Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (6 page)

She opened the fridge and started pulling things out to make a frittata. As she prepped the pancetta for the oven she noticed his side of the conversation was getting animated. She started cutting up fruit and heard the sliding doors open, “Breakfast will be ready in about twenty five minutes.”

“After breakfast, I will give you a download on your security system, our new routine and the updates we have on the suspects.” He watched her work in the kitchen and enjoyed seeing her in her curlers and house dress - it felt very intimate. He knew there was probably not another man who had enjoyed this before him. Somehow that gave him a feeling of great satisfaction, he wanted to be the only one in her life who ever experienced this. He never spent the night at a woman’s house, and he certainly never a saw a woman cooking for him. This was something that he wanted to keep happening.
 

She finished cutting up the fruit and studied him for a moment, “How come you’re single?” There must be something terribly wrong with him and she wanted to know what it was.

“When I was on the Teams I was never home long enough to have a relationship. When I retired and started the business, I didn’t have time either. This is the first time in my life that I have the time and the desire to find someone to share my life with. I think you showing up in my office is a sign.
 

“My having a stalker is a sign?”

“No, meeting you now is the sign. The stalker is just the vehicle that you came in on. We have chemistry, so now all we need is timing on our side. I’m going to work damn hard on our timing.”

She was unable to form a response - she’d never met a man who was so straight forward. She slipped the frittata into the oven and set the timer. “I’m going to finish getting ready. If the timer goes off before I come back, just pull it out of the oven for me.”
 

She walked down the hall and was glad she asked the question. Most of the men she’d met suffered from short attention spans. She had been crushed before, by mistaking the difference between what a man said and what he did. She didn’t feel like making the same mistake with Max. She was deadly attracted to him and didn’t want him to break her heart. She shook her head and refocused; there were other things to think about. Her love life was not going to be one of them.
 

It was too much. He was leaning in, he was ready and was going to make sure their timing worked. She might as well marry the man and be done with it. Or she could just ignore it all for now and think about it later. Yes, denial was the road she was going to take, and there wasn’t a thing that was going to change her mind.

***

He sat across the table from her and knew he screwed up. He could tell the temperature had cooled since she came back out dressed for work. She was friendly and a gracious hostess, but she treated him as a colleague. She looked beautiful, professional, smart and very remote. He liked the woman who had curlers and wore a house dress better. “Thank you for making breakfast. I could’ve taken you out. I don’t want you to have to cook.”

“I love to cook, this gives me an excuse to do it. I don’t always make the effort for just myself. I have often thought of going to culinary school. Maybe I’ll move to Sienna and study after I leave the hotels.”

“Why Sienna… do you have family there?” He dug into the best frittata he’d ever eaten. How could something so simple be so delicious?
 

“We still have a home there, and I have a lot of extended family still living in the area. I could be there in time for Christmas. Even if we don’t find the stalker, I don’t think he would follow me to Italy.” She was warming up to the idea…. maybe she should spend a year in Italy and learn to really cook.

He put his big hand over hers and looked her in the eye. “We’re going to find the guy and end this. You don’t have to move to Europe to get away from him.”

She smiled into his eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat, “I might like living in Italy. I could fall in love, have babies and cook. That sounds pretty good to me right now.”

“I didn’t hear getting married as part of your plan.”

“I don’t really want to get married. I haven’t had great experiences with boyfriends, so I can’t imagine wanting a husband.”
 

“I’m going to change all of that. You will want to marry me someday. I guarantee it.”

“I’m going to leave you to your grand schemes, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

She got up and cleared the dishes and walked back into the kitchen. He studied her,
I wonder who it was that did so much damage to her?
 

He cleared the rest and came into the kitchen and turned off the water. “I will leave it alone for now. I just want you to know where I’m coming from.”
 

“This is not up for discussion. I’m not looking to get into a relationship. I’m quitting my job today and I have a crazy after me. I am not worried about my love life.” She turned the water back on and started rinsing dishes. He reached over and turned it off, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to do the dishes. You cooked, so I clean. That’s only fair. You can relax while I finish the kitchen.”
 

“Thank you, I have to figure out what I am going to say to Bob today.” She went to the table, opened her computer and started going through her schedule. She needed to decide what she would need to do before she left the company.
 

He came back and sat down, “Don’t read your emails yet. I want to give you some Intel before you do.” She stared at him with worried eyes. He hated to have to do this, but she needed to know. Maybe it was his years in the service, maybe it was a soldier’s gift – to see what was. If you couldn’t see reality, no matter how unpalatable, you were dead. She closed her computer and waited to hear the bad news. You would think she’d be used to it by now, but she wasn’t.

“Let’s talk about the security system we put in your house. First, all windows and doors are secure with new locks and alarms. We have cameras up on all doors as well, and there is audio on the front door and patio doors.” He watched her as he filled her in and she seemed calm. “I will be with you until we catch this guy, so that takes care of your security detail.” He watched her eyes widen and then her mouth open and close. “The last thing is that we have placed a GPS device that we will monitor and have taken off the tracker. We scrambled it so it will appear like a malfunction; not likes it’s been taken off.”
 

“Are you going to tell me about the emails that I’m not supposed to read?”

