Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Smiley looked over at Bree from behind the steering wheel. They’d just parked outside MacGyver’s small house. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can put it off.”
“I’m sure,” she told him. “I’m a little nervous, but it’ll be good to see the girls happy and not scared out of their minds.”
Honestly, Bree was looking forward to officially meeting Ellory and Yana. When she’d seen them at that shipping yard, they’d been so terrified. From what she could tell from a distance, they’d been doing well since their ordeal. But she wanted to know for certain, to talk to them in person.
And she couldn’t help but want to meet Addison too.
Who was she kidding? She wanted to meet all the women. She’d been watching them from afar for so long, she felt as if she knew them.
But the truth was, she didn’t know them. Not at all. She was the creepy stalker who’d watched them from her car, who’d spied on them. If they knew that, they’d probably not want anything to do with her.
She was well on her way to changing her mind now, telling Smiley that she wanted to leave, but it was too late. He’d gotten out of the truck and was walking around to her side.
Taking a huge breath, Bree tried to give herself a pep talk.
This would be fine. She’d meet the kids, Addison, eat what was going to be a much better meal than she’d had while living in her car, then go back to Smiley’s apartment.
She had nothing to be scared about. She didn’t need to be best friends with Addison or her kids.
People didn’t click all the time. It wasn’t a big deal if all the women didn’t like her.
Shit.
Except it was.
At least to her.
She had no more time to worry because Smiley was opening her door. Like a complete dork, she tried to get out of the car with her seat belt still on. It wasn’t the best start to the evening.
Smiley chuckled, and Bree felt her cheeks heat.
When she got herself straightened out, she stood.
But he didn’t step back. In fact, he crowded her against the car, getting into her personal space.
One of his hands came up and smoothed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
Bree couldn’t do anything but stare at him.
“Breathe, Bree. This is going to be fine.”
She nodded.
“If I didn’t think so, there’s no way in hell you’d be here,” he went on. “I’d never expose you to any kind of situation where there was the slightest chance you’d be hurt…physically or emotionally.”
“Smiley,” Bree protested, feeling overwhelmed all over again.
“This is new to me,” he told her.
“This?” she asked, when he didn’t elaborate.
“Being with someone I can’t stop thinking about. Who I constantly worry about. After I’ve spent months wondering what she’s thinking and doing, at all hours. It’s…disconcerting.”
She couldn’t help it. She snorted. “Yeah.”
His head tilted. “You feel it too?”
Bree nodded.
“Does it make me a dick to be relieved that I’m not the only one?”
She smiled up at him. “No.”
“Fuck. That smile. You have no idea what it does to me. Come on, we need to get in the house. I don’t like standing outside like this.”
And just like that, the reality of her situation hit home once more. She wasn’t a normal woman on a date. She was the target of a scary man who wanted to find her and force her to have sex with men for money. And that sucked.
“Damn, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Smiley said, as he led her toward MacGyver and Addison’s front door.
“You didn’t,” Bree tried to reassure him.
“Bullshit. Don’t lie to me. Don’t say what you think I want to hear. Be honest with me. Always. Because I don’t know how to be any other way.”
Bree looked at the man at her side as they approached the door.
He was so rough around the edges. A little paranoid, if the way he was eyeballing their surroundings was any indication.
He was honest to a fault and didn’t seem to give a crap how he looked…
but then, he looked good no matter what he was wearing, or even if he hadn’t remembered to brush his hair—which he hadn’t.
It was kind of sticking up all over his head in a way Bree assumed he might look after sleeping.
But she couldn’t deny that with every minute they spent together, she was drawn to him more and more.
“Did you hear me, Bree?” he asked.
“Yeah. You didn’t scare me, but I am a little nervous in general. About tonight, about this Mateo guy, about everything.”
Smiley nodded. “I’d be worried if you weren’t. But we’re on this. All of us. My team, Tex, the commander, everyone.”
Bree opened her mouth to thank him once more, but the door in front of them was jerked open and a girl stood there. Ellory. Bree would recognize her anywhere.
To her absolute shock, the girl threw herself at her.
Bree went back on a foot to keep herself from falling, and she wrapped her arms around the girl, who was hugging her as if her life depended on it. Thankfully Smiley already had his hand on the small of her back, because he kept her from literally falling on her ass with Ellory in her arms.
“Ellory!”
