CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Isabella, lunch is ready. Time to get out of the pool.” Lucia grabbed the beach towel with the unicorns all over it—a gift from Calliope—and walked to the edge of the pool.
“But I’m not even hungry,” she whined.
Yeah, right. If she let her stay in the pool, in an hour she’d be complaining about how she was staaaaarviiiiing.
Her daughter was getting a bit too comfortable being in this big, fancy house.
Since arriving there two days ago, they’d tried doing schoolwork a few hours each day, but they were both too distracted to accomplish anything.
Isabella couldn’t focus on anything other than the awesome swimming pool and the cool grown-ups who fussed over her.
And Lucia? Well, she was not only preoccupied by the fact someone was targeting them but also by the intense emotional upheaval Eddie’s presence stirred within her.
That was why she’d barged in on Cole’s meeting earlier. She desperately needed him and Eddie to respect her request to return some semblance of normalcy to their lives.
Eddie had called a while ago to tell them the rental car agent positively identified Tamarin Rios as the man who rented the minivan.
Apparently, he’d used a fake Texas driver’s license.
There was already an APB, All Points Bulletin, out for all three men, but they sent the vehicle and fake driver’s license information out to all relevant agencies.
They also stopped by the sheriff’s department to update Mark about what they’d learned. When they were done there, Eddie called to let Lucia know they were going to check on her house and asked that she text him with a list of things she’d like him to get for her and Isabella.
She’d called him with the list, because she wanted to remind him that they couldn’t remain hidden in this big house forever. It was important that he hear the resolve in her voice.
“We’ll talk more about that when we get back.” His voice had sounded cold and distant, and then he’d just ended the call.
From the look on his face when he left her in the office, and then his detached tone just now, he must’ve assumed the worst about what she wanted to say to him and had already begun guarding his heart from the potential for further hurt.
Eddie couldn’t be more wrong.
Lucia had no intention of rejecting him or hurting him. There’d already been too much of both between them. She couldn’t wait to tell him that she loved him, too, and always had. That her marriage had been a mistake but had given her the greatest gift in her life—Isabella.
“Eddie’s back.” Lucas meandered over to her, gave her a long look, and tilted his head to one side. “You okay?”
“Aside from the fact someone might be trying to take my daughter and that I’m in love with a very clueless man?” She gave him a saccharin-sweet smile. “I’m just peachy.”
“You’re funny.” He chuckled. “Eddie’s a great guy, and I can see why he likes you.”
Eddie loves me. She didn’t correct him, though, because she was still trying to wrap her head around that reality. At the same time, she refused to dwell on the tears and years wasted between them.
“Thanks,” she said. “You guys have all been great, but I’m sure you have more important things to do than babysit me and my daughter.”
“There’s a big difference between babysitting and protecting, Lucia.” He became deadly serious. “So until we take down Munoz, the safety of you and Isabella is our priority.”
“He’s right.”
She spun to see Eddie standing at the sliding glass door, and her heart skipped a beat. But in a good way.
He started walking toward her in that intense, silent way of his.
“Hi, Eddie!” Isabella waved at him from the floatie she was lounging on.
“Hey, squirt.” He lifted his hand in a partial wave and stopped next to Lucia. “I put the things you asked for on the couch in the great room. Since her sneakers were ruined, I stopped and got her a new pair.”
“How did you know what size to get?” she asked.
He looked out over the pool deck toward Isabella. “I saw the size when I put the other ones in that plastic bag.”
“That was very sweet of you.” She smiled, hoping to break the tension between them. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He tucked his hands lazily in his pockets and watched her daughter flap her hands in the water in an effort to move the floatie closer to the stairs.
“Um.” Lucas looked back and forth between them. “I think I’ll go find Calliope and see if she’s ready to head out to meet Caleb.”
“Who’s Caleb?” She glanced from Eddie to Lucas.
“He’s my cousin,” Lucas said. “He also works for OSI.”
“How many of you are there?” Every day she heard about a different O’Halleran.
“O’Hallerans?” He grinned. “A lot.”
“Caleb is coming into town to install an alarm system at your house. That way, you and Isabella can return home.” Eddie’s demeanor told her he was still not happy about the idea.
“And no one stopped to ask me what I think?” She glared at both of them.
