Chapter 13 #2
“You should know us better than that,” Aleck said. “We’d never be assholes to someone you’re seriously dating. We might tell you later what we think, if we don’t believe she’s good enough for you or whatever, but we’d never make her feel like shit.”
“I appreciate that. You’re gonna like her. I have no doubt,” Mustang said confidently. “She’s damn likable. But just remember that I found her first.”
Everyone laughed.
“So…look into the Columbus family, see if I can find anything we can use against them if they do decide to show their faces here in paradise. Check. I can do that,” Pid said.
“You gonna lock her down?” Midas asked.
Mustang shook his head. “No. I trust her instincts. They’ve kept her safe this far. She’s agreed to let me take her to work and pick her up and not to use public transportation. She doesn’t have email, a phone, a bank account or a car, so there’s no worry they’ll run her off the road or anything.”
“But will they run you off the road if she’s with you?” Slate asked.
“I guess maybe we’ll find out,” Mustang said, almost wishing they’d try.
If he had the chance to have a one-on-one encounter with someone from the Columbus family who might be sent to kill Elodie, he’d make sure they knew she wasn’t alone anymore and was well protected.
He’d make it clear she was off limits, and it would be in their best interest to forget they knew her.
“So she’s staying with you, then?” Aleck asked.
Mustang didn’t hear any censure in his tone, and he answered honestly. “That’s unclear as of yet. But hopefully, yes.”
“The great and mighty Mustang hasn’t gotten her to agree to move in with him after,” Jag exaggeratingly checked his watch, “forty-eight hours of meeting up with her again?”
“Shut up,” Mustang said, throwing his pen across the table at his friend.
“It would make things easier,” Slate said—and everyone turned to stare at him incredulously.
“Weren’t you the one who was questioning his immediate attraction to the woman?” Pid asked.
“Yeah. And he explained it. So now I’m onboard,” Slate said matter-of-factly.
Mustang couldn’t help but grin. These guys could be a pain in the ass, but they were loyal as hell, just as he was to them.
They’d been through too much to be petty or assholes toward each other.
They might disagree or play devil’s advocate, as they were trained to do, but when push came to shove, they’d always have each other’s backs.
“So we’re playing this low-key and waiting to see if anything comes up?” Midas asked. “Should we be more proactive?”
“If we clue in the family that we’re looking into them, it might tip them off about where she is,” Pid said.
“But if we don’t find enough information, they could sneak up on our six and ambush her,” Slate said.
“So the question is, do we dig far enough that it might tip them off, or lay low, stay on our guard, and react if and when we need to?” Aleck added.
The room was silent for a moment as the men mulled over the decisions that had to be made.
“I think we see what Pid can come up with discreetly, and go from there. The last thing we want is to bring the wrath of the mob down on our heads,” Mustang said.
“Besides, our hands are somewhat tied in this anyway. Paul Columbus isn’t going to be dumb enough to come here himself, and even if he did, we can’t get away with murder. ”
“Exactly,” Midas said, then lowered his voice. “But we know people who know people. We might not be able to act, but we know others who can. Including someone who lives here on the island.”
Mustang nodded. He didn’t want to call in favors, but he would for Elodie.
She deserved to live a life free of fear.
To be who she wanted to be and do what she wanted to do.
If that was being a deckhand, fine, but if that meant opening up her own restaurant, with her name splashed across the front and all over the Internet, he’d do whatever it took to give that to her.
“I’ll start seeing what I can find tonight,” Pid said. “In the meantime…when do we get to hang out with you guys?”
Mustang smiled, grateful that the team wanted to get to know Elodie. But at the same time, he was feeling a little selfish. He wanted her to himself for a while.
“Maybe she can come work out with us one morning,” Aleck suggested.
Mustang burst out laughing and shook his head. “Nope, she already informed me that she wasn’t the working-out kind of woman.”
“She could watch us?” Aleck tried again.
“She already gets up early for her job, and when she has the chance to sleep in, she takes it,” Mustang told him.
“She’s a cook, right? Maybe we can have a cookout and she could make the food,” Pid suggested.
