Chapter 11
Seth
S eeing her laugh until she cried was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever witnessed. The sheer joy on her face was worth Edgar’s usual bites and scratches. He was a pain in all our asses, but seeing how sweet and loving he was with Regan said so much about how good of a person she was.
Dinner was at one of the chain steak houses near the interstate.
They seated us in a quiet corner, so we were able to talk throughout the meal.
She told me how she was going to join Devlin and James in their cyber security business before .
. . everything. Her words, not mine. I could see sadness creeping into her beautiful eyes.
Regan was so expressive in her eyes, though I didn’t think she realized they gave her away before her words did.
After dinner, we drove past a small carnival, and I pulled in when I saw her smiling at the bright lights and excitement.
I’d do anything to keep that smile on her face, and if taking her to a sketchy carnival that rolled into town on the back of a truck would do that, then that’s what we were going to do.
After buying tickets for games and rides, we walked the small midway of games.
“Win the little lady a prize. Only three dollars for five shots,” one of the carnival barkers shouted, and we both glanced to see what toys he had to win.
“Isn’t it cute?” Regan asked, pointing to a small stuffed unicorn.
“Don’t let the lady walk away without winning her something, champ,” the old man shouted, and I looked down at her to see if she really wanted it.
“You know I could win it on my own,” she said to the man behind the booth, and he smirked at her like she was a joke.
His attitude pissed me off, so I walked up, slapped a five-dollar bill on the counter, and picked up the air rifle attached to a cable from the tabletop. Turning, I reached out to offer it to Regan while I said, “I want my lady to win me a unicorn.”
She smiled and walked up to me while the carnival barker looked on in amusement. Regan slid her purse over her shoulder and pushed it behind her as she took the rifle from me and turned to inspect the air-powered toy.
“The sights are straight,” the man defended as Regan looked down the barrel and shook her head.
“This one is angled to the left.” She placed it down and picked up the next one.
“This one too.” Going to the third one, she picked it up and looked down the barrel.
Placing the tip of the sights onto the wooden counter, she pressed down and peered through the sights again, seemingly happy with her quick repair.
The man shook his head and rolled his eyes as she turned to me with a smile.
Without looking at the man, she asked, “How many for the prize?”
“Four on the paper or three within the circle wins a small, four within the circle wins medium, and all five within the circle wins large.” He shook his head when she raised the gun and added, “Good luck, little lady.”
“I don’t need luck,” she returned before aiming the sights onto the target less than ten feet from her.
In rapid succession, she pulled the trigger five times, each one landing in the bullseye within the smallest of the circles. She turned and placed the rifle onto the counter and crossed her arms with a smirk. “My man wants a large unicorn, please.”
“Whatever,” the man returned as he reached up and snatched one of the large stuffed animals from its hook in the ceiling.
Her arms barely fit around the large toy, so I took it from her, tucked it under one arm, and took her hand with the other.
The smile she beamed at me was worth the emasculation of her outshooting me.
I wanted her to be brave and fearless, like I knew she could be.
And she deserved to rub something in someone’s face, if for no other reason than to fuck that guy for thinking a woman wasn’t capable of shooting like a man.
I’ve known few women who could outshoot and outmaneuver men half their age and twice their size, so watching that asshole have to give her the toy was icing on the cake for me.
We walked through the rides, but she didn’t seem to be interested in the rusty death traps that people enjoyed at these things.
There was a small area with picnic tables alongside the food trucks, so we found a seat, and I placed the large unicorn in my seat while I asked, “What do you like for dessert?”
She looked around and smiled as she pointed. “Churros with chocolate sauce, please.”
“I need a kiss first.”
She smiled and leaned forward, meeting me halfway as our lips connected.
It was a simple kiss that ended too quickly, but seeing how happy she was after such a painful afternoon was reassuring.
Walking away from her, I tried to keep her in my sights, but the food area was gathering a crowd.
When it was my turn, I asked for a large order with extra sauce and something for us to drink, and after paying, I pushed to the side of the pickup window and waited.
I could see the back of Regan’s head as I turned to grab the dessert and returned to her. Sitting down next to her, I explained, “I got extra, just in case. Plus, I thought we could split a soda.”
“Yeah,” she simply said, and I immediately turned to look at her.
Her demeanor had changed in the few minutes I was gone, and I wanted to know why she now seemed so sad. “Regan, darlin’, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she whispered, but I knew she wasn’t telling the truth.
Her shoulders were hunched, her head was tucked down, and she seemed to be hiding her face.
I looked around, trying to see if someone was paying her extra attention, but all I saw was someone walking away.
Maybe it was the hunch in his back as he lumbered away, or the balding spot on the back of his head, but something was familiar about him.
“Did someone bother you while I was gone?” I asked, and she shook her head a little too quickly.
“Regan, please look at me.” She did, and the fear staring back at me was almost too much to take.
Something or someone had upset her, and I wasn’t going to stay here, allowing her to feel exposed or vulnerable.
“Why don’t we take this back to the house and watch a movie, or if you’d prefer, I can take you home. ”
I really didn’t want to cut our first date short, but something was bothering her deeply, and if changing her location changed her mood, making her comfortable enough to talk to me, then I’d do whatever was necessary.
“We don’t have to do that,” she returned, and I took her hands in mine.
“I want you to be comfortable, and this large crowd may be too much for tonight. We’ll go wherever you want, as long as I can see that beautiful smile again.”
She looked around covertly before admitting, “I think I’d like to go, if you’re really okay with it.”
Kissing the top of her hands, I replied, “I’m more than okay with it. Let’s go.”
I picked up the unicorn while she placed the sauce into the container of churros and followed beside me.
