by Eve Langlais
He shoved Lin in, and as she bobbed to the surface ready to exclaim, he slid in and torpedoed off the bottom. When he rose, it was to hear Lin complaining, Mae laughing, and to spot Macey standing on the side of the pool, her hands on her hips.
“What’s going on?”
Oh, shit.
Lin stopped her complaining, and he waited to get ratted out. Macey would kill him for daring to dunk her kid.
Instead of sentencing him to doom, the child smiled. “Mother. You should join us. The water is lovely.”
“And very wet,” Mae declared, splashing a hand.
“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“Neither did we,” Lin replied, batting her lashes.
“Maybe later.” Macey turned her attention to Ted. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” As he stroked for the side, he heard Mae mutter, “Uh-oh. Someone is in trouble.”
He heaved himself out of the water and couldn’t help but suck in his nonexistent gut as Macey’s gaze licked over his slick torso. He kept in shape, but he was also conscious of his scars. It surprised him that the girls hadn’t asked about them.
He grabbed a towel and scrubbed it over the damp parts. Macey looked past him as she spoke. “Something happened.”
“Your house burned down. I heard.”
“How did you hear?” Her gaze narrowed as she eyed her girls in the pool. “They know?”
“Don’t suppose you’ve noticed they are super smart. And Mae’s asking questions.”
“About?”
“Why we really left, for starters.” He left out the part where Mae didn’t believe that her father was dead. Macey had enough to deal with at the moment.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing, so you can calm down. But she is suspicious. You’re going to have to tell her something, though, because she knows this isn’t a real vacation.”
“We need a better story. Something they’ll believe.”
“What if you told them the truth?”
“The truth?” She walked away from the pool but didn’t enter the house until they passed Joanna coming out. “How do I explain that? Your father isn’t dead. But hey, congrats! He’s a murderous, controlling crime lord that can never get his hands on you.”
“Why not tell them? They’re too smart. They will eventually figure it out on their own.”
“Not yet.”
“Then when? Mae knows you’re hiding something.”
Her lips compressed. “I’ll handle it. You giving me advice about my kids isn’t the reason I came looking for you. As you heard, my house burned down.”
“Yeah, Mae mentioned it. Along with their school. Guess it’s a good idea. It will eradicate DNA and fingerprint traces.”
“Except for the fact that Mother didn’t order it. She’d already sent in a cleaning crew to scrub those places down. Fire brings too much attention.”
“They burned my studio.”
“One fire is fine, three…”
“Is a warning. Shit.” Ted flopped onto the couch and took a moment to absorb the information and weigh the ramifications. “If your handler didn’t order it, then who set them?”
“Probably the same person who broke into my office at work and torched it.”
Four fires. Only one of them sanctioned. His blood ran cold. “You think it’s Ronin.”
“Who else?” She paced. “It’s good we left. But I am worried he’ll be able to follow our trail.”
“No one knows about the new identities.”
She ducked her head. “Ronin will find us, it’s only a matter of time.”
“Seems kind of pessimistic.”
“Realistic. Marie and the KM gang are good, but now that Ronin knows I’m alive, and that his girls are too, he’ll stop at nothing to find us.”
Her expression tugged at him, and he found himself kneeling in front of her, clasping her cold hands in his. “Don’t give up.”
“I haven’t.” It was softly said while tears glistened. She did her best to fight it, but he could see the stress taking its toll.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re not alone.” He reached out to cup her cheek. She leaned her face into his palm, eyes closed.
His thumb stroked over her bottom lip. He drew closer.
Suddenly, there was banging as someone flung open the door and entered. “Why couldn’t I be an only child?” grumbled Mae as she stalked past.
It broke the spell. Macey pulled away from him and, without a word, followed her daughter. Ted was left staring, realizing with a chill that he was doing the one thing he’d sworn not to do because it led to trouble.
Caring.
Fuck.
Chapter Eleven
After that moment of weakness, Portia hid. She’d let her guard down with Ted.
Why? It wasn’t like she needed him. And yet, while she’d held it together when she told Joanna what had happened, she’d almost fallen apart with Ted.
And he’d provided support.
Would have kissed her too if not interrupted.
She yanked her fingers from her lips as she realized she touched them again.
This really wasn’t the time to be distracted. Never mind this never happened. She’d sworn off men after Ronin. Had no interest. At all.
Ted appeared to be changing that, and she couldn’t say why. What she did know was that the girls seemed quite taken with him. Lin kept batting her lashes and playing cute, but Mae, Portia’s smart and acerbic child, appeared to be placing trust in him. Confiding things that made Portia realize that Ted might be right. She’d soon need to tell her children the truth.
Ask forgiveness for her lies.
But…she couldn’t do it yet.
Ted drove them to the port, and they lined up with the rest of the passengers to board the ship—just another family, lost in the crowd. They caused a bit of a slowdown as Joanna’s presence caused a kerfuffle until her special accommodations were located. Apparently, the family suites were meant to be for two adults and up to four children. Not an aunt.
