Raegan’s parents looked at each other and nodded. “Okay, we’ll come with you.”
“You need to move quickly. Pack only what you absolutely have to; clothes, toiletries, something that’s important to you. Everything else has to stay. We need to get out of here as fast as possible,” Chance said.
“Is your car in the garage?” I asked.
“Yes,” the older man answered.
“Good, I need the keys.”
Chance explained when they looked at me in confusion. “We’ll have to take two vehicles. Raegan will ride with Jackson and me and Gabe will drive your car with you two in the back.”
“Why can’t we ride with her?” Mrs Cartwright asked.
“They would come after Raegan first. She needs more protection right now. Plus, we have medical supplies that we can use if we need to,” I informed them.
Within a half hour, we were loaded up and pulling out of the driveway. There was still no sign of whoever those men were and by the time we made it back to Reed Security, we were all breathing a little easier.
✯✯✯✯✯
“What the hell happened out there?”
We were back at Reed Security after a long ass day in the field. Jackson was getting Raegan and her parents set up at his house. Kate had been called in to go over there to look over Raegan, and Knight had insisted on going with when he heard what had happened.
“We got Raegan out, but they already had people on the way. They were storming the house within minutes of us breaking in the door,” Chance answered Cap. “They must have seen us coming or, hell, I don’t know. They’re weapons dealers. They probably have spies all over that town.”
“No one followed us to the Cartwrights, but it won’t be long until they go there.”
“And Jackson decided to take them home.” Cap shook his head and sighed. “You know, we used to be such a calm company, but the more we grow, the more shit we pick up. We’re just getting over one shit storm and now we’re heading into another.”
“They may not connect us to Raegan.” I was hopeful. I had to be. I wanted peace in my life now that I had a woman in my sights. I was going to do anything to get her to let things play out with me.
“They may not, but we can’t afford to think that way. Chance, I want you to make sure Jackson’s house is linked up with Reed Security and monitored 24/7. If anything slips past us, we’re all gonna be in a world of hurt.”
“In Jackson’s defense,” I said quietly, “there was something that happened when he brought her in the house. He looked like he was lost in memories or trying to process what the hell just happened. It was like his protective instincts took the front seat. She’s no longer just a client to him. I can guarantee that there was no way he was going to leave her behind.”
“So, that leaves, what, five more to go?” Cap said.
“Five more what?” Chance asked.
“There are only five of you left.”
“Six,” I corrected. “Rocco’s not taken.” Chance scowled at me. “What?”
“Neither are you, asshole.”
Shit, that was right. Chance didn’t know that I was still seeing Cazzo’s sister. I cleared my throat, glancing quickly at Cap. He wasn’t giving anything away. “Well, yeah, but I plan to. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. It’s gonna happen for me.”
“Is there a lady in mind or were you just going to blow up a dummy?”
“Mail order. I hear it’s the way to go.”
I grinned at Chance, but he wasn’t buying it. It would only be so long before he caught on to me.
“Well, I can guarantee that there is no fucking way I will ever throw my hat in the ring again. Once was enough and it damn near bankrupt me.”
“You need an independent woman. Someone that doesn’t want you to take care of her,” Cap said. “Someone that doesn’t want you to pay when you go out or fix her car when it breaks down.”
“That’d almost be worse. If you can’t do anything to please her, what the hell is she gonna be so grateful for that she gets down on her knees and sucks your dick?” Chance asked.
“You could just date a woman that wants to do that because she likes you,” Cap suggested.
“I could also put a fucking bullet in my head, but I’m not that stupid.”
“Are we finished here?” I didn’t mind hanging out, but I had plans to get Isa back and I didn’t want to be hanging around here.
“Yeah, we’re done,” Cap nodded. I got up from my seat and headed for the door. “Hey, Gabe. Blow up doll is in locker three,” he said as he tossed me a set of keys.
“Fuck you, Cap.” I threw the keys back at him, all the while those two were laughing their asses off at me. Once I got Isa back, they wouldn’t be laughing anymore.
CHAPTER NINE
Isabella
MY FIRST DAY back to work was crazy. I hadn’t been in real estate since right before Vittoria was born. So much had changed and with working for a different company, I was hired on a probationary period until I could prove that I could still do this job. I was lucky to even get it, but I had excellent recommendations from my previous employer.
For the most part, I was satisfied with my first day. It was just a different kind of hustle than I was used to and it was going to take some time to get back into the swing of things. When I picked up Vittoria from school, she was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the back seat on the way home. Then I had to pick up Enzo from day care. When I pulled into the driveway, I was ready to relax with a glass of wine, but that wouldn’t happen since I still had to feed the kids and give them baths tonight.
To make matters worse, Matteo pulled up right after I got the kids inside. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him and I wasn’t sure why he even came here. We weren’t enough for him when we lived together, but suddenly, he just had to have us back.
