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Tyler
“Shouldn’t I be the one cooking for you?” Marisa asked, watching as I cracked some eggs into a bowl. “After all, you did win breakfast in bed.”
“I’m not cashing in on that yet. Plus, as I stated, it was date night followed by breakfast in bed.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” she said. “Not that I mind you cooking.” She poked around the kitchen, looking in cabinets, checking things out. “Where’s your linen closet?” she asked with a laugh.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” I warned.
“You afraid of what I might find?”
“Not at all.” I whisked the eggs, then looked to where she was standing, hands on her hips. “I just don’t want you to mess it up.” I laughed when she scoffed. “Can you slide those over to me?” I gestured to the seasoning tray on the counter. I kept them out for easy access since I used them almost on a daily basis.
“You sure you don’t have something to hide?”
My chuckle was lighthearted as I lined up the bacon and sausage I had pulled from the fridge. “Like the box you had in the closet? Nope. I’m an open book.” When several seconds ticked by without her saying anything, I looked up. Her mouth was open in disbelief. Crap! I hadn’t meant my words to sound the way she interpreted them. “I didn’t look at anything, I promise,” I tried reassuring her. Her mouth closed, but she remained mute.
I set my stuff on the counter, wiped my hands on a towel, and went to her. I took her face in my hands and looked into her beautiful wide doe-eyed brown eyes. “Marisa, I promise you, I didn’t look at anything. When I opened the box and saw it wasn’t soap or towels, I immediately shut it and placed it back. Exactly where I found it.”
The response, “Okay,” was faint, but I heard the anguish behind it.
“Whatever is in that box, I knew it was something you purposefully put away. I didn’t invade your privacy.”
She nodded.
I held her eyes with mine. “You can trust me.”
Another nod.
I took her in my arms and held her. Whatever was in that box, I now knew, was something painful—a reminder of something from her past that she kept buried from everyone, including herself.
“Are we okay?” I asked, still holding tight.
I felt her nod against my chest before I heard her say, “Yes.”
I let go of her and moved back so I could look at her again. “I’m sorry I freaked you out.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I should know that you wouldn’t do something like that.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I can’t say I wasn’t tempted.” My smile was meant to reassure her, as well as amuse. I was relieved when she smiled, even though it was a little one.
She let out a deep breath. “Someday, I’ll share that stuff with you.”
“Okay.” I left it at that, knowing not to push the subject any further. I went back to the eggs, bacon, and sausage.
Over breakfast, I picked Marisa’s brain and told her about the West Coast assignment.
“We figured Finks’ partners turned on him,” Marisa told me. “Decided they didn't need him anymore after the robbery. We thought we’d found something that tied him to his partners when we ran a search for his phone records and financials. But they used burners. Regardless, we know the robberies and the homicide are connected.”
“Nothing else?”
“Nope. Just the fact that the other players are definitely floating around out there. Somewhere.”
This was pretty much all the intel we had too. I gave one nod. “All right.”
Marisa tilted her head to the side. “They’re not some low-level ring. They’ve killed one of their own. Odds are, even though they haven’t yet, we can only assume they’re not against taking anyone out who gets in their way.”
“Exactly what we’ve been preparing for.”