I could see her gaze swinging around the parking lot, looking for someone, so I did the same as we got closer to the SUV.
After releasing her hand, I opened the door and watched as she crawled inside.
I winked at her, hoping to relax her before I opened the backseat and placed the large toy inside, securing it with a seatbelt then closing the door.
As I walked around the back of the vehicle, I tactfully used my phone and scanned the SUV for trackers or listening devices, and when I got an all-clear notification, I opened the driver’s door and got inside.
Regan was holding the dessert, and her eyes were scanning back and forth across the full parking lot as I cranked the vehicle and looked over at her. “Seatbelt, darlin’.”
She placed the food onto her lap and clicked her seatbelt around her waist as I put the vehicle into reverse and backed out of the space.
Hitting a switch on the side of the steering wheel, I activated the cameras surrounding the car, just in case someone followed us home, then I’d have their vehicle on camera to investigate.
Not that I was expecting that, but something about the way she’s acting seemed like she was waiting for someone to jump out and take her again.
And if anyone thought they could lay one hand on Regan and live, they were mistaken.
Gravely mistaken. Now that I knew some of what her early life was like, and listening to her admit without admitting that Steve had abused her and she remained silent all these years was a testament to her ability to hide secrets and shame.
I needed to get her to trust me enough to tell me who took her and where they kept her a few years ago. I needed to know if there was still a threat to Regan or anyone related to our dysfunctional family.
“Would you tell me what made you so scared back there?” I asked when I turned the vehicle onto the interstate, headed to my house.
She pinched her lips and looked out the window as she quietly admitted, “I thought I saw someone I used to know, but I was probably mistaken.”
“Who do you think it was?”
“Someone I never want to see again,” she answered vaguely, and I could see her walls building back up higher and thicker than before.
I needed to keep her off-kilter, so I decided at that very moment to use basic questioning that could bite me in the ass. But if it gave Regan the peace she so desperately deserved, then I would have to deal with the fallout later.
“What’s your favorite dessert to cook?” I asked her, and she turned to me with a smile.
“I love to make pound cakes, cookies, pies. Hell, anything sweet and full of carbs and I’m all about it,” Regan replied, and I knew I was going to hell for this conversation.
“How about pasta? Can you make homemade pasta?”
“I’ve never tried it, but I’m sure I could,” she answered as I got off the interstate at my exit.
Picking up my phone, I sent a quick text to mine, Caldwell and Bookers group chat.
Me : Where are you?”
Booker answered quickly.
Booker: At Rhys’s still. We wanted to give you the house if needed, so we’re bunking at the guard house tonight.
Me: Thanks.
Slipping my phone back into my pocket as the light turned green, I reached over and took her hand into mine as I asked another question. “When you and Elsa first met, what made you bond?”
Her eyes cast down for a moment before she answered. “She had the family I wanted, and after going home with her one weekend and helping her mother cook, she adopted me. Hell, they all adopted me, and Elsa became the sister I never had. Until Hannah.”
“I’m sorry about what happened to her. Have . . . have you spoken or seen her parents since you’ve been home?”
“I went to the funeral, and they spoke to me, but it . . . after I came home, I didn’t speak for close to a year.”
“Can I ask why? And feel free to not respond or tell me to go to hell,” I offered, and she pushed a smile onto her face before exhaling deeply.
“When I was . . . away, some people wanted me to tell them things that I refused to divulge, so I chose to not speak. And when I came home, everyone had questions, but I chose to stay silent. Eventually, everyone stopped asking.”
“Would you like to see them sometime?”
“I don’t know what I’d say to them. Hey, sorry I got your daughter kidnapped and murdered. And sorry they raped her even after she was dead. I’ll pass.”
Her gaze went out the window, and I could feel her slipping back behind her wall of safety, so I shifted our conversation again. “Do you want to watch a movie, or are you ready to go home?”
She looked and replied, “I want to watch a movie.” She fidgeted with her hands as she added, “If you still want to, that is.”
I pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine, casting us in silence.
Turning in my seat, I looked at Regan, who seemed unsure of herself.
“Regan, darlin’, I want to spend as much time with you as I can, but I don’t want you to think you’re expected to if you don’t want to. I just want you to be happy.”
“Then I’d like to stay and watch a movie,” she returned, and I gave her a nod followed by a quick kiss.
After getting out of my side and walking around to help her out of the vehicle, I grabbed the stuffed animal from the backseat and carried it to the front door.
Placing it on the ground, I used the biometric keypad, waiting for it to recognize me, and once I got the clear, I used my key to unlock the door and ushered Regan inside.
Edgar was waiting on the couch and jumped down, meowing at Regan as we walked inside.
She placed the dessert onto the island and leaned over to pick up the ornery cat from around her feet.
I was going to warn her to be careful when the little traitor rested his head on her shoulder and purred louder than I’d ever heard.
Setting the unicorn onto one of the kitchen stools, I tried to pet Edgar, only to get hissed at for my troubles.
Regan chuckled and placed a kiss onto the cat’s head before placing him back on the floor.
He followed her as we walked into the living room, and when the little fucker jumped onto the couch and nestled against the side of her leg, I couldn’t help but grumble, which made her laugh again.
I knew I was going to have to step up my questioning in order to figure out who or what upset Regan tonight, but seeing how happy she was made me decide to wait until tomorrow to ask anything else of her.
We settled onto the couch as she picked some rom-com for us to watch. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we snuggled together, and before long, I felt her head grow heavy, and when I peeked, she was sleeping with her head against my chest.
Closing my eyes, I silently asked for her forgiveness for what I was going to do. I just hoped when the smoke cleared, she’d understand my madness and wouldn’t put a bullet in my head for her troubles.