Chapter 40
40
DAX
I waited patiently for Fiona to decide if she’d take my hand. For once, her face was like an open book. I could see the fear, the doubt, the determination flit across her beautiful features.
I loved her. This prickly, sassy woman. How? I had no idea. Nor did I understand how it happened so fast. She’d held a fucking coffee pot, and I was done for.
“Come on, sweetheart,” I said softly, encouraging, but trying not to spook her. “You can do it.”
Please, do it.
A crooked smile tipped up the corner of her mouth and she came to me.
Took my hand.
Thank fuck .
I squeezed her fingers. Cupped her chin. “There’s my good girl.”
“I’m afraid,” she admitted, her gaze flicking away, then back.
“You?”
She nodded.
“Impossible.”
“I’m, um, supposed to meet Dottie at Twinkle Toes for a pedicure.”
My brows went up. “That is something to be afraid of.”
Now she grinned.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into me. Led–not dragged–her to the front of the store. “Come on, I’ll drop you off.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I wanna know what Dottie’s feeding us tonight.”
Fiona didn’t argue, because she was probably just as curious. “What about the… um, package I brought?”
“I put it in Hannah’s safe until we figure out what to do. I called my friend Jack. He’s Hannah’s boyfriend. They’re coming back early from their vacation to help.”
“Them? Why?”
“Because Jack and I used to work together.”
“Doing repo work?”
Shit, I had a lot of secrets, including the big one. Me. The fixer. And she was the job.
“Yeah, repo work.”
She’d understand when I told her the truth. Right?