Looking through the door, Bree saw a tall redhaired woman shaking her head but smiling at Ellory with love. “I’m sorry, she was so excited to meet you. I’m Addison. Come in. Please.”
Ellory let go of Bree and took a step backward. “I’m sorry too. I couldn’t wait another second to thank you.”
“El, back up, let them in,” Addison scolded gently.
“Sorry, yeah! Come in, come in. We’ve been cooking nonstop since we got home from school. I can’t eat a lot of what we made, but it smells delicious. And Yana helped too.”
Bree smiled at the enthusiasm of the young girl. She’d heard about her Crohn’s disease from Smiley, so she wasn’t surprised at her mention that she wouldn’t be eating the same as everyone else.
She stepped into the house and saw Smiley give MacGyver a chin lift, and that made her grin. It was such a guy thing to do. But before she could comment on it, Ellory took her hand. “Come on, Yana’s excited to meet you! And so are Artem and Borysko.”
“Ellory. You’re being rude,” Addison told her with a frown.
“Oh, she’s fine. I’m excited to meet everyone,” Bree said.
“But I haven’t even gotten a chance to officially meet you yet,” the woman grumbled.
It was a weird feeling to be the center of attention, to be the one people were arguing about meeting first.
“I’m Bree,” she blurted, sticking her hand out toward Addison.
The other woman ignored it and stepped toward her, hugging her just as hard as her daughter had moments earlier.
Bree felt, more than heard, Addison’s breath hitch as she hugged her.
“Thank you. You have no idea what you did,” Addison said softly.
“I didn’t do anything anyone else wouldn’t have,” she protested.
Addison pulled back and ran her gaze up and down Bree’s body. “Are you okay? Ricky said you were hurt. That the man hurt you.”
“I’m okay,” Bree assured her. The genuine concern she sensed in Addison’s words felt like a warm blanket after basically being an outcast for so long. After being on the periphery of life.
Tears filled Addison’s eyes and she sniffed loudly. MacGyver wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She went willingly.
“She cries at the drop of a hat lately,” he explained. “Pregnancy hormones.”
Bree smiled. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. And I’m not crying because I’m pregnant,” she complained. “Okay, not entirely because of that. I just…you got hurt protecting my kids. I’m allowed to cry about that.”
“Mom, I’m fine. Yana’s fine. Can I please bring her to the kitchen to meet her now? Besides, I probably need to check on her anyway, make sure she’s not about to burn down the house.”
“She’s fine,” MacGyver said. “And she’s in the living room now, watching TV with her brothers.”
“Whatever,” Ellory said with a roll of her eyes.
Bree couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This meeting wasn’t anything like what she imagined it would be.
Ellory smiled at her and reached for her hand. “Come on. We’ll see if we can peel everyone away from the TV.”
Bree looked back at Smiley and saw him watching her with a look she couldn’t interpret, but the pleasure in his eyes was easy to see.
She let herself get dragged into another room, where two boys and Yana were sitting on the couch, staring at the TV as if mesmerized. Her belly growled at the delicious scent of Italian seasoning coming from the kitchen. Whatever Addison and Ellory had been cooking smelled divine.
“Yana, this is Bree. She’s the woman who helped us when the bad man took us. Remember?”
Yana looked toward them, and her eyes widened. She made a little squeaking noise in the back of her throat, and she practically flew off the couch, toward Bree.
Surprised once more at the exuberant greeting, Bree went to a knee and held the little girl, who was shaking as she hugged her. “I guess she remembers,” she told Ellory quietly.
The preteen was beaming and nodding. “Yeah. We talked about what happened a lot with our therapist. And while everything was scary, the best part was when you appeared and helped us get away.”
“Thank you for saving our sister. I’m Artem.”
“And I’m Borysko. Yes, thank you.”
The two boys had stood, and each put a hand on their sister’s shoulder to try to comfort her.
Bree felt overwhelmed. She’d just been in the right place at the right time.
And the only reason she’d been there at all was because she was a stalker.
Had been spying on Smiley and his friends.
Wondering what was happening and why everyone was racing to the shipyard.
Besides, she hadn’t actually saved anyone; she’d just led the asshole kidnapper away to give the girls time to get to the SEALs, who’d been desperately searching for them.
Yana lifted her head and looked at Bree. “Wanna see my dolls?”
Blinking at the abrupt change of subject, she nodded.
“Not her dolls again,” Borysko said in disgust.
Artem simply shrugged and turned back to the TV.