18. Savannah
Aiden picks up Penny and asks if she’s ready to meet her new bodyguards. I can’t help but laugh when her eyes peruse my team, and she scrunches her nose in confusion. “Why aren’t you wearing suits?”
Jessie bends down to Penny’s level but doesn’t have to go far since she’s barely five feet tall. “Can I share a secret with you?”
Penny bobs her head enthusiastically.
“Suits are for sissies!” Jessie whisper-shouts. Jeremy, Jack, and Scott all chuckle because they’re wearing suits per their company’s dress code policy and at Aiden’s behest. “We want to be stealthy, and there’s no better way to do that than to look like everyone else!”
Aiden rolls his eyes and addresses the three bodyguards, “I can take a hint. You three are no longer required to wear suits if you don’t want to.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Scott says. “There will be times when it will be appropriate, but that’s not always the case.” Jeremy and Jack are equally relieved.
Penny asks Jessie, “How can you protect me when you’re so tiny?”
Jerry chimes in, “She might be small, but she’s mighty. Don’t let her size fool you.”
Jessie tells her, “It’s my disguise. I’m really seven feet tall!”
“No way!” Penny says, astonished.
“Yep. It’s what’s in here that matters,” Jessie says, pointing to Penny’s heart.
Penny’s eyes light up with joy, “Dad says I have a big heart, so I must be seven feet tall, too!”
Aiden rubs her head, “That’s right! Your heart is as big as they come. You’re a giant!”
The phones chime with an alert that someone has arrived, and I brace myself for the impending tornado that is about to storm this house. Jerry looks over my shoulder at the screen since they haven’t downloaded the app yet.
“Is that the ex?” he asks as Aiden heads out front to greet the guest with Scott right beside him.
I sigh. “Yeah. She met me for two seconds and called me a gold-digger. She’s afraid I’m after ‘her man.’”
He whispers, “She has every right to be afraid. We haven’t been here long, and I’ve already seen the way Aiden looks at you. He definitely wants to be more than friends. Heck, I thought he would try and pummel me just for hugging you.”
I ignore Jerry’s comment and turn to Penny, “I know you don’t want to see your mother, but everyone deserves a second chance. What she does with it is up to her, but only you can give it to her.”
Martha slides her arm across my shoulders. “That’s sage advice, Anna. I wonder if there’s anyone else in this room who should take it?” Although she doesn’t call me out by name, her meaning is loud and clear.
A second later, Aiden and Patricia waltz through the front door. Aiden is scowling while Patricia is all smiles and looks like a million bucks. Then I silently chuckle because what she’s wearing probably costs something close to that.
“Let’s give them some space,” I announce, ushering my team out of the room. To my surprise, Martha, Jeremy, and Jack join us. I thought at least Martha would have wanted to stay and keep an eye on Patricia.
Reading my mind, Martha explains, “Aiden is more than capable of handling the situation. I’m going to keep myself occupied by helping Reggie get things set up for the barbecue. The party company will be here soon, and I’ll need to direct them.”
I wave at her as she opens the back door to the patio. “Okay, Martha. I’m going to get my team up to speed, then we’ll help however we can.”
“Jeremy, can you go outside and partner up with Scott to keep an eye on the party planning personnel when they arrive? Jack, hang out in the kitchen in case Aiden needs you. I’m going to take these guys upstairs and brief them on the protocols that are currently set in place.” I don’t wait for them to acknowledge the request, knowing they’ll do as I asked.
Heading upstairs, I show the team to my room. Roger is the last to enter and closes the door behind him. “What a mess!”
I agree with him. “It’s what I had to work with, Roger. The bodyguards Aiden hired are amazing and capable guys, but they don’t have the proper equipment to do their jobs effectively. We have to text to communicate. Please tell me you brought plenty of communication devices that we can share with them.”
Jerry grins mischievously. “Indeed, we did. We brought extra everything, including our new ultralight body armor, modified weapons, simunition rounds, cameras, and wait for it!” He pauses for dramatic effect, “Ring tasers!”
“Ring tasers? What are those?” I don’t recall us ever having something like that.
Jessie laughs, “You’d think Jerry is a kid in a candy store with those things. He used one on Roger just to see if it worked. In case you want to know, they do! They’re a new prototype taser device that Ethan and Ben developed. They look like ordinary rings, but with a turn of the stone, they can deliver a charge that will incapacitate an assailant in close-quarter combat.”
Interesting. “Is it rechargeable?”
Jerry hands me a black box and gets down on one knee, flipping the lid open to reveal a large emerald-like ring inside. As I’m reaching for the ring, there is a knock on the door just before it opens. Aiden’s mouth drops open as he takes in the scene. Stuttering, he says, “I…I…um…I didn’t mean to interrupt your special moment.”
He turns to leave, but Jessie pulls on his shirt to stop him. “You didn’t interrupt anything other than our friend making a fool of himself. He’s just playing around showing Anna our newest toy. Come in and see for yourself. You’ll be getting one, too.”
“A proposal?” Aiden asks, confused.
“Only if you play your cards right,” Jerry suggests. “But no, it’s a taser disguised as a ring. Do you want to see if it works? I’ll be more than happy to use it on you if you need proof.”
I slap the back of Jerry’s head. “Be nice, or I’ll be testing it out on you!”
