“The boss?”
“Oh, don’t pretend you’re innocent.”
I sighed. “There is nothing going with the boss. Not since the last time.”
“The last time?”
I looked down at my hands. “I can’t help myself when I’m around him. The only way to describe it is a moth to a flame. I feel like I get trapped in his orbit and I can’t escape. I don’t want to escape. He is so good.”
Rose burst into laughter, slapping my shoulder. “Then why are you denying yourself?”
I shook my head. “Rose, there’s something about him. Remember that self-defense class we took a couple years ago, and the instructor told us we all had intuition and we should never ignore it?”
She nodded. “He was talking about rapists or attackers in general. This is not that.”
I shook my head. “No, I know. But there is still that little voice in the back of my mind that won’t be quieted. I can’t explain it. I mean, I feel no physical danger from him, but I do feel he is dangerous in general. I think it’s because he is so reserved and tells me nothing about his life.”
“Maybe he has a dark past. That doesn’t mean he’s bad in general. You like him. I can see that. Give it a chance.”
I sighed. I wanted to believe it. I wanted to find out he was a good guy and all my worry had been for nothing.
“This is going to sound super cheesy, and I’m embarrassed to even say it, but what the hell? Follow your heart. That attraction you’re feeling? Follow it. I think it knows better than your jaded self.”
“I love you,” I said with a cheesy grin.
She burst into laughter. “So, have you seen that new bakery that opened up?”
I shrugged. “I drove past it.”
“Let’s go check it out.”
“I have Abby.”
“Is she not portable?”
I laughed. “Colton did leave me a booster chair for her in case we had to go somewhere.”
“Good, I know that girl wants a pastry.”
I shrugged. “All right. Sounds good to me.”
I walked into the living room and filled Abby in on our plans. She was, of course, ecstatic. The bakery was busy when we arrived, which wasn’t a surprise. Abby waited quietly in line. I watched another little boy bounce all over the place, disobeying his mother and being a nuisance in general. Abby was such a good girl. She stood with me, holding my hand despite her eagerness to get to the front of the line.
To keep her occupied, we talked about all the choices we had to choose from. Rose was worse than the little boy. She kept getting out of line and walking up to the case to the ogle the many delectable treats.
“Chocolate croissant,” she announced. “That’s where it’s at. That’s what I’m getting.”
“What do you think, Abby?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I imagined it was all a little overwhelming for her. “I think we will get chocolate croissants too. We can always come back again and try something new.”
When we finally got our turn, we took our croissants outside to eat on the curb. The inside was packed, and the outdoor seating was all taken.
I took the first bite and groaned as the buttery, sugary croissant melted in my mouth.
“Seriously, amazing,” I muttered. “Did you take a bite?” I asked Abby.
She was looking at the croissant with confusion. “Is it a donut?”
“Nope. It’s better than a donut. Give it a try.”
She took a dainty bite, slowly chewing as she let the flavor wash over her taste buds. Her eyes lit up.
“Do you like it?” Rose asked.
Abby was vigorously nodding. “It’s so good! We should get one for Daddy!”
I turned to look at the line inside the bakery, grimacing at the sight.
“Come on, it’s a good excuse to get seconds,” Rose said with a wink.
“I cannot eat another one of these. I can feel the sugar in my blood already.”
“It’s so good, though!”
“All right, let’s finish and then we’ll get back in line.”
The three of us took our time enjoying our treat before getting back in line and going through the whole process again. I had a feeling I would become a regular. I was going to need to start working out at the gym with Colton if I kept eating here.
Rose drove us back to my house, said her goodbyes, and left me and Abby to ride out the sugar crash. I turned on the TV and Abby climbed up next to me, snuggling close. It wasn’t long before I heard her breathing slow and her hand slipped off her leg. She had crashed. I was feeling the same crash and leaned back, closing my eyes for just a minute.
The next thing I knew, Colton was standing in front of me, looking at us with serious worry on his face.
“Are you two sick?” he whispered.
I smiled and slowly rolled my head back and forth. “Sugar coma.”
“A what?”
“We went to the new bakery in town.”
The look on his face told me I had overstepped.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I should have called to see if it was okay.”
“It’s fine. Really. I don’t mind.”
Abby stirred beside me, rubbing her eyes. When she saw her dad, she jumped off the couch, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Guess what, Daddy?”
“What?” he said.
“We ate a cro—” She turned to look at me. “What did we eat?”
“A croissant. A chocolate croissant.”
“We got you one too, Daddy!”
“You did? I don’t know if I can eat it. Look at you two.”
Abby looked at me, completely confused. She ran past him and grabbed the little white bag off the table before racing back to hand it to him.
I watched as Colton opened it up and peered inside. “This looks yummy. How about I eat it after dinner?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Why don’t you get your dolls and stuff?” he told her.
When she was out of the room, I stood up. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realize how sweet those things were.”
He chuckled. “I feed her donuts for breakfast. I am not going to criticize a croissant.”