“That’s next. It looks like my visit to your office worked like magic. You received an email last night, and it came from a computer somewhere at the corporate offices. It appears the person was not too happy to hear or see you’re with a man. The guy made his feeling quite clear in the email he sent you.” He watched her pale for a second and then sit up and open her computer.

“Well too bad for him, he can just suck it.” She started going through emails and found the one that Max was telling her about. As she read it, her heart sped up and she felt hot. “I want to get a gun today and I want you to show me how to use it. If you don’t, then I will do it myself.” She started to shake a little, it was both fear and anger that were fueling her current state. “I do not care to start my day this way anymore. Let’s go to my office and make out in the hallway. I want this person to come out of hiding so I can take him out.”

He started laughing, “I will make out with you anywhere you want. But let’s think this through and figure out a plan that will be the most effective.” The sun slanted through the patio window and it lit up Rory’s face. He had protected his country for fifteen years and he was going to bring everything he learned during that time to protect the woman he was falling for. “I will get you a gun, but you have to practice first at the firing range. It will take a couple of days for you to get a license, so we can practice until it comes in. In the meantime, I will give you some things to use when we get to my office later on.”
 

She gave him an assessing look, “All right, as long as you don’t forget. Is there anything else I need to know before I go to Bob’s office and give him my notice?”

“Don’t forget we are stuck together like glue until we find this guy.” She waved her hand and motioned for him to go on. “We have narrowed it down to three people who we believe are responsible for making your life miserable. We also found out some interesting things about Jackson that don’t add up. I don’t think he’s the one sending you the emails, but he’s involved somehow.”
 

“What do you mean by that? I have always felt uncomfortable around him but I couldn’t tell you why specifically. My creep o meter pings when I am around him. I could attribute it to several different things and at the same time nothing at all. His behavior is just this side of a sociopath. He has never formed any real attachments to people and he’s volatile and prone to fits of rage. All in all a really fun guy to work with.”
 

“I knew you felt uncomfortable yesterday when we were in his office. I wondered if he’d ever done anything overt or if it was just your instincts?”

“How could you tell? I felt like I was doing an amazing acting job.”

“You were holding my hand very tightly and standing slightly behind me. Since I met you, I’ve seen you face the world head on. Then you put your arm around my waist and settled under my arm, as if you wanted my protection. It just means you have great instincts. You were getting close to the thing, you knew would protect you.” He took her hand, “I knew you were not consciously aware of what you were doing which means that you have great intuition. Keep paying attention to that.”

“Wow, they taught you that in SEAL School? Your spidy senses must be amazing, to pick up on all of that.”

“I have well developed spidy senses. How do you think I survived fifteen years as a SEAL?”
 

“Tell me more about what you found out about Jackson. I always felt like he was up to something, but I could never figure it out.”

“Derick and Laird have been running their computers since yesterday researching the business of the hotels and the names I gave them. They have also taken a serious and thorough look at Jackson, and his bank accounts don’t add up. The initial research suggests that he has a separate business going on. Something that has made him a lot of cash. I don’t know if it is legal or if his Dad knows about it. It has to do with suppliers for the hotels. He could be laundering money for someone and taking a cut. That’s our best guess, right now.”
 

He watched her working over all of the possibilities. “This is probably why you feel uncomfortable around him. He most likely has been watching you, not wanting you to mess up whatever he has going on. This could be a totally separate issue from the stalker or it could be connected somehow.”

“I wonder how much Bob is aware of, and why none of his people have found out before this. When you say research, you mean hack into files …. right?”

It’s pretty much the same thing. We simply access the sites that we need, to insure that we are finding everything we need.”

“That is an interesting distinction, and one I should remember if I ever want to use it as it relates to you.” She got up, opened one of her drawers and started straightening it up. The napkins were out of order and not folded properly. She pulled them out and put them on the island and started refolding them.

He watched her and realized she was on overload, because she was folding napkins with the concentration of a nuclear scientist. He walked over and wrapped his hands around her waist. She didn’t stop, but did lean against him for a moment. “When you’re done with that drawer can you come sit down and we can make a plan for the day.” He kissed her neck and ran his nose up against her skin… if he could inhale her he would. She shuddered and turned around in his arms and kissed his chest.
 

“I’ll call my Mom and see what Bob’s schedule is, and then I can meet with him. What are you doing today?”

“I am sticking with you.”

“Don’t you have an empire to run? I’ve been fine so far; I will just be extra alert all day.”

“Did you read that email all the way through? There are some very clear threats implied. The guy left nothing to the imagination. I will not be taking any chances when it comes to your safety.”

“Fine, but don’t forget I want a gun.”

“We can get the process started, but you’re not getting one today.” He let her go and went back to the table and sat down.

She stuck her tongue out and finished folding napkins. “Sweetheart, don’t stick your tongue out at me, unless you plan on using it.”

“What? How did you see that? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?”

“I saw you in the reflection of the sliding glass door - basic situational awareness 101.” He heard her mutter,
Whatever
. He watched her walk over and sit down next to him
,
“I know you don’t like this.”

“That is an understatement. I am at sixes and sevens and I don’t like it. I like my routine and my quiet life. Well, my old quiet life. Can you get it back for me?”

“I would do anything for you, but I think your old life is gone. Let’s make a new one together.”

“That is not making me feel calm, that’s freaking me out.”