Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (15 page)

***

Sitting on the patio, they watched the dolphins swim past as they drank their coffee. “Do you have any updates for me on my stalker?”

“We have it narrowed down to two computers, so I’m looking seriously at two people. Derick is running further background checks, and I think that will give us the final piece that we need to determine who it is.”

Ok, sounds good. How do you think I did at the gun range yesterday?”

“How do you think you did?”

“I guess I was as bad as I thought. I was hoping you were going to tell me that I had potential.”

“I didn’t say you were bad. It takes practice and a lot of work to become proficient.” He held out his hand, “Feel this callous. I have had a gun in my hand every day for over fifteen years. He held out his other hand and let her feel the callouses. “If I don’t practice - I lose my accuracy. I don’t need the same accuracy that I had when I was on the teams, but I still work at it.”

“Why do you have callouses on both hands?”

“We practice with both hands; if something happens to your dominant hand, you still have options.”

“I don’t know if I have a feel for it, but I’m going to keep practicing.” Breakfast was delivered and they started to eat, “I love our restaurants. I think that is what keeps people coming back.”

“I agree. This is some of the best food that I’ve had in a long time. Tell me what our plans are this weekend?”

“I was thinking that I could go over to my sister’s house and spend time with her. I know you have things to do, and I don’t want you to have to worry about staying with me.”

“You are not going to be out of my sight until we have this guy behind bars. End of story”

“I’m glad to know you are open minded. I think that is a good quality.”

“I’m not open minded about your safety. We can do whatever you want. How is that for open minded?”

“It’s my turn for Sunday lunch, so my sisters are coming over on Sunday and maybe my Mom and Bob. Do you want to invite your brother and the guys from the office?”
 

“Sure, I’ll do that today when we get in.” Leaning over he kissed her gently but with unmistakable possession. “Thank you baby.”

“For what?”

“For letting me in just a little.”

Smiling, she didn’t say anything and took his hand and held it. It was going to have be enough for now. “To change the subject…… I think I will have some notes for you later on this afternoon about recommendations for your business. I also spoke with Birdie and she is having several people forward their resumes for the accounting position. I will review them and then pass them on to you. You can then tell me who you want to speak with. I also think you need a human resources person to coordinate benefits across all of the offices. I don’t think you are providing enough health insurance benefits for the guys and their families. I also think that you need to form a corporation with the partners in all of the offices. That will allow you to run a more efficient operation, and be more profitable. These are just my preliminary recommendations, but I will probably have quite a few more as I do more research.”

“How many days have you been studying this?”

“I think one or two. Why?”

“Because, I think you’re brilliant and I am so grateful that you are willing to take this on.”

“It’s very exciting. I love this sort of thing.”

“That’s good, because I don’t like it. I get to hand it over to you. How much is your current salary?”

“Max that seems like a personal question.”

“Let’s think back to last night and this morning… where was my mouth? Where were my hands and other significant body parts, and who was moaning my name? Oh yes that was you. Does it still feel like a personal question?”

“You have a point. My current salary is $ 265,000.00, plus benefits, stock options and bonuses.”

“I would like to offer you $365,000 plus whatever else you want.”

“You would be over paying me and I don’t want that. Right now I’m consulting in exchange for you protecting me and taking care of my stalker. If I ever decide to come and work for you, then we can discuss it at that time.”

“It is not if, it is when: and it is not for, it’s with.”

“We’ll see.”

He took her hand, looked her in the eye and very quietly whispered, “It’s a done deal, and I will wait for you to come to the same conclusion.” He dipped his head and kissed her gently and completely.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Is that the last bag?”

Bringing in two heavy bags, he set them down on the counter. “Yes, how many people are coming?”

“It’s going to be seven of us My Mom called earlier and said that Bob wasn’t feeling up to it. I haven’t heard from Birdie this morning. Should I be worried?”

“When a man gets injured on an op and makes it out alive, then he has a decent chance of surviving. Birdie said he was flown to Virginia Medical Center and that means he is almost guaranteed to make it. The longer you last, the better your chances are. If he was still on the naval medical ship, then I would be worried.”

“I’m still worried. I know Birdie is probably going out of her mind, but not letting anyone know.”

“If you make it out of the op, your chances have improved 100%.”

“I’m glad that I’ve met you after you retired. I don’t think I would have been very good at waiting for you to come home.”

“That is the nicest thing you have said to me. It means that you would’ve taken me on.” He watched her shrug her shoulders and try to hide a smile. She started putting the food away and avoided looking at him. That told him more than a lot of words she could have said. “At least you would have kept me as a love slave anyway.”

“That’s for sure…. you’re amazing.”

“As soon as Frank, Sean and Derick get here, I will leave on my run. Is there anything else you need me to do before lunch?”

“I’m sorry I’ve kept you from your routines this week. Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve been fine.”

“I have loved spending this week with you. Who cares if I miss a couple of runs? I’m going to have a new routine anyway since we’re living together.”

“For now, but when the stalker gets put away you can move back to your place.”

“You don’t want to live together?”

“I don’t even want a boyfriend - I’m not going to live with you.”

“I wish you would quit saying that.”

“I keep saying it because you’re ignoring everything I say.”

“I wasn’t ignoring you this morning…. I was listening very carefully.”

“That’s true. You listen when you like what your hearing.”
 

