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“Are you expecting someone?” His tone was all business, Mr. Professional.
Her eyes flew open and her mouth followed their lead.
Parked in the center of Dax’s driveway was a rental car and sitting in the front seat was a helmet of hair she’d recognize anywhere.
“That’s my mom,” Ginny breathed.
***
Dax wasn’t sure why he was surprised. There was never a dull moment around his house lately. He tried to tamper down his disappointment that he wasn’t going to be alone with Ginny tonight. During the meeting with Nate all he’d been thinking about was how badly he wanted to get her home so he could shut her mind off from anything except the pleasure he was giving her. He’d watched as she’d asked Nate to explain how he’d discovered his findings again and again and he’d practically been able to hear her wheels turning. Her lips had been pursed and her brow furrowed, it made him want to massage her intimately until all the tension was out of her body. But the one that really got him, that had upgraded his general need to urgent status, was the look of betrayal that had been in her baby blues as she’d listened to all the ways Shane had deceived her, exploited her and embezzled from her. He wanted to take her home and kiss that look right out of her eyes, he wanted to kiss away the pain that he’d seen there.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what she’s doing here. She’s not due back for another week.” Ginny sat up straighter, looking ahead as her mom and a man he assumed was her mom’s new husband got out of their car.
“It’s fine—”
“It’s not fine,” she snapped over his answer.
He’d been planning to say that he was excited to meet her mom, but now that he saw how stressed she was, he switched tactics. “If you think you’ve got the market cornered on mom’s showing up unexpectedly then you either have a very selective or a very short term memory.”
That got the laugh he’d been hoping for.
It was just in time too because the tornado that was Mona Valentine opened the door and everything in the entire atmosphere shifted.
“Baby girl! I missed you so much!” She squealed as she pulled Ginny out of his SUV. Thankfully he’d been able to grab Capone before he’d woken up to a strange woman accosting his favorite human.
“Hi!” Mona kept one arm around her daughter and extended her free hand into the vehicle and started shaking his hand up and down. “I’m Mona. You must be Dax. Well, boy howdy, you are even better looking in person.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.” When she finally dropped her hold he opened his door to find what appeared to be a meek, mild-mannered man waiting on the other side.
“Hello, I’m Brad Nixon, Mona’s husband. Nice to meet you.” His voice was monotone.
Wow. Talk about opposites attracting. These two people seemed like night and day. Dax sat Capone on the ground and shook the man’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
He could hear Mona squealing on the other side of the vehicle as she told Ginny about the honeymoon as he and Brad started making their way up to the house. He did a quick peripheral scan to make sure that Ginny and Mona were headed in the same direction.
As they all reached the door Brad said, “Thank you for taking care of Ginny while we were away. The only reason that her mother was able to relax and enjoy any of our honeymoon was knowing that Ginny was being protected twenty-four seven and that she was in such capable hands.”
He felt Ginny pinch his left hand discreetly and he had to work to keep himself composed and professional. “Of course.”
They all filed inside and before he’d even shut the door Mona asked, “We’ve been waiting forever and you weren’t answering your phone, Ginnybean. Where were you two coming from?”
He saw the underlying look of pleading panic that flashed in Ginny’s eyes. He wasn’t sure if she didn’t want her mom to know about what Nate had found or that they’d met Don. So he let her take the lead.
“We were at the Elite Offices.”
Okay, so she didn’t want her mother to know about Don. Got it.
“Nate found—”
“Oh that, yes. I know. I’ve been getting all the updates emailed to me.”
Dax had actually forgotten that she was technically the one who hired Elite, so of course she would be getting all the updates as she’d directed them to be given to her.
“My poor baby.” Mona reached out and pulled Ginny into her arms again. “I’m going to make that slimeball, lowlife, rat pay for what he did to you. I’m just so glad I’m at least here when you’re getting hit with that news. I was going crazy being so far away from you when you went through what you did yesterday.”
Large tears filled Mona’s wide brown eyes and fell over her bottom lid as her bottom lip quivered, but she quickly tried to compose herself. She leaned back, placed her hands on Ginny’s shoulders and straightened her back and said. “But I’m here now, and we are going to pick up the pieces and make this right. You don’t need to worry your pretty little head. I will take care of everything. You just focus on your music and leave all of this ugliness up to me and Brad.”
