by Paula Cox
Tania drove her car out. He closed the gate and then sat back inside. “What about your bike?”
“The tires have to be changed so it’s gonna take a while. Oh, that reminds me that we were supposed to check out your bike today. Maybe we can do that on the way to the restaurant?”
She was excited about it – her first bike! It would be amazing to own a ride. “Sure. I look forward to it.”
They reached the office, parked the car, and got in. Tania wondered if every day was going to be as full of possibilities as this one as. With Riley, she enjoyed doing the mundane things that she never thought too much before. It was heady to share a life with him and put their own stamp on it. She loved it. Now that they were a team and not working against each other, the friction was gone and they could enjoy each other even more than ever before.
As they went to the door, the first thing Tania noticed was the broken handle on the floor. Fear glided into her veins. “Shit! What the hell happened here?”
Riley tugged her away from the door. He pushed it open and peeked inside. “Damn it.”
“What, what, what?” She didn’t wait for him to reply and instead pushed past him. Tania’s hand went to her mouth to stop the scream that rose to her lips. “Oh my God!”
He put a hand on her shoulder as they surveyed the damage. Someone had written obscenities on the walls, put spray paint on the chairs, and cabinets. Luckily, the client files were safe, which was the first thing Tania checked as she rushed inside. The vandals weren’t able to open the two safes that sat in their separate offices.
“We need to call the police,” said Riley.
“But the clients…we’re supposed to meet them.”
He checked the time. “We’ll make it.”
Tania sat on her desk and pulled out the paperwork. She was trying hard not to cry. There was no sense in doing so. This was another nightmare, and they would see it through. “I’m just going to wrap this up until the police get here.”
“Tania, we’ll see it through,” he promised in a firm voice, but she didn’t glance up.
If she looked into his face, she would break down, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Their beautiful office, which they decorated with such care, was the target of a hate crime. Why? They never did anything bad to anyone in the building. This couldn’t be the work of kids. What the hell was going on?
By the time the police arrived, she’d finished her work and rescheduled her meeting with the client. Now, she was free to answer their questions. The police officers took notes and pictures. “Do you have any suspects in mind?”
Before she could answer, Riley told them about the ongoing case against Raymond and the Devil’s Mafia Brotherhood. “But I don’t know if it’s their work,” he said. “With Raymond and a few other key players already behind bars, I’m not sure if they would’ve planned this.”
“Anyone else?”
He exchanged a glance with Tania and she nodded. “Her ex-boss Brin stopped by last night, and there was an altercation.” Riley repeated the incident. “Frankly, I don’t think he has the balls to do this.”
Another police officer had arrived by that point, and he began to check for fingerprints. Theirs were taken to eliminate those from the prints that they picked up, but he didn’t look hopeful. “I believe that the vandals must’ve worn gloves because they might’ve gotten the spray on their hands otherwise, but we could try. Who knows? Some of these people are real dumb.”
Tania wasn’t hopeful at all. Whoever did this was quick and thorough. It was a good thing neither of them was in the habit of leaving their laptops on the desks or else they might’ve been destroyed or stolen. At this stage of their career, they couldn’t afford to spend a lot of money replacing these things. As it was, it would take them a while to repaint the office and to wash the chairs and couches.
“It seems like a personal attack to me,” said the police officer as he stood. “It could be your ex-boss, and we’ll have a talk with him to see if he has an alibi for last night. We’ll also look into this Devil’s Mafia Brotherhood and figure out if any of their members are still running free.”
“Thank you,” said Tania.
“Have you experienced any other incidents?”
“No,” said Riley.
Tania slapped a hand on her forehead. “Wait. What about your bike? The tires were slashed last night.”
“Kids,” he said.
The officers looked at her, and she explained what happened the night before. “It could be related. We’ll look into this, ma’am, sir.”
Riley led them out. “Thank you for your time.”
After he came back, he sat next to Tania and held her hands. “Be brave. I’ve called the locksmith. He’s coming to put in a new lock.”
She nodded, trying to force back the tears that sprang to her eyes. Even though her heart was breaking, she was determined to not fall into pieces. It was important to remain strong, for herself and for Riley. “When will this nightmare come to an end? We’ve moved on but someone is hell bent on destroying our lives.”
“And they can only do that if we allow them, but we won’t give way. It doesn’t matter. We’re going to put security cameras in the office, and we’ll clean up this mess, make it whole again. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“I’m not worried.” She looked into his eyes. “I’m just…”
She couldn’t complete her sentence and sensing her need, he drew her in his arms. For some time, she sat there, listening to his heart thump under her head. It felt good to be cocooned in those muscled arms. Riley always protected her. He would keep her safe, but she needed to be strong. They had been through so much together, and it was now time to be even braver than ever before. They sat together for a while and then heard the door open.
