by Susan Stoker
“You don’t believe that any more than I do,” Chase said. “I wish like fuck I could be down there helping with surveillance, but I can’t. Let me know if you have more info. If anything else happens, call me. If she…er…they are in danger, I want to know about it.”
TJ didn’t even ask why. He wasn’t sure the Army had any more interest in the case. They’d been concerned when they’d thought the school might be a front for some sort of anti-government cult. No one wanted a group of citizens stockpiling weapons. But after the raid, when no weapons were found, and the Army brass realized that the school was “only” a child-abuse ring, their interest had waned.
But not Captain Jackson’s.
He was just as concerned today as he’d been when he’d first received the files about the school. About Sadie. Maybe more so after what happened earlier.
“Of course,” TJ told the captain, reassuring him that he’d keep him in the loop.
“Later,” the captain said.
“Later,” TJ returned. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. Six-thirty. It was a bit early; he usually knocked on the door around seven and they left not too long after that. But he needed to see Milena this morning. Needed to make sure she and JT were good.
He strode up the walkway to the door and softly knocked. It opened almost immediately, but instead of Milena, it was her father.
TJ didn’t even hesitate. “Good morning, sir.”
“It’s time we talked,” Mr. Reinhardt said in a solemn tone. He turned and walked back inside the house.
TJ closed the door behind him, locked it, and followed Milena’s dad. He was actually glad this was happening now. He’d been expecting it for a while. Her dad had been pretty cool with him, but he wanted to make sure her father knew where he stood when it came to his daughter and grandson.
Robert Reinhardt led them to a spacious office. He immediately sat behind a desk, unconsciously or consciously giving him the place of power in the room. There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with books on either side, with a large window behind the desk.
Milena’s father was in his early fifties but didn’t look his age. He had a gut, but other than that, seemed to wear his age well. His hair was darker than Milena’s; she’d obviously inherited her blonde hair from her mom. This morning he was wearing a pair of dark brown slacks and a pale-yellow dress shirt.
TJ sat in one of the leather chairs strategically placed in front of the desk and waited for the older man to take the lead on the conversation. He didn’t have long to wait.
“When Milena called us from Austin after you left, I’d never been so worried about my daughter as I was then. She was absolutely heartbroken. Her mother and I did what we could to support her, but that was hard when she wasn’t even living in the same city. Then when she moved home, it was obvious she wasn’t the same. Oh, she tried to hide her depression, but it was easy to see since we know her so well.
“Once she moved in, she got better at faking being happy, but I heard my daughter crying almost every night. She was terrified she’d lose her baby, the only link she had to the man she loved with all her heart. When she went into early labor, the only thing I could do was pray she lived. You haven’t known fear until you see your baby in pain and know there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.
“I didn’t agree with her putting your name on the birth certificate. I thought she should’ve claimed she had no idea who the father was. I didn’t say a word when she put all those pictures of you in JT’s room. I didn’t even complain when she had her mother make that damn pillow for him. But it cost her.”
TJ had seen the pictures Milena had put in JT’s room the previous week. He’d gone in there to grab a toy or something for his son and had stopped in his tracks when he’d seen all the photos. He’d had a hard time composing himself. No wonder JT had said “Daddy” the first time he’d seen him. He’d been looking at TJ’s face since the very first day he’d come home. It humbled and awed him that Milena had done that. Even if he knew she hadn’t done it for him, but for their son.
TJ opened his mouth to speak, but Milena’s dad continued before he could.
“When you showed up on our doorstep three weeks ago, I saw a change in my little girl immediately. She smiled more, even though she wasn’t sure of your intentions. But she’s terrified, young man. Scared out of her skull that one day you’re going to up and disappear again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful you’re here watching out for her, keeping her safe from those perverts, but there’s more at stake for her now.
“She has a son. A little person who, if I’m not mistaken, is becoming as attached to you as my daughter is. You might be a cop, and I know I could get in trouble for saying this, but if you hurt her again, I’ll kill you. She can’t go through what she did three years ago. It would be better if you were dead than for her to realize that you’d left her again.” Mr. Reinhardt stopped speaking and glared at TJ, as if daring him to pull out a pair of handcuffs and arrest him for threatening an officer of the law.
But TJ had no intention of doing that.
“She won’t have to go through losing me again because I’m not going anywhere, Mr. Reinhardt.”
“Are you here because of the possibility she’s in danger?”
“Yes.” As the scowl on the other man’s face deepened, TJ went on quickly. “And no. I can’t deny I’m back in her life because of that fucking school, but that is not why I’m still here. I love her. Never stopped loving her. But three years ago, I was an asshole. I knew if I didn’t get my head on straight, I’d end up hurting her. I know I did hurt her, but not in the same way I would’ve if I’d stayed. The last thing I wanted was her finding out how weak I was. I was having a hard time getting past the mistakes I’d made on my last mission. People died. Lots of people died.”
Bob’s face lost some of its antagonism, but he didn’t interrupt.
