Chapter 16 #2
As much as he’d like to spend time catching up, he wanted Steff to himself. He needed her to tell him that she was okay. “Great. Steff, you ready?”
She shot up quickly. “I am. It’s been great seeing you all.” Not everyone would be able to pick up on it, but he caught the strain in her voice.
Teresa stood as well and pulled Steff into a hug. “It was good to see you again. I’m sorry shit is happening, but know you’re not alone. You’ve got all of us watching out for you.”
He didn’t know why, but hearing Teresa’s assertion that Steff wasn’t alone pleased him. He shouldn’t be surprised considering how they were all one huge family.
“I know. Thanks for this. I mean it.” Steff came up to him, and he placed his hand on her lower back.
“Before you go, I’ve got something for you.” Cass rummaged into a drawer and pulled out a small square box. Of course, Cass would be on the ball, and he wouldn’t need to ask her about a tracker for Steff.
“What’s this?” Steff looked at him as if seeking confirmation that Cass wasn’t about to poison her with whatever was in it.
Cass opened the box, and two small gold and diamond-like studs glinted under the light. “Earrings. But not ordinary earrings, they have a tracker in them.”
“We’ve all got them.” Eveline pushed her hair back to show hers off. Teresa did the same.
“What? I don’t understand?” Steff may have been relaxed when she’d gotten up, but he could feel the tension radiating from her. “Why would I need them?”
This was a conversation he didn’t want to have in front of the others, but perhaps it was for the best. Teresa and Eveline could help him explain the benefits of having them.
“It’s a way to keep you safe when I can’t be with you,” Jag said.
Steff took a step away and looked around the room. He hated to see the uncertainty reenter her eyes. “Are you saying that someone will be watching my movements all the time? And you’re both happy with that?” her question was directed to Eveline and Teresa.
“Oh absolutely, and I haven’t mentioned it to Angelo, but I’m seriously considering getting Angelica’s ears pierced so that she can wear some too.”
“Let me know when you decide to do that, and I’ll make sure I get some earrings made so that you can take them to the place where you get her ears pierced,” Cass said.
Jag doubted Angel would have any problem with Teresa doing what she wanted to do. If it kept his daughter safe, he would agree to anything.
His main concern was Steff though, and how she was dealing with all of this, because she looked like she was about to bolt, which was the last thing he wanted. “You don’t have to make a decision right now,” he said quietly. “Think about it.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in.” Cass smiled at Steff. “If you’re worried that I’ll be constantly watching you, don’t be. I don’t. But if something was to happen, we’d have a way to find you, and because they’re earrings, no one gives them a thought.”
Steff chewed her bottom lip, and he could tell she was weighing up all the options. What was going through her mind?
Possibly the surprise that someone like Teresa was happy to wear trackers.
Steff had worked with Teresa. Knew that she had been a hard-hitting journalist in a male oriented world where she’d never wanted to look weak, yet Teresa had no qualms in having someone have the ability to trace where she was at all times.
“Okay,” Steff eventually said.
Did that mean she was okay with wearing them, or was she going to take the time to think about it?
“Okay what?” he asked when it looked like she wasn’t going to elaborate.
Steff met his gaze. Her chin lifted a little as if she was daring him to question what she was going to say. “I’ll take them. I know it’s important to you.”
“Nope,” he responded immediately.
“What do you mean ‘nope’?”
“I don’t want you to take them to make me happy. You have to be happy to wear them. This is your decision, Steff. Not mine.”
Of course he wanted her to wear them. After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, his instincts were screaming for him to be cautious. The decision had to be Steff’s alone.
“But I thought this was what you wanted.” Confusion clear in the way her brow furrowed.
“It is. I also don’t want you to feel like me or the others have pressured you into making this decision, which I know this is what it sounds and looks like.
” He took hold of her hands, needing the contact.
“I want you to be safe. And if you don’t want the earrings, then we’ll work something else out. ”
Steff looked around before meeting his gaze. “I don’t know why I’m so resistant. It’s not like you are the bad guys, and as Cass said, she’s not going to be watching me all the time. It’s just…” She shrugged.
“I get it. You don’t have to make a decision now. How about we go back to your place?” Any thoughts of him suggesting that she stay at his apartment went out the window. It would be too much.
What he would have to do was convince her that he was going to stay at her place again that night.
“I’d like that.” Her relief was palpable, and he was glad.
He grabbed the earrings from Cass and pocketed them. “Thanks, everyone. We’ll see you later.”
The women came and gave Steff a hug, and he was pleased to see her returning them freely. Jag knew that she only had Cynthia as a friend, but now she had more.
“I’ll keep you updated on any information I find,” Cass said as they walked out the door. He lifted his hand acknowledging he heard her.