Her eyes widened. “It might be spacier than yours? Uh, yeah. Come on, we’ll throw our stuff in the back.”
Chloe had gotten into enough shit during high school to know when to be paranoid. And now that she had caught onto the fact that something really was wrong, I knew I had her on my side. I buckled Natty into the backseat while Chloe tossed our things into her trunk. Then, we buckled ourselves in and as I drew in a deep breath.
“I’ll watch for tails, you tell me where to go,” she said.
I nodded. “Done.”
I directed her all the way to Dean’s place, and not once did I ever get the impression that we were being followed. And obviously, Chloe felt the same way since she followed my every command. We pulled into the townhouse complex with Dean in tow behind us and he eased his way into the parking space next to ours.
But it wasn’t until Chloe parked the car and took my hand that she leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“I always knew you two were meant for one another. Take all the time you need. I’ll take care of Natty while we’re in the car.”
I kissed her cheek before I craned my arm back to tickle my daughter for a bit as she listened to music with her headphones on, then I eased out of the car.
“Chloe?” I asked.
She nodded as if she already understood. “If things happen, I’m out of here with her.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. Now, go. And try to listen to what the man has to say, okay? You’ve always been terrible at that.”
I nodded before I closed the door, then I booked it across the parking lot. I kept my head on a swivel as I approached Dean’s front door, and it opened for me as if he had been watching. I blazed a trail into the living room as he closed the front door, locking it with a flip of his fingers.
And when I turned to face him, I’d never seen the kind of focus in his eyes that rooted me to my place.
“Okay, I’m here. What do we do now?” I asked.
He walked up to me and took my hands in his. “There have been some new developments with the cartel. We figured out that the head of it, Carlos Banderas, is here in town. He has been for a couple of days. And our only thought is that he’s here to clean up the mess his crew has made.”
I shook my head. “So, what does that mean?”
He closed the gap between us. “It means that you, and your little girl, and Chloe need to be somewhere safe.”
“Well, that’s why we’re here. We are packed and ready to go. Natty thinks we are--.”
“Natty?” he asked.
It wasn’t the right time to discuss where my daughter had come about. But I smiled, nonetheless. “Natasha. I call her ‘Natty,’ for short.”
He nodded. “Motherhood looks good on you. But I thought you couldn’t--.”
I pressed my finger to his lips. “Later. We can talk about that later. But right now, I need to know how you’re going to take care of my daughter.”
The focus in his gaze returned. “I will do whatever it takes to make sure the three of you are protected. Though, I have to admit that I figured you’d have a ton of questions for me.”
“Trust me, there will be time for questions. But I promised Chloe that I would take you at your word until I knew we were safe. So, what’s our next move?”
He was right. I had plenty of questions. Like how the fuck he got his hands on my cell number and how he knew I had a daughter. I heard the shock in his voice over the phone, but he still spoke of her as if he already knew her. I wanted to know how long the cartel had been breathing down their backs. I wanted to know if we were going to make it. Fucking hell, I wanted to know how in God’s great green creation I’d become a target for the fucking cartel in the first place. My brain still couldn't process it!
However, there would be time for questions once we got to safety.
I could tell by the look in Dean’s eyes, though, that I wasn’t going to like any of my options.
Fifteen
Frost