I sighed in relief. “Good. It was really good.”
“Thank you for watching her. She seems to be doing great. She really likes you.”
“She’s a lot of fun to hang out with. And boy, have you done a good job raising her. She is so well behaved and really listens.”
“Thank you. I don’t know if I can take all the credit. She’s a smart girl. It’s just her personality. Good genes or something, I guess. We got lucky.”
I nodded, pretending I didn’t catch the word that was very telling. It was the first time he had even mentioned the mother. His use of we told me they had at least been together at one point in her life. The wistful look in his eyes made me wonder if she had died. My mind was in overdrive, thinking about the many different possibilities.
“You did. She is a fun, smart girl and I absolutely adore her fashion sense.”
He groaned. “I don’t know where that comes from. I do know I need to start saving up for her shopping sprees now. I have a feeling she is only going to want designer clothes.”
I laughed. “Maybe she’s going to grow up and be a successful designer.”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s all we need.”
Once again, he used we. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear it. There was a stricken look in his eyes as he realized what he had said. Thankfully, Abby returned with her backpack just then.
“Let’s get going, bug. We need to give Jenna some time to relax.”
I waved goodbye, shutting the door behind them before going back to the couch to collapse. The croissant had done me in. I needed to think about how I would pass the time with Abby. I needed one of those kiddie pools. I didn’t exactly have any toys in the house and I wasn’t sure how to keep her
entertained. She was doing fine thus far, but I was sure it would get old really soon. I needed to have a backup plan.
I thought about calling my mom and asking her what kinds of things four-year-old girls liked but quickly scrapped the idea. I didn’t want to tell her about Colton. She would get the wrong idea. I didn’t want to get into the details. My mom would see right through me and press me until I spilled my guts.
This was not something I was ready to share just yet. I knew she would find out about the diner situation soon enough too. I was dreading that conversation.
Chapter 21
Colton
It felt good to be in the gym. I liked the smell of bleach, alcohol, and sweat. A gym environment had been my home for so many years. The last few weeks had been too long and I’d missed it.
I was working with a young guy who had lived on a farm all his life. He had the strength and drive to be a strong contender in the MMA world. Devin’s parents were not thrilled with the idea of him becoming an MMA fighter or a fighter of any kind. We were in the Bible belt after all and the cornfed kid was supposed to take over his family’s farm—not beat the hell out of guys for money.
“Let’s take a break,” I told him after a tough round on the bench press. “Get some water.”
He nodded and headed off to refill his sports bottle. I was drinking from my own when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but it was a Boston area code. The only person from Boston who had my number was Kevin. He would call me from his own cell or the store’s line. This could be a fishing attempt.
I let it go to voicemail. He’d leave a message if it was him.
Devin returned, and we dove back into our workout. I knew the kid was expecting some sparring on the first day, but that wasn’t going to happen. I needed to see what he could handle and get him toned up. Then we would work on the martial arts.
“Great workout,” I told him. “Keep up the cardio work. Fighting is serious cardio and you can’t be winded after a few minutes. We’ll work the bag this week.”
He nodded and gave me a sheepish grin. “Thanks.”
Grabbing my stuff, I pulled out my phone as I was walking to my rig, then checked the voicemail left by the mystery number.
I stopped in my tracks, frozen as I heard the voice. It was Axel Lloyd. The man who had tried to recruit me to work for him as one of his security guards. It wasn’t until I figured out who he really was that I decided the job wasn’t worth the fat wads of cash he paid me under the table for guarding his back. Axel was an evil man and I had found out who he was too late. I watched him shoot a man point blank, all because the man had insulted his family.
He was a mob boss. That was the only term for it. He was too suave to be called a gang leader. The men and women who worked for him were regular folks, but they all had a dark side. It wasn’t until I started working for him that I realized how much corruption and evil was in the city. It was everywhere, and I wanted no part of it. I suspected they were involved in drugs as well as human trafficking. I hadn’t worked for him for very long when I realized I had fucked up. There was no such thing as easy money.
“Colton, my friend, I’ve missed you.” The cold, methodical voice sounded threatening. “It seems you misunderstood our arrangement. You work for me. When someone works for me, they don’t up and leave without a word. I hate having to track people down, but it has to be done. Now, I know that sweet little girl of yours and the beautiful young woman that were enjoying a very delicious-looking treat yesterday are close to your heart. I would hate to have anything happen to either one of them. Unfortunately, I take my business very seriously and this only ends one way. You or them.”
The message ended. I stared at my phone, my mind whirring as I thought back to the day before when Jenna had taken Abby to the bakery. They were being watched and followed.
“Shit!” I muttered before racing for my SUV. I jumped in, hitting the button for Jenna’s number while throwing the Tahoe into drive. I half expected a bomb to go off or a man to pop up in the backseat. If he knew where Abby and Jenna were, they knew where I was. I didn’t like playing games. Axel was going to make me squirm and sweat before he made a move. The phone rang three times before she finally answered the damn thing.
