Chapter 11
11
M itch shook hands with Marco and left the Sandbar. After he was gone, Marco secured the restaurant once more and turned to Theresa.
"Do you have more to do out here?"
She looked around, glanced at Margo, and shook her head. "No, I think we're finished here."
"Okay, let's get ready to go then. He just got that phone call, so we want to get out of here before he has time to come here and react if he's close."
"Okay."
Marco looked at Jace and nodded. "You good with this?"
Jace nodded in return. "Yes, we'll all get out of here right away."
They quickly turned the lights off, shut down any equipment that was still running, and the four of them left quickly. The doors were locked up tight.
He helped Theresa into his vehicle. He heard her sigh. He knew she was frightened. Who wouldn't be? She was one woman against the entire world at this point.
He hoped she understood that she had him, Mitch, Jace, and Margo. And if he needed to bring in Quinn, Mason, or even Sid, they would all be there. Between all of them, they had contacts they could reach out to. They helped each other out. That’s what friends do for each other. That’s what he would do for any of them.
He climbed into the vehicle, noticing that she sat stone-still and stared straight ahead. His heart reached out to her. Poor thing. No one deserved this.
He reached over and gently squeezed her hand. "We've got this."
She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you."
"Okay, you're welcome. I know it's easy to say don't worry, and to be honest with you, I don't think I could stop worrying either if it were me. But we're gonna do everything we can to protect you. Please know that, at least."
Her smile was weak at best, but she tried. When she turned to him in this light, all he wanted to do was kiss her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, hold her, and tell her everything was going to be okay.
And he knew he couldn't say that with certainty, but he knew he was going do everything he could to make it happen—if he had anything to say about it.
He started his truck, and they moved toward home.
As always, he looked at the Christmas lights. He pointed out two new ones. "Oh, look, the insurance office has new lights today. That looks nice."
She turned her head and stared. "That does look nice."
"It does." He grinned.
He turned his head to the other side of the street and saw the barbershop. "Ah, look at that one."
They had a lit-up pair of scissors, the height of the building, in front of the door. It looked like people could walk underneath the handles to get inside.
Theresa even chuckled a little. "That is really cute."
"Remind me when we get home to show you from the living room window when you look down the street. It's beautiful."
"Okay."
They arrived at the condo and made it upstairs without incident, which he was happy about. He was also grateful that Mitch lived downstairs and knew that security was tight right now.
So he hoped that they'd have no issues tonight.
Though they did just poke the bear.
After he locked the door, he took Theresa by the hand and gently led her across the living room floor to the big window. He left the lights off, so they were drenched in darkness, but the beautiful colors from Main Street lit up the place.
She sighed. "Oh, that is really pretty."
"It is. It was one of the things that I was first drawn to about this place. It just so happened that they were starting to decorate when I bought this place, and I couldn't wait to get here and see it in all of its glory."
She smiled and looked up at him. "I can see why. It's beautiful."
"It is. Okay. So, do you need a drink? Something to unwind?"
"No. I'm afraid to drink. I need to keep all my senses. What if we have to get up and run in the middle of the night?"
"We're not. We're not going to get up and run in the middle of the night. We have security here. Mitch lives downstairs—he has things covered. Quinn has security on the building—he has things covered. We are going to know if anyone is lingering about before they're within a mile of this place."
"Okay. Well, if it's all the same to you, I think I'd like to forego the drink and keep all of my wits about me for tonight."
"That sounds good. I totally understand that."
She turned to walk toward her bedroom, and his heart felt heavy. He couldn't take her worry away and he couldn't convince her, yet, that she was safe. Likely safer than she'd been all this time living here.
She stopped, though, and turned to face him. She took a few steps to bridge the gap between them. She tilted her head back to look up into his eyes, and in this light, with the Christmas lights twinkling down below, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
Of course, he always thought she was beautiful, but there was something a little magical right now.
"Thank you, Marco." She paused. "I appreciate everything that you're doing for me. I want you to know I'm not being ungrateful. I'm just trying to be practical."
He grinned and nodded. "I know, I know. I will do anything to protect you. I promise you that."
"Thank you."
And then she stood on her toes, and her lips pressed to his ever so lightly.
While it was just a sweet, simple gesture, he would never be the same.