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There’s also a text from Mia, just checking on me, and we talk about and forth by text as I wait on the coffee to brew. It’s actually nice to have someone to chat with and tell about my shopping trip yesterday and at least live the short fantasy that is perhaps what would be normalcy in this new life of mine. A chat with a friend and coffee with the man I love. It’s a bittersweet symphony as I know the calls and messages Eric is juggling at this very moment, says my sunshine will soon be suffocated by heavily burdened storm clouds.
The beeping of the coffee pot tells me the brew is complete and I shake off my thoughts, and steel myself for whatever news Eric will deliver when I return upstairs. We must endure the turbulence to find steady air. I learned that on the flight over here. With two cups of coffee in hand, I travel to the bedroom and enter just as Eric is hanging up from a phone call. I hand him a cup. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
Not baby. The gentler moments, lost in each other, have officially passed.
I wonder what that call was about and I sink onto the cushion next to him. “Any news?”
“My father remains stable. No news on the birth certificate. And Blake tracked the guy who poisoned my father. He left the city and disappeared, which only supports the theory that he was a professional.”
My brows knit. “Oh. I’m not sure if that is good or bad.”
“Not much has changed. We know these are professionals. I doubt that guy was even in the warehouse in Denver. Most likely none of these are the same people.”
“Okay well, that’s not overly comforting. How many hitmen are there in the world?”
“More than you might think,” he says grimly. “But most normal people won’t end up on a hitlist.” He shifts the topic, probably with the intent of getting the last one out of my head. “A few other updates. Your mother’s highly sedated.”
“Probably for the best.”
“Gigi is still missing.”
“Which reminds me,” I say, setting my cup down next to his. “Last night when we were fighting, I got a call from an unknowncaller but it went dead. I had another missed one today. I did tell Smith.”
“He told me last night.”
“I swear I hung up with that man and he tattled like a kid.”
He laughs. “I guess he did.” He sets his cup on a table and takes mine and does the same. “Let’s go shower. I have a conference call for the NFL deal today and I need to run by the hospital first. You can get a quiet Saturday look at the Bennett operation and then sit in on the call.”
“All of the above make me nervous for different reasons, but the hospital tops the list. Every time we go by there something crazy happens.”
“We won’t stay long. We’ll go eat on the way.” He stands and lifts me with him. “My favorite diner is around the corner and I want you to try it.
The idea of Eric showing me something he calls his “favorite” sends a little thrill through me, these little hints of normalcy teasing me with glimpses of me and him without the Kingston family. But my thoughts are fleeting as Eric pulls me under the spray of the shower and shows me just how much better life is withhim.Mornings are not to be dreaded, but rather welcomed if they start like this.
Two orgasms later for me, and one for him, we both dress in casual winter clothing, and I’ve completely suppressed the whole assassin thing, until Eric slides his weapon into the back of his pants. We can pretend life is roses, but his gun reminds me, they have thorns. But I don’t say anything. Better he have the gun, than not.
Once we’re downstairs, Eric helps me with my coat and catches my lapels. “Don’t let the gun make you nervous. It’s just a precaution. Savage and Adrian are with us today.”
“I’ve told you, I carry. The gun doesn’t freak me out. In fact, I’m wildly comforted by a Navy SEAL man, carrying a gun he knows how to use. I just want this over. Did you ever get Grayson out of town? I talked to Mia this morning and she mentioned nothing about it.”
“I talked to Davis this morning. He’s working on it.”
“He needs to be faster.”
“Agreed. I told him the same thing. It’s also past due we get you a weapon.”
I don’t argue, not after that incident with the man in the hospital. I’m not sure if it’s legal to carry in New York City, but I don’t care or ask. I need a weapon, at least until this is all over.
break
The diner is so close, and we walk with Adrian and Smith, one at our front, the other our rear. It’s brutally cold though and I’m relieved when we enter the diner. Adrian and Smith, claim a table nearby, and close to the door. Me and Eric end up in a cozy corner booth with floral-printed seats and a wooden table, with egg white omelets and coffee as our chosen meals, both of us talking about the city when Eric’s cellphone buzzes. He grabs it, reads a message and while his expression is unchanged, there is a slight crackle in the air, a barely perceptible tension in the line of his jaw. He sets his phone down and says nothing and I can almost see the numbers churning in his mind. It’s not that he doesn’t intend to tell me what’s going on. He’s simply lost in where whatever he has learned has delivered him. “What just happened?” I prod gently.
“Isaac managed to slip past Blake’s man. They don’t know where he is.” His mind might be racing, but he speaks the words far more nonchalantly than they merit and sips his coffee, as if downplaying his worry for me.
My eyes go wide. “What? When did this happen?”
“On our way over here. They’re watching my father, Grayson, and Mia. And us.”
