10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Scarlett stood at attention as she talked to Magnolia, all hard lines and edges. Next to her, Magnolia was slender, but she was soft and…goddammit, perfect.
Since when had Ezra gotten in the habit of comparing women? Never. Turning away, he stalked from the foyer into the living room, stood next to the front window. The Christmas tree glittered next to him, bright and cheery, with presents tucked underneath. There were multiple stockings on the fireplace mantel, including theirs, her parents’, and one for Mari, which told him they must have people over on Christmas morning. Or maybe they had Christmas lunch here. The pang in his chest was sharp and he looked away, turning to the window instead. He’d missed a lot of years, something he was trying not to dwell on. But it was hard when the past was slapping him in the face.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to leave today?” Ezra turned at the sound of Lucas’s voice.
He’d heard him coming down the stairs, and seen him in the reflection of the window, but hadn’t been sure Lucas was coming to talk to him. “I don’t love it, but given where you’ll be and your security, it’s okay. Do you want my phone number too?” He felt weird asking, but now was as good a time as any.
“Oh yeah, of course.” Lucas pulled out his phone and quickly programmed it as Ezra gave it to him. Then he glanced over his shoulder, stepped a little closer and lowered his voice. “You’ll be with my mom all day? ”
“I’m not leaving her side.” Unless it was in a body bag, but he kept that to himself. No one was getting to her.
Lucas nodded, shoved his hands into his shorts pockets. It was cold outside and the kid was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a zip-up hoodie. Yeah, that sounded about right.
“So how long were you guys…like, together?”
Ezra blinked, surprised by the question, but it made sense Lucas would want to know. “A year.”
He nodded again, glanced over his shoulder again. Not that he needed to bother—the low murmur of Magnolia and Scarlett’s voices were still clear.
“Did you…” He cleared his throat.
Ezra wasn’t sure where he was going, but he had a guess. “Did I love her? Yes. Very much.”
Again with the nod, then followed by a look of frustration. “I’m so pissed at my grandpa. I can’t believe… I can’t understand why he did that.”
Oh, this was tricky, because Ezra had a lot of anger at Magnolia’s father, but he knew if he let that spill over, it wouldn’t do anyone any good. “What he did was wrong, but he loves your mom. And parents aren’t perfect.” His certainly hadn’t been—the understatement of the year. “He was trying to keep his daughter safe from what he thought was…a threat, I guess.” Or more accurately, Ezra hadn’t fit the mold of what Arnold Lavigne wanted for his daughter.
“My mom would never do anything like that to me.”
“No, she wouldn’t.” Of that Ezra was certain. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been in her life in years; that simply wasn’t the type of person she was.
“Okay,” Magnolia said, stepping into the living room, a too-bright smile on her face. “You’re good to go. Just keep your phone on you,” she added.
“I will.” Lucas hugged and kissed his mom on the cheek, then turned to Ezra. “I might text you later if that’s okay?”
Ezra nodded, something warm expanding in his chest. “Yeah, anytime.”
“Just be glad he’s actually got a cell phone now,” Scarlett said with a grin. “When he was in the Marines, he didn’t have a cell phone until his last year. ”
“No way.” Lucas glanced at Ezra, eyes wide.
Ezra shrugged. He’d ditched his phone after everything with Magnolia had imploded—well, what he’d thought had happened. He’d always been with one of his friends anyway and there’d been a landline at the barracks. He hadn’t seen the point.
“Yep,” Scarlett said. “I’ve got a lot of stories about him if you’re interested.”
“PG ones only,” he said mildly.
And Scarlett just grinned, then nodded once at Magnolia. “I’ll keep your boy safe.”
Once they were gone, Magnolia sagged a little. “I know she’s trained, and honestly, she’s a little scary, but I’m already questioning myself.”
“I don’t think he’ll push back if you want him to stay home.”
“I know he won’t. He’s such a good kid. But he’s got finals next week and…he’s been working so hard. So what were you guys talking about? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She could ask him anything, something she clearly didn’t realize. “He was asking about you and me. From before.”
She blinked in surprise. “Oh. Oooh. I guess I should have expected that.” She sat on the love seat so he sat across from her in the chair by the Christmas tree. “He never pushed me about you. His father. And I thought… Well, truthfully I was just glad I didn’t have to have the conversation. I’ve had enough awkward ones over the years as it is.” She sighed and leaned back on the couch. “God, I’m so mad at my dad.” Then she cleared her throat. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear all that. And I can’t even imagine how angry you must be.”
He gave a short nod. “I’m trying to see it from his perspective. But yeah. It’s a lot.”
Her jaw tightened, but then all the air seemed to deflate from her. “I don’t even want to think about him right now. I’ve got some work stuff to handle. A short meeting in a couple hours.”
“Why on a Saturday?”
She gave him a wry smile. “The man I’m meeting with is high-maintenance, to put it lightly. Or as Lucas would say, a douche canoe.”
Ezra let out a startled laugh.
“So…I need to tell you something and I know it’s just going to add fuel to the fire, but I talked to my mom this morning. Apparently my dad did send that fake wedding invitation.” She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I seriously don’t know what he was thinking. He’s been…well, he’s been amazing since Lucas was born so it’s hard to reconcile that he split us up. I know he did, but…” She sighed again, giving him a look he couldn’t define.
“People are complicated.”
“Yes, they are. Complicated assholes,” she muttered, making him laugh again. She stood, looking restless. “I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen, then get ready—”
“I’ve got the kitchen. Go do what you need to do.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yep. Though you look good to me.” He shrugged. Good, edible, same difference. God, she was heartbreakingly gorgeous.
