Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
This was the second time in the space of thirty minutes that Marie found herself in Isaac’s embrace. Like it had done all those months ago, his hold had provided more than comfort. It had provided safety. After the events of the day, it was what she needed.
However, she was aware they were in a roomful of people including her mom, and they had to all be looking at them wondering what the heck was going on.
She didn’t know, all she knew was that now that she’d found Isaac again, she wasn’t going to give him the brush off like she had in San Carlion.
Thinking of him as Isaac now and not Samuel wasn’t hard for her. Thoughts of him had always been in the back of her mind since the earthquake. Always popping up when she allowed herself to relax. A shadow in the far recesses of her mine. A regret that she’d turned her back on him.
She may have only known him as Isaac for thirty minutes, but it didn’t matter.
Samuel and Isaac were one and the same person.
How he was acting now was how he acted with her in Guatemala.
Caring and considerate. After everything he’d explained, she understood why he’d given her a false name back then.
Maybe one day he would tell her all about his time as Javier Cortez—yet another one of his personas. One she suspected haunted him.
“You good?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, thank you.” As much as she didn’t want to, she pushed against his chest, and immediately his arms fell away.
The second they did, she wanted to snatch them back.
Instead, she sat back down, aware that her mom was watching her.
Marie didn’t need to look at her to know that her mom probably had a million questions about the hug, how she knew Isaac, and what happened in Guatemala.
They were things that didn’t need to be fully discussed right now.
She gave her mom a smile and then returned her attention to the group seated at the table. “I will help you anyway I can. I will say that I didn’t get a good look at the men, it all happened so fast.”
“That’s okay.” Ox smiled reassuringly at her.
“We’ll see if we can get some facial recognition, as well as see if we can find them on traffic cams. Once we have something we’ll let you know.
In the meantime, how is the security in your building?
Yolanda mentioned you’d recently moved back into your old apartment. ”
“There’s a doorman. No one can get up unless I approve them or buzz them up when the doorman goes off shift.”
“Security isn’t there twenty-four hours a day? Please tell me they’re at least there seven days a week,” Isaac snapped the question. He hadn’t returned to his seat opposite her, he had remained standing behind her like a silent sentinel.
Marie sighed, he wasn’t going to like this answer. “They don’t work weekends. But seriously the front door is locked, and no one can get in, as I said, unless they’re buzzed inside. I’ve never had any issues living there.”
She sensed rather than saw that Isaac was going to argue about her claims, but the words didn’t come. Had someone given him a signal to not say anything? It didn’t matter, he would say something to her; of that she was positive.
“We can work around that,” Ox said in a way that had her wondering what exactly he meant. “Cass, once you work your magic let us know.”
The woman with glasses smiled. “Of course. It shouldn’t take me long.”
“Right.” Ox stood. “Isaac, you good with everything?”
“As I can be.”
A few of the men in the room chuckled, and all filed out, leaving just her, her mom, and Isaac, still standing behind her.
“I think your dad and I shouldn’t go out for dinner. You should come home with us and stay a couple of days. Or at least until we find out who these men are and if they are a threat to you.”
Living back with her parents was the last thing Marie wanted to do.
She’d been out of the family home for years.
Not only had she lived in another country, she’d previously been married for five years.
Her independence was something she craved.
“That’s not necessary, Mom. I’m sure it wasn’t anything other than an attempted robbery.
What I do know is I’ll never order one of those driverless cars again. ”
“You won’t use any rideshare apps,” growled Isaac.
His command set her on edge. Her former husband had been a controlling type, and she wasn’t going to fall into the trap of allowing a man to make decisions for her all under the guise of caring and concern.
Marie pushed back her chair, not caring if she rammed into Isaac’s legs.
If she did, it would serve him right for standing too close to her.
Her temper was boiling, but she made sure her movements, as she pushed in the chair, weren’t erratic so as not to give anything away.
Once she was happy the chair was where it should be, she stood and prepared herself for letting Isaac know that while she’d been happy to accept his support, that was it.
“You’re telling me I’m not allowed to use rideshare apps anymore?
” She didn’t have to repeat what he’d said, but she did all the same because she wanted to make a point.
Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, a classic defensive move. “Yes.”
“Right. Well.” She closed the gap between them and poked her finger in his chest. “Here’s the thing, Isaac, you don’t rule me. You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, okay?”
Nothing about him showed that her words made any impression on him. There wasn’t even a flicker in his brown eyes. His mouth didn’t twitch and his brow didn’t furrow. He looked as if her words bounced straight off him.
“Marie, Isaac only has your best interests at heart. Besides, I worry when you use those apps. They’re dangerous. Do you know how many women go missing when they get into one of those cars?”
Initially, Marie thought her mom was going to espouse some of her dated ideas, about how a man was right and she should listen to what Isaac said.
Considering how much her mom pushed back against her dad, she was going to point that out.
But then she had to mention about women going missing, and it hit home.
There had been a couple of occasions, while she’d been in San Carlion, where young girls had gone missing.
