“Em, stay right where you are.” Travis’s authoritative order sounded from the hallway.
“Well, I can’t see anything, so that won’t be hard,” I called back, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. Able continued to growl, something I’d never heard him do, as I sat frozen in place.
I saw Travis’s silhouette move toward me and could just barely make out the goggles and bulletproof vest he wore, a gun in his hand. “Night vision,” he explained, tapping at the goggles.
My eyes popped wide. “What are you ready for World War 3?”
“Can never be too prepared.” He clipped.
“At least we’re not both blind,” I blathered nervously as he pulled a bulletproof vest over my head, tightening it with fast and steady movements that spoke of years of experience.
He’d started to lead me toward the stairs when a gunshot blasted through the room, the sound of glass shattering nearly as loud as the gunshot itself. I let out a shriek as Travis pushed me behind him, his gun aimed toward the sound.
“Don’t fucking move!” Roy’s frantic call sounded from somewhere near the patio door. My vision was still adjusting to the darkness, but I could now make out shapes and impressions.
“All right, Anderson, why don’t you calm down so we can talk about this?” Travis’s voice was steady as he replied.
“There is no fucking calm, not anymore!” came Roy’s hysterical shout. “All I needed was that fucking client list. It was going to be so simple,” he complained. “I’d be able to get them to do business with me again. Then she had to be there,” he snarled. “You were already my mother’s favorite. You’re not even blood.” He howled in angst. “Of course, it had to be you that fucked this up for me.”
I bit my tongue against offering him the reality check that clearly his investment banking days were long over. No client in their right mind would trust him with their money, list or not.
“Can’t have loose ends,” he ranted to himself.
“This doesn’t have to escalate, Anderson,” Travis cut in his voice deep and authoritative. “You can walk out of here alive. I know that’s what your mother wants.”
A scoffing sound filled the air. “You mean I can leave here in cuffs and rot in jail. Five years ago, I had a mansion in Malibu. I drove a Bentley. Did you know that? I had women all over me. Then it was gone. I want that back. I need it.”
“All right,” Travis agreed easily. “Let’s talk about how to get you there.”
With cool calculation, Travis was switching gears; there was no reasoning with a madman—only pacifying.
Somehow, he’d centered all his failures on me—on the fact I’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I need her gone,” Roy snarled. “It’s the only way.”
“That isn’t happening,” Travis growled. “Your options are to lower your weapon, or I put you in the ground.”
Clearly Roy’s threat had ended any effort on Travis’s part to appease him.
“You shoot me, you risk me getting a shot off at you,” Roy warned.
Travis chuckled darkly. “You’d be dead before you could ever get a shot off at me, promise you that. I’m only giving you this opportunity because I’d rather not have to face May and tell her I killed her son. Otherwise, this would have been over the second you said a word.”
I believed that wholeheartedly.
“If my threat isn’t enough, then maybe the fact that you have two men behind you with their guns trained on your back will do it,” Travis added casually.
I could just make out Roy spinning in surprise, offering the opportunity Travis needed. He fired a shot that took Roy to the ground.
“Drop your weapon!” Declan shouted as two hulking figures drew close to Roy’s crumpled form.
“Now!” Theo barked.
There was a moment of chaos where the three forms blurred before Declan’s voice rang out, confident and only slightly out of breath. “Secure.”
I wilted against Travis’s back in relief. He turned toward me, pulling me into his arms, as close as our bulky vests would allow. “Okay, baby?”
I nodded frantically, unable to convey my relief that this was finally over.
“Good,” he replied, before taking my hand and guiding me down the few steps we’d made it up and back into the main room. “Now let’s get some fucking lights on, yeah?”
****
Travis didn’t leave my side once our home became overrun by uniformed police officers. He’d gotten the lights back on and had removed our vests. It was a relief to have the heavy piece of equipment off.
I knew Able had to be miserable, locked in the office, and Pip must have already pissed all over the floor, more than once, but it was safer for them with all the chaos.
