“I don’t think so, sweetie. Mr.—ah, Grady is just being cautious.” She flashed him a pointed look. “Right?”
“Right.” Grady made eye contact with her daughter. “Don’t worry. Nothing bad is going to happen while I’m around, okay?”
“Okay.” Lucy’s tremulous smile tugged at her heart. Having divorced Nelson five years ago and obtaining sole custody of Lucy, she knew her daughter didn’t have any memories of her father. Since Nelson was in jail for manslaughter, Lauren preferred to keep it that way. How she’d been so blind to Nelson’s dark side, she had no idea.
Maybe it was wrong to be glad Nelson was in jail. Their divorce had been contentious despite the prenup she’d required him to sign. She’d soon learned Nelson had only married her because of her wealth.
Whatever. That was old news. As much as she could easily envision Nelson doing something as low as abducting his own daughter for a hefty ransom, he was in jail. And therefore, he couldn’t be responsible.
Someone else was behind this. Too bad the list of suspects pretty much included everyone who resented the wealthy.
“I changed my mind. Let’s stop for pizza.” Once the idea took hold in her mind, she couldn’t let it go. She glanced at Grady. “You can have whatever you like, but we need to order one pepperoni pizza for Lucy.”
“Really? Pepperoni pizza?” Lucy sounded excited. “Yay!”
A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she glanced back at her daughter. “We’ll have to blame Grady for wanting pizza so Clara doesn’t get upset with us.”
“Oh yeah?” Grady’s wry drawl made her glance at him to see if he was truly upset. The twinkle in his green eyes indicated he wasn’t. “Sure, make me the bad guy right out of the gate.”
“It’s just that she fusses over us and takes it personally when we don’t eat what she’s prepared.” Lauren shrugged. “Normally, that’s not a problem, as I prefer to serve Lucy healthy meals.”
“Healthy is fine, but this is a special occasion,” Grady said. When she frowned in confusion, he rolled his eyes. “Our engagement! Surely you haven’t forgotten our engagement already.”
She blushed at his teasing. The people around her tended to cater to whatever she wanted. Which, quite frankly, got old fast. She wasn’t used to being teased.
“Of course, I didn’t forget. That’s a great excuse for us to use.” She decided not to point out that if they were truly engaged, they’d be celebrating with steak, lobster, and champagne. For a moment, she envied Grady’s simpler lifestyle. Then she gave herself a mental shake. There was no point in wishing for something else. She’d been given many blessings. And she’d made it her mission to champion various charity events. Her favorite by far was the work she did as the spokesperson for St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago. When Lucy had been born, she’d needed emergency open heart surgery. From that point forward, Lauren had made it her mission to make sure all children received the care they needed, regardless of their ability to pay.
Thankfully, she was in a position to make that happen. Not only were her parents wealthy, but her father’s parents had left her a large trust fund. A fund that Nelson had hoped to get his hands on.
The jerk.
“What’s your favorite pizza place?” Grady asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Um.” She didn’t want to admit that when they ordered pizza, Clara took care of the details.
“I like Captain Jack’s pizza,” Lucy announced. “That’s the kind Ariel’s parents get from the store.”
Grady shot her a quizzical look, probably wondering what kind of world her daughter lived in. “Any pizza you think looks good is fine with us,” she hastily added.
“Got it.” He made an abrupt turn to the right. She braced herself with a hand on the dashboard when she heard a loud crack.
Confused, she looked around, wondering if someone had gotten in a car crash.
“Down!” Grady shoved her head down as he drove the Jeep up and over a curb. The jarring motion made her teeth snap together.
“Mommy?” Lucy’s plaintive voice had her turning to look at her daughter. When she noticed the rear window was shattered, she belatedly realized the banging sound wasn’t a car crash.
It was gunfire!
2
Mentally kicking himself for not being better prepared, Grady recklessly drove up and over the curb to get off the traffic-packed street. After driving through a narrow alley, Grady went down another curb, forcing two cars to stop so he could merge into traffic heading the opposite way. Ignoring the blaring of horns—Chicago drivers used them often regardless of annoying driving—he managed to put more distance between his Jeep and the black SUV that had taken shots at them.
“Lucy, are you okay?” Lauren’s voice trembled with concern. “You’re not cut by glass, are you?”
“No.” The little girl sniffled and wiped at her face with her mitten. “I’m scared.”
“I know you are, sweetie.” Lauren turned to look at him. “Did you get a good look at the car?”
