Yes, she was fine.
Yes, it could be my dad who was behind it all.
I had to face him. Emory agreed, but there was no fucking way I was letting her anywhere near him. This was an old score I needed to settle and she’d only distract me. She understood, but Paul had even more, and offered to have Emory hang with them for the day.
I passed an eighteen-wheeler when my cell rang. I pushed the button for the handheld. “Green.”
“They’re painting their toenails.” Paul. “She’s safe here.”
“Thanks. I’m almost out of Delaware. Once I find him, it won’t take long.” I gripped the steering wheel. Hard. “I should be back before dinner.”
“Do what you have to. We’ll be waiting.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“You’d do the same.”
I would.
Now I knew what Paul had been telling me all along while he trained with me. He told me about Christy and I’d seen him change. He became…more. He wasn’t pussy whipped either. Christy was perfect for Paul and I knew she was everything to him. Everything.
Just like Thor. He would do anything for Laura, even buy a toilet brush. I understood now. Emory was everything to me and I’d even go buy a fucking toilet brush for her. If that wasn’t a sign I was in love, I didn’t know what was.
EMORY
I had cotton balls wedged between my toes as I sat on Christy’s couch. Paul was working at the kitchen table, papers spread out before him and he had his phone set to mute as he listened in on a conference call. I was being babysat and I knew it. A pedicure was just something to do to wile away the time. I didn’t think I needed to stay indoors and under supervision until this whole house break in thing was resolved, but if it eased Gray’s mind, I’d do it at least until he got back from Atlantic City. At least if he was watching me, we could be busy doing more…enjoyable things.
I could feel my cheeks flush just thinking about what we’d done together and I darted a glance at Christy, who was fortunately leaning forward and putting a top coat on her right foot. I was sore in places I forgot even got sore. I wasn’t a virgin, but the way my body ached—in good and bad ways, mostly good—I had probably reverted back to one. The way I felt with Gray was nothing, nothing, like it had been with Jack. If I’d known what I’d been missing, I’d have divorced him years earlier. But then I wouldn’t have met Gray. It seemed that he appeared just when I was ready for him. Was I ready for him? Was one ever ready for love?
“You must have been so scared,” Christy whispered. Paul could be heard talking about some kind of brief from the other room.
I propped my feet on the coffee table. “Yeah. Very.” I didn’t want to go into details. I didn’t really want to think about it ever again and perhaps Christy could sense it, because she switched topics.
“Gray thinks his dad’s behind it?” She dipped her nail polish brush into the bottle. “He sounds like a complete ass.”
I didn’t want to tell her that the guy was well known in the business community. It didn’t matter what his job was, how much power or money he had. A child beater was a child beater.
“Mmm,” I replied, trying to remain neutral. If Gray wasn’t telling people about his past, I wasn’t going to do so. “I don’t know much, but it’s possible.”
Christy must have picked up my vague responses. “So you and Gray?” She waggled her eyebrows.
I flushed just like a schoolgirl.
“Yeah,” I said on a sigh.
She turned to look at me, eyed me carefully. “This isn’t some fling, is it?”
I shook my head and she grinned. “Is he good?”
Oh yeah, he was good.
My cell rang in my bag, saving me from answering. My heart skipped a beat at the thought that it was Gray, but I quickly squelched it. He was most likely driving, focused on dealing with his dad. He needed to work on that, not me, and I understood.
I didn’t recognize the number on the display. “Hello?”
“Hello, Emory, this is Angelo Casale.”
I relaxed, thinking of the man who had given me the delicious dinner. “Hi, Mr. Casale. How are you?”