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“Just being honest, cupcake. I’ll protect you at all costs.”
“I’ve never doubted it, big guy.”
“I need to give Liam a call, let him know what the plan is, and get his help.”
“What do you need from him?” she asks, but I’ve already dialed his number, and the phone is ringing. I hold up my finger, asking her to wait just a moment.
“SJ, what’s up?” Liam’s voice is lower than usual. I wonder what he’s up to.
“I need a minute of your time, boss. Are you busy?”
“I’m at the vet…” His voice trails off.
“The vet?” What the hell is he talking about?
“The cat… She’s acting strange, so I’m getting her checked to make sure everything is okay.”
“Strange, huh?” I can’t stop laughing. She came from a strange mother fucker, so I’m not surprised she’s strange, too.
“Ha-ha, very funny, SJ. What can I do for you?” he whispers.
“I have a plan to catch David Miller, and I need your help. Can you come to New York in a few days? I need someone to stay with Nora while I catch the bastard.”
The cat meows loudly near the phone. Nora covers her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggle. Liam baby talks in a low voice to the cat, trying to comfort her. This is a side of him I’ve never seen or heard. Liam is hard ass; all work and no play sort of guy. I don’t know who this cat soothing, baby talking weirdo is on the other end of this line.
“Uh, yeah. I’ll need to bring Gracie with me. I can’t leave her alone since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
I raise my eyebrows as I glance over at Nora. What the fuck is going on? Nora gives a quick nod, and quickly covers her face with her hands, still trying not to let him hear her giggling.
“Okay, boss. Nora is okay with the cat coming. Are you good?” I can’t help but ask since he sounds like a crazy cat person… even if it’s only one cat.
“I’ll send you my flight information. And I’m fine.” He ends the call before I can respond.
Nora and I can’t hold back our laughter any longer. We howl in a fit of giggles.
As we pull into my parents’ driveway, the subtle bounce over the rounded curb wakes Nora. She dozed off not long after I talked to Liam. Maybe her trust in me and my plan is growing. I figured she’d have spent the remainder of the trip asking me for every detail. I’m glad she didn’t. I don’t really have every detail worked out yet. The most important one is to keep her safe, and that’s done.
Liam emailed his flight information. He’ll arrive the day before opening night of the new show. We can all stay at Nora’s place that night, and I’ll leave the next day then head to the theater. I’m sure David will be watching and will assume Nora is with me. Instead, she’ll be safely tucked into her apartment with Liam.
I’ll have to call Alex again before we board our flight. I groan out loud at that thought. Knowing I’ll have to look him in the eye again after he confessed to loving Nora makes my blood pressure rise.
“What’s wrong?” Nora asks.
“Hmm? Nothing, why?”
“You groaned. What’s wrong?”
Do I tell her the truth? That I’d rather not have to look at Alex? That I haven’t trusted him since the moment I met him? Knowing he loves her makes me want to wring him out like a dishrag.
“Details, just working out the details in my mind. Nothing is wrong, babe. No worries.”
There, that’s true. She doesn’t need to know which detail exactly made me groan.
She pauses for a moment, like she’s contemplating her next question, but it doesn’t come. She drops the subject as my mom comes outside.
I open my door to step out. We haven’t seen much of them since dinner a few nights ago. Nora and I stayed at the hotel for everyone’s safety. We’ve kept in touch through texts or quick calls, making sure everyone is safe.
“How’d it go at the doctor?” Mom asks, trying to peer over the center console of the SUV.
