Claim (Talon Security Book 2)

by Megan O'Brien

  I wasn’t so sure about that but remained silent, in awe of the words coming out of his mouth.

  “More than anything, I want to come home to you,” he murmured, his gaze beseeching. “You’ve made it a home just being in it, and I know you’ll make it even more so once we put your touch on things.” He dipped his head, pressing his forehead to my chest.

  I ran my hands over his short hair, relishing his closeness.

  He looked up at me, a newfound determination glimmering in his eyes. “I want… I just want you, Em.”

  I stared into his earnest face, seeing nothing but my future staring back at me.

  “Okay,” I agreed resolutely. Since that very first night, it had been hard to fathom being apart.

  His brows rose. “Okay?” he grinned.

  I nodded.

  He dipped down to kiss me soundly. “I’m going to make you so fucking happy,” he breathed.

  “You already do,” I assured him as he settled beside me, wrapping me up in his arms.

  As we drifted off to sleep, my mind shifted to that future, the one I’d never thought I’d have that now lay wrapped around me.

  Now that I knew what this felt like, what true happiness was, I’d never let it go.

  ****

  I sat up suddenly, unsure at first what had woken me. I listened intently and then heard the sound of the tea kettle. A glance at the clock showed it was 2:00 a.m.

  May.

  I lifted the covers and sat up, trying to clear my sleep-laden mind.

  Travis large hand splayed across my back. “Okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

  “Okay, baby,” he replied, his voice deep with sleep.

  I padded out to the kitchen, finding May in her bright purple robe seated at the bar sipping tea. She looked over at me without surprise as I took the seat next to her.

  I didn’t try to fill the silence with idle chat, knowing Mabel wouldn’t have any of that. Instead I sat quietly, waiting.

  “I keep wondering where I went wrong,” she muttered finally. “Bernie worked a lot when the kids were little, but I was always home. I was always here,” she lamented quietly.

  “This isn’t about you,” I argued gently.

  “Isn’t it?” she countered. “I have two children I barely have a relationship with. A daughter who rarely visits and a son who only comes by apparently to try to steal from me. How can that not be about me?”

  “You gave them everything, May.” I continued to press my point. “Your time, every opportunity, and love. It was a hell of a lot more than I ever had. Who knows why we turn out the way we do? My parents had the opposite luck. They should have ended up with a serial killer for a daughter with the way they raised me, but I think I turned out okay.” I shrugged.

  “You did,” she agreed firmly, always quick to defend me.

  “So, you see?” I put a hand on her arm, squeezing gently. “Sometimes the kind of kids you end up with is luck of the draw. You did your best. I hate that you’re berating yourself over this.”

  “Someday you’ll be a mother, then you’ll understand,” she told me.

  The idea made my chest ache with an urge I was surprised by. I’d always loved children, but having them hadn’t been on my radar. Now I could see into my future, and it looked so bright. It was filled with Travis.

  “He was such a stinker, that kid.” She snorted affectionately, her gaze distant as she became lost in memory. “Always into something. But he was so affectionate. He’d come and curl up in my lap, he loved me to stroke his hair,” she remembered fondly. “I dreaded the day when he stopped.”

  I imagined that day was painful for every mother, when the tide turned and her child’s world stopped revolving solely around her. I thought of Hudson and how he was still very much in that phase, and hopefully would be for a good deal longer.

  “It wasn’t until after he graduated from college that I sensed him really pulling back from me. I should have tried harder, should have pushed to understand.”

  “You couldn’t have known,” I argued quietly. “You wanted to give him space. He was figuring out how to be a man. He probably needed that.”

  “What he needed was Bernie.” She sighed. “He was a wonderful father, but he wasn’t home much.”

  “You can’t change it, May,” I reminded her gently. “Roy chose his own path.”

  “I suppose he did.” She exhaled. “I only wish it had been the right one.”

