“One of these days…” Mac muttered as they entered the house.
“Damn it, Rachel. Don’t hang up on me. I mean it,” Matthew warned as they came around the corner to his office. A second later, he slammed down the phone, glanced up at the ceiling, and swore under his breath.
“Did your little she-cat get under your skin again?” Mac asked, chuckling.
“Stay out of it, old man,” Matthew called from his desk. “I swear she’s in a mood. If this keeps up, she’ll be the death of me.”
Julio entered from the kitchen, carrying bottles of water for everyone.
“How did it go today?” Julio asked Jameson.
“As well as expected,” Jameson said, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” his leader responded.
“It seems all of us have women trouble today,” Mac muttered as he sat down on the couch. Matthew joined him while Julio and Jameson took the armchairs.
“Victoria Rostov landed about an hour ago and decided to bring her husband, Ivan. She ordered us not to disturb her while she’s shopping for all the Serenity kids and her two sons, Lucas and Nick. They’ll arrive tomorrow morning to speak with Caroline,” Julio informed them.
Matthew chuckled. “Have you warned the citizens of Embers to wear cups? Victoria’s got a mean way of grabbing and twisting a man’s balls. She accidentally took out one of the Serenity Securities men, Shadow. I swear he still flinches when she walks by him.”
The other men joined in, recalling Victoria’s antics.
“Why did Ivan accompany her?” Jameson asked. “Let me guess, he didn’t trust me with his wife.”
“We all know Victoria can handle herself,” Julio chastised him. “Don’t take it personally. She flew down here per your request. Give her some credit.”
Jameson frowned, staring at his water.
“Rebecca planned to join us, but her director called her,” Julio said. “The Feds located Cain. He’s in Colorado. They’re hoping he’ll lead them to the trafficking ringleader there.”
“I preferred it when he stayed on the East Coast. I don’t want him coming near Caroline,” Jameson growled.
“We’re monitoring the situation,” Matthew assured him.
“How do we know for sure he won’t try coming for her? He purchased Caroline from my father,” Jameson pressed.
“Your father kidnapped women from all over. There’s no reason to suspect he knew where Caroline came from, other than James’ mansion. Since there’s no way he can get inside there, Cain has no reason to arrive in Texas, much less Embers,” Julio explained. “Do you have reason to believe otherwise?”
“Caroline’s father offered for her to stay with them. It means she’ll be closer to Corpus Christi than us. I don’t like it,” Jameson admitted. “Unfortunately, she’s considering it.”
“Ask her to hold off,” Matthew suggested. “It’s a security risk.”
“I can’t. They’ve already spent time apart. Her dad seems frail. It’s not fair to keep her from them,” he argued.
“Jameson’s right. I’d fight anyone who tried to keep Rebecca from me after we found her. I’m assuming if she allowed you to drive her to Corpus Christi, she might agree to let you guard her.”
“Let’s not forget about the little blue convertible,” Matthew reminded them. “How long will you convince her it’s a companyvehicle? If she says anything to Rachel, it’ll take two point five seconds before my fiancée gives it away.”
“What’s up with Rachel?” Jameson asked. “You sounded pissed earlier.”
Rubbing his forehead, Matthew glanced at the ceiling. “Rachel wants to set a date for the wedding. While I admit she’s changed since moving here, I have some concerns about some of the things she’s doing. She bought Riley a pair of Jimmy Choos shoes, knowing damn well the bride planned to wear cowgirl boots. Guess what’s sitting in Rachel’s closet now? Then, she went to an all-day spa and ran up almost six thousand dollars in one day of shopping. We sit down and budget, she agrees, and then I get the credit card bills.”
“Caroline said something earlier. She asked if Rachel shops as a way of coping. You know her better than the rest of us. Does it sound plausible?” Jameson asked, playing with the wrapper on his bottle.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “Rachel plans on attending her father’s trial. I hoped to get it out of the way before we set a date. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I like the idea of having a couple of rugrats running around the house. Rachel acts like she’s allergic to kids. It’s not a dealbreaker if she’s opposed to having them, but I’d like to discuss it. We need to sit down and talk about it.”
“I don’t know, brother,” Julio said, leaning forward. “Having kids seems like a big topic to avoid.”
