by Lea Hart
“But I should’ve considered it as a possibility.”
“That’s an impossible task. There is no way to foretell all the possible dangerous scenarios.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. “I spent too many years in combat to miss something like that.”
“You are not a wizard with a magic glass that lets you look into the future. So quit wasting time blaming yourself. It happened, you saved me, and I am unharmed. What more could we want?”
“For it never to have happened.” He pulled into the parking lot at Combative Alliance and parked. He let the air conditioning run while he released his seat belt. “If I could put you in a protective bubble, I would.”
“Good thing nothing like that exists.” Glancing at the door, she sighed. “I’m not looking forward to seeing Richard. I did nothing to ward off Angelina’s attack, and I feel like I failed. Richard has put so much work into me, and I didn’t use any of it.”
“Honey, there’s not much you can do if someone has a gun to your back.”
“It wouldn’t have been a problem for you. You could have had ten men attack you and you would’ve been fine.”
“I went through the most difficult and challenging military training in the world. Then I spent fourteen years practicing and perfecting those skills. Don’t compare us.”
“I’m not. I just wish that I did a little better. When I saw that it was Angelina, I froze. All I could see was her taking a hatchet to your front door, spray painting the front of your house, and trying to light it on fire. When she spoke to me, I knew she had lost the battle and was no longer a friend with reality.”
“Sometimes the best defense is staying alive. And you did that.”
“I’m still going to work with Richard. At the very least, working the bags will help me get out my frustration.”
“Do you want to spar with me? I’ll let you throw me.”
Her eyes narrowed and she smirked. “Maybe I really will throw you. Who knows what kind of things I’m willing to do to win?”
“Which is why I’m here.” He stepped out of the truck and went around to open the door. “If you’re going to kiss someone, then I have to make sure it’s me. No need to let you on the loose.”
Sara unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her bag. “Fine, spoil my fun.”
He took her by the waist and lifted her out of the truck. When she stood before him, he lifted her chin and pressed their mouths together. She stiffened for a moment and then relaxed into his embrace. Bending down, he caught her bottom lip in his teeth and sucked gently. Sara’s quiet moan told him what he wanted to know. “Only kiss me.” He slid his tongue inside her welcoming mouth and devoured her. As things started to heat up, he heard a round of applause. “Idiots,” he breathed, as he reluctantly released her lips. Lifting his head, he glanced over Sara’s shoulder at Richard, Dom, and Nick. He flipped them off and held Sara firmly against his heart. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do?”
Richard looked at Nick and Dom and shrugged. “No, can’t say that we do.”
Sara pushed away and straightened her T-shirt. Twirling around, she strode toward the front door. She didn’t acknowledge anyone and slipped inside with her head held high.
“I might be getting in trouble later for smooching her in public.” Grady grabbed their bags and walked up to the group. “Don’t give her a hard time today. She’s putting on a brave front, but I have a feeling she’s going to crack any minute.”
Nick slapped him on the back. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
“When she was abducted, she didn’t fight back at all, and she feels pretty shitty about it. She said that she let Richard down because she didn’t do anything to stop it.”
“That’s bullshit,” Richard barked out. “The fact that she’s alive and unharmed is all that matters.”
“I know, but that’s not the way she sees it. When she saw that it was Angelina who had the gun to her back, she froze. Unfortunately, Sara had a front row seat when Angelina attacked my house.”
Nick shook his head. “I’ll talk to her and make her understand that she did everything right.”
“Thanks, man,” Grady called out. “I’ll spar with her when she’s ready.”
“Don’t want anyone else to have their hands on her?” Dom asked through a laugh.
He put down the bags, held up his two hands, and grinned. “These will be the only two hands on Sara for the rest of her life.”
Richard raised his eyebrows and waited. When Grady remained silent, he smirked. “Does she know that?”
Looking down at his shoes, he shrugged. “Not yet. When the time is right, I’ll let her know.”
Dom pulled out his wallet and handed Richard a twenty-dollar bill. “You called it.”
Grady lifted the bags again and walked past them. “I’m not going to ask.” He entered the building and glanced around. He spotted Sara on the treadmill and wondered when she was going to tell him how she really felt. Something had happened during the hours that Angelina had her, and he hoped like hell she would tell him sooner as opposed to later.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Thursday
The early morning sun warmed her shoulders as she sat on her front porch and watched Grady and Dane take the cameras off the two streetlights across the road. It had been entertaining to see them rig a rope over the top and then climb to the top. It was a surprise to see how nimble they were despite their size. Apparently, climbing and repelling were like breathing to them. Grady had said something about the O-course. Whatever that was.
The sound of a door opening caught her attention, and she saw Agnes making her way down the sidewalk. She and Gladys had returned last night from their cruise, and she figured they were ready to hear the news. Lifting her arm, she waved. “I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee.”
“I’ll make sure Gladys is up and then come over.”