The doorbell rang and saved them both from further discussion about their relationship. They were of opposite opinions, and it didn’t look like they were going to come to a consensus anytime soon. Max walked over and disengaged the system and looked through the peephole. Two very pretty women stood on the other side of the door. “Sweetheart, it’s your sisters.” He opened the door and smiled, “Hello ladies.”

“They both looked at him carefully and studied him for a moment and then walked in. Catalina was the first to speak, “You must be Max. My sister didn’t tell us how good looking you are.” Setting her bags down, she stepped over to embrace him. “Welcome to the family.”

He looked over her head at Rory who was standing in the kitchen and gave her an, ‘
I told you so look.’

Catalina stepped back and let Isabella have a turn, “So you’re the one keeping my sister safe?”

“Yes, I am. We are very close to nailing the guy and I expect that this will be taken care of in the next week.”

“Thank you, I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel to know that Rory has you. She’s been terribly stubborn about this and I’m glad she finally came to her senses and let someone help her.” She kissed him on the cheek and then gathered her stuff to take into the kitchen.
 

He heard the three of them speaking in Italian and knew they were talking about him. The sisters seemed to welcome him and assumed that they were together. Why was Rory so stubborn about this?

The doorbell rang again, and he opened it up and welcomed his brother and friends in. “Hi guys, Catalina and Isabella have already arrived.”

Frank looked into the kitchen and felt like someone hit him in the stomach when he caught sight of one of the sisters. He heard them speaking in Italian and listened to the conversation. Apparently Max was pushing Rory into being in a relationship, and she was complaining to her sisters. Max took the guys over and introduced them to the ladies. The sisters were charming and friendly, and the woman who had his heart thumping was named Catalina.
 

“Sean and I are going for our run, Frank and Derick will be here in case you need anything.”

Rory brought out a plate of antipasto and set it on the table in front of the TV. “Help yourself.”

Frank stood next to Catalina and stared at her, she must have felt it because she turned and gave him a faint smile.
 

Catalina said something to her sister and it took every ounce of control for Frank not to respond. He wasn’t ready for the ladies to know that he spoke Italian and about five other languages. He wanted to get as much information as he could before he confessed. Catalina had asked her sister who the statue was standing next to her.

Rory handed him the remote and told the guys to make themselves comfortable. Max walked out of the garage at that moment and she saw him in his running shorts and no shirt and felt her breath catch. She said a small prayer in Italian, Frank didn’t think it was going to help her resist his best friend, no matter how many candles she promised to light at the church this week.
 

He watched Max walk over and kiss Rory with a lot of enthusiasm and whisper in her ear, then she blushed and kissed him back. It just took some people longer to accept their fate. She was probably one of them.

Derick and Frank sat on the couch as Isabelle brought their drinks over. “So were you both on the teams with Max?”

Derick thanked her and took the glasses, “Yes, we have worked together on and off for ten years. We can’t seem to get away from one another.”

“I think you’re lucky - you get to work with people you like.”

“What do you do, Isabella?”

“I’m a pediatric surgical nurse over at Scripts Memorial. I have been there for five years now.”

“That sounds like a challenging job. I think seeing children in surgery would be difficult.”

“When we have a successful outcome there is no better day. We just work really hard to make sure we have more wins than losses. Do you guys need anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

“Ok, we are going to get lunch started.”

They settled back on the couch and watched the game while Frank eavesdropped on the conversation in the kitchen. He didn’t really feel like he needed to know about Max’s skills in bed. He had no idea girls talked about that to each other. It made him a little uncomfortable, but it didn’t make him stop listening. They finally started talking about something else and he couldn’t have been more grateful. They were talking about Isabella’s boyfriend and his upcoming birthday. He was hoping he wasn’t going to hear about Catalina’s boyfriend next. He knew that he should feel bad about listening to them, but somehow he couldn’t make himself stop. This was like any other op; he was gathering Intel, nothing more. That was the story he was going to stick to.

***

Sean and Max made their way down the beach and kept up a nice easy pace. They were going to do ten miles today, and Max was looking forward to having the opportunity to talk to his brother about why he left Delta.
 

After the first five miles, he figured it was now or never. “So, why did you leave Delta?”

Sean looked over at his big brother and contemplated lying to him for about five seconds before he dismissed the idea. “They wanted me to go on black op team full time. If I chose to go that route, I was never going to be able come home. I decided, I wanted to come back and try something else. I’ve loved nothing more than protecting my country for the last twelve years, but the last several years has been a little rough. Things are changing fast out there and the lines are no longer clear. Our enemy today is our ally tomorrow. I don’t have the stomach for it anymore. I don’t want the only place, I feel comfortable, to be in some hell hole in one of the Stans. I can’t eliminate another tribal leader who happens to have the most power that day. I want to figure out how to function in the world, and relate to normal people.”

“It’s not like being on the teams where you have a brotherhood of people who will die for you and with you. Delta is a completely different animal. I wanted the autonomy that is provided, but there is also a cost to that. I can’t pay the tab anymore, if I ever want to have a life outside of the military.”

“I’m glad you retired when you did. I wouldn’t want to have to pull your ass out of the sandbox and bring you home. Thanks for bringing yourself home - in time.”

“Let’s just hope it was in time. I’m dealing with some pretty tough shit and I know that I’m going to have to do some hard work to get on the other side of it.”