Roy had been carted off in cuffs by paramedics, the gunshot wound to his leg not life-threatening, as Travis had surely intended.
Detective Harris had been one of the first responders, and though I’d never imagined it possible, he was a friendly face amidst so much turmoil.
Dec and Theo answered questions, their weapons holstered and massive arms crossed over their chests in matching poses that would intimidate even the most seasoned officer.
Harris didn’t have many questions for us; the explanation was fairly simple, and he was all too familiar with Roy’s past.
“Tired, baby?” Travis murmured with concern as I started to droop against his chest. He wrapped an arm around me. It was well past midnight and had been an eventful night, to say the least.
I nodded.
“This will all be over soon,” he assured me.
“What will we do about the door?” I asked, eyeing the patio door where the glass had been shattered.
“One of the guys will help me throw some cardboard on it for tonight. Unless you don’t feel safe? We can go to a hotel for the night if you’d rather,” he offered.
I was shaking my head before he was even done. “No, I want to sleep in our bed. Roy was the only reason not to feel safe, right?” At Travis’s nod, I continued, “Then I don’t want to go anywhere. It’ll be so nice to have my freedom back.” I sighed.
“I’m sure,” he agreed. “Though, I’ll still follow you around whenever I can,” he added, dropping a kiss to my temple. “I’d follow you anywhere.”
I looked up at him, offering a tired smile. “Ditto, honey. And now, it can be because you want to—not because you have to.”
“Either way, the view’s the same.” He grinned lasciviously.
“What is it with you and my ass?” I laughed, slapping him on the arm, amazed at how much lighter I felt despite the evening’s events.
He shrugged. “Most gorgeous ass I’ve ever seen. What do you expect?”
I blushed. I’d never thought I’d have a man like Travis in my life. I’d thought I’d only find romance in books, and though I still loved devouring my novels, I had the real thing in my arms every day.
It appeared that dreams really did come true.
Chapter 23
“Pip! Get back here, you little stinker!” I hollered, chasing frantically after a wet puppy as he scampered down the stairs. Somehow, he was more adept at escaping a bath than Able.
After a hike that had turned muddy, Able was still locked in the garage until I could tackle that challenge. I’d thought Pip would be easy.
When the doorbell sounded, I’d just grabbed Pip and wrapped him in a towel. “Coming!” I called, blowing my hair out of my face, sure I looked a complete mess.
I opened the door to find an older couple staring curiously back at me. “Hello?” I greeted, though it sounded more like a question. I hadn’t been expecting anyone.
The woman beamed at me, flashing pearly white teeth against peach lipstick. “Is this Travis’s house? I told you we had the address wrong,” she huffed to the man, who I assumed was her husband.
“It is. I’m his girlfriend, Emerly. And you are?” I prompted as Pip wriggled in my arms.
> “I’m his mother,” she replied, as though affronted I didn’t assume as much. “Shelby,” she introduced. “This is my husband, Paul.”
I forced myself not to visibly react. They were just about the last people I expected to show up on our doorstep, and I didn’t think Travis would be very happy with the surprise. “It’s nice to meet you, please come in.” I gestured inside. “Let me just put this little bugger in the garage,” I added, striding quickly to the door off the kitchen and plopping him gently inside.
“We didn’t realize Travis had a girlfriend,” his father commented.
I fought the urge to ask why on earth they’d be surprised, when Travis hadn’t spoken to either of them since we’d met.
“And you live here?” his mother asked, looking around. “Quite a place he has,” she added.
“It’s our place,” I replied with a brittle smile. “And yes, it’s beautiful.”
Having them show up out of nowhere as though they had every right to be there had every protective bone in my body on alert. They’d all but abandoned Travis, a man I loved more fiercely than I’d thought possible, and Sam, one of my best friends. My own upbringing came to mind, and I knew that though Travis put on a brave front, it cut deep to be cast aside by your own parents.
