Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Matteo had to restrain himself as sweet Annika stepped outside onto the patio.
Damn. She was too cute. Iris’s clothes were a little baggy on her. That wouldn’t last long, though. He’d make sure his precious girl got plenty to eat.
Realizing she’d missed so many meals hurt his heart.
But those days were over. His babygirl had the whole world at her fingertips now.
“You’re just in time. Our special dinner guest is almost here,” he told Annika.
Stepping closer to her, he could feel the warmth from her body. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and hold her all night.
Soon.
“Oh. Who’s coming over? Are they coming in the back?”
Matteo smiled as he shook his head. “Not in the traditional sense. See that light right there?”
He pointed to an approaching orb that seemed to be floating in the dark night.
“Yes,” she replied.
“That’s our special guest.”
“I don’t understand,” she admitted as the light came closer.
“Just wait, honey. You will.”
He almost moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist but caught himself before following through.
Don’t move too fast. You want her to feel safe here.
A minute later, the light arrived, revealing itself to be a drone. The humming noise it emitted was quiet but still audible as it hovered directly in front of Annika.
“Ollie!” she cried, reaching out.
The drone’s claw released its passenger and Ollie fell into her arms.
“How? Where…” She was speechless, it seemed.
“We have our friends to thank for this,” Matteo told her. “Meet Harrison and Stryker.”
The two men had been standing on the patio, off to the side, the entire time, along with Iris, Cami, and Lana. Matteo figured Annika had been so mesmerized by what was going on that she didn’t even notice them all, because she jumped a little as Harrison and Stryker stepped forward.
“Nice to meet you,” Stryker said. He flashed a grin as he held up the drone’s controller. “Happy to give Mr. Ollie a ride.”
“Yeah. Good meeting you, Annika,” Harrison said.
“You’re a movie star!” she cried.
Harrison nodded as he smiled bashfully.
Matteo had been around the guy now enough to know that it wasn’t false modesty; he was still genuinely a little embarrassed when people made a big deal about him.
“We’re both in the industry,” Harrison said. He jerked a thumb toward his best friend. “Stryker is a director.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that!” Annika said, still clearly excited.
“Hey, no big deal,” Stryker told her. “No one ever recognizes directors unless it’s Scorsese or Spielberg or someone like big and well known. I actually like it that way. Let’s me keep a low profile, unlike Mr. Bigshot here.”
Harrison laughed. “Please.”
“I love movies,” Annika said. “That’s why I originally came to Hollywood. Not to be in them or anything. I’ve never been pretty enough for that. But to work at a studio. It’s my dream!”
Once again, Matteo’s heart broke. His little sweetie didn’t realize just how gorgeous she was.
Daddy would teach her. In time, she’d see it.
“That’s what I do!” Lana told her. “I work on the special effects side.”
“Really?” Annika asked. The excitement radiating off her was palpable.
“Yeah. Want me to give you a studio tour sometime?” Lana asked.
“Please!”
“There are always openings doing something around the lot,” Lana said.
It seemed as if Annika’s excitement suddenly faded. Matteo wanted to know why.
“Oh,” she grumbled. “I couldn’t do that.” She lifted her head and sounded as if she was trying to act casually. “But thank you for the offer, Lana.”
Matteo wondered what that was about and considered asking but decided now wasn’t the time. So, he filed his questions away for later.
There was clearly a mystery with his babygirl and he aimed to get to the bottom of it.
Right now, though, it was more important that she eat something.
“Dinner is just about ready,” he said.
“It smells good,” she said, noting that the aroma had drifted out the open patio doors and to the deck. “But first I have to know: how did you find Ollie?”
“Well,” Matteo said, “I was about to go look for him when Harrison and Stryker happened to drop by just to check in on things. They have some pretty cool tech, including the delivery drone.”
Stryker had moved to a docking station that was plugged into an outlet on the house’s outside wall. He hit a button and the drone zipped to it and landed itself.
“Anyway,” Matteo continued, “I told them where I was about to go and Stryker had the idea just to send the drone out, use its camera, and search for it. He was in the space behind Grauman’s and the Dolby and all that.”
“Ollie, I’m so glad to have you back!” she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly.
Matteo loved how happy his girl was.
He loved it even more when she threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly.
“You were going to look for him! Just for me!” she said.
It sounded as if she might be crying. A moment later, his suspicion was confirmed when he felt tears soaking through the black t-shirt he wore.
He held her close. Resting his chin on top of her head, he said, “Of course. Ollie’s important to you, so he’s important to me.”
The others on the patio slipped through the back door, into the house, seemingly wanting to give them some privacy.
Matteo was grateful. He took the opportunity to keep her close against him. He lost track of time, but he figured it was about a full three minutes when they finally separated.
“Come on, honey. Bring Ollie and let’s go to the table. It’s time to eat!”
When Little Annika reached out and took his hand, holding it as they walked into the house, the big, strong, hardened ex-cop Matteo nearly melted into a puddle.
Damn. The little cutie sure had his heart. Already.