“I show you affection all the time,” he objected, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Over the last few years, I made certain you knew you were loved.”
“You did? How was it that I missed those declarations?”
“I have no idea. When you and Vienna went after that killer and Zale and I caught up with you, what did I do?”
“I believe you grabbed me by my jacket and shook me. You weren’t at all happy with me. There was no declaration of love.”
“Yes, there was. I sang the bird love call to let you know it was me. I showed how much you scared me in front of two other people, something I’ve trained myself not to do. I never wanted to allow any enemies I have to know how important you are to me, and yet I couldn’t help myself. Sometimes you terrify me with your courage.”
He started off teasing her, but he didn’t end that way. She heard the sincerity in his voice. The admiration and respect.
“Rainier.” She whispered his name. He was her personal talisman. “I love you with every breath I take.” She put her hand over her heart. “You have no idea how much you’re loved.”
“Good thing when it’s clear my communication skills need improvement.” He sent her another brief grin, this one a little mischievous.
Her heart reacted to his playfulness with a ridiculous flutter. She knew as long as she lived, she would react that way around him.
Chapter Fourteen
“The café is hopping this morning,” Vaughn said. “I think everyone decided to get breakfast here today. Our poor new workers are learning what it’s really like to work here on their first day.”
Shabina bit her lower lip as she watched Tyrone seating Bale, Sean and two interns, Oliver Smythe and Maurice Vanderpool. “That looks like trouble right there. Tyrone sat them in Patsy’s section, so that’s helpful.”
“He knows what pains they are. He wouldn’t give them to the newbies,” Vaughn assured. “In any case, Raine and Vienna are here, and neither of them put up with Bale’s crap. Not to mention, you’ve got your man washing dishes out of sight. Anything goes wrong and my guess is, he’ll be all over it.”
“Maybe not in a good way. I don’t want him in jail,” Shabina said. “Bale’s uncle, Rafferty, is here with Rob Howard and Len Jenkins, the two FBI agents. Unfortunately, having his uncle here will make Bale think he can get away with anything.”
“The two women, twins—or I guess they would be triplets still, even if one passed,” Vaughn said. “They seem really nice and determined to put down roots here.”
“Felicity and Eve Garner.” Shabina supplied the names. “Theysaid they feel closer to their sister when they’re here. More at peace. They seem to really love experiencing all the things their sister, Freda, enjoyed so much. Apparently, they hadn’t done backpacking and climbing the way she did.”
“Kind of strange when they were so close,” Vaughn mused. “I can see why they’d find peace here though. All of us do.”
“Unless Bale is around,” Shabina corrected and sent Vaughn a small grin.
“Fortunately, I don’t think they’re really on his radar. But he is watching Edward. He isn’t happy that Edward is sitting with that woman at the table tucked away in the back corner. Bale keeps scowling at them, but Edward seems so absorbed in the conversation with the woman that he hasn’t even looked up.”
Shabina followed his gaze to the back table. “That’s Janine Hale. She’s visiting from Washington with two of her best friends. They’re sitting at the small table next to the window in front of Bale’s table. Theresa Nelson and Val Johnson. They were on the bird-watching tour. Edward went as well and seemed to enjoy it. He’s been painting. Janine is an avid bird-watcher and she also enjoys painting. The two of them really hit it off. I think Janine extended her vacation time so she could get to know Edward a little better.”
“Did you warn her Edward isn’t very nice to women?”
Shabina shook her head. “No, unless he does something else, I’m giving him a chance. He’s cleaned out his house, which should have been done years ago. Hopefully, he’s really breaking away from Bale.”
“He’s totally absorbed in the conversation with Janine,” Vaughn pointed out. “The twins seemed to be chatting with Janine’s friends. That’s a good sign.”
The two women had gotten up from their table and weregossiping with Theresa and Val. All four women were laughing. That made Shabina uneasy. Their laughter drew Bale’s attention—never a good thing in her mind. He pointed to the women several times and leaned into the other men, clearly making jokes. That was Bale’s way. He started with stories about women, and then the jokes became progressively more demeaning. By the time he got to actually harassing a woman, the others were more than ready to go along with him.
“Those students from the university apparently only like to come here to eat,” Vaughn said. “They order the same breakfast every morning and come in right before closing to order brunch. They think of it as their dinner, I guess.” He indicated Jules Beaumont, Emil Salhi, Jamal Talbi and Deniz Kaplan. “It’s really paid off with you making one or two meals from other countries. People that far from home enjoy eating the foods they’re familiar with once in a while.”
“Or every day.” Shabina did her best to make a joke of it. She’d taken tons of cooking lessons and gone to a prestigious school to learn international dishes.
Having so many potential enemies in her café was disconcerting. She felt the beginnings of the headache that heralded a breakdown. Her thigh burned and throbbed, aching with pain. Her skin felt clammy. The symptoms got worse when the two men claiming to be Interpol agents limped in. One was using crutches. Knowing they were part of Scorpion’s cabinet made her skin crawl. How was she expected to act normal with them in her café?
She glanced toward the kitchen, needing the reassurance that Rainier was close, as Tyrone seated them near the entrance, taking pity on them because of their obvious injuries. Under any other circumstances, Shabina might have felt their wounds servedthem right, but she was too cognizant of Rainier in the next room. He might be out of sight at the moment, but that didn’t mean he’d stay that way. She wanted the assurance of his presence, but she didn’t want the men to see or identify him. They might not realize he was Deadly Storms, but they would know he was lethal.
Theresa waved at her and indicated a table for four that had just been set up. She circled with her finger, including the twins, making it clear they wanted to sit together. Shabina nodded and forced herself to go to them. Two tables needed to be cleared to allow more customers in. If a party of four had been waiting a longer time, they could put the tables together. There would be less room for the servers to move around, but they’d made it work many times.
“Good morning,” she greeted as the four women settled into the new seating arrangement. “Have you ordered?”
