toast.”
“Okie-dokie,” she tossed over her shoulder as she skipped to the stairs.
“We only have two men available to accompany you to the park this morning, Miss Martin. Mr. DeLuca has a meeting and the other men will be covering him there.”
I was startled by the sound of the guard speaking, since they mostly faded into the background.
“We go to the park all the time,” I muttered, nibbling on the edge of the dry toast when it popped up.
“Maybe this afternoon would be better,” he suggested.
I barely restrained myself from rolling my eyes as I wandered down the hall towards Nic’s office. We were always surrounded by men, but it had been weeks and there hadn’t been any sign of the danger Nic was trying to protect us from. But if the guard didn’t think it was safe, I figured it was best to run our trip to the park past Nic before we left. As I neared his office, I heard his voice through the door. It was low with an undercurrent of irritation.
“You’d better find O’Reilly and his son. Soon. Really fucking soon. Brandon hasn’t seen any sign of them on Carly’s trail. I might not know what the hell they’re up to, but I’ll damn well put a bullet in you if they manage to get close to my family.”
Discomfort twisted inside me at the verbal reminder of the kind of man Nic was outside of our home. I tapped lightly on the door and cracked it open, drawing Nic’s attention to me. He ended the call and strolled over to me, stopping in front of me and running a fingertip along my cheek. “I like seeing the color back in your face.”
“I’m feeling much better.”
“I’m sure you are,” he replied, cryptically.
“In fact, I feel so good that I’d like to take Sophia to the park this morning.” It’s a question couched as a statement because I’m annoyed that I have to ask permission for something so mundane.
“I have a meeting and won’t be available until this afternoon,” he answered, his voice full of regret.
“We’re just going across the street and we’ll have two guards with us the entire time.”
“Gianna,” he groaned. “Why is it so impossible to tell you no?”
“Because you love me,” I quipped with a smile.
“I really do,” he murmured against my lips before claiming them in a hard kiss.
The trip to the park was as uneventful as I’d expected. I pushed Sophia on the swing, watched as she went down the slide, and chased after her in the open field. As we were riding the carousel, I started to feel light-headed and was relieved when she told me she needed to use the bathroom. The guards were standing, each one covering an entrance to the open area in front of the ride. Their heads were swiveling as they assessed the area for possible threats, particularly the tunnels under the bridges where, I suppose, someone could easily be hiding in the shadows. There were so many people milling around, it seemed like overkill to me. I jerked my head towards the public restroom across the way to let them know where we were headed, before I helped Sophia off a brightly painted, wooden horse. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was off, racing ahead of me. I moved as quickly as I could to catch up to her, reaching her just as she was a few feet away from the bathroom door. I placed my hand on her shoulder to slow her down, ready to remind her about not running off like that when I noticed the shadow of two men coming up behind us, quickly. Looking over my shoulder, I expected to see the guards. I was shocked when I found two burly men I’d never seen before, their hands outstretched as they reached past me for Sophia.
“Run!” I screamed at Sophia, stepping into their path. She looked up at me in startled confusion, never having heard me raise my voice to her before. I gave her a little shove. “Get to Daddy’s friends. Now!”
Her wide eyes filled with tears, but she nodded and went running past us. One minute, I was watching Sophia’s little legs moving as
“Okie-dokie,” she tossed over her shoulder as she skipped to the stairs.
“We only have two men available to accompany you to the park this morning, Miss Martin. Mr. DeLuca has a meeting and the other men will be covering him there.”
I was startled by the sound of the guard speaking, since they mostly faded into the background.
“We go to the park all the time,” I muttered, nibbling on the edge of the dry toast when it popped up.
“Maybe this afternoon would be better,” he suggested.
I barely restrained myself from rolling my eyes as I wandered down the hall towards Nic’s office. We were always surrounded by men, but it had been weeks and there hadn’t been any sign of the danger Nic was trying to protect us from. But if the guard didn’t think it was safe, I figured it was best to run our trip to the park past Nic before we left. As I neared his office, I heard his voice through the door. It was low with an undercurrent of irritation.
“You’d better find O’Reilly and his son. Soon. Really fucking soon. Brandon hasn’t seen any sign of them on Carly’s trail. I might not know what the hell they’re up to, but I’ll damn well put a bullet in you if they manage to get close to my family.”
Discomfort twisted inside me at the verbal reminder of the kind of man Nic was outside of our home. I tapped lightly on the door and cracked it open, drawing Nic’s attention to me. He ended the call and strolled over to me, stopping in front of me and running a fingertip along my cheek. “I like seeing the color back in your face.”
“I’m feeling much better.”
“I’m sure you are,” he replied, cryptically.
“In fact, I feel so good that I’d like to take Sophia to the park this morning.” It’s a question couched as a statement because I’m annoyed that I have to ask permission for something so mundane.
“I have a meeting and won’t be available until this afternoon,” he answered, his voice full of regret.
“We’re just going across the street and we’ll have two guards with us the entire time.”
“Gianna,” he groaned. “Why is it so impossible to tell you no?”
“Because you love me,” I quipped with a smile.
“I really do,” he murmured against my lips before claiming them in a hard kiss.
The trip to the park was as uneventful as I’d expected. I pushed Sophia on the swing, watched as she went down the slide, and chased after her in the open field. As we were riding the carousel, I started to feel light-headed and was relieved when she told me she needed to use the bathroom. The guards were standing, each one covering an entrance to the open area in front of the ride. Their heads were swiveling as they assessed the area for possible threats, particularly the tunnels under the bridges where, I suppose, someone could easily be hiding in the shadows. There were so many people milling around, it seemed like overkill to me. I jerked my head towards the public restroom across the way to let them know where we were headed, before I helped Sophia off a brightly painted, wooden horse. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was off, racing ahead of me. I moved as quickly as I could to catch up to her, reaching her just as she was a few feet away from the bathroom door. I placed my hand on her shoulder to slow her down, ready to remind her about not running off like that when I noticed the shadow of two men coming up behind us, quickly. Looking over my shoulder, I expected to see the guards. I was shocked when I found two burly men I’d never seen before, their hands outstretched as they reached past me for Sophia.
“Run!” I screamed at Sophia, stepping into their path. She looked up at me in startled confusion, never having heard me raise my voice to her before. I gave her a little shove. “Get to Daddy’s friends. Now!”
Her wide eyes filled with tears, but she nodded and went running past us. One minute, I was watching Sophia’s little legs moving as
Similar Books