  I nodded silently, knowing there were no words that could ease her pain just then.

  She turned to me with a sad smile. “Thank you for staying.”

  “Anytime,” I murmured.

  Her eyes drifted toward where the guest room lay down the hall. “That man of yours is never far. I don’t imagine that’s going to change.”

  “No. Hopefully not,” I agreed.

  “I’m glad for you. You deserve it, honey. And good golly, is he a looker.”

  I laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly with her there.

  “You get to bed.” She nudged me. “I’m going to stay up for a little while longer.”

  I nodded, knowing she wanted to be alone. “Come get me if you need me.”

  “I will,” she agreed, though I knew she wouldn’t.

  I stood up, turning toward her before I left the room. “May, I know you’ll sit up questioning yourself, wondering where you went wrong. What mistakes you made. But I know firsthand what kind of mother you were because I’ve seen it myself. Without you, I would have been so lost—you gave me everything you had without question, without asking for anything in return. You’re the most giving and loving person I’ve ever known. Now, I’m far from perfect, but I do believe you can count me as one of your successes,” I said quietly.

  She blinked against tears. “I’ll do that honey, thank you,” she rasped.

  I nodded, hoping I’d gotten through to one small part of her regret, and walked back to my room, eager to return to bed and to Travis’s arms, where my own regrets had been eradicated by pure acceptance and the promise of the future that lay ahead.

  Chapter 18

  A week later found Travis and me standing at the register of the high-end furniture store we’d spent the last few hours in. Project home-ify had been briefly put on hold, but I’d finally convinced Travis it was time to leave the house.

  “Are you sure?” I asked worriedly, not for the first time.

  He shook his head in exasperation. “Yes, babe. For the hundredth time.”

  “It’s just going to be so expensive,” I fretted thinking of the kickass couches, coffee table, area rugs, mirrors, upholstered headboard, bedside tables, and armoire I’d picked out, with very little input from Travis. He’d simply nodded at all of my choices, offering a few grunts of agreement.

  “I can afford it.” He shrugged, undeterred.

  “But we still have to get linens and a few things to hang on the walls….” I trailed off.

  “Linens aren’t going to break the bank, Em.” He chuckled, handing over his card to the woman who’d been helping us. I had a feeling we’d just made her month if she worked on commission.

  “You have lovely taste,” the woman commended me.

  “Expensive taste, apparently,” I muttered.

  Travis threw an arm around me and kissed my temple. “Where to next?”

  I sighed. “Linens, I guess. I thought for sure you’d be over this by now,” I added, my tone almost accusing.

  He shrugged. “All I have to do is follow you around. Far from unpleasant.” He dipped lower, his mouth to my ear. “You know I love the view from behind.”

  I blushed and swatted at him as he put his card back in his wallet. He took my hand and led us out into the sunshine.

  After two more stops, even I couldn’t shop another minute. A lot of the items would be delivered later that day, with a few things arriving in the coming days. I couldn’t wait to see it all come together.

  “We
could have a housewarming party for you, five years late,” I suggested as he fired up his Jeep and we headed for headquarters. We’d left Able there that morning. He’d become a mascot of sorts, along with Trixie. They made quite the pair.

  “I like that idea.” He nodded. “A party for us, welcoming you home.” He grinned over at me.

  “Well, that wasn’t really what I was thinking,” I protested.

  “It’s what I was thinking.” He grinned, enjoying the blush that covered my cheeks. I didn’t relish attention, and he knew it.

  I let the subject drop for now. “I’m starving, can we stop and see Curtis on the way home?” I asked hopefully, my mouth watering at the thought.

  He lifted a brow as we pulling into the Talon parking garage. “Curtis will see right through you. You don’t want to see him, you want a cheeseburger with the works,” he accused with a grin.

  “Fine, you caught me,” I grumbled. “But seeing Curtis is an added perk,” I defended.