Aiden steps further into the room, unsure if his presence is welcome. Jerry shows him the ring and explains how it works.
“That’s pretty nifty, but I don’t think an emerald ring is quite my style,” Aiden says.
Roger hands him another box. “I agree. For us men, we’ll have more manly designs.” Roger grunts like Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement, and I want to hang my head in embarrassment. Aiden laughs and opens up the box. Inside is a replica of his Stanley Cup ring. Roger points to the insignia, “All you have to do is rotate clockwise 90 degrees to turn it on.”
“Should I wear it now?” he asks.
I put on the ring Jerry has for me and face Aiden, “You may as well. You never know when you’ll need it, especially if a threat is unknown and gets too close. Speaking of threats, where are Penny and Patricia? You didn’t leave them alone, did you?” I make to leave, but Aiden stops me.
“Jack is with them. Mom asked me to let you know that the party planners texted that they’re ten minutes away.”
“Okay. Please let her know that we’ll be down in five.” Aiden leaves quickly and I have the team download the app for the alerts.
“Jerry, you’ll have access to their cameras via this app, and I set up a few others to cover the blind spots. After the get-together is over, I’d appreciate you setting up a few more. I don’t like relying on someone else’s tech. The cameras that are currently installed are archaic and don’t have any kind of thermal imaging. It’s fine for day-to-day use, but not when there is a credible threat.”
“On it,” he replies.
“Roger, I’d like you on the team that goes with Aiden on his away games. He leaves tomorrow morning at 3:00 am and should return home on Tuesday. He’ll have two practice days, followed by two home games. I’ll brief you guys tonight after Penny goes to sleep. For the record, Penny knows me as Anna, which I’m sure you’ve already picked up on.”
Jessie wraps me in a quick hug, “Ethan informed us of what transpired this morning after you got off the phone with him. I’m sorry we weren’t here for you.”
I pat her arm. “It’s okay. Penny has no idea that Gretchen is my mother, and I’m not ready to divulge that information to her. So, for now, I’m still Anna. The rest of the family and security know my real name, so no need to correct them if they use it. At this point, the only important thing is that Penny and anyone outside of Aiden’s family think that I’m nothing more than a nanny. What they call me is ultimately irrelevant.”
“Rogerthat,” Jessie says with a giggle.
Roger rolls his eyes. “Doesn’t that ever get old for you?”
“Never!”
“Let’s go, guys. We have a job to do.” With that, we all head downstairs and prepare for the chaos that’s about to ensue, only to be stopped by Aiden’s raised voice emanating from the living room.
“Patricia, there is no chance for you and me to get back together! I need you to stop pushing for something that is never going to happen.”
“But you loved me once! I didn’t know what was wrong with me then. Now that I do, I’m able to control it,” Patricia says. “You’re always saying people deserve a second chance!”
“That doesn’t mean repeating mistakes or traveling the same road twice. It means forgiveness and moving on. I forgave you, and I moved on!”
“It’s because of your new nanny, isn’t it?” she asks Aiden with disgust. “You know that she’s only after you for your money. I read the papers. She’s a beauty queen that’s fallen from her throne. You’re her meal ticket!”
“She’s not just Penny’s nanny, Patricia. She’s my fiancée! I’ll not have you disrespecting her in my home. If you can’t mind your manners and spend this time with Penny like you said you would, then there’s the front door!”
I gasp at his declaration that we’re engaged, and I almost turn red with anger. No one gets to make a decision about my love life except for me. I take a step to tell Aiden as such when Roger stops me.
“Do not embarrass that man when he’s defending you, Savannah. Do not jump to conclusions, and do not assume the worst. You’re undercover as a nanny to keep him and his daughter safe. You might as well go undercover as his fiancée so that he can protect you, even if it’s from nasty and mean comments.”
I take my mentor’s words to heart and inhale deeply several times. I look down at my right hand and see the beautiful emerald ring. I gently remove the piece of jewelry from my right hand and adorn my left finger to validate the ruse. Roger nods in approval.
“Good call, Savannah. Now, go help the poor boy out. We’ll slip out the back and get in position for the party.”
“Thanks, Roger,” I say before plastering on a smile and bouncing down the remaining steps.
Turning right toward the living room, I do a quick search for Penny, but I don’t see her anywhere. “Hi, Sweetheart. Where’s Penny?”
Aiden stands stock-still like a deer caught in headlights until I slip an arm around his waist and look up at him like a girl in love. I’ve done it countless times before with some of the men on my team when we were undercover as a married couple, but this time it doesn’t feel forced. It feels natural, and I can’t deny that we fit together perfectly.
“Um, she’s outside with Grandma. Anna, have you met Patricia, my ex-wife?”
Patricia’s face turns beet red when Aiden emphasizes the “ex” in ex-wife. “We’ve met,” she says scathingly, not offering her hand or any form of polite greeting. “Really, Aiden. You can do so much better than a nanny.”
Aiden’s body goes ramrod straight at her slight against me, but I don’t let him get in the final word. “He probably could. But for some reason, God aligned our lives in such a way that our paths were destined to cross. I’m but a lowly nanny, so who am I to argue with God?”
Although I had meant the comment to be sarcastic, it didn’t come out that way. It came out as unfettered, and it rang with truth.