“What do you want, Matteo?”
“I just came by to see if you needed help.”
“You don’t even live in this state.”
“I’m working remotely. It took you driving away for me to realize how much of an idiot I had been. I want to make this right between us, and I know that won’t happen overnight. I know you need time to think about this and work through things, but I was hoping we could go to counseling.”
“What?” I screeched in shock. “Now you want to go to counseling?”
“I know it might be too late, but I’m not ready to give up on us. We once loved each other so much. It could be that way again.”
“It can never be that way again. You know why? Because when I fell for you, I was just out of college. I had plans of my own and you loved that about me. But when we had Vittoria, everything changed. You wanted me to turn myself into the perfect little housewife. And because I wanted to please you, I tried. But everything I did just made you more distant.”
“See, that’s what’s so great,” he said, walking toward me and wrapping his hands around my waist. “Seeing you here, back to work and charging ahead with your life, I see how you not working had ruined us. I put my own goals ahead of our family. I don’t ever want to do that again.”
He pressed his lips against mine and for a moment, it really felt like I had my Matteo back. His kisses were just like I remembered and his touch still made me crumble. It was like I was back to our first date and falling hard for him all over again. But then flashes of the past six years played through my head and I remembered exactly why I had left. I shoved him away from me and took a step back.
“You can’t do this, Matteo. You can’t mess with my life like this. I’m happy. I’m moving on.”
He nodded his head dejectedly. “I know,” he said quietly. “But I’m sticking around, Isa. For as long as it takes. I’ll be waiting for you and I’m not giving up.”
I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want him sticking around. I had already moved out of the house and closer to Sam. The kids knew he was here now. What was I supposed to tell them?
“Daddy, are you staying for dinner?” Vittoria asked.
“I don’t know, sweet pea. You’re momma’s kind of mad at me right now. I’m not sure she’d want me around.”
That manipulative bastard.
“Mommy, I want Daddy to stay for dinner. Why can’t he stay?”
“Fine,” I said harshly. “But you’re going to have to leave right after dinner. I have stuff to do for work and I need to get my routine going.”
“I could stay and take care of the kids for you. In fact, I could-” He looked down at his shoes and shook his head. “Nevermind, it’s a stupid idea.”
“What?” I asked against my better judgement.
“I was going to say, I could sleep in one of the spare rooms and then I could help out with getting the kids off to school and home afterwards.”
“Daddy move home?” Enzo asked as he ran into the room.
“No-”
“Yes-”
We spoke at the same time. I glared at Matteo, but he didn’t seem to notice. He scooped Enzo up into his arms and spun him around. “Daddy’s gonna help momma out and take care of you guys in the morning and after school. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”
“You stay here?”
Matteo looked over at me and Enzo and Vittoria looked at me with pleading eyes. I didn’t know what the hell to do. There was no way I wanted this man in my home, but he was saying all this shit right in front of my kids. I didn’t want to crush them now that he was finally paying attention to them. On the other hand, there was just no way I could move on with my life if he stayed with me. I needed a fresh start.
“No, Daddy isn’t staying here, but he’s going to be in town for a few days, so you’ll see him more often,” I said, staring at Matteo. I hope he understood the look I was shooting him, that he better not fuck this up.
Matteo cleared his throat uncomfortably and smiled down at the kids. “Yeah, I’ll be in town, but if you need me, just call me.”
“I don’t understand why we had to move to this stupid house anyway,” Vittoria grumbled. “We could have just stayed at home.”
“Vittoria, this is not up for discussion,” I scolded. Turning to Matteo, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “It’s time for you to go. I have to make dinner and finish up some work.”
“I could-”
“No,” I said firmly. “Kids, why don’t you go see what you want for dinner.”
They ran into the kitchen and I took a step closer to Matteo. “Don’t you ever come into my home and start putting thoughts in their head. Nothing is going to change my mind. You won’t win me back and you’re only going to piss me off. If you’re serious about sticking around, then you use your phone and you call before you come over. Am I clear?”
Matteo’s face morphed into anger for just a moment before he nodded and turned to go. Once he was gone, I closed the door and thumped my head back against the wood. The last thing I needed while trying to move on with my life was my husband showing up. Why wouldn’t he just sign the divorce papers? Bastard.
✯✯✯✯✯
When the doorbell rang while we were eating dinner, I growled and willed whoever was at the door to go away. I didn’t want any visitors and I especially didn’t want Matteo showing up. It would figure he would show up at dinnertime. The man never did figure out how to boil water, let alone a microwave. That whole thing about men being the superior gender really took a hit when Matteo entered adulthood.
Yanking the door open, I rolled my eyes when I saw the tall, gorgeous man of my dreams standing at the door. Gabe was everything I ever dreamed of, but he was a little on the aggressive side and I couldn’t deal with that right now. Besides, I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Why was he showing up now?