Slate reached out and smacked him on the back of the head. “We aren’t going to make her cook for all of us the first time we meet her. Jeez, you’re an idiot.”
“It was just a suggestion!” Pid said. “No need to get violent.”
“I’ll figure something out,” Mustang told his friends.
The door to the conference room opened and their commander stuck his head in. “You guys ready for a debrief on the situation in Benin?”
The men all got serious and nodded. Benin was a country in Africa, near the equator, that shared a border with Nigeria.
They’d been watching internal factions fighting for a while now and it looked like the country was on the verge of a coup.
If they were sent in, their job would be to rescue US and other foreign nationals who were caught in the fray.
Everyone had been advised to vacate the country, but there were always a few people who denied what was happening right in front of them or who thought they’d be safe if they stayed.
The topic of Elodie was dropped, but Mustang felt better knowing his team was now aware of her situation.
He was satisfied, for the moment, that she wasn’t in imminent danger, but he was grateful that Pid would be looking into the Columbus family.
He’d be thrilled to find out Elodie had misread the situation and the family wasn’t actually part of the mob.
But he didn’t doubt her fear was real. No one gave up their life like she had if there wasn’t some truth to what was happening.
No, he was sure Elodie felt as if her life was in danger. The question was…how deep was the threat? He’d find out, and then he and his team would take care of it so Elodie could live the life she wanted…hopefully with Mustang by her side.
Scott was waiting for Elodie when the Fish Tales pulled into dock that afternoon.
She’d been distracted most of the day, fluctuating between insanely happy and wondering what the hell she was doing.
She wasn’t the kind of person to dwell on the negative, but it seemed so much shit had piled on top of her over the last year, it was hard to see anything positive.
Meeting Scott had been a light in her otherwise dark life.
The weekend had been amazing. She’d been afraid to tell Scott about Paul and what had happened in New York, but he hadn’t freaked out.
Hadn’t told her to get the hell out or yelled at her for possibly bringing the mob straight to his doorstep.
Not that she’d thought he’d do either of those things, but there was always the possibility.
Even better, he hadn’t immediately tried to take over her life.
He hadn’t ordered her to quit her job and go into hiding.
He hadn’t insisted she go to the cops and tell them what happened.
He’d listened and made suggestions—things she’d readily agreed to.
She didn’t think she’d ever met someone so tuned in to what she was feeling and thinking as Scott.
And then there was the sex. She couldn’t deny she’d thought about how things would be between them, but the reality had been so much better than her fantasies.
Scott was rough and a little aggressive, and she loved it.
She felt like a completely different person when she was with him.
Oh, there was more to a relationship than sex, but they were definitely starting out on the right foot as far as she was concerned.
“See you tomorrow, Melody!” Kai called out as she stepped off the boat and headed for Scott, who was standing at the end of the dock waiting for her. It was crazy how even a few days of her real name coming from Scott’s lips made hearing Kai call her by a different name feel so wrong.
She waved at him and called out, “Aloha!” and continued toward Scott.
He was smiling by the time she got to him. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey,” she said, stepping into his personal space and tipping her head back. He obliged by bending and kissing her hard and deep, right there in front of all the tourists and locals milling about.
When he lifted his head after several moments, Elodie knew she had a ridiculous smile on her face.
“How was your day?” he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her toward his truck.
“Good. The clients each caught a marlin. They were thrilled.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“How’s your day been?” she asked.
“About like normal,” he said.
“Did you…did you talk to your team?”
He knew what she was referring to. “I did. And it’s all good. I’ll tell you about it tonight. You want me to take you to my place or yours?”
Elodie thought about it for a second, then said, “Mine, please.”
She liked that he didn’t complain or try to talk her into going to his place.
He merely stood by as she climbed into his truck and shut the door behind her when she was settled.
The drive to the house where she was renting a room was done in silence, but Elodie felt a little better when Scott reached over and took her hand in his as he drove.
When he pulled up in front of the house, he cut off the engine and turned to her. She held her breath, because the serious look on his face made her extremely nervous.