Sara slipped inside and realized how much she had missed the ladies. They had become her best friends over the last year, and she had come to count on their advice and wisdom. The advantage of having friends who were in their eighties was that they had enough life experience to know what they were talking about. They didn’t waste time on the small stuff, because they had learned what mattered.
Agnes strolled in and held open her arms. “That email you sent us yesterday about gave me a heart attack.”
Sara hugged Agnes gently and patted her back. “The first line of the email was, ‘Everything is all right. Don’t worry’.”
“Exactly. When someone says that, it means that something horrible happened.”
“I didn’t want you two to come home and hear it from someone else.”
Agnes patted her hand and then sat down at the table. “We appreciate that. But it gave us a couple of harrowing moments. We had to have a couple of martinis to calm our nerves.”
“You two would’ve had the martinis anyway.”
“True. But we really needed them yesterday.”
Gladys walked through the door and shook her head. “Why are Grady and Dane climbing up the streetlights?”
“They’re taking the cameras down that Angelina had put up there. I think they’ve found two so far.”
Gladys sat down at the table and grimaced. “We’re going to have a neighborhood watch meeting. Clearly we’re not doing our job, if something like that got past us.”
“If someone does something past ten at night, they are guaranteed to get away with it. Everyone is asleep by then.” Sara poured them coffee and sat down. “How was the cruise?”
“Cruise, schmooze. Who cares?” Agnes replied.
Gladys patted Sara’s hand. “We want to hear about your kidnapping.”
“I gave you the highlights in the email, and there’s not much more to tell.”
Gladys sat back and crossed her arms. “There’s a whole lot to tell. You spent over twelve hours with a woman who was suffering a psychotic break. I can’t imagine what k
ind of bile came out of her. She might not have physically harmed you, but I’m sure she put a bullet through your emotional well-being.”
Taking a gulp of air in, Sara tried to stem the wave of emotion that was threatening to erupt. When that didn’t work, she stood and started pacing. “She talked for hours about her relationship with Grady. Detail upon detail. I thought I was going to collapse under the sheer amount of words that came out of her mouth. Watching someone lose her grip on reality is not for the faint of heart.”
“Could you tell how much was fact and how much was fiction?” Gladys asked quietly.
“No!” Sara cried. “I thought I knew too much about them before I heard Angelina’s endless rant. Now I’m sure that I know too much. It makes me sick to my stomach. It’s like watching a reality television show where they forget to turn off the cameras. You know that point when things start to get uncomfortable and the camera cuts away? Well, that never happened.”
“How do you feel about Grady? Has it changed how you see him?” Agnes asked.
Sara returned to her seat and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes.” The ball of sadness sat in her heart and made it hard to breathe. It was as if the sorrow didn’t allow room for anything else. “It feels like Grady belongs to Ang.” Holding up her hand, she tried to smile. “I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how it feels.”
“Because you know too much about their relationship?” Gladys asked.
“It’s never a good idea to have information about someone’s past relationship, because it makes it seem like there’s no space for the new one. Well, that’s how it feels with Grady. Also, how could a man be interested in Angelina and then be interested in me? We couldn’t be more different.”
Agnes got up and refilled their cups. “It seems like you need to have a real conversation with Grady and explain your feelings to him.”
Shaking her head, she frowned. “No way. What am I going to say? …‘How could you like crazy Ang and me?’ That’s not something that he’s going to be able to answer.”
“You might be surprised,” Agnes said over her shoulder as she set the coffeepot down. “Are you willing to let go of your relationship with him based on the poison that you heard?”
“Do we have a relationship? Or are we two people who’ve been caught up in a series of tumultuous events? We haven’t even been on a date yet.”
“So, go on a date and start over. See if there’s anything worth building on,” Gladys responded.
“Maybe.” Sara sighed.
Gladys and Agnes exchanged glances, and then Gladys spoke. “Honey, all that matters is that you build a life worth living. You’ve been under a constant threat for over a year, so it’s hard to know what you want. Maybe Grady is the person who was meant to help you get through some challenges. Nobody says that you have to keep him. Once this thing with the mafia is solved, take some time and see what you want.”
“On that note…Sammy is setting up some interviews with the press. I’m going to tell my story and hope it gives the Outfit second thoughts about killing me. They sent two low-level hit men down here to take me out. Sam took them into custody, and he thinks that the Outfit isn’t serious about me anymore.”
“That’s the plan?” Agnes croaked.
“The plan is that I’m going to make it difficult for Solly D to come after me, because if something happens, then everyone will know that the Outfit wants me dead. The second part of the plan is to have a meeting with him in Chicago. Face-to-face. I’m tired of hiding, and I want my life back. If they’re going to try to kill me, then everyone is going to know about it.”
“It’s crazy enough to work,” Gladys said.
The door opened and Grady stuck his head in. “We’re running out to grab some bagels. Set the alarm and stay inside. We’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“I didn’t hear ‘please’ or ‘what do you think?’ All I heard was orders,” Sara replied, as she stood and marched toward him.
“Honey, would you like some bagels?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.”