Their parents had tried to get the authorities involved, but their concerns were usually dismissed.
Or the police made a token effort to try and locate them.
Her mom’s comments also made sense considering who she worked for and what they did. Mom hadn’t come out and said that Alliez did things like search for missing girls, but the setup she’d seen in this conference room suggested they did more than act as bodyguards to the rich and famous.
“I’ll consider it, but how else am I supposed to get around, Mom?
” She hadn’t purchased a car again. Her ex had taken their one and only vehicle in the divorce.
Prior to her stint in Guatemala, she’d relied on the rideshare apps to get her to wherever she wanted to go.
Not once had she felt unsafe. Now though, would she even be comfortable getting in one?
Throughout this exchange, Isaac still stood in front of her, his posture hadn’t changed and he hadn’t moved. It should’ve felt intimidating, but like when she’d been in his arms, she felt safe.
“We’ll work something out,” Isaac said into the silence that had fallen around them.
“What? Are you going to chauffeur me around?” she said sarcastically.
“If that’s what it takes, yes.”
His reply was said in such an off-hand manner that it took a few seconds before it sunk in.
“You can’t be serious. I’m about to start my job in a few days.
A job that requires me starting and finishing at all hours of the day.
Are you really saying that you’re prepared to come and pick me up from the hospital at three in the morning? ”
There was no way Isaac was going to do that. Not to mention she wouldn’t expect that of him. The easiest thing to do would be to go get a rental car, or buy a cheap one until she’d settled in her job and then look at getting something better.
“I repeat again. If that’s what it takes to keep you safe, then that’s what I’ll do. We don’t know who or why you were targeted, and until we do, I want to make sure that you’re protected.”
He was serious. He wasn’t just saying the words to appease her mom who was still in the room.
Marie grabbed a chair and sat down, everything that had happened in the last hour settling heavy on her shoulders. “This doesn’t make sense. Why would you do this? Is it out of some sense of loyalty to my mom?”
That she could understand. This may have been the first time she’d been at her mom’s place of work, but she could tell that everyone respected her.
Yet, part of her was annoyed that it wasn’t being done for her—which was totally irrational.
She didn’t know any of them, apart from Isaac, and she couldn’t say she knew him well enough for him to commit to helping her in that manner.
“Not totally,” Isaac answered, pulling her from her thoughts. “Yes, because you are Yolanda’s daughter you are automatically part of the Alliez family and we protect our own. But also because I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Marie met his gaze and was held captive by the honesty and … attraction she could see blazing in their brown depths. A flicker of warmth curled to life in her belly. No longer could she deny or protest the help he was offering, because when he was near she felt safe. “Okay,” she whispered.
He didn’t smile, but the desire in his eyes flared a little brighter, and that flicker of warmth from seconds ago became an inferno, and she wanted him to hold her again. Keep her close so that she could hear the reassuring sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear.
But he didn’t do that, he stepped back, and Marie wished she was brave enough to grasp it. After constantly being shunned every time she showed her former husband any type of affection, she shied away from chasing what she wanted.
“How about I see you home now?” Isaac said softly, his head canted to the side a little as if he was trying to read her thoughts.
“That would be good.” The events of the day, the last few months, all weighed down on her, and all she wanted to do was curl up in the corner of her couch, snuggled in a fluffy blanket, hot chocolate in hand while watching her favorite home renovation channel.
Forget about the boxes that she still needed to unpack.
They could wait, they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“Are you sure you don’t want me and Dad to come over? It’s not a problem canceling our plans.” Her mom asked again. As much as she loved her parents, she didn’t want them to.
“Thank you, but nothing’s changed since the first time you suggested it. My building is safe. Once Isaac drops me home, I have no plans on leaving until I have to get to the hospital for another meeting before my first shift in the afternoon.”
Marie withstood her mother’s scrutiny, and when she nodded, Marie knew that she’d passed whatever test her mother had just given her. “Okay, but know that all it takes is one phone call and we’ll be there.”
“I know.” She went over and gave her mom a hug. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” With one last squeeze, her mom nodded at Isaac before she left the room, leaving just the two of them.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Isaac asked. “It’s just the two of us now.”
Marie understood where his question was coming from, but she’d had enough of people doubting how she was feeling.
“I’m fine. I’d like to go now,” she ground out.
If she thought putting her hands on her hips would help to get her point across she would, but she suspected it wouldn’t make a dent in the armor of protection that shrouded Isaac.
“Got it,” he said with a short, sharp nod. “I just need to collect a couple of things from my desk and then we can go.”
“I’ll meet you at Mom’s desk.”
“That works.”
They headed for the door, Isaac took a step back so that she could precede him out the door, his hand low on her back, and she welcomed the heat from his touch.
What would happen when they got to her apartment? Would he insist on seeing her up, or would he drop her at the door and drive away.
Given his past actions, there was no way it would be the latter. Question was, what was she going to do, let him in or say goodbye at the door?