I expected Travis home anytime, and desperately hoped nothing had derailed him at work.
“Can I offer you something to drink?”
“Some wine if you have it.” His mother nodded. “What is that racket?” she asked, her head cocked toward the garage.
“I took the dogs on a walk, and it got a bit muddy. Until I can finish their baths, they’re relegated to the garage.”
She looked genuinely confused. “Travis doesn’t like dogs.”
That same brittle smile crested my lips once again. “He loves our dogs.” I shrugged as I poured her wine, and when he nodded, some for Travis’s father as well.
I poured myself a large glass, sensing I’d need it, just as the garage door sounded.
Thank God.
“Travis is home.” I smiled brightly at them. A moment later he slipped into the kitchen, obviously knowing from one look at our mutts not to let them inside.
“Baby, what’s going on with—” His question was cut off abruptly when he caught sight of who sat at the bar. “What the fuck?” he demanded.
I guess that answered how this was going to go.
“Hi, darling.” His mother grinned, slipping out of her chair to lay a kiss on a stone-faced Travis. “We were driving through on our way to Mexico for a little R&R, and thought we’d pop in.”
“Pop in?” he asked incredulously. “I haven’t seen you in years.”
She waved a hand. “Well, honey, you know how busy we are. I talked to you not that long ago though,” she added dismissively.
“Oh yeah? When was that?” he countered.
She appeared to mull that over as she went to stand alongside her husband. “Well, I suppose it has been a while,” she admitted.
Travis came to stand at my side, his arm wrapping around my waist. His fingers curled into my skin, pressing almost to the point of pain, betraying the tension running through him.
“We didn’t realize you had a girlfriend,” she chirped.
“No, you wouldn’t,” he replied simply.
She shot a confused look at her husband. “Well, we certainly didn’t expect to be so unwelcome,” she huffed. “You get a girlfriend and suddenly you don’t have time for your own mother? And since when do you like dogs?”
Travis let go of my waist, and I sighed in relief, sensing my tender skin wouldn’t be able to withstand what came next.
“I’ve wanted a dog since the first grade when Pete Abrams down the street got a puppy. I asked you for one every birthday and every Christmas, you just never listened,” he ground out. “As for Emerly, don’t you dare blame her for the fact you have no relationship with your children. That’s all on you. The only reason I even tolerated you up until now is to hold on to some semblance of family.” His gaze turned to me, love glittering so brightly in those dark depths that I nearly lost my breath. “But she’s given me the only family I’ll ever need. Her and Sam, and her son, who you’ve never even met,” he snarled as his gaze returned to her. “So let me make it clear—from this point on, I have no interest in having you in my life. I certainly don’t want your indifference near the woman who will be my wife and the mother of our children. So, get your shit and get out.”
The silence that followed was so charged it was as though it had a roar all its own.
Stools scraped back, his parents grumbled and huffed, but otherwise left abruptly, put in their rightful place after so many years.
I turned to Travis as soon as the door slammed shut behind them. “You okay?” I murmured.
“Only reason I’m not is that I’m here”—he pointed to the space in front of him— “and you’re there.”
I smiled and stepped into his space, relishing the feel of his strong arms as they wrapped around me. His chin rested on the crown of my head and he sighed. “Yeah, babe. I’m good. Great, actually. That was long overdue.”
For a few moments, we just held each other, swaying slightly to a silent beat. “I do think part of me felt like I needed them,” he admitted after a time. “Family is such a powerful thing—but I realized it’s the concept of it, not the people itself. Sam and I, we never had a family with them. She found that with Sid. And….” — he paused, pulling me closer still— “I found that with you.”
I looked up at him, grinning like the lovesick fool that I was. I knew exactly what he meant. “That’s why I didn’t need you to track my folks down,” I explained quietly. “I don’t need them. I don’t need to know why they left. I have everything I need and more right here.”