“It must be the locksmith,” said Riley. “I’ll go and see.”
She drew away. “I’ve got an appointment – told my client I would meet him an hour later than originally planned, so I’ve got to hustle.”
“Be careful.” He was clearly torn between the desire to go with her, the old protective instincts surfacing again after this new attack, and his need to be here to supervise the locksmith. Finally, he stood. “After the lock is fixed, I’ll also go out. Call me when you’re done, and grab one of the new keys before you leave.”
“I’ll call the cleaners on the way out,” she announced. “They can wash the couches and the chairs tomorrow and we can have the painters over day after tomorrow to fix the walls.”
He kissed her lightly on the lips before they both departed. Just like that, they were back in control again. They had a plan and they would recover fast, but Tania had a nasty feeling that this wasn’t finished as yet. For now, however, she was willing to concentrate on her work. The future would take care of itself.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Three days after the attack, things were back to normal – or the new normal. Of course, her paranoia was back along with a healthy dose of fear for their safety. It seemed that Riley was also thinking along the same lines because he wouldn’t leave her alone for extended periods of time, felt the urge to call her whenever she was out of office, and didn’t feel like going out much. But the truth was, they had to live and sitting in the office or the house wasn’t going to achieve that.
The police had assured them that Raymond, Charlie, and six other men were still in jail as they were unable to meet the terms of their bail. So it couldn’t be them. So who was this new threat? The police suspected Tania’s ex-boss who didn’t have the alibi for the evening and night during which the vandalism took place, but Tania didn’t think Brin had the guts to take such a risk. The man was scared of Riley and didn’t have the nerve to carry though such an operation.
So who could it be? She didn’t have a clue, and neither did Riley but they intended to keep their eyes open for any new danger. But, in the meantime, they had work to do. Early on Saturday morning, they reached his old apartment.
It was time to clean it, pack it, and relieve him of the lease. Riley wouldn’t come back here. His life took a new turn with Tania, and she was determined to hang onto him. When he talked about marriage and kids, she’d been taken aback but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.
Perhaps he would ask her to marry him someday. She might say yes. She might say no. At this point, she wasn’t so sure. Everything was moving too fast, but, somehow, she didn’t feel like slowing the pace. He loved her, she loved him, and they planned to build a life and a business together. A ring on her finger wouldn’t change anything, but, yes, it would give her a sense of peace and belonging. Would he feel the same way about it? Or would he think of it as a curtailment of her independence?
With a strong man like Riley, she always had to be on the top of her form because he was used to taking charge. If she allowed him, he would run their lives, but, perhaps, that’s why she loved him even more; he pushed her right to the edge and forced her to always deliver the best, to remain on top of the fame. Life without him would be incredibly dull, and that’s why she never wanted to face that again.
Riley parked the car and then sat. She snapped her fingers. “Come on. Time’s a wasting. We need to haul these boxes up to your apartment.”
He smiled. “Yeah, sorry.”
“What’s going on? Didn’t you get a good night’s sleep last night?”
Popping open the truck, he took out a number of cardboard boxes and dumped them in her arms. He hauled out the rest and closed the trunk. “I haven’t had a good sleep since I met you.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault that you decided to take out strawberries and whipped cream.”
“The idea was to eat them, not to…” The thought of what they did with the whipped cream brought a smile to her face. Never mind the messy sheets that she had to put in the wash afterwards; it had been the best sex of her life. “Never mind. If we keep talking about that, I’ll get ideas and, frankly, we can’t afford to waste time.”
She grinned. “As you wish, sir. In and out in one day. That’s the plan.”
Since Riley had never bothered collecting things of sentimental value to him, most of the furniture had already been sold and people would be coming in to collect it during the day. His personal belongings would take two suitcases and a few boxes. Then they could hand over the keys to owner of the apartment and go back home.
Home, such a big word. It had always been her home, but now it was theirs. Before she met Riley, she’d never thought that she would one day call a place where she lived with a man as a home. She’d been the original footloose and independent woman, and didn’t like the idea of tying herself to one man, but now she was thinking about marriage and kids.
How things changed, and how the mighty fell! She didn’t mind it in the least. Living with Riley and experiencing life with him was one of the most surreal experiences of her life and she was enjoying it to her heart’s content. After they reached his apartment, Riley opened the door. For a moment she felt a brief shiver of fear as he slowly opened the door. Perhaps it was a good thing he was leaving this place; it would be impossible to forget that they nearly died here. After they got in, he locked the door and they began the work. As expected, his kitchen supplies were in short supply and only filled one box. He moved on the master bedroom and Tania took the study, which contained even less personal belongings.
