Bitches in WitSec who lived by their lonesome, that’s who. Danny slammed her cupboard shut, staring at the assembly of three soup bowls, one chipped coffee mug, and three glasses she’d produced. When her last two mugs broke, she hadn’t seen much use in finding replacements. After all, she was the only one ever using them.
Her handler scheduled a visit, and she wanted to at least be able to offer the woman tea or coffee.
A rap sounded at her door, three times in their perfunctory signal. Even still, the sound set her pulse racing. Danny didn’t have visitors. Not when she spent every spare second worrying her father tracked her down.
Danny tugged at the bottom of her slouchy olive tunic, as if somehow she straightened up for the visit. She’d already cleaned the handful of knick-knacks she owned. Even as she yanked the door open, her other hand leapt to the pistol in her waistband. Just in case.
Eve Jensen stepped in, her hair loose in beachy waves and her ballet slippers making a whisper as she carried a yoga mat inside with her. The woman was around her age, and even with the fast and easy pretense, she carried around this air of lethal seriousness like a live grenade, similar to every Fed Danny had met.
“Ready to get your Ashtanga on?” Eve announced as she closed the door behind her.
Danny rolled her eyes, the comment meant for the invisible mice listening in the walls. Eve set about rolling out the bright pink mat while Danny popped her TV on to some streaming yoga video.
“Want a cup of tea?” she asked, walking the couple of paces over to her kitchen lining the far wall.
“Sure, whatever you’ve got,” Eve said, starting to do some warm-up exercises. Like anyone in their right mind would believe this agent was a granola girl ready to get into relax-mode with a friend. Whenever they met in person, her handler always donned some disguise or cover to blend into their surroundings. Danny was used to the change-up by now. She’d gotten just as talented at slipping into different personas.
She set a pot of water to boil and rummaged around in her overstuffed tin for a few crumpled bags of herbal tea from her stash. The moment she poured the scalding water into the mug and bowl, the scents of chamomile and lavender wafted her way. She set her bowl onto her piecemeal TV stand, which was about to crack under the weight of another move. Eve raised a brow at the bowl of tea.
“It’s been awhile since I entertained,” Danny grumbled, walking over to her blinds to flicker them shut. She knew the drill.
“We got an update on your father,” Eve said, mid-stretch. Her gaze never left the program on the TV.
Danny should’ve been used to it by now, but every time one of the handlers said that, her skin crawled. Like her father waited outside her apartment, prepared to knock her out and add her to his body count.
“Does it involve me fending Kyle Peterson off with a tire iron?” she asked, staring at the scabs on her knuckles. “I think I could get a couple of good swings in.”
“You’re drawing Kyle Peterson to the region,” Eve said in a no-nonsense tone. “As a civilian under our protection, you won’t be doing any attacking. He’s on your trail, though. A body was found in Virginia with your father’s DNA all over it.”
Bile rose in Danny’s throat. “Not Mom, right?”
Eve shook her head, and the relief soaking through her felt a lot like guilt. Not for the first time, she wondered if she’d wake up one morning and want to go on a killing spree. After all, she had that bastard’s DNA in her genetic makeup. He’d never been a good father, never an affectionate one—but her entire childhood, he’d appeared normal. Until the Band-Aid peeled off a festering sore so horrifying those images would remain with her for a lifetime.
Every time he stole another life, guilt slammed against an already flimsy dam, like somehow she should’ve been able to stop him. Like her seven-year-old self should’ve caught him while he was vulnerable and tried to knock him out with her plastic tea set. Yeah, right. She was out digging in the dirt back then and jumping off swings with her friends. Still, if someone had stopped him…all those people wouldn’t have died. She would’ve never had to leave.
“So, what’s the game plan?” she asked. “Just sit here, twiddle my thumbs, and wait for my father to pop up on my doorstep?”