“There wasn’t time.” Eddie pulled his hands free of his pockets. “You said you want to get back to your routine, which means returning to your place. Therefore, an alarm system is nonnegotiable.”
Lucia’s back stiffened. She was used to making her own decisions and was about to blast Eddie for presuming to tell her what was and wasn’t negotiable, but Lucas interjected.
“In addition to being a kickass operative and K9 handler, Caleb is a genius with security systems.” Lucas’s pride in his cousin was obvious. “By the time he’s done, your house will be much safer for you guys.”
“That may be, but it sounds very expensive. And in case you weren’t aware, teachers don’t exactly make a ton of money.” A new, high-end alarm system was way outside her budget. “There’s no way I can afford to pay for a fancy security system.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Eddie slid the towel from her grasp. “It’s taken care of.” He strolled over to the pool and squatted down near the edge to talk to her daughter. “Hey, kiddo, I heard mom say it’s time for lunch.”
“Okay.” Without a single word of disagreement, Isabella rolled off the floatie into the water, swam to the steps, and climbed out.
“Oh, sure, listen to him,” she mumbled and rolled her eyes.
Eddie wrapped Isabella in the towel and scooped her up. He put her giggling daughter over his shoulder and carried her toward the large sliding door.
“Put on some dry clothes and hang your bathing suit on the hook in the shower,” she called out before they went inside, then she turned to Lucas. “What did Eddie mean when he said, ‘it’s taken care of’?”
He turned his wrist, as if looking at a watch that wasn’t there.
“Oh, gee, look at the time. I gotta go.” He turned and started to fast-walk away.
“Chicken,” she called out.
“Bawk-bawk,” he shouted just before disappearing into the house.
Lucia grinned and shook her head. These people were a unique bunch, and they truly cared about her and her daughter. They were also very good at their job and used to giving orders. She would have to remind herself … often … that they knew best. Even if it went against what she might want.
She leaned over and plucked the unicorn pool floatie from the water and set it away from the pool. She picked up Isabella’s flip-flops from where she’d kicked them off and started toward the house.
Eddie stood at the island, spreading peanut butter and jelly over a couple of slices of bread. He looked up and saw her standing there.
“You okay with her having a PBJ, or were you thinking of something else?” The knife hovered over a piece of bread.
“PBJ is perfect, as long as it’s not strawberry jelly.” She set the flip-flops on a mat and slid the door shut.
“How ’bout blackberry jam?” He held up the jar and showed her the label.
“Blackberries are fine. She just can’t have strawberries because she’s allergic to them.” Which was a bummer, because her daughter had always loved strawberries, right up until they started giving her a rash.
As if making a mental note for the future, he quietly repeated, “No strawberries.”
He stabbed the knife into the jar and spread jam over the bread. For a few minutes, the only sound in the wide-open space was the scrape of a knife against the glass jar.
“What did you mean when you said the alarm system was taken care of?” She reached into the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of milk.
“I covered the cost.” He threw that out so casually, like a few thousand dollars was nothing.
He cut the sandwich into four pieces. Just the way Isabella liked them.
Growing up in a big family had made him a natural when it came to taking care of kids.
“Eddie, I can’t let you do that.” She set the milk down on the island, crossed her arms, and leaned one hip against the edge of the marble countertop.
“You’re not letting me do anything.” He set the four pieces of PBJ on a small paper plate and placed it on the island in front of the chair Isabella usually sat in. “I wanted to do it.”
“It’s too much,” she said.
He set the knife down and wiped his hands on a towel.
“When I was working undercover, I was constantly being watched, scrutinized, and my loyalty tested. Munoz would’ve become suspicious if he found out I had money coming in from some unknown, outside source.
So during that entire time, every single one of my paychecks went straight into a savings account, then I invested it.
I also make good money working for Dark Ops.
” He brushed her hair back over her shoulder.
“It’s important to me that you two are safe. ”
Hearing him speak of his awful time undercover and how horribly dangerous it had to have been for him made Lucia feel fortunate and so thankful he survived to make it back to her. Which was why she wasn’t going to let another minute go by without him knowing her true feelings for him.
“Eddie, about our conversation earlier.” She moved in closer. “Did you mean it when you said you’ve always loved me?”
“I meant every word of it.” He stepped into her personal space. “But if you don’t—”