He lowered his head, taking my mouth in a kiss that held more promises than words could ever convey.
“Let’s go upstairs and practice the more part,” he murmured against my lips.
“Practice makes perfect.” I smiled.
“I was always a perfectionist,” he mused, pulling me up the stairs.
In the end, it was all that plus more—as it was every day with him.
Epilogue
Two months later
“Dear God, they’re going to kill each other,” Sam groaned from her lawn chair as we sat beside the pool Travis and I had recently put in. It had been his idea, saying it would be handy to have during the summer. Plus, I had a feeling he wanted it for those babies he’d become increasingly enthusiastic to practice for.
I snorted watching as Travis, Theo, Sid, Dec, Caden, and my brother, Ryan, played a makeshift game of water polo. It was more like a wrestling match, but as I ogled Travis, his muscles flexing, I couldn’t say I minded the view.
Ryan had arrived home several weeks before, and after a few tense meetings, Travis had won him over as I knew he would. He’d been over to the house several times and had taken a few meetings at headquarters as well. I had a feeling he’d be hired on soon enough.
My little brother had changed dramatically over the past few years. With his buzz cut and muscles he certainly hadn’t had when we were kids, combined with the calculated and confident way he carried himself, I scarcely recognized him. His eyes, though, those striking gray eyes that looked right through to the heart of you, those were still the same. One thing was for sure, my baby brother had become a badass man.
When Olivia toddled over to the pool, the guys broke it up, Caden swimming over and reaching for his daughter with a broad grin. Hudson soon followed as we looked on, drinks in hand.
Mabel sat in her polka-dot bathing suit underneath the large umbrella Travis had set up for her. With her bright red lipstick and large-brimmed hat, she looked like a classic movie star. A movie star who needed another drink already.
I’d noticed Sam hadn’t touched hers.
“Do you want something else?” I asked, eyeing her untouched drink. She offered a Cheshire cat g
rin in return.
“I can’t drink it.”
“You can’t?” I asked, a second before it sunk in. “Oh my God!”
Danny and I sat up abruptly from our spots on either side of her as May smiled knowingly. “When did you find out?” I demanded.
“A few weeks ago. It took us so long this time.” She sighed as she rubbed her barely protruding belly. “Sid and I wanted the news for just us for a while.”
“I completely understand,” Danny put in, wrapping an arm around her friend. “Congratulations, Mama.”
“Thanks.” Sam grinned.
“I’m so excited for you guys,” I squealed. “You’re such an amazing mom, you both are.” I looked to her and Danny.
“You will be, too.” Danny winked.
“We’ll see,” I mumbled noncommittally.
I couldn’t help my disappointment that Travis hadn’t proposed. We hadn’t been together long, but with the warp speed our relationship had traveled and all the talk of babies, I’d thought it would have happened. I worried he’d changed his mind. Now that we’d truly settled into our lives together, one without me having to look over my shoulder, maybe he’d grown bored.
When the sun dipped lower in the sky, the guys got out of the pool and fired up the grill.
“Did you fire Kelsey?” Sid asked Travis as they piled burgers onto the grill.
Kelsey was the latest in the revolving door of receptionists.
“Yeah,” Travis replied gruffly. “She was thirty minutes late for being fired. Fitting, given her track record.”
The rest of us laughed, aside from Theo, whose expression had grown severe.
“What’s up, man?” Sid asked him, obviously catching sight of his expression.
“Fuck this,” Theo ground out. “You know what? Enough. I’m going to get my girl.”
And with that he strode inside and out of sight.
Danny and Sam exchanged a wide-eyed look before bursting into cheers.
“It’s about damn time.” Sid chuckled.
I’d never met Sarah, but on that, even I could agree.
It was after a delicious barbeque that I sat amidst my friends, lounging at the table, the outdoor lights twinkling overhead and the sound of the ocean filtering through my ears. I felt utterly content.
Claim (Talon Security Book 2) Page 16