Eve sank out of warrior pose before stepping over to pick up her still-steaming mug of tea. “You need to stay visible and local. Eat your meals out in public and stay away from isolated situations. When you come home at night, keep your gun out and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Your father’s killing again, meaning he’s more dangerous than usual.”
As if Danny wasn’t vigilant 24/7. Now she’d be in full paranoia mode, the familiar prickle of adrenaline crawling up her neck. She lifted her bowl of tea and took a sip, the tea bag bobbing around on the surface. Even with the soothing scent, the herbal blend did little to calm her nerves.
“The check-ins will be a lot more frequent,” Eve said, taking another sip of tea as her intense gaze landed on Danny. “Your safety is of utmost importance in this.”
“And my mom?” Danny asked, desperate for any updates. If her father combed the States for her and Mom, their safety was more of a farce than ever.
“We have her under close watch in a different city,” Eve said. The edge in her voice hinted no more details would be given, no matter how much Danny longed to see Mom again and hear her voice.
“If he’s closing in on the two of us, wouldn’t it make more sense to dangle us as bait together?” Danny couldn’t help the word vomit of far-fetched solutions, but she’d do anything—anything to reunite with her mother. It had been so long since they’d spoken, since she’d seen those sad, smiling eyes and smelled the cocoa scent of the lotion she loved.
Eve shook her head. “You know that’s not possible. If something happened to one of you, at least the other is still alive to testify once we catch him.”
Arguments lodged in Danny’s throat. Staying here, so close to her hometown, as bait for her father had her walking on razor blades even more than normal. Adrian alone kept her from pulling into Meltdown Station.
Eve lifted the mug and chugged the rest of the tea. “And everything is fine here? Your alibi’s airtight?”
Danny’s stomach flopped. Not quite.
“Yeah, everyone I’ve met knows me as Danny Reynolds, nothing more.” The lie dried on her tongue. God, she hated lying to Eve, but they might have a real chance at locking away Kyle Peterson. She wouldn’t risk their shot by confessing her crush and best friend from high school happened to crash back into her life. And that he kissed like the devil.
Eve eyed her a second too long, and her heart leapt in her throat. Had she found out? It’d be just like her handler to have snapped a picture of them around town together and drawn the conclusion. Not like Danny had been careful from the moment she returned to Charleston.
“Good,” Eve said, placing the empty mug onto the TV stand before she bent down to roll the yoga mat. As quick as this feigned friend time began, it was over, and the urge rose to start some inane conversation to get her to stay. The desperate need for a friend had followed her for years, ever since she’d left hers behind in Hanahan. Even the way she’d text Camilla and grab coffee on a whim would become sore memories when the handlers ordered her to the next location and she had to ditch Charleston.
Danny wasn’t allowed to keep connections.
Before she could ask if Eve ate at any good restaurants or had a vacation planned sometime soon, her handler already headed toward the door.
“Stay safe,” Eve warned. “Keep us updated.”
At that, Eve exited. Danny’s door shut with a click, leaving her apartment lonelier than it had been moments before.
Chapter Ten
Adrian let out a groan as he hung up his phone.
He’d pulled into the parking lot of Ferry’s Way by the riverside, the place he was supposed to meet Danny for dinner. Except Mom had called, worried about Matty. His bike gang had gotten the cops called on them a
gain, and his brother headed down a fast track of following in Lex’s ex-con footsteps. Already, the late afternoon sun cast goldenrod rays across the skyline. He considered himself lucky he’d gotten out of the hospital before sunset, having been there since before the sun rose.
He got out of the car, the cool breezes by the river rifling through his hair and rippling the open button-down he wore.
Danny stood by the entrance of Ferry’s Way, leaning against the white siding. She was the sort of splash of color on a blank canvas that begged to be photographed. And the moment she caught sight of him, the way her jade eyes crinkled in a genuine smile and she hopped up from her slouch to greet him made his chest squeeze tight. Her ripped jean shorts exposed enough of those creamy thighs to have him salivating, and the black tank-top she wore paired with black Vans made him want to pin her down and forget dinner.