  When we walked into the Talon reception area, still unoccupied since Travis hadn’t hired anyone, Able came to greet us both enthusiastically. Part of me thought the guys were being too picky. This Sarah girl seemed to be irreplaceable in more ways than one. No one could measure up, and yet, they desperately needed the help.

  Just the other night Travis had missed an event because no one had written down the details.

  Theo looked up at us when we walked in, eyeing Travis steadily.

  “What?” Travis demanded.

  Theo threw up his hands. “Just making sure you still have your balls after all that shopping.”

  “Armstrong, my balls are none of your fucking concern,” Travis returned.

  Sid chuckled from his seat.

  “What are balls?” Hudson asked loudly as he appeared from the back of the building with Sam behind him.

  Sam shot Sid a glare, who promptly threw up his hands. “It was Theo.”

  “Of course it was,” Sam muttered, before she looked at Travis. “And you? Could you drop the f-bomb any louder?”

  “I didn’t know he was here,” Travis defended. “What’s up, little dude,” he greeted his nephew.

  “I was trying to climb the rope,” Hudson shared.

  “Oh yeah? How’d you do?” Travis grinned.

  “Good.” Hudson nodded proudly.

  Sam stifled a smile but wrapped an arm around her boy. “He did. I’m gonna get this guy home for some dinner. Are you coming?” she asked Sid.

  He scraped his chair back and grabbed his jacket. “Yep. I think Dec has some news for you,” he told Travis.

  Travis nodded and looked down at me. “You all right for a few minutes?”

  I raised a brow. “Yes, so long as I have your agreement that if that briefing has to do with me, you’ll come get me.”

  He blew out a breath, clearly not happy with my request, but nodded anyway, kissing my temple.

  “Good woman,” Sam whispered in my ear with a grin as Travis strode off. “See? You’re learning how to handle him a hell of a lot faster than I learned with Sid.”

  “Well, I had someone to teach me the ropes.” I looked at her meaningfully.

  “True.” She winked. “But you would have done just fine on your own.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. There wasn’t much that had come naturally to me in life. I’d had to work hard for almost everything. Travis and I wouldn’t be an exception—almost everything that mattered wasn’t. But there was something about being with him—about who I was with him—that came more naturally than anything ever had.

  “Em!” Travis’s deep voice called from the conference room.

  Looked like that briefing was about me after all.

  “I’ll catch you later.” I gave Sam a brief hug in parting. “See you, little man,” I added, smiling at Hudson warmly.

  “Don’t think you’re getting out of a housewarming party!” Sam called after me.

  I merely rolled my eyes and walked into the conference room where Theo, Declan, and Travis sat around the table.

  “What’s up?” I asked, trying to keep the wariness from my tone. I was the one who’d asked to be included, after all.

  “Declan was just briefing us on Roy’s whereabouts,” Travis shared, looking frustrated, which I took to mean that we didn’t have good news.

  “Trail’s cold,” Theo grumbled.

  I took a seat at the head of the large glass table and looked at Declan steadily. “What does that mean, aside from the obvious?”

  “It means we keep looking,” Theo replied simply.

  “Aren’t the police looking for him too?” I asked, feeling guilty that Travis and his team were having to expend so much energy on this.

  Travis shrugged. “Likely not much. From all our scouting, he doesn’t appear to be in the area, which puts him out of LAPD jurisdiction. This hasn’t become a state-wide focus. And plus, Morales was their big fish. They caught him.”

  “Well, that sucks,” I grumbled, looking down at the table in frustration. “I don’t understand why Roy even had me kidnapped. I hadn’t talked to the police,” I added, the worry and frustration clear in my tone.

  “You said he recognized you. He could hold a grudge at the connection you have with May. It’s hard to know.” Travis put in gently. “Hey,” he continued in the tone I only heard him use with me. It had a tenderness to it that always melted me a bit. “We’ve got this, baby. We can do more with four men than that entire department could do even if they were trying. And the man is obviously short of a full stack. Who knows what drove him to this. But we aren’t going to wait around to find out.”

