"Yeah. Does he carry knives too?" Claire asked curiously.
Alex shook his head. "I don't think so. Ethan has let his guard down a lot since having the chance to be a normal kid. Not that there's anything wrong with that! He shouldn't have to spend his life in a state of hypervigilance."
"But you do?"
"Protecting you is my job. That never changed even after the hit got called off."
She smiled at him indulgently. Of course he would think that way. She knew better than anyone that Alex had considered her safety his top priority from very early on in their friendship.
The subject changing seemed to have lightened the dark cloud hanging over him after their unfortunate encounter with his mother and she was relieved. He didn't need to deal with that.