“Hi,” she answered in her usual upbeat manner.
“Are you okay?” I blurted out.
“Yes. Of course. Abby and I are in the front yard, watering flowers. Why wouldn’t we be okay?”
I took a deep breath, trying to quiet the panic I felt pumping through my veins. “Get in the house! Lock the door, close the curtains, and don’t open the door for anyone!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath, not wanting to freak her out. “Jenna, I’m serious. I’ll explain as soon as I get there. Please, take Abby inside and stay there.”
“Is it Aaron? Did him or one of the other guys say something?” She sounded more irritated than afraid.
“No. I can’t explain right now. Please, go inside and stay there.”
She hesitated for a second before letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “Fine. Are you on your way home?”
“Yes. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay,” she grumbled, and I knew I had better think fast. She wasn’t going to accept anything but the truth.
When she hung up, I immediately felt the loss of the thin connection between us. I had no idea if Axel or his security were still in town, but I had to assume they were. They wanted me. I had seen something and now I either pledged my loyalty to him or I would be eliminated from the equation. Axel was the kind of man who rubbed elbows with the mayor while murdering people in back-room deals. He was ruthless.
I parked my SUV in my driveway before rushing over to Jenna’s house.
“Jenna, it’s me!” I shouted.
She pulled open the door. “What the hell is going on?” she practically shouted.
“Where’s Abby?”
She gestured toward the small dining area.
I nodded. “Listen, I’m going to explain as soon as I can. Right now, I need you to come with me.”
“Go with you where, Colton?” she growled, one hand on her hip as she glared at me. “You better tell me what’s going on.”
Abby came into the living room. I shut the door behind me and reached down to pick her up. “Hey, bug. Did you have fun today?”
She nodded. “We watered the flowers, and tomorrow, we’re going to plant more.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
I turned my attention back to Jenna, who was still scowling at me. “Colton?”
“Please, pack a few things, whatever you need, and come home with me.”
“Abby, can you go pick up your dolls and put them in your backpack?” she asked.
I put Abby down and she ran down the hall. “This is serious, Jenna.”
“Is this your way of getting me into your bed? I’m not interested in sleepovers.”
I shook my head. “No. It has nothing to do with that.” I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. “Please, Jenna. You may be in danger.”
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “Damn it! I knew there was something about you. I kept telling myself I was crazy.”
I took a deep breath, knowing I was killing the sweet little life I had hoped to build here. It was too late for the happily ever after in Beatrice. Axel had found me. I couldn’t stay here, but I couldn’t leave Jenna to deal with my mess.
“You’re right and I am so sorry. This was a mistake. I should have never gotten you involved in my life. I apologize, but right now, I need you to come home with me where I can keep you safe.”
“From who?” she hissed.
“It’s a long story. Will you please trust me? I would not make this up to get you in my bed. I’m serious. Please.” I looked into her eyes and let her see the honesty in my own.
She hesitated, and for a brief second, I thought she would tell me to go
to hell. I knew she wanted to. I could see the defiance and irritation in her eyes.
Abby came back into the room, bouncing along as if there was nothing wrong. That was good. That was what I needed her to think and feel. I didn’t want her terrified.
“Please?” I asked again.
“Fine. Let me grab a couple things,” she muttered before stomping down the hallway.
Once we got Abby situated, I would confess my sins. I couldn’t believe I had put Jenna’s life in danger. Her biggest crime was giving me the time of day. She should have stayed away from me. If she’d truly sensed danger, she should have listened to her intuition. I was going to lecture her about that.
She came back into the living room, a small overnight bag in her hand.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Lock up.”
She rolled her eyes but went to the back door and locked it before checking the windows. I knew locking up the house would do little to keep the bad guys out, but it would slow them down a little.
“Are you going to my house?” Abby asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
Jenna smiled. “I am. I guess we’re going to have dinner together after all.”
Abby clapped her hands together. “I’ll help you cook.”
Jenna grinned. “I think your dad is cooking tonight.”
She looked up and shot me a look. I guessed I was making dinner. I hoped Jenna like mac and cheese. My culinary skills would leave her wanting. I couldn’t risk having a pizza delivered. We walked across the yards, my eyes watching the street, looking for any cars that didn’t belong. Thankfully, the street was dead, and it would be easy to spot a vehicle that was out of place. Jenna was watching me scan the area, her eyes questioning me.
Once we got inside my house, I locked the door and drew the curtains closed, making sure each window was locked as well. When I went back into the living room, Jenna and Abby were sitting on the floor, unpacking Abby’s dolls.
I watched them playing together, doing my best to school my features. Jenna had come into our lives completely unexpectedly. Abby liked her, and I hated to rip her away from the first woman she had truly bonded with since her mother died. I considered asking Jenna to run away with me, but I had a feeling that would be pushing my luck. I had barely gotten her to walk next door with me. Moving out west or way down south was not going to happen.
Going After What's Mine Page 13