“Can I help you?” I went for a pleasant smile, but I had a feeling it was more like a scowl.
“Hi, I’m Gabe.” The man held out his hand and flashed those beautiful pearly whites at me. My brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what the hell his game was. “Maybe you don’t remember me. I was at Sebastian’s house for the barbecue. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself.”
I eyed his hand warily and then looked back up at him. He still had that disarming smile on his damn face that made me want to pull him back to my bedroom and do really naughty things to him. “Um…what’s going on?”
“Well, this is how people usually meet. When I first saw you, I thought, Damn, I need to know more about that woman.”
“Uh huh, but that’s not what happened.”
He flashed a sexy grin at me. “No, not the way it should have gone. I still got to know you, and I really liked that side, but then I realized that I hadn’t properly introduced myself. That’s no way to treat a lady,” he said, shaking his head slightly.
I was really fucking confused. We’d had sex twice now and he’d started getting all weird, acting like he was a part of the family already. I wasn’t really sure what that was about, but it freaked me the hell out.
“I don’t think when we met that I had any intentions of being treated like a lady.”
“Which is probably why you flipped out on me. Anyway,” he grinned, “I just wanted to come by and properly introduce myself and to let you know that I would really like to get to know you better.”
I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He was actually pretty charming and those damn eyes were my undoing. “Well, if you’d like to stick around, I just finished dinner. But I have to warn you, I have two kids. One repeats everything you tell him at least ten times and the other will find ways to con you out of money.”
“I think I can handle that. The real question is, what’s for dinner?”
“Lasagna.”
He narrowed his eyes with a small grin. “Homemade?”
“Is there any other kind?”
“I guess I’d better come in then. I would hate to pass up something so delicious.”
I stepped back from the door and allowed him into my house. He waited politely for me to lead him into the kitchen and took a seat at the other end of the table. I pulled out an extra setting and placed it in front of him and then pulled the lasagna out of the oven.
“I thought you said this was homemade?” he said as he eyed the throw-away dish.
“It is. I pulled it out of the box and stuck it in the oven myself. It was really hard work.”
He chuckled, his smile pulling wide across his handsome face. “I bet it took you all afternoon, slaving away for this dinner. I hope you didn’t break any nails.”
I placed my hand on my chest in horror. “Are you kidding? I would never do anything to damage these perfect nails.” I held out my hand, showing him my self-manicured, but unpolished nails. “One of the first things you learn when you have a kid is that it’s not worth it to spend money on yourself anymore. Clothes, shoes, manicured fingers, all that stuff will eventually be ruined.”
“So, you never treat yourself anymore, is what you’re saying.”
I shrugged. “It’s just not worth it. Why spend money on something that’ll be ruined? I have my work clothes and a few things for going out, but I usually keep it pretty casual. You don’t get down and play with your kids in the grass if you’re wearing an outfit that costs over a hundred dollars.”
The way he looked at me was somewhere between fascination and appreciation. At least, I hoped that’s what it was. When I realized I was just staring at him, I cleared my throat and called the kids for dinner. Enzo ran right over to Gabe and jumped in his lap.
“Gabe! You eat dinnuh wif us?”
“Yep. I didn’t want to miss out on your momma’s cooking.”
“Mommy didn’t make this. It came out of a box,” Vittoria added without a touch of irritation. One thing I could always rely on with Vittoria was for her to tell the truth one hundred percent of the time.
“Really?” Gabe said, shoving himself back in shock. “Are you sure? Because I heard that your momma spent the whole day rolling
out the dough and making the lasagna noodles. And then she made the sauce from scratch.” He looked around and then leaned in conspiratorially toward Vittoria. “I hear she even milked a cow and then made the cheese.”
Vittoria smirked, the first smile of the night appearing on her face. “She did not. I saw her take the lasagna out of the box.”
Gabe’s hand flew to his chest. “Should I not eat it then?”
“You can still eat it, silly.”
“It won’t kill me?”
“No,” Vittoria laughed. I dished out the food while the kids went to wash their hands.
“You’re surprisingly good with them.” I dished out a large helping on his plate, trying to distract myself from his penetrating gaze.
“What can I say? I’m the kid whisperer.”
“Sure, we’ll see how you do in another month,” I grinned, then flushed bright red as I realized how that sounded. “Not that we would still be together in a month. Or that we are right now. I just meant that if you’re still hanging around or if my brother hasn’t killed you, that then we’d see if you were still this smooth.”
I ducked my head and tried not to look at him anymore. I just couldn’t handle his dark eyes looking at me like that. Everything about him screamed that he was going to take me to my bedroom and show me exactly what he could do. Except, I already knew and I wanted more.
“I know exactly what you meant. But I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll fuck it up somehow.”
“What does fuck it up mean?” Vittoria asked as she walked back into the kitchen.
Gabe grinned and looked over at me. “See?”
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