Whatever the outcome, he wouldn’t let Marie out of his sight.
Chapter Eight
This wasthe second time in the space of thirty minutes that Marie found herself in Isaac’s embrace. Like it had done all those months ago, his hold had provided more than comfort. It had provided safety. After the events of the day, it was what she needed.
However, she was aware they were in a roomful of people including her mom, and they had to all be looking at them wondering what the heck was going on.
She didn’t know, all she knew was that now that she’d found Isaac again, she wasn’t going to give him the brush off like she had in San Carlion.
Thinking of him as Isaac now and not Samuel wasn’t hard for her. Thoughts of him had always beenin the back of her mind since the earthquake. Always popping up when she allowed herself to relax. A shadow in the far recesses of her mine. A regret that she’d turned her back on him.
She may have only known him as Isaac for thirty minutes, but it didn’t matter. Samuel and Isaac were one and the same person. How he was acting now was how he acted with her in Guatemala. Caring and considerate. After everything he’d explained, she understood why he’d given her a false name back then. Maybe one day he would tell her all about his time as Javier Cortez—yet another one of his personas. One she suspected haunted him.
“You good?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, thank you.” As much as she didn’t want to, she pushed against his chest, and immediately his arms fell away. The second they did, she wanted to snatch them back. Instead, she sat back down, aware that her mom was watching her. Marie didn’t need to look at her to know that her mom probably had a million questions about the hug, how she knew Isaac, and what happened in Guatemala. They were things that didn’t need to be fully discussed right now.
She gave her mom a smile and then returned her attention to the group seated at the table. “I will help you anyway I can. I will say that I didn’t get a good look at the men, it all happened so fast.”
“That’s okay.” Ox smiled reassuringly at her. “We’ll see if we can get some facial recognition, as well as see if we can find them on traffic cams. Once we have something we’ll let you know. In the meantime, how is the security in your building? Yolanda mentioned you’d recently moved back into your old apartment.”
“There’s a doorman. No one can get up unless I approve them or buzz them up when the doorman goes off shift.”
“Security isn’t there twenty-four hours a day? Please tell me they’re at least there seven days a week,” Isaac snapped the question. He hadn’t returned to his seat opposite her, he had remained standing behind her like a silent sentinel.
Marie sighed, he wasn’t going to like this answer. “They don’t work weekends. But seriously the front door is locked, and no one can get in, as I said, unless they’re buzzed inside. I’ve never had any issues living there.”
She sensed rather than saw that Isaac was going to argue about her claims, but the words didn’t come. Had someone given him a signal to not say anything? It didn’t matter, he would say something to her; of that she was positive.
“We can work around that,” Ox said in a way that had her wondering what exactly he meant. “Cass, once you work your magic let us know.”
The woman with glasses smiled. “Of course. It shouldn’t take me long.”
“Right.” Ox stood. “Isaac, you good with everything?”
“As I can be.”
A few of the men in the room chuckled, and all filed out, leaving just her, her mom, and Isaac, still standing behind her.
“I think your dad and I shouldn’t go out for dinner. You should come home with us and stay a couple of days. Or at least until we find out who these men are and if they are a threat to you.”
Living back with her parents was the last thing Marie wanted to do. She’d been out of the family home for years. Not only had she lived in another country, she’d previously been married for five years. Her independence was something she craved. “That’s not necessary, Mom. I’m sure it wasn’t anything other than an attempted robbery. What I do know is I’ll never order one of those driverless cars again.”
“You won’t useanyrideshare apps,” growled Isaac.
His command set her on edge. Her former husband had been a controlling type, and she wasn’t going to fall into the trap of allowing a man to make decisions for her all under the guise of caring and concern.
Marie pushed back her chair, not caring if sherammed into Isaac’s legs. If she did, it would serve him right for standing too close to her. Her temper was boiling, but she made sure her movements, as she pushed in the chair, weren’t erratic so as not to give anything away. Once she was happy the chair was where it should be, she stood and prepared herself for letting Isaac know that while she’d been happy to accept his support, that was it. “You’re telling me I’m not allowed to use rideshare apps anymore?” She didn’t have to repeat what he’d said, but she did all the same because she wanted to make a point.
Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, a classic defensive move. “Yes.”
“Right. Well.” She closed the gap between them and poked her finger in his chest. “Here’s the thing, Isaac, you don’t rule me. You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, okay?”
Nothing about him showed that her words made any impression on him. There wasn’t even a flicker in his brown eyes. His mouth didn’t twitch and his brow didn’t furrow. He looked as if her words bounced straight off him.
“Marie, Isaac only has your best interests at heart. Besides, I worry when you use those apps. They’re dangerous. Do you know how many women go missing when they get into one of those cars?”
Initially, Marie thought her mom was going toespouse some of her dated ideas, about how a man was right and she should listen to what Isaac said. Considering how much her mom pushed back against her dad, she was going to point that out. But then she had to mention about women going missing, and it hit home. There had been a couple of occasions, while she’d been in San Carlion, where young girls had gone missing. Their parents had tried to get the authorities involved, but their concerns were usually dismissed. Or the police made a token effort to try and locate them.
