"Is what unnatural?"
"Having four babies at the same time."
His brows creased, and he simply stared at her. "Don't piss me off on top of what I'm currently feeling. Are you going to listen to some mad person's drivel and let it get to you?" He tipped her chin up. "I expect better from you."
She shrugged. "I know, it's just that it's not the first time I've heard it."
"It's perfectly natural, and we will not think about it any further. I'm going to call Angelo. He will know how to deal with it."
A smile ghosted her lips. "I like Angelo. He was one of those who taught me the ropes, what a detective's life is really like. Oh, Samuel, I'm scared."
"I'm hiring some guards. We have to tell the nannies not to take the children out on their own. We're not going to allow some mentally challenged person to keep them chained inside the house, but we're taking precautions."
She snuggled against him. "I'm so happy you're here, and I'm not going to allow this to spoil the children's first Christmas."
Determined to give her a break from the ugliness, he asked teasingly, "Aren't you putting in a lot of effort for the occasion? They're just babies, barely three months old."
"We're taking lots of pictures." She lifted her head to look at him. "I thought you were supposed to go to New York?"
"No." He shook his head, fingers combing through her hair. He had noticed her significant effort at working off the extra weight. Even though he told her he loved her the way she was, he knew his wife and knew she would not be comfortable with the extra weight. She had slimmed down considerably, and he could feel the benefits of her strenuous exercise program.
"I'm not going anywhere while there is a potential threat to my family." He kissed her lips. "You have my word."
"I hate feeling so helpless."
"I won't let anything happen to you and our children," he vowed. "Why don't you join me in the shower and tell me all the holiday plans?" he suggested.
"You just want sex," she murmured, and her mood was already improving.
"Twofer." He grinned at her. "Sounds perfect. And baby? You know I always want sex," he added with a leer.
"Fortunately for you." She rose and dragged him up with her. "You have a saint of a wife who loves having sex with her husband, no matter how burdensome it is."
"Burdensome, huh?" She squealed when he hauled her up and over his shoulder, his hand clamped around her buttocks. "Why don't we see if I change your point of view?"
"Looking forward to it."
*****
Angelo Sanchez was a hard-bitten detective who had seen the worst of the worst and knew exactly what people who claimed humanity could do to one another. He usually workedundercover but had surfaced six months ago after the case he had been assigned to almost ended his life. He had been shot in the chest when his cover was blown, and had barely managed to take down his assailant, stopping the bastard, as he put it, from putting another bullet in him.
He was now on desk duty and was thinking of taking Samuel up on his offer to come and work for him. The money was too good to pass up, and after narrowly escaping certain death, he wanted a more relaxed working environment. Besides, his wife was threatening to divorce him and take away his two kids. This time, the threat had more meat. Angelo decided that since he loved his wife and adored his kids, it would be prudent for him to think hard and accept his friend's offer.
Now standing in their elegant living room and combing through the "evidence," he felt anger churning inside his chest. He liked Eliza. Before he was introduced to her, he had figured her for another one of those phony celebrities, with too much beauty and not enough manners. But after the first meeting, he had to revise his opinion.
"The suspect seems to be of the female kind," he murmured in his deep, scratchy voice.
"What gave you that impression?" Samuel asked sharply. Last night, after making love to his wife, he had pretended to sleep so she would, too, but had spent most of the night staring into space and devising ways and means of dismantling the personthreatening their peace of mind. He was smart enough to realize that it could be anyone. And that scared the living crap out of him. You cannot fight who you cannot see. And the person could be coming from any direction.
"From the tone of the letters and the fact that she refers to the unfairness of Eliza having four children. It sounds to me like this is a dried-up old crone with the inability to bear children." He looked over at Eliza and flashed her his crooked grin. "And if you dare to reprimand me about the slur, I'm leaving."
"You won't leave."
"And why wouldn't I?"
"You're afraid of my husband."
"The truth is I'm completely in love with you and that's the only reason. I carry a gun and your husband don't."