“Please set the alarm so that I won’t worry.”
“Okay, dear.”
He snagged her hand before she could walk away and pulled her in. “Give me a kiss.”
Sara pulled him down and kissed his cheek. Before she moved away, he caught her lips and smooched her hard. “Don’t forget to get lox and schmear.”
“Yes, dear.” He winked before he closed the door.
“He’s got you good,” Agnes commented from the table.
“Not helping,” Sara called, as she walked into the kitchen.
***
Grady searched for Sara in the house and couldn’t find her. Glancing through the patio windows, he spotted her in the donut float in the middle of the pool. She had been pretty quiet since breakfast, and he wondered if she was ready to tell him what was going on. There was still some distance between them that had nothing to do with the kidnapping. She was pulling away, and he didn’t want to let that happen. His natural instinct was to bind them together through physical intimacy, but she had been giving off strong no enter signals, so he didn’t want to push her.
What happened between them when they were together made him believe that she was his future. She was the love of his life. He knew it in his bones the same way he knew he was meant to be a SEAL. He slid the door open and stepped outside. “Honey, do you want to go out and grab something to eat? Maybe we could watch the sunset after dinner.”
Sitting up abruptly, she glared at him. “Have you been talking to Gladys and Agnes?”
“No. Why are you looking at me like I asked you to clean out a ditch?”
“I’m not. I just don’t understand why you want to go out on a date. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You may not have heard, but that’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do together. It’s a ritual that has been going on for centuries.”
“Ha, ha.”
“So, is that a yes or a no?” She started to paddle to him, and when she got close enough, he pulled her next to the side of the pool. “Come out on a date with me.”
“Okay.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of enthusiasm coming at me. I hope I can handle it.”
“I’m just surprised. We haven’t really gone out before.”
“Sure we have. We went out a lot when we were in San Diego.”
“That seems like a lifetime ago. A lot has happened since then.”
“Which is why we should go out. There’s no reason that we should not be out enjoying ourselves. We live in a great city with a ton of things to do, and we’re going to start doing them. In fact, I’ll plan a couple of things for the weekend.”
“Maybe we can go surfing.”
“Sure, I’ll talk to Trevor and find out where he and Katie go. I think they go almost every weekend.” He lifted her out of her floaty and pulled her flush against his body. The fact that she wore only a bikini and was soaking wet only made it better. He grabbed her tush and carried her inside. “Let’s shower and get ready. We have a date to go on.”
“Oh, Grady, you’re not going to give me a chance, are you?”
“I’m not going to give you a chance to pull away. I know you have a lot of stuff running around in that head of yours, and when you’re ready, I want to hear it. We are not going to let the mafia or Ang stop us from being together and happy. I survived too many close calls in my life to let something like that get in our way.”
“All right.” Sara sighed.
“Great!” He kissed her quickly and set her down. Fake it till you make it was going to be his motto.
***
They walked up to the restaurant, and Grady smiled at Sara’s expression. “Is this going to be okay?”
“This is lovely. I haven’t been out very much since I moved here, and this feels like such a treat.”
“Well, we’re going to have to go out and have a lot of special dinners. This place is called the Red Fish G
rill, and I hear the food is great. Joel recommended it and said that it was one of Vivi’s favorites.”
“Do we get to sit outside?”
Hugging her close, he kissed her head. “I reserved a table on the patio. We should have an amazing view of the sunset.” The way her face lit up made him feel like a million dollars. All he wanted was for her to be happy and safe, and it seemed like they were on the right road.
“I’m very excited, because I haven’t been on a date in probably two years. I hope I remember how to act.”
They stood at the hostess desk and waited to be seated. “We went out to dinner in San Diego. I’ve taken you on a date.”
“That seemed more like a business trip. This feels like a date because you asked me out and I agreed. Then I got dressed and did my hair and makeup, and you planned something for us to do. This is our official first date.”
Grady watched her look around the room and enjoyed how excited she was. He also felt like an ass that it had taken him this long to treat her like she deserved. Somehow they had fallen into a pattern, and he never made the effort to take her out. No wonder she wasn’t that excited about him.
“Is my hair sticking up?” She smoothed it down and then straightened her dress. “I did the best that I could with it.”
Bending down, he smiled into her sea-green eyes and grinned. “You are the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen, and I’m one lucky guy to be standing here with you. I know the men in here are trying to figure out how I managed to get you to go out with me.”
He noticed her cheeks got rosy, and she squeezed his hand.
“It’s true, Sara. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to let you know how beautiful you are and how fortunate I consider myself.”
“You don’t have to say all of that.”
“Yes, I do. I’ve screwed up, and I plan on letting you know how I feel from here on out.”
“Okay.”
The hostess returned and Grady spoke with her, and they were soon led to a table that faced the ocean. The sun was starting to soften, and they were probably in for a hell of a sunset. Grady held Sara’s chair and kissed her cheek before he sat down. “We’re going to have to come back here at least once a month. This place is great.”
