Chapter 37 Rob
ROB
I’m not sure I’m cut out for RPGs and kidnappings.
Her words echoed in my head over the next couple of days. I did whatever I could to make things as normal as possible, giving her the life that I knew she wanted. But it seemed the more I tried to make this work, the harder it got.
When she wanted to go to the grocery store, Knight insisted we tag along.
There are dangers everywhere. You’re going to let her walk out of the house with no protection?
Unfortunately, he said that in front of her. I explained it away, trying to make her feel better, but her unease as we walked through the store was hard to ignore.
Then there was the day she accidentally set off all the alarms on the property when she thought she was adjusting the thermostat.
In actuality, she hit the emergency alarm, signaling she was in distress and under attack. Yeah, it was a little awkward when half of Reed Security burst through the door, and she stood there in her sleep shorts and tank top, sans bra.
Tonight was going to be different. We were going out on a date in town, where normal people ate every day. No one ever shot them or stormed into the restaurant to catch an enemy.
It would be just the two of us.
“Ready to go?” I asked, eyeing her up and down.
She was absolutely stunning in a green dress with thin straps and high heels. Fuck, why did we have to leave?
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay home?” she smirked.
“Fuck, yes, I do.” Striding over to her, I slid my hand around her waist and pulled her flush against my body, skimming my nose down her neck as I inhaled the sweet scent of vanilla.
Groaning, I pulled back. “Dinner. Then the rest.”
“We don’t have to go out,” she chuckled.
“Hey, I can go out and do normal things. I do them all the time.”
“Yeah?”
Linking my fingers with hers, I tugged her through the house to the front door. “I go shopping and eat out at restaurants all the time. It’s completely normal.”
“Hey.” She stopped, cocking her head at me. “Is this because of what happened earlier?”
Even if I wanted to hide my intentions from her, there was no possible way to do it. I couldn’t stop rambling on about being normal.
“Look, I just want to show you that we’re not all a bunch of gun-happy killers around here. We do normal things, too.”
“Like when?”
The adorable smirk on her face almost made me laugh. That is, until I realized I couldn’t think of a single example.
“Uh…” I swallowed hard as the smile slipped from her face. “We took a trip to Gettysburg one time.”
“Yeah?”
“I mean, I wasn’t there, but others went.”
“Well, that’s normal.”
It was so not normal. Not if she knew what happened there.
“So, dinner?” Quickly changing the subject, I tucked her into the SUV, then shut the door and shook off my nerves. Tonight would go fine. Everything would be just fine.
We were fine.
Clearing my throat as soon as I got in, I did my best not to look over at her. It was best not to spook the beast. Not that she was a beast, or that I had to worry about spooking her.
Because everything was going to be fine.
“You’re so tense,” she said as we walked into the restaurant.
“Am I? It’s probably just because I’m wearing a suit.”
“Well, you look amazing.”
“Thank you.”
Walking up to the hostess stand, I finally calmed down enough to tell her my name and that we had a reservation. The dim lighting of the restaurant set the perfect mood, along with the candles on the table and the soft music playing overhead.
Why had I been so worried about this?
“Rob!”
My whole body stiffened as I heard the familiar voice that would set any one of us on edge. Not because nobody wanted to see her, but because of what hell was sure to follow.
I tried to ignore her, but she chased me down, stepping in front of Krista and me as we attempted to sit at the table the waitress had guided us to.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
I grit my teeth, turning a lethal glare on Cap, who was chuckling into his wine glass.
“Krista, this is Maggie.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “As in the Maggie?”
“Wow. Infamous already?” Maggie laughed. “I had no idea you talked about me so much.”
“You came up quite a bit on our trip.”
“Well, don’t sit all the way over here. Come join us. I want to get to know your new lady!”
She motioned for the waitress to bring our plates over, which probably wasn’t how they did things around here.
But no one said no to Maggie.
“Cap,” I muttered as I pulled out a chair for Krista.
“Rob, good to see you and the wife again.”
“Yeah, who would have thought I would run into you outside of work?” I snapped. “Small town.”
“Well, Knight suggested that we take a night to ourselves. You know, get out of the house and leave the kids with someone else for a change.”
So, this was Knight’s doing. Probably as a way to somehow protect myself from unknown dangers.
I took my own seat and placed my napkin on my lap. “Funny. I’m surprised you could find enough people to watch twenty kids.”
