Like wondering why I hadn’t texted.
He didn’t say the words out loud, but he’d been pleased when she’d blurted them out. It had tested his resolve not to send all those messages, but he’d been determined not to bother her. The day had been acombination of boring and busy. He’d also wanted to go into the ER a few times to check on her but had stayed where he was. Walking around the parking lot looking for anything out of the ordinary, as well as staying close to the ER entrance for the exact same reason.
“Come into the kitchen, I’ll get you a drink and explain everything.” There was so much he had to tell her, and it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. What he wanted was going to be a tough sell, but he’d negotiated with some of the toughest assholes in the drug world when he’d been undercover, he’d be able to handle this—at least he hoped he could. “What would you like? I’ve got soda, juice, sparkling water, still water, cider, and beer. Coffee. Tea. Hot chocolate.”
“What are you, a bar or something?” She placed her bag on the counter before sitting at the two-seater table in the breakfast nook of his kitchen. He had to admit he liked seeing her in his house.
“I like to have options. And I got Eveline to stock my fridge while I was with you today. My fridge and cupboard were rather bare.”
“You always get other women to shop for you?” Her eyebrow arched.
“Just today. So, drink?” Once he explained what he wanted, she would understand why he’d gotten Eveline to stock up for him.
“I’ll have a soda, thanks.”
He pulled out two cans as well as glasses, before opening one and emptying most of its contents into the glass. “Here you go. Do you want ice? I should’ve asked before I gave it to you.”
“No, it’s fine. Thanks.” She took a sip then placed it back on the table. “Now that you’ve got the pleasantries out of the way, want to tell me what’s going on? Because I know something is.”
He took the seat opposite her and reached for her hand. She didn’t resist when he laced their fingers together. “After I left you at work, I went back to the car and called one of the guys from the team to come meet me with a device to check to see if there was a tracker on the car.”
“I’m sure he was pleased with being woken at almost six in the morning.”
“Nah. Fox was about to get up anyway and go to PT with the other guys, he was happy to get out of it.”
“PT?”
“Physical training. All the guys who work at Alliez are all former special forces. They like to keep up their fitness and train most mornings. The married guys tend to miss the odd morning, but because of the nature of the jobs they take on, it’s important that they don’t let their physical levels drop.”
“Do you join them?” Marie took a sip of her drink,but he could swear that her cheeks looked a little pinker than they had a few seconds ago.
“Some days. I’m more of a consultant these days, but I also don’t want to get out of shape.”
“I see.”
Yep, her cheeks were definitely rosier than they were. What was she thinking? Was she thinking about the other guys running on the beach? A shaft of jealousy swarmed through him, and he pushed it away. She was inhiskitchen. She’d kissed him as if she couldn’t get enough of him. Not to mention she hadn’t really talked to any of the other guys to even wonder about them.
“Anyway,” he started, needing to get the conversation back on track. “Fox and Deal arrived and we checked the vehicle and found a tracking device on it. Our best guess is they placed it on my vehicle while I was parked outside of your place.”
He paused, letting the implication of his words sink in. It didn’t take long for her to understand what he hadn’t said out loud.
“That means they know where I live. That they are after me.” Her eyes drifted shut, the hand within his shaking slightly.
“It looks that way,” he said gently, wishing that it wasn’t.
Her eyes snapped open. “What am I going to do?They know where I live,” she repeated, and her reaction was everything he expected it to be.
“You’re not in this alone. I want to make that clear. Even if you weren’t Yolanda’s daughter, there’s no way we’d leave you to work this out by yourself. We are doing everything we can to find out who they are and what they want.”
“I don’t—it’s all too much. Why is this happening? It makes no sense.”
Needing to be close to her, he went to her side and tugged her up, wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t have the answers to those questions yet, but we will.” He didn’t want to scare her, but she needed to know what he was thinking. “I feel like this is related to what happened in San Carlion.”
“What do you mean? Are you talking about Alfredo and his threats? Don’t you think if he was going to follow through on them he’d have done it while I was still there? Why wait till I’m on American soil? Wouldn’t that be more dangerous for him to do that?”
Isaac led her to his living room. “With these men they think they’re untouchable. They are powerful and influential men where they come from. They are more in control than the leaders. Corruption is rife in a lot of these places. Hands get greased for authorities to look the other way. It happens here as well. Heprobably believes he’s got enough people in his pocket that it doesn’t matter. That he can get away with it.”
“This all seems like a movie and not real life.”