This time, they’d agreed on a less fancy dinner spot, and he picked this one for a reason. It was right near Riverfront Park, their high school meet-up spot. They’d headed there countless times after his track practices when she needed an escape and didn’t want to return home. He would smuggle a bottle of rum from his parents’ cabinet, and they’d sit on the boardwalk and just talk until they were alone with the stars.
“What’s up, Doc?” she called to him, mischief in her gaze.
Adrian rolled his eyes as he stepped up to her. “Original, darlin’.”
He settled his hands around her waist, drawing her close. She leaned up to press her lips to his, the taste of her an addiction. He deepened the kiss, the scent of lavender lingering around her. Her sun-warmed skin was the sort he wanted to touch, lick, and bite every inch of. She melted against him in a way that stoked his flames, and he wanted to give in to the heady lust percolating between them.
Danny pulled back first and slipped a hand through his. “Come on,” she said, leading them toward the door. “I’m starving and liable to turn into a bitch if I don’t get some sustenance.”
He couldn’t help but grin. The blunt way she talked offered a refreshing contrast to all the subtle shaded phrases Betty used to drop. No wonder Danny meshed so well with his family’s chaos—they operated on the same wavelength. A couple weeks together and he could already picture forever with her.
The thought splashed him in the face like the chill of the AC as they entered the restaurant. They followed the hostess to seats by the windows, these ones overlooking the Cooper River which sparkled like raw quartz under the late afternoon sun.
Christ, what was he doing?
Danny had made it clear from the moment she crashed back into his life—this was a temporary thrill. She would only ever be transitory, a stop before whatever secret she kept dragged her to a new location. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from yearning. He couldn’t tether his daydream mind or stop himself from searching for something real and lasting—that she’d be the one he’d settle down with after all these years.
“You still there, Adrian?” Danny asked as they plunked into the vinyl booth on opposite sides. He ignored the bittersweet twist in his chest of sharp, intense longing even as the woman of his dreams sat right before him.
He lifted his plastic menu, cracking it open as he forced a smile. “Apparently I was hungrier than I thought.” Her gaze lingered on him a heartbeat longer, like she didn’t buy it. Yet, she didn’t push harder, like they both knew what a precarious ledge they walked across.
Focus. Enjoy the moment. His shift at Hampton General was done for the day, and he sat in this wide-windowed restaurant by the river with a gorgeous woman. Life could be a whole lot worse.
The moment the waitress swung over, they both placed orders for burgers and drinks. Danny looked like she might gnaw an arm off if she didn’t get food soon. Adrian settled back in the weathered vinyl booth, basking in the sunlight that streamed through the window. The river’s sparkling crests winked at him as it churned outside.
“What’s it been like traveling so much?” he asked. Every time they neared mention of her family, questions about her disappearance, or why she changed location, Danny snapped up tight, but apart from those subjects, she usually gave an honest answer. With so many secrets stitched away, it was almost like she grasped for anything true to offer.
Danny ran a hand through her copper strands before responding. She didn’t look him in the eyes but instead stared out the window, pressing her forearms down on the lacquer table. “It’s interesting, but I’d be lying if I said I liked it. New York’s too fast and lonely, Boston’s the same sort of bustle, and if you didn’t grow up in the small towns in the Midwest, no one gives you the time of day. I’ve missed Hanahan something fierce.”
Adrian reached across the table to place his hand on hers. She met his eyes, and the look there struck him speechless. From the start, so much brimmed under the surface with Danny, complex emotions that begged to be untangled. Her laughs and smiles all had a sharpness to them, the edge of loneliness he now understood clear as the way it blazed in her eyes.
“Well, you’re here now,” he murmured. “Let’s enjoy every second of it.”
A brief flicker of relief shuttered through her eyes before she flashed him another gorgeous grin. “I’m here with you, aren’t I? This is by far what I’d consider my best life.”