She took off the photo frames and posters that he’d put on the wall of the study. The paperwork was dumped in the boxes. He could take care of it later at her place. “Hey, Riley. You want to take the posters?”
“No, just the photo frames.”
She glanced down at the happy couple that was beaming at her from the frame as he sauntered in to take a look at what she was up to. “Those are my parents. They live in Hawaii. Moved down there after dad retired. That was his dream. Now he sits in front of their cottage all day, talks to the fishermen, sometimes goes for a boat ride, and reads detective novels.”
“That’s the life.”
“Sure is.” He watched her with measured eyes as she put the frame down in the box. “Perhaps when things are more settled in the business, we could take off for a week and go and visit them.” Tania’s hands trembled, and of course, he saw it. He laughed. “I thought nothing scared you. You’ve braved meeting a gang lord and stealing from him, survived a shootout, and a kidnapping but the idea of meeting my parents terrifies you.”
“More than anything,” she admitted.
He caressed her cheek with his finger. The look in his eyes was so knowing, so intimidating, that she felt her heart pound. He knew her too well. Sometimes that terrified her, but, of course, she loved it. He could read her as if she were an open book and, yet, there were always surprised. “I don’t want to push you. If you’re not ready, it’s fine.”
Too soon, too soon! She wanted him to back off a little. Meeting his parents was a huge deal, and she wasn’t yet sure if she was okay with doing it. But Tania wasn’t a coward. She’d survived much more and this wasn’t such a big deal. Well, sure it was, but she wouldn’t let it become one. “It would be nice to meet your parents.”
He raised an eyebrow, as if he wasn’t sure she meant it. “If you aren’t comfortable, we don’t need to talk about.”
She walked over, slid her hands over his chest, and raised her chin. “Riley, any woman who is crazily in love with a man is terrified with the idea of meeting his parents, correction, mother. Of course, your mama would think you’re the most handsome, the most smart, and efficient man in the whole wide world, and even though I share her opinion, it wouldn't stop her from looking at me and wondering if I’m good enough for her son. So yes, I’m scared, but I can do it.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “She’ll take one look at you and wonder how I got so lucky.”
“You’re not at all aware of how mothers think.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “For example, my mother’s going to take one look at you and wonder what I see in you.”
He winced. “Great. Now I’m scared of meeting your parents.”
“As you should be. My father’s retired from the police and he’s going to dig into your background and check out every tiny detail.”
He blinked his eyes, as if he didn’t relish the idea for such an inspection. “I don’t have anything in my record, except, perhaps, for a speeding ticket five years ago.”
“In that case, he’d probably clear you, but when he finds out that we helped the police nail those bastards, he would embrace you. My father’s big on everyone doing their civic duty.”
He perked up. “Really?”
She put a few more files in his boxes while he stood and looked at her. He looked so cute. She wanted to rip his clothes and make love to him right now, but she contained herself. They would have plenty of time to do that later. For now, they had to finish this work. “Truly.”
“And what about you mother? What might ease her into liking me?”
“She’s a tougher nut to crack. It’s not the policemen who are strong but, rather, their wives. She pretty much raised me on her own because dad was always on duty, so she’s the one you’ve to watch out for. But don’t worry, if I keep mentioning that you took a bullet for me, she would eventually come around.”
The doorbell rang. He gave her a thumbs up. “That sounds like a solid plan. That has to be guy who was supposed to pick up the couch.”
He walked out and she heard him open the door. For a moment, her heart thumped as she recalled the last time when Raymond and his gang members targeted them, but then she saw the guy who came to collect the couch. Tania smiled when she saw Riley talk to the guy. It was time to put the old fears behind. By the time he helped the guy haul the couch out to the van, Tania had packed all the boxes in the study. Soon, someone else came to pick up the bed. The day passed quickly. They ordered lunch and ate it standing up, straight out of cartons, eager to finish this task they had scheduled for today.
They were both exhausted but by the time the evening rolled around, all the boxes were neatly packed. The only thing Riley was taking there was his TV, which he refused to part with so Tania had agreed to stick it in her own study for now. Lord knew they would occasionally have use for two televisions, especially when sports were on. She didn’t like watching endless amount of soccer with him, so, perhaps, it was a good idea.
“I’ll start hauling the boxes down now,” he told her.
She nodded. “I’ll take a last round of all the rooms and the bathroom to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
Riley wasn’t planning to take out the carpets or the rugs, but everything else was taken care of. After he came up and took more boxes downstairs, she took out her phone and checked her messages. Riley came up again.
“Good news. We’ve got Simon and Co,” she informed him.
“Great, sweetheart. Good job.” He gave her a kiss on her lips. “So I guess we have to start working for them next week.”