“I fucked up, I admit it. But I left because I thought it was for her own good. Hindsight is always twenty/twenty though, and obviously, she suffered more because I left. That won’t happen again. I swear to you, I’m here to stay. I want to see JT grow up to be an amazing man who knows how to treat his woman as if she’s the most precious thing to him. I don’t want a day to go by that your daughter doesn’t know down to the very marrow of her bones that she’s loved, and I would do anything for her. Anything.”
TJ didn’t flinch as the other man stared at him for a long moment. Then he said, “We didn’t know she hadn’t told you about the baby. We thought all along you knew and didn’t care. But I think she was scared to really search for you. Scared that if you found out, you’d want her to get rid of him.”
“I would not have done that,” TJ said firmly. “I can’t say that I would’ve been overjoyed, especially since I was in a dark place, but I wouldn’t have wanted her to abort him.”
The older man nodded. “Then after JT was born, we encouraged her to do her best to find you, but I think she was scared you would try to get him taken away from her.”
TJ closed his eyes in despair. He knew he’d screwed up when he’d left her, but he had no idea she thought he might’ve stooped low enough to do something like try to take her child from her. He snorted out a bitter laugh. “No judge in his or her right mind would’ve granted custody to me. Especially back then.”
“I’m just telling you what was going through her mind.”
TJ nodded.
“Anyway, when you showed back up, I think she was relieved. She told me she hated keeping him from you.”
TJ leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He didn’t look away from Milena’s father as he said, “I don’t blame her for any decisions she made in the past. I’m as equally responsible for those decisions as she is. All I want is to move forward. I want to get to know JT better, but more than that, I want your daughter back in my life. I’m going to keep her safe. I’m going to do my damnedest to make her happy, no matter what that means. If that
means she wants ten more kids, then that’s what she’ll get. If she wants to move to Timbuktu, I’ll get her there.
“I’ve learned my lesson the hard way. I lost two years of my child’s life because I was an idiot. It’s not going to happen again. I want to wake up every morning to her beautiful face and go to bed each night with her by my side.”
TJ held Mr. Reinhardt’s gaze steadily and waited for a response.
When it came, it was better than he could’ve hoped for. The man stood up and held out his hand. “I assume that means you’re going to eventually be my son-in-law, since I won’t have my daughter living in sin for the rest of her life. I have to ask you to call me Bob.”
TJ smiled and stood as well, reaching for the other man’s hand. They shook and TJ said, “Thank you, Bob.”
“Thank you, son.”
“For what?”
“For bringing the smile back to my girl’s face.”
TJ knew he had a long way to go to earn back Milena’s love, but he was going to do whatever it took to get there. “Since you’re her father, I need to tell you something.”
Bob’s brows furrowed. “Yes?”
“I think you know I’ve been keeping watch over the house at night. Well, last night I chased someone out of the backyard.”
“Fuck,” Bob swore softly.
“I couldn’t follow him because I didn’t want to leave the house vulnerable.”
“Was it him?”
TJ didn’t know which of the Joneses Bob was referring to, but ultimately it didn’t matter if it was Jeremiah or Jonathan. “I think so.”
“Keep my baby girl safe,” Bob said, the frustration and worry for his daughter easy to hear in his voice.
“I plan on it,” TJ told him.
They stared at each other a heartbeat before Bob nodded. He looked down at his watch and said, “I’m sure Milena is up and in the kitchen by now.
TJ followed Bob out of the office and into the kitchen—and froze in his tracks upon seeing Milena.
She was leaning over looking for something in the refrigerator. His eyes swung to her ass, and he couldn’t tear them away. Milena had always had curves, but after having his baby, she’d obviously not lost all the weight she’d gained.
She was wearing a pair of jeans that molded to her as if they were a second skin. Her blouse had ridden up, and the image of him walking up to her and putting a hand on her back, keeping her bent over, was as clear as day in his mind. He’d reach around and unfasten her jeans and expose her luscious ass to his gaze. Then he’d take her just like that. Bent over in front of the fridge, her nipples taut with the cool air wafting over them, her fingers holding on to the sides of the large appliance as he hammered inside of her, showing her without words how fucking sexy she was and how much he loved her body.
“Hey, baby,” Mr. Reinhardt said to his daughter.
His words acted as a figurative bucket of cold water, dashing the fantasy that had been consuming TJ. Knowing his hard-on would be more than obvious to both Milena and her dad, he stepped behind the long bar that flanked one side of the kitchen.
“Hi, Daddy,” Milena said, standing upright and presenting her cheek to her dad. She looked from him to TJ and asked, “Everything all right?”
“Of course,” Bob said, reaching around her and grabbing the container of orange juice.
Milena turned to TJ. “Good morning.”
God, what he’d give to hear her say that when she was still half asleep in his bed. He’d wake her up with a kiss, and maybe after they’d greeted each other, he’d move down her body and show her exactly how good of a morning it could be. One thing about his girl, she loved morning sex.
Shaking his head and telling himself to get it out of his ass, and to stop thinking about how much more beautiful Milena would be naked on his sheets now than she was three years ago, TJ did his best to smile back at her and say, “Morning.”
The need to have Milena living with him was growing with every day they spent together. And after last night, he was all the more determined to convince her to move in with him.
He opened his mouth to say just that, “Move in with me,” but her dad spoke before he could.