The family suite consisted of two rooms. A master bedroom of sorts, with a couch and a television, and a smaller room with its own bathroom and two double beds.
Once Portia spotted the bed situation, she declared, “The twins and I will take the smaller room.”
To which Joanna snorted. “Like hell you are,” she replied. “The girls and I will bunk together, while the married couple gets the suite with the king-sized mattress.”
Share a room and a blanket with Ted?
“No.”
“Why ever not?” Joanna said, too sweetly.
“It wouldn’t be right.”
“Weren’t you the one telling me you were dating?”
That got some gasps. “You’re dating our teacher? Since when?” Mae demanded while Lin gazed at her with accusation.
“It’s not true. I, um…”
Joanna arched a brow. “You what?”
She came clean. “I lied, okay? And you know why.” She glared at Joanna, who smirked.
“If we want the cover to work, then the sleeping arrangements should appear authentic.”
“To who?” Portia snapped.
“Anyone who might come knocking. Crew, other passengers… We wouldn’t want them to know we’re not a family and take away the prize,” Ted said with a slight raise of a brow and a tilt of the head in the twins’ direction.
He perpetrated the lie, and Portia saw Mae rolling her eyes. She didn’t buy the contest thing one bit. But he was right. If they wanted to blend in, they had to appear normal.
“Fine. You and I will share. Girls, unpack quickly so we can watch the ship leave port.”
“Okay,” Lin said before slamming the door shut between the rooms. Portia almost opened it up again, conscious that they were alone—with a bed. Frustrated, she whirled on Ted.
“This is a stupid idea.”
“Why?”
“Because I d
on’t want to share a room with you.”
“I promise to knock before entering the bathroom, and not to leave the toilet seat up.”
“There’s only one bed.”
“A big one. And I don’t snore. Do you?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t see the problem. I thought you were a KM operative.”
“I am.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be good at undercover operations?”
The rebuke stung. Why was she being such a bitch about this?
Anxiety was partially to blame, but if she dug a little deeper, she had another reason. Ted.
She’d be alone with the man. In a bedroom. Hell, sharing a bed.
She’d not done that since Ronin. Admitting it wasn’t an option, but she did need to give him some kind of apology. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap. I’m stressed.” She sat on one of the two chairs bolted to the floor.
He kneeled across from her. “You’re safe for the moment. I highly doubt he knows where we’ve gone. Or what names we’re using now.”
“It’s not just that. My girls. The lies.” She waved a hand. “It’s like a house of cards, and I’m worried it’s going to come crashing down.”
“Then handle it before it tumbles.”
“Where do I start?” she replied bitterly.
“Mae says you won’t talk about their father.”
“No kidding, I don’t.” She uttered a short bark of laughter. “What would I say? More lies, claiming he’s some kind of saint? I won’t do it. Can’t do it.”
“Mae won’t accept that forever. She wants to know about her roots.”
“Then I’ll fabricate something for her.”
“What if she sees through it?”
Portia hung her head rather than reply.
“They’re observant,” he added softly.
“No shit.” A sigh escaped her, leaving her limp. “I know I have to tell them something. I’m working on it.”
“Better work on it faster. Mae knows you’re not going home after the cruise. I assume Lin suspects it, too. What are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know.” She slumped. “How do I explain to them that everything they’ve known is gone because the father who’s not supposed to exist will kill me and take them if he ever finds us?”
“The only real solution is for Ronin to die.”
Her lips turned down. “Easier said than done.”
Honk.
The ship blew its horn, announcing their departure.
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s take the girls to the top deck to watch.” He held out his hand.
She eyed it and then looked him over. “What a grand idea, Pookie.”
He grinned. “Is that because I’m cuddly?”
“More like empty-headed like a stuffed bear.” She smiled before she flung open the door. The girls lay on the bed right across from it and looked up as she entered.
“Ready to start our vacation?” she asked.
Mae pointed to her tablet. “The Wi-Fi isn’t working.”
“Mine either.”
“Because we are on a cruise, girls.” And realizing her children were snooping meant that she had activated a killswitch to shut off the Wi-Fi. She should have thought of it sooner, but she’d been so busy checking for tails. She’d not thought of the devices in their possession that could be tracked.
She’d have to get Tanya to wipe their online presence and create new ones that they could take over. Also, a sub-routine on their devices to circumvent any searches into their old lives.
But that was for later. Ted was right. The more normal they appeared, the less likely people would be to remark on them.
They spent the first day at sea, exploring the ship. Bowling. Swimming. Then a family movie that night where she and Ted shared a bucket of popcorn—unhealthy as was the box of Whoppers. Yet there was something pleasant about sitting next to him with the girls split up on either side, Joanna having chosen to explore further.
Later, Ted even helped tuck the girls into bed, carrying Lin when she began to doze at the end of the movie.