She glanced down at her jeans, then back up at him and smiled. “Thanks. I won’t be long.”
“We’re on your timetable today.” He didn’t care how long she took.
As he cleaned up her kitchen, Berlin called.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” she said as he answered.
“You’re mad that I didn’t bang on your door this morning?”
“Well no, but you could have woken me.” She sniffed slightly. “Anyway, I’ve got the lowdown on Samuel Perry, including a list of his priors. He’s a nasty piece of work. The cops have a warrant out for his arrest but can’t find him. I’ve added his face to our facial rec software so if he pops up anywhere in the city, we’ll have him. I’ve added another layer of sensitivity to the cameras and CCTVs in and around Magnolia’s office, the hotels her company reps, and her home cameras. The ones on her home are okay but I think we should add better cameras with more sensitivity.”
“Agreed. She’ll be out today but set it up, get someone over here. I’ll let her know.”
“Will do. And I’ve sent you a file to look at with all Perry’s details. His ex is lucky to be away from him.”
“What about security for her?” Because if he wanted Magnolia dead, he’d likely want his ex-wife dead too. Freaks like that had the whole “If I can’t have her, no one can” mentality.
“Already took care of that. She’s actually living at one of the hotels she’s working at now. They’ve got a small wing for staff housing. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing it’s for this reason, or at least part of it. Women escaping their abusers have a safe place to work and sleep at night. According to the security notes I hacked, all employees have seen his picture and security has him marked as high alert, and to call the police if he shows up.”
“At least they’re taking his threat level seriously. What about known associates?”
“All in the file I sent you.”
“Right. Thanks.”
“So…how was breakfast?”
“Good. Really good.” And he found himself cautiously optimistic that he could have a relationship with his son. It was still way too soon to know, but he was still optimistic. “I’ll be with Magnolia all day, and Scarlett is with Lucas.”
Berlin snort-laughed. “At least you know he’s safe with that crazy bitch.”
He laughed lightly. “Your words, not mine.”
“ Accurate words. So what’s the plan? You sticking with her until this is over?”
“Yep.”
“Good. We just got a call about a potential job, but nothing huge. As of now, we’re not planning on taking on anything big until we’ve found this Perry guy. And it goes without saying that if you need backup, we’re all here.”
“Thanks. But I’ve got this. It’s mainly just personal security until Perry is found.” Or Ezra killed Perry. Potato, potahto. And he wasn’t letting anyone else shadow Magnolia. That was all him.
“All right, well I’ve got my cell on me. If anything pops up on the feeds about Perry, I’ll let you know.”
Once they disconnected, he finished cleaning up the kitchen right as Magnolia stepped into it, looking like she always did. Perfect. Instead of the casual jeans and sweater, she had on wide leg cream-colored pants, a striped black and cream top under a fitted black jacket, heels and accents of gold jewelry.
“You look ready to take on the douche canoe.”
She laughed, the musical sound wrapping around him. “This guy is so annoying, but he’s a brilliant architect and I really want his designs for a bid I’m planning to make. Unfortunately he knows how bad I want him and my competitor does too. I’m pretty sure he’s dragging things out with both of us. I’m this close to walking.”
“I have a few friends I can reach out to, see if they can help you grease this guy’s wheels—or more likely offer up a different option.”
“Thank you, but…I’ve got this handled. I’m just being whiny,” she said on a laugh.
He lifted a shoulder and grabbed his jacket from the kitchen chair. “The offer will stand anyway. My friend’s husband, Jesse Lennox, has recently bought up some real estate here so I’m sure he knows architects you could work with.”
Magnolia blinked once. Twice. “Wait, Jesse Lennox the billionaire? The only billionaire who’s known for real philanthropic work?”
“Yeah.”
She grinned at him as she grabbed her keys from a little hook on the wall. “That’s wild that you know him. And fine, maybe I’ll take you up on it if I can’t get this guy to decide who he wants to work with.”
His gaze flicked down to her keys and he frowned.
“Oh, I’m driving, Ezra. Unless you plan on zooming us around town on your bike?”
He grinned at her tone, far too pleased to hear his name on her lips. “Fair point. I’ll pick up a company vehicle later.”
She’d started to respond when her phone buzzed. She frowned down at the screen. “That’s weird. I rarely get deliveries here. I have everything sent to the office.”
He leaned in, looked at the small feed on her phone showing the box sitting outside her gate, a delivery driver jumping back into his truck.
“You’re not touching that box,” he growled as instinctive protectiveness kicked in.
Her blue eyes widened. “It’s probably something Lucas ordered.”
“I don’t care.”
Her eyes widened even more.
“What?” he asked as he pulled up the detective’s phone number, called her.
“You’re just very bossy.”
“I’m also not wrong… Detective, I’m at Ms. Lavigne’s house. She’s just received a suspicious package—”
“Don’t touch it. I’m sending the bomb squad there now.” Detective Flores’s voice was sharp.
He hadn’t been sure of her response, but was glad for it. They were clearly on the same page. “Okay. We’re inside and not going anywhere.”
As soon as they disconnected, he texted Scarlett’s partner, Devi, and let them know not to come close to the box or the driveway.
“The bomb squad seems like a lot.” Magnolia worried her bottom lip as he pocketed his phone.
“Better safe than sorry.” Ezra hoped he was overreacting. That was the best-case scenario. The worst… He didn’t even want to think about that.