That was one of the things that I loved about Lany…and hated. His heart was made of gold. He had a very strong sense of right and wrong. and he believed in helping others. no matter the cost.
He also tended to ignore the danger to himself if he believed it was for a good cause. I always figured maybe that was why we had met. He needed someone to keep him safe while he saved the world. That worked a whole lot better when he kept me in the loop.
“Just don't keep me out of your crusades,” I whispered into his ear. “How am I supposed to keep you safe when I don't know you are in danger?”
“I don't mean to keep things from you, Sal. I just…”
I leaned back so I could see all of his face, not just his eyes. “You just what?”
“Sometimes I feel like you’re my parent instead of my husband. You’re always having to take care of me and rescue me. How is that fair to you? To me? I'm supposed to be your partner, not someone you have to take care of all the time.”
“Have you ever considered that that makes you prefect for me?”
Lany's golden-brown eyebrows lifted. “Huh?”
“Lany, you've said it before. I'm a cop fantasy on crack. I have an overdeveloped hero complex. Maybe I need a husband that needs rescuing. Maybe that part of your personality meets a need that I have to be the hero.”
Lany squinted at me as if he didn't believe the words I was saying, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Do you remember how we met?”
“Yeah, I was getting my head handed to me by some jerk in a bar bathroom.”
“Do you remember what I did?”
“You beat him up and rescued me and then got me something to eat.”
I smiled at the memory. “I knew the instant I saw you sitting on that floor cradling your bruised cheek that I had found the ideal person for me. Why do you think I latched onto you so hard and so fast? You were perfect for me.”
I reached down and gently caressed the side of Lany's face. “You let me take care of you. You let me be the hero in our relationship. But I can't do that if I don't know you are in danger.”
Lany closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into my hand before taking a deep breath. There was a glint of resolve and an apology in his eyes when he opened them. “So, I probably shouldn't have taken the tracker out, huh?”
I snorted and swung Lany around before leading him up the steps. “You're getting another one.” Or two or three. “I'm sure Skip has a few on hand.”
And I intended to use every damn one of them.
Chapter Seven
Lany
“Hello, Brant,” I said as the door was opened by the man in charge of our security. Oliver Brant was a rather staid man who never seemed to crack a smile. He was damn good at his job, however, so who was I to complain? He kept the estate safe and secure, which meant he helped keep my family safe and secure.
“Welcome home, Mr. Lany.”
“Skip should be here soon.”
“Very good, sir. I'll show him in when he arrives.”
“Are the kids home?”
“Not at the moment, sir. They are visiting your parents for the weekend.”
My heart sank a little. I had really been looking forward to seeing them. Being away from the last ten days had been almost as hard as being away from Sal.
“Don't worry, caro. We'll call them home after we deal with this other stuff.”
I nodded absently and continued on into the house, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. “I'm going to go shower and change,” I told Sal. “I feel disgusting.”