Then it was just the two of them, in a room with one bed. He grabbed a pillow and the spare blanket from the closet and tossed them onto the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting comfortable,” he stated as he stripped off his shirt.
Her gaze went to his flesh and the puckered scars. “How did you get those?”
Only briefly did his gaze drop to his torso. His big shoulders rolled. “War.”
“One of those looks recent.”
“Mission where I should have been paying more attention.”
“Have you killed many people?”
He paused in the process of stripping his shorts. He wore solid-colored boxers. “A few. You?”
“More than I ever imagined. The first time, I told myself, ‘never again.’ But Mother always knows which ones I will say no to.”
“You have a code?”
“Of a sort. I don’t harm children or those who appear innocent.”
“Whereas I used to just kill in whatever direction I was pointed.” He grimaced.
“You obeyed orders.”
“Yup, with no regard for whether it was right or wrong.”
“Do your actions give you nightmares?”
“Sometimes.” His lips turned down. “I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life.”
“Things you regret?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but I can’t change the choices I’ve made. I just live in the here and now, trying to do better.”
He lay on the floor in the nest he’d made. He actually planned to sleep there. Had her trepidation over them sharing been that obvious? How dare he be a gentleman!?
Portia eyed the very large bed.
“Do you sprawl?”
He lay on his back, eyes closed, hands on his chest. “No.”
“Steal blankets?”
He cocked open an eye. “Not usually. Why?”
“Get in bed.”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s a hard floor, and the bed is huge. Besides, what if someone sees?”
“The only people who will notice are your girls. What will they say if they see us sharing a bed?”
“Probably not much. Joanna, though…” She grimaced.
“Has she been hinting at you, too?” he asked.
Portia’s eyes widened. “What has she said?”
“Not much, other than you need a man.”
“I do not,” she huffed.
“She also said you were destroying the planet with your battery usage.”
As she squeaked, “She did not!” he smiled so widely, a dimple puckered his cheek.
“She might have strongly hinted that you were single, looking, and that I’d be an idiot not to notice how attractive you are.”
“Joanna is going to die,” she groaned.
“Die for telling the truth? You are hot. And I’m not an idiot.,” he said as he rose to his feet, all six feet plus of half-naked man.
“You know what, maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
“Okay.” He immediately dropped to the floor, meaning she uttered a sound again. “Oh, for God’s sake. Get in this bed. But stick to your side. No funny business.”
“I can’t promise I won’t have nightmares.”
“Neither can I. So I guess that makes us even.”
She was very aware of the mattress dipping as he lay down beside her. Far enough away that nothing touched, and yet she remained conscious of his presence. Could have reached out to touch him if she wanted. He lay on his back, completely still, and stayed that way even as his breathing evened into sleep. Eventually, she slumbered, too.
Turned out he wasn’t the problem in bed. She was. Portia woke up, draped over him, the blanket tugged from his chest and wrapped around her. His skin was cold on the exposed side, whereas she was warm, snuggled against him, his arm cradling her so t
hat his hand splayed over her hip.
An interesting position to wake up in. An embarrassing one given the twins who stood staring by the side of the bed.
Chapter Twelve
Ted slept lightly. Had ever since his time overseas. So the moment Macey shifted in her sleep, he was awake and very much aware. As for when she snuggled against him? Pleasure and pain all at once. But a good kind of agony. He lay still as a corpse, almost afraid to breathe, because then she might move, and he didn’t want that.
Eventually, her warmth seeped into him enough that he actually relaxed and managed to catch a few more hours. In a row. Without waking startled and in a sweat. Yet another reason he’d thought sleeping on the floor would be better. When he wasn’t having nightmares, he suffered night terrors. Not the kind that ended in screams or thrashing. But the kind where he died in the dream and woke, momentarily paralyzed in the dark, wondering if he’d finally breathed his last.
Not this morning. Instead, for the first time in a long while, he woke to sunshine streaming through a window, and a warm body draped trustingly across his chest. There was no noise other than what he’d expect from a ship in motion. Yet he had a strange sense of being watched. When he opened his eyes, he strangled a scream as he noticed the twins staring silently at him. How had they managed to sneak up on him? How long had they been standing there?
What did they want? He felt very conscious of the fact that he’d not worn a shirt to bed, and that their mother was intimately draped. Never mind the fact that nothing untoward had happened, the visual impression indicated otherwise. A grown man shouldn’t be embarrassed, and yet, as they remained silent and staring, he couldn’t help but feel judged. How should he address the situation?
He started with the basics. “Morning, girls.”
“Morning, Father.” The words were spoken in tandem, giving him a chill.
Macey snorted and stirred against his chest before she chided her daughters. “Girls, don’t be creepy.”
“Just practicing the charade, Mother,” Mae declared, pretending innocence.
“We were wondering when you were getting up. It’s eight o’clock, and we’re hungry,” Lin complained.
“Where’s Aunt Joanna?”