“The guys wanted to know when they were going to get a chance to meet you. They had all sorts of ideas…like working out with us, or having a cookout—for which they volunteered you to cook all the food.” He rolled his eyes and smirked.
“I said no to both, by the way. I have no problem with them meeting you, but I’m not ready to share you yet.
I hope that’s okay. It’s not that I’m trying to hide you or anything, I just…
I’m feeling selfish and want to spend every second of my time off getting to know you, not playing host with my team. ”
Elodie’s nervousness evaporated. “Okay.”
“I know that’s crazy, and I do want you to meet them. I think you’ll get along great. It’s not that I’m afraid you won’t like them or vice versa.”
She smiled. “I feel kinda selfish of your time myself, and I wouldn’t mind learning more about you before I’m thrown to the wolves, so to speak.”
Scott smiled. “Good. And I told them about your situation…and they’re looking into it.”
Elodie felt the blood drain from her face at the latter news.
“Don’t panic,” he ordered. “Pid’s good at what he does.
He’s not going to do anything that will alert them to your whereabouts.
He’s discreet. We just need to know what we’re dealing with here.
How serious they are about finding you and how dangerous they really are. Trust us. Trust me,” he said urgently.
Elodie reminded herself that she knew this would happen when she opened up to Scott. It wasn’t even a question that he’d talk to his team about her, but she wasn’t as sure about them poking into the situation. Eventually, she nodded.
“We got this,” he said softly. “We’ll figure this out and then put it behind us and live happily ever after. Okay?”
Elodie took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Unfortunately, I need to get back to base, we’ve got more meetings this afternoon.”
“Is everything all right?” she asked. She had no idea what Scott normally did during the day, but important meetings couldn’t be a good thing for a SEAL, could they?
“Everything’s fine,” he said without seeming stressed. “We’ve always got our eyes on what’s going on in the world, and trying to keep up to date on the latest developments means we’re always in meetings. You want me to pick you up when I’m done?”
Yes! Of course she wanted that. But she didn’t want to seem too eager either. “If you’re going to be tired at the end of the day, it’s okay if you just want to go home.”
Without warning, Scott leaned over and palmed the back of her head and pulled her into him. He kissed her hard, then, staying nose to nose, said, “I’ll never be too tired to see you.”
Butterflies took off in her belly. “Okay, then I’d love for you to pick me up. I’d offer to let you stay here, but the view from your apartment is much better. As is your kitchen. Can I cook for you tonight?”
“Yes, but only if you don’t go out of your way.”
“I won’t,” she promised, her mind already racing to think of what she might make for him.
“Do you need to go to the grocery store? We can stop by after I pick you up.”
“No, I think I’m good,” Elodie told him as she mentally reviewed what she had in her landlord’s pantry.
“Okay. We need to talk about getting you a phone, but I’ll call your land line when I’m on my way.”
Elodie didn’t want to argue over the cell.
She didn’t want Scott to pay for a phone for her, as she knew they weren’t cheap, and she still wasn’t comfortable carrying anything on her person that could be traced.
She had no idea if Paul or his family had the connections to digitally trace someone, but she had to assume so, and didn’t want to take any chances.
“Right. I’m going to have a hard time winning that argument, aren’t I?” Scott asked with a smile. “It’s cool. I’ll see you in a few hours. El?”
“Yeah?”
“This is gonna be fine. We’re gonna work out, and Columbus isn’t going to win, we are. All right?”
She nodded. What else could she do? She wanted to believe him, with all her heart she wanted him to be right.
He leaned in, kissed her forehead gently, then sat back. Elodie climbed out of the truck and waved as she headed down the gravel driveway toward the side entrance to her room. She needed to shower, change, then decide what she wanted to make for dinner.
It had been a long time since she’d been excited to cook.
She had no idea if this was a one-time thing, and once she actually got back into the kitchen the spark would die, as it had so many other times recently.
But it was one more thing she could be grateful to Scott for.
He was already changing her life in so many ways, she was losing track.
And she couldn’t help but smile about that as she entered her apartment.