“You have twenty kids?” Krista asked in shock.
“Not that many. It’s more like…”
Cap and Maggie both looked at each other, frowning as they tried to tally it in their heads.
“Anyway,” I turned to Krista. “Should we get wine?”
“Oh, we got a whole bottle!” Maggie exclaimed, setting it down in front of me.
“Well, we need glasses—”
She produced those as well, almost as if she knew this was how it was going to go.
“Well, isn’t that handy,” I muttered, pouring some wine for Krista and myself. “To our new life.”
Krista was about to say something, but Maggie cut in. “And to friends. Ooh, and grenades. God, I just love grenades.”
I rolled my eyes in Cap’s direction. “Is she going to do this all night?” I hissed.
“She doesn’t get out much.”
“So,” Krista interrupted. “What do you do, Maggie?”
“Oh, I help around the company.”
Cap choked on a cough.
Maggie’s eyes narrowed as she stared down her husband. “I work with Becky in the IT department with research.”
“Oh, so she works with you.”
I shook my head instantly. I stayed as far away from Maggie as possible on any given day of the week. “No, I don’t usually spend much time with her.”
“He’s a little scared of me,” Maggie smirked.
“Actually, I just prefer to stay as far away from crazy as possible.”
Maggie scoffed. “Are you going to let him talk about me like that?”
Cap shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”
“Men,” she grumbled. “So, any idea what you’re going to do now that you’re out here?”
“Um…I hadn’t really thought about it. I’ll probably check out what’s available in the area for work.”
Cap cleared his throat, eyeing me in that way that made it perfectly obvious to anyone around that he didn’t agree.
“What? Is there a problem?” Krista asked.
“No,” Cap said quickly. “It’s just…we don’t normally let anyone leave whenever they want. That’s all.”
Krista frowned at him, then shot me a withering look. “You don’t let anyone leave? I wasn’t aware that when I was moving out here, I was entering captivity.”
“Oh, it’s not captivity,” Cap cut in. “It’s a safety protocol.”
“A safety protocol.”
Man, repeating it only made it sound worse.
“Yes. If everyone just left whenever they wanted, how would we know if something happened to someone?”
“Call me crazy,” Krista chuckled, still not completely aware that Cap was serious about this, “but people go about their lives every day, and still return to live their lives another day.”
“And those are the people who are completely unaware of the dangers around them,” he retorted.
“The—” Her eyes shifted to mine. “Is he serious?”
I winced, not sure what to tell her. I mean, it was different in Montana. It wasn’t like I could just dump a bunch of security protocols on her. Plus, in Montana, it was perfectly normal for everyone to walk around with a gun. Here…
“Look,” I started, clearing my throat to buy myself a little more time, “you get used to it. I mean, it’s really not that bad. When you want to leave, I would go with you.”
“What if I need to leave in the middle of the day, but you’re at work?”
“We can reschedule anything,” I tried.
“What about if I need groceries?”
“We have them delivered.”
“What if they have a bomb in them?” she countered.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as the words hung on the tip of my tongue. “We have every package scanned as it arrives.”
Her eyes widened incredulously. “Even groceries?”
“As you just said, what if a bomb is in there?”
She tossed her napkin down on the table and shoved her chair back. “I was joking!”
Getting to my feet, I chuckled as I waved at the other patrons, hoping she didn’t cause too much of a scene. “Can you just sit down?”
Slamming her hands down on the table, she leaned forward and hissed, “Are you insane?”
“Me? No, I’m perfectly normal.”
“Normal people don’t scan their groceries for a bomb!” she shouted.
Again, I chuckled as I looked at the rest of the patrons. “It’s a play we’re rehearsing for.”
They all stared at us warily, not really buying my excuse.
“Look, maybe you could just calm down—”
“Oh, shit,” Cap murmured.
“Calm down? Did you really just tell me to calm down?” Krista snapped.
“Yeah, I did, because frankly, you’re making a scene.”
A humorless laugh slipped off her lips. “Oh, you haven’t even seen me make a scene.”
She tossed down her napkin and strode away.
“Where are you going?” I shouted after her.
“Home! If you think the psycho at the gates will allow me entry!”
“Not without me!” I called out. “You’re not in the system yet!”
She held her middle finger over her head and kept walking.
Maggie leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of wine. “Well, I think that went well.”