Chapter 41
41
M arco finished his phone call with Wes Charles, who owned the cabin. He looked around the room as he sat at the desk, half watching the computer screens in front of him. He nodded his head slowly, knowing he was sure of his next move.
Theresa exited the bedroom and moved toward him, a sexy smile on her face. She seemed more relaxed these days. Her smile was back. Her personality was back. "I'm going to miss this place."
He grinned. "I know. It's become a Shangri-la."
"Yeah." She cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing?"
He shrugged. "I was taking a close look at the security system and how Wes has it set up. The entire place is set up perfectly."
Theresa neared the desk and glanced around. She stepped close to him and stared at the security camera outputs; each monitor was divided into four camera feeds, which showed the road coming in, the backyard, the front yard, the side yards, and three empty squares. "What are those empty screens for?"
"There are three cameras inside. One up there..." He pointed to the corner of the room above the front door. "One in the kitchen. And one downstairs pointing toward the safe room door."
"Oh. So we haven't been on camera the whole time have we?"
He chuckled. "If something had happened, Wes would have been able to turn them on and see who entered the house and where they are. But as a general rule, they aren't turned on."
"Okay."
He turned in his chair and faced her. "Do you like this place?"
She cocked her head to the side. "I do. It's very nice."
"I like it too."
He pulled her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I asked Wes if we could stay here a while longer. He agreed. Rather than going back to my place, we can stay here and figure out our next steps."
"Oh, that's wonderful."
"We don't know what the cartel is doing right now. And it'll give you time to make plans for what you want to do moving forward. Do you have any ideas?"
He watched her swallow as she stared across the room. "I've been thinking about it a lot, of course. But I don't have definitive plans. For instance..." She turned to look into his eyes. "Are we..." She took a deep breath. "Good?"
He grinned. "I think we are. Do you?"
"I do. I mean we haven't had a normal courtship as it were. We've had more longing from afar than many folks. But being here, we've gotten to know each other a bit better and I'm hoping for more of that while we're here. What do you want?"
Marco agreed. "I want that too."
He looked into her eyes. "I mean, what do you want to do from here? As far as work. As far as living arrangements. All of it."
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She stared at the computer screens as she spoke. "I've been thinking about that. I wondered if I should buy a condo where you are. It's safe there. At least safer than I've been previously. I could likely have more security added to my place. I have savings. I think if I knuckle down and write that book I can get it published and start earning money on it before my money runs out. And I could always get freelance writing jobs for newspapers where I can work remotely. That will generate money." She looked into his eyes. "I don't think I can work at the restaurant anymore. I'd feel terribly exposed, and I don't want to bring anything bad to Jace and Margo. They've been so good to me."
He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "That all sounds good. I was thinking of something a bit different though."
She swallowed and he felt her stiffen up. "It's not bad, babe."
"Okay."
"I was thinking of renting this place from Wes for a year. You can write from here. When I go to work, you'll have security. It'll give the authorities time to investigate the Celtics. And from there they can figure out if you'll be safe moving forward. I also thought we'd contact an attorney and have him or her reach out to the Celtics and negotiate a plan. You give up some of the information you have set aside for their promise to leave you alone."
"Marco, are you sure? That's uprooting your life."
His arms tightened around her waist. "Theresa, in the best way possible you have uprooted my life. I'm not sorry. I'm happier with you than I've ever been. I want to explore that more. I want to give us time to really get to know each other and we'll only do that by living normal lives. At least as normal as we can be given the circumstances with the Celtics."
"That's what I mean. Your life won't be normal with me in it."
"My life won't be happy without you in it. And who says normal is the only way to live life? Remember I used to be a SEAL. I'm likely not all that normal anyway."
She laughed. "Oh my God."
"What do you think about staying here? Write your book or books. You'll be safe when I go to work. We'll learn to live with each other and see if we like it."
They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Her eyes glistened and she sniffed lightly. "If you're sure, I'd love to live here with you. As a regular couple."
He kissed her lips. "I do the cooking, you clean and do laundry."
"I can live with that."
She leaned in and kissed his lips softly. Her arm snaked around his shoulders. Her lips moved from his to his jaw, then she kissed her way to his ear. She whispered near his ear, "I love you, Marco."
He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. His arms tightened around her again. "I love you, Theresa."