  “Damn straight,” Declan put in.

  “I know you can handle this,” I assured them all. “I just feel badly that you have to do it at all. You must be passing up high-paying contracts to do this,” I fretted.

  Theo shrugged. “This is way more important. Plus, I don’t mind the excuse to stay stateside for a while.”

  “Me either,” Dec agreed.

  “Thank you,” I replied, overcome by the lengths these men had gone to, would go to. For me.

  “All right, final update,” Declan continued, looking at Travis. “Don’t forget you have that fundraising dinner for the mayor tomorrow night,” he reminded him.

  “Fuck,” Travis muttered, running a hand over his hair.

  “You forgot.” Declan chuckled. “Damn, we need someone to manage this shit for us.”

  Travis looked over at me beseechingly. “Can you come with me tomorrow night?” he asked with a raised brow.

  My palms were immediately clammy at the prospect, despite being happy he’d asked. “I don’t—well, I don’t have anything to wear,” I fretted.

  “That’s easy.” Travis waved that concern off. “You don’t have a late class to teach?”

  “I can probably find a sub,” I murmured as Dec and Theo rose from their seats and wandered back out to their desks. “I don’t have to go with you if it’s not convenient,” I continued. “It was important to me that I knew about these things, but you don’t need to feel obligated.”

  He stood and moved into the seat beside mine. “I don’t want to go without you.” He shook his head. “Didn’t feel right the last time, and it definitely wouldn’t this time. I admit it’s not the most fun—at least not for me—but I want you on my arm, baby. You’ll make it bearable, and I want to show you off.”

  How could I say no to that?

  “All right,” I agreed. “I’ll try to find something to wear today.”

  He smiled warmly. “No need. I have someone who can get you all fixed up.”

  My brows rose. “Like a stylist. You have a stylist?”

  I could swear he blushed. “I guess that’s what she is.” He shrugged. “I hate to shop, but I often need clothes for these things. This way I can get in and out in a few minutes with what I need. I’m sure she’ll enjoy dressing a woman for a change.” He grinned.

  “Something tells me that she doesn�
�t mind dressing you,” I replied dryly.

  “Jealous?” he challenged with a grin.

  I made a grumbling noise in response.

  He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss me softly. “You’re so damn cute.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one with the stylist,” I quipped.

  Chapter 19

  I stared at myself in the mirror the next evening and barely recognized the girl staring back at me.

  The gown, a 1930s vintage with brown-and-gold lace was the most beautiful thing I’d ever had on my body, aside from Travis. It hugged my curves and fulfilled my preference for vintage style.

  I’d pulled my hair up into a side bun, leaving a few tendrils free, and had done my makeup more dramatically than usual.

  I was pleased with the result and nervous as hell about the evening to come.

  I made my way downstairs to where Travis was waiting, looking obscenely handsome in a black tuxedo that fit him like a glove.

  His jaw dropped when he saw me. He stood frozen, staring at me. “Holy shit,” he managed finally. “You look…. Em, baby, you look…,” he stammered.

  I’d never seen him rendered speechless. “Good?” I put in helpfully.

  “So far beyond good,” he murmured, coming to stand in front of me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. “You look absolutely stunning. I’m starting to rethink taking you to this thing. Getting into a fist fight wouldn’t be great for a fundraiser.”

  I rolled my eyes, blushing profusely, and decided to change the subject. “Anything you need to prep me on? I’ve never been to anything like this.”

  He thought about that for a moment. “Not really. I’ll keep you close all night. If I introduce you first, it means I don’t know the name of who I’m introducing you to,” he explained. “There’s so many names to remember—I can never keep them all straight. Other than that, just be yourself. You’re perfect the way you are.”

  I smiled, accepting the soft kiss he placed on my lips before taking my hand and leading me to the garage.