."
I sighed and nodded slowly.
"Maybe it was just a shadow from the tree or something, but it looked like a person. Considering how tense and sleep-deprived I've been, it wouldn't be that crazy."
He smiled and put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him. When he started stroking my arm gently, I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.
"Kerem didn't want us to tell you, but I think knowing will help you feel better."
I opened my eyes immediately and straightened. His arm fell away as he turned to face me.
"What would help me feel better if I knew?"
"Kerem asked Feyza to get a copy of the security footage from New Year's night at the hotel, so he can find the man who hurt you. Then I was going to take the footage from Feyza and give it to my computer specialist friends. We know he couldn't have entered the hotel wearing the mask, so he must've been caught by at least one camera before he put it on."
Confused, I cut in.
"Why did you hide that from me?"
"Kerem didn't want to bring up that night around you, and we respected that."
My hands drifted to my neck without thinking. He looked at me with understanding and continued.
"The good news is, we have the footage and my friends started watching it. The bad news is, the hotel is very prestigious and popular, so there's a huge number of people in the recordings to analyze. That slows them down a lot. But I promise you, we'll get what we want eventually. My friends are among the best you could ever meet, and since Kerem paid them very well, they're extremely motivated to help. Trust me, angel. No matter how long it takes, we will find that man."
"So that's why he called you over." I smiled, and he tapped my shoulder lightly. "Yeah. That's why he called me. So you can relax now. Your sexy devil isn't homophobic or anything. If he were, he wouldn't be friends with Efe in the first place."
I rolled my eyes.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Then the realization hit me and I snapped my gaze to him. He had his eyebrow raised, looking at me like he was enjoying every second of this.
"Oh my God. You're joking."
He shook his head.
"No, you're not joking."
This time he nodded, and I shouted in the same shock.
"So Efe is gay?"
"Bingo!"