“Your mom and I were thinking…”
Milena turned to her dad. When he didn’t finish his thought, she prompted, “Yeah?”
“You know we love having you here, and you’ll always be welcome, but with everything that’s happened, maybe it’s better if you moved in with TJ…for your own safety.”
TJ’s mouth hung open in surprise at Bob’s words. At how he’d said the exact thing he’d been thinking and hoping for.
“What?” Milena asked, obviously equally shocked.
“As much as I hate to admit it, TJ is better equipped to protect you. He’s got the experience, and as big as this house is, someone could break in and hide for days and we’d never find him.” The older man was joking, but TJ could see he was struggling with what he was saying.
“He’s right,” TJ said softly. “My apartment doesn’t have half the space this house does, and I’m on the fourth floor. There’s also a doorman. No one can simply waltz in without being recorded on security cameras and going through a rigorous screening. I have three bedrooms, so there’s plenty of room for both you and JT.”
He didn’t mention that one of the rooms was currently stuffed to the gills with boxes of crap he’d never bothered to unpack after the military had shipped his belongings to him once he’d graduated from the academy. Milena would sleep in his bed, and if she wasn’t comfortable with him being there to share it with her, he’d stay on the couch until she was.
“But…JT is used to this house. It’s babyproofed. And Sadie is here,” Milena protested weakly.
“He’ll get used to my place, Doc,” TJ said. “You’ll be there with him, so he’ll settle in quickly. I can buy a few plug protectors to babyproof the place.”
She turned to him then, her hands on her hips. “There’s more to it than a few plug protectors,” she said, her brows drawn down in consternation. “He climbs everything, nothing is safe from him. If you have DVDs on a shelf, he’ll take them all out and pound on them. Babyproofing is about making sure any sharp corners on furniture are covered and all knickknacks are out of reach. Cabinets have to be locked so he can’t get into anything toxic. Medicine has to be put away, preferably locked as well. Do you have a bathtub? Because it’s not like he can take a shower. And a balcony would be a disaster with him around, there’s nothing he wouldn’t like more than to climb over the darn thing.”
TJ inwardly started to panic, but outwardly he kept his cool. “I don’t have a balcony,” he tried to reassure Milena, “and I truly don’t have anything I’d give a shit about if he broke. You can come over and help me make sure it’s safe for him.”
Milena stared at him for a beat before turning to her dad. “You really want us gone?”
“Oh, baby girl,” her dad said, and took her into his arms. “You know it’s not that. I just want you and my grandson safe. And unfortunately, I’m not the man who can do that.”
Milena had wrapped her arms around her dad when he’d hugged her, but leaned back to look him in the face. “I don’t understand this change of heart.”
“I’ll just go over and say hello to JT,” he told the pair, then quickly headed into the other room to greet his son.
He could still hear the conversation between Milena and her dad, but he pretended to be engrossed with JT.
“Milena, that man has been keeping watch over the house from his car every night since he came back into your life. He’s proven that keeping you safe is more than a job to him.”
“He has? That’s crazy.”
“No, it’s dedication. It’s stubbornness. And after what happened last night, it’s obviously necessary.”
“What happened last night?” she asked.
“He chased away someone who was lurking around the backyard.”
Milena gasped. �
��Seriously? Was it them?”
“He thinks so.”
There was a loaded silence between father and daughter. TJ wasn’t sure he liked Milena knowing about the creeper in the backyard, but knew it was in her best interest so she could stay alert.
“I think you know as well as I do that he still loves you,” Bob told his daughter.
Her voice lowered, and TJ couldn’t hear what her response was to her dad’s statement. And he really wanted to know what she thought.
JT sat on his lap and happily bobbed up and down as he watched the cartoon on the screen in front of them. He’d been pleased to see his dad but distracted by his show, only allowing TJ one small hug before pushing him away so he could see the television once more.
It was another couple of minutes before Milena came into the room. Her dad had gone back upstairs with two cups of coffee, one for his wife and one for him. She sat on the cushion next to him.
“I’m not sure about moving in with you,” she said honestly. “It’s too soon. I don’t…I can’t…”
“No pressure, Doc,” TJ said, even though inside he was screaming, Mine, mine, mine! “You can come over and help me make sure everything is safe for JT. You can stay until Jeremiah and Jonathan are caught and then we can reevaluate.”
“Reevaluate?” she asked, her head tilted in question, her blonde hair sliding over her shoulder to brush against her breasts.
Pulling his eyes away from her tits—God, he was such an asshole—TJ nodded. “Yeah. I want you there permanently. Being around you the last few weeks has hammered home how much my feelings for you haven’t changed. I miss you. I haven’t forgotten one second of the time we lived together, and how much I enjoyed being near you. I love you, Doc. I want you and JT under my roof. I want to see you first thing when I get up, and I want the right to read my son a bedtime story and tuck him into bed in the evening. If he cries in the middle of the night, I want to let you sleep while I comfort him. I want to be a real father to my son, and be a man you can count on. I know I have a ways to go with that second part, but I think if you live with me, you’ll see that I’m not fucking around when it comes to us.”