“I did call out, saying you looked beautiful,” he said, crouching beside the side of the pool.
“Are you home early?”Mia asked, swimming to his side.
“Nah, I’m actually home a little late.I am sorry about that.”
She looked up at him and saw the frown above his brow.“Are you okay?”In the last few days, she had seen the stress creeping up on him, and she wished she could take it all away and make him happy.The girls were still missing, and they didn’t have any leads.This just made life harder for him.
“Yeah, I’m okay now, I’m home with you.How’s your day been?”
Mia smiled.“It’s been slow.”
“And the sickness?”
She wrinkled her nose.“That is one of the problems I’ve been dealing with, but other than that, I am okay.”
There was nothing for her to complain about.A touch of morning sickness was gone by ten o’clock most days.A little toast, some warm tea, or milk, and she tended to be fine.It didn’t affect the rest of her day.
“I don’t want you going out on your own from now on,” he said.
“Do you think they’re going to try and attack me?”Mia asked.
“I have no idea who we’re dealing with or what they’re capable of.”He sighed.“I don’t get it.”
“Talk to me.”
“I’m not going to bore you with all the details.”
“Maybe a problem shared...”She tilted her head to the side and he chuckled.
“I get it, babe, I do.I just don’t want to taint my time with you, with this bullshit.”
“It’s not BS,” she said.“It’s what you’re dealing with.”
“I just hate fucking cowards, and doing this shit behind masks so no one can see is cowardly.”
“You think kidnapping girls is cowardly?”She frowned.“Ignore what I just said, because I said it, and then I heard it.”
He stroked her cheek.Mia saw that he just needed to relax.She smiled at him, and then lifting herself out of the water, she grabbed the lapel of his jacket.
“Join me.”
And she tugged.
Mia knew there was a chance he wasn’t going to follow, however, Giovanni surprised her as he gave in to her demand and went headfirst into the water.She released a giggle and quickly swam away.The only problem was, Giovanni didn’t come straight up out of the water.
She saw a few of his clothes were floating around, and she couldn’t help but wonder, in the merest hint of a second, if this is what people felt in those movies, who suddenly had to face off with a shark.
“Giovanni?”
There was no way he was able to hold his breath for that long, was he?She spun around and felt her nerves gathering up, and everywhere she turned, she was sure she saw him, and then his arms wrapped around her.
“Got you,” he said.
She let out a startled scream, but he didn’t keep her for long, he lifted her and threw her a few feet across the water.
Mia did not have the most gracious landing, but she did burst out laughing as she hit the water.Then, pushing it out of her face, she quickly broke the surface.She didn’t know if Giovanni was going to hide, but there he was, closing the distance between them and pulling her into his arms.
“I missed you today,” he said.