A lump formed in his throat, followed by the longing that had been building with every interaction. What flared between them wasn’t just the brief heat of passion but a slow, simmering promise, one that would never come to completion.
Before he could respond, his phone began to light up and buzz with texts. He glanced down. Cal sent one after another in succession.
Danny grinned. “Which member of the Dukas family is it?” Wry amusement filled her voice, the sort of affection he’d always hoped for. When Betty said the same words, they were loaded with derision and long-held bitterness.
“Cal this time.” He heaved a sigh. The communication flowed continually between his family, something he’d grown up loving, but the more and more it caused fights between him and Betty, the more he’d come to resent it. Things had gotten to the point where the second his phone rang or buzzed, she’d huff and leave the room whether he responded or not, and the last year of their relationship, she’d made it to only a handful of family dinners.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Danny said, her gaze gleaming as she gestured to his phone. “What’s going on with your brother?”
“You don’t have to pretend to care,” he commented. “This is a constant with the Dukas family.”
She tilted her head, her expression bemused. “Who’s pretending? I’m genuinely curious. Adrian, do you realize how damn lucky you are to have a family who talks to you so often? I’d give anything for that sort of connection.”
Her words socked him in the chest. He’d fallen into a pattern of complaining after years of mediating his family’s persistent presence and Betty’s annoyance with their closeness. The truth he’d smothered all this time bubbled to the surface. He loved being in the center of the storm. The calls at random times, how his younger siblings came to him to help with their problems—he was so enmeshed he could never extricate himself, and he didn’t want to.
Since he was a kid, Adrian had always wanted to help people. To settle down and have a family of his own someday.
“I guess you don’t realize how much the past messes you up,” he responded, scratching the nape of his neck.
Danny cocked an eyebrow. “Betty?”
“Damn, how did you guess?” he responded with sarcasm so dry he needed water. “She hated how close I was with my family, and through our entire relationship, we had this constant push and pull, a me or them.”
Danny bit her lip, which only made him want to lean across the table and kiss her. “As much as her cheating on you was shitty, it sounds like the relationship would’ve withered eventually. You and the rest of the Dukases are a package deal—anyone who’s known you five seconds understands that.”
“Not everyone got me like you did,” he reminded her, unable to forget how she swung by study hall the days he needed a friend the most. Or even now, the way she drove straight through all his walls and defenses to the heart of him. As much as he tried to warn himself not to get attached, he’d been falling for her from the day they first met.
Tension settled between them, a thickness in the air making it hard to breathe as their eyes locked. Inevitability lingered there, the understanding that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t detach himself even if he wanted to. Light and easy had never been part of his genetic makeup.
“So, what did Cal want?” Danny asked, snagging his phone from the table. “You’ve struck my curiosity, and you can’t leave it dangling there.”
He snagged his phone back, aware of the way she skated around seriousness. Adrian flipped through the texts, scanning over them before he let out a sigh.
“He’s worried about my youngest sister Nellie.” He placed his phone down again, leaning back in his seat. “Her husband Greg is a grade A jerk, and she’s never been the type to survive well by her lonesome. She wouldn’t be able to live your sort of life, bouncing from city to city and not knowing a soul.”
Danny let out a bitter cross between a snort and a huff. “Don’t count me in the surviving camp. I’d trade anything to settle down.”
The “why” lingered on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back. She wouldn’t, maybe even couldn’t answer, so why bother?
“I know I’m lucky to have them, but it’s hard not feeling like Betty was right,” Adrian murmured, his thumb lingering over the surface of his phone. He should respond, but right now he just wanted to enjoy this time with Danny. Was that really so bad?
Danny lifted a brow. “My god, Romeo. You don’t have control issues—you’re so busy trying to save the world that you don’t bother setting boundaries for yourself. You’re allowed to give a damn about your siblings and get up in their business, but you’re also allowed to turn your phone off. You’re not on-call for everyone with a problem 24/7, and that includes me.”
Taking Root (The Eros Tales Book 1) Page 8
