AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m the vice-president of my family’s hotel chain,” Sebastian replied as he got the salad and some soda out of the fridge.
“Sounds like a busy job.”
“It is.”
“What do you like to do to unwind? Outdoorsy or indoorsy things?”
Aggie’s father relaxed a little. “Anything by the water. I love the water. Aggie does too, she got that from me. Didn’t you, baby girl?”
“Yes, I did, Daddy.” Aggie gave her father a weary smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Pushing aside his concerns for the moment, Nick pasted on a big smile. “I love the water too. I was on the swim team at school and college. I’ve even done a little diving.”
“Aggie was a competitive diver when she was a teenager, she won lots of awards.” Sebastian beamed with pride, the mishap with the girlfriend comment obviously forgotten.
“You have a place by the water?” That could be a perfect location to keep Emily.
“Two. One of them Aggie loves, it’s a beautiful little secluded cabin down by a lake. We used to spend summers there when Aggie was a little girl. A lot of wonderful hours were spent there.” His gaze grew faraway.
Setting three plates of spaghetti bolognese down at the table, he pulled out the chair beside Aggie and sat down. “Tell me about what Aggie was like as a teenager,” Nick said. Hopefully, he could glean some more pertinent information about Sebastian and his relationships with his ex-wives, while his partner, who was monitoring the family dinner via the surveillance equipment, would no doubt be looking up the location of Sebastian’s cabin and sending out officers to check it out to see if Emily Hadden was hidden away there. There was also the added bonus of getting to know more about the woman he was falling for and what made her tick.
“Aggie as a teenager was a handful.” Sebastian reached across the table to pat her hand affectionately.
Gently grasping Aggie’s fingers, which peeked from her cast, he couldn’t remember the last time he had sat down for a family meal. Maybe eighteen months ago when Miller had insisted he spend the evening with his family. Nick found himself wishing that he and Aggie could do this often, comfortable meals with her family. Once she accepted the truth about her father it might prod her to seek a relationship with her sisters. Settling back to enjoy the meal and hearing about whatever mischief teenage Aggie had gotten up to, Nick knew he was going to do whatever was necessary to regain Aggie’s trust and love after he told her that he was really a cop investigating her father for multiple murders.
* * * * *
10:09 P.M.
“Thanks for coming, Daddy.” Aggie kissed her father’s cheek.
All she wanted was to collapse into bed. She was feeling a little fuzzy from lack of sleep, and paying attention to the conversation at dinner had required significant effort and left her feeling utterly drained. After believing someone had been in her home last night, she had been unable to go back to sleep. Instead, she had sat in an armchair, cell phone in hand, and debated calling the cops. However, nothing appeared to be disturbed, and nothing had been taken, and she began to convince herself that she had imagined the whole thing. That the thumps and bumps were merely part of her dreams and the light she had seen disappearing from under her door and down the stairs was simply a neighbor going for a late-night jog or something equally as innocent.
At work today, she hadn’t mentioned the night’s events to Summer. Her friend would have insisted on spending the night, and it wasn't Summer’s company that she craved right now. It was Nick’s. He stood beside her right now, an arm linked loosely around her waist, and she leaned into him, allowing him to take her weight and attempting to absorb some of his strength. Despite the minor bump in the road when Nick had asked her father if he was seeing anyone, the night had gone smoothly. Conversation had rolled along, mostly involving her dad and Nick, but she had enjoyed just listening to them get to know each other.
“A wonderful evening, baby girl. I think you made a good choice,” his gaze moved to Nick, then back to her, “you look tired though, go get yourself some rest.”
“Night, Daddy,” she said as he headed out the door.
“Night, baby girl.”
“He’s right, you do look tired.” Nick closed and locked the door. “Worried too.”
Not wanting to talk about it just yet, she moved closer and rested against his chest. His arms wrapped around her and held her up. Snuggling her aching head into the crook of his shoulder, she tried to find a position to place her broken arm that didn’t hurt. After days of no pain, her arm had seemingly gone out in sympathy with her head this afternoon, which throbbed with a stress headache and began causing her problems.
“You're upset about something. Are you okay?”
Aggie tried to hold them back, but tears began to flow, sliding quietly down her cheeks as though she didn’t have the energy to sob violently, which she didn’t. She didn’t want to cry. And she didn’t want to make Nick uncomfortable by having to deal with her tears. Crying happy tears was one thing, but these weren’t happy tears. These were scared, hurting, wondering when or even if the trauma of her assault was ever going to leave her, tears of exhaustion.
Nick must have felt her tears soaking through his shirt because he took hold of her shoulders and eased her back so he could see her face. His dark blue eyes looked distressed. “These aren’t happy tears.” He lifted a hand to her face and brushed at her wet cheeks with his thumb. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
His gentle voice only made her cry harder. Nick scooped her up into his arms, carried her to her favorite armchair, and settled down into it, cradling her on his lap. Pressing her face into his neck, Aggie just wept. There was no use fighting the tears, they would stop when they were ready and not a moment sooner. One of Nick’s hands stroked her hair, the other curled around her, keeping her cuddled tightly up against him.
“Tell me what’s wrong, baby, so I can help you,” he said at last.
She may as well get it over with. Nick wasn't going to let up until she told him. “Last night I think someone was here in my apartment,” she blurted out in a rush before she lost her nerve. Saying the words out loud was like admitting they were true, and she wasn't quite ready for that yet. A shudder rocketed through her, leaving a trail of quivering in its wake.
Reaching for a knitted patchwork afghan hanging over the side of the nearest sofa, Nick wrapped it around her. “You think what now?”
