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“Just a package.”
“Let me see.”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“Emory, this isn’t your house, in case you forgot. Let me see.”
He sighed and shut the door. “It’s just going to upset you.”
“Emory.”
He held up a photograph. It was a picture of the two of us sitting in the café from the other day.
“They’re messing with us,” he said.
I felt fear drop into my stomach. “How did they get that?”
“I’m not sure. Omar didn’t have a camera when I spotted him, and this was taken from a different angle.”
“There are more of them?”
“Probably.” He shrugged. “They normally work in cells.”
“Cells?”
“Groups of terrorists embedded in a country. I’d guess he’s running a group of ten guys, some of them Pakistani, but I’d bet most of them are radical Americans.”
“That’s crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “Americans work with these people?”
“Unfortunately,” he said. “It happens more often than you’d guess. People are easy to turn if their life isn’t going the way they planned, and The Network is one of the best at identifying those vulnerable people and exploiting their fear and anger.”
“Ten men,” I said softly. “How can you protect us from ten men?”
He grinned at me and stepped close. “You don’t think I’m worth fifteen men?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Listen to me, princess,” he said. “I’ve got more man in my little toe than any one of those terrorist fucks out there.”
“Still. Fifteen?”
“I’m a SEAL, and don’t you forget it. I’m worth at least fifteen of them.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “I really think we should go to the police.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I have orders. Now, I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“Take Mason and go up into the nursery.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Why?”
“I need to sweep the neighborhood. I might be able to grab this guy if I hurry. I need to know exactly where you are while I’m out there. Go into the nursery and lock the door, and don’t open it until I get back. Understand?”
“Okay,” I said softly.
“Go.”
I stared at him for a second. In the short seconds while he was giving me my orders, he had transformed from a cocky, grinning asshole into a serious and intense mystery. It was such a strange transformation, but in that moment I could see that there was so much more beneath the surface of his cocky attitude, so much more down underneath it all. I wanted to find out what was there, to pry him apart and learn his secrets, but I knew I likely never would.
I turned and headed up into the nursery. I shut the door behind me, locked it, and sat down in the comfortable chair, Mason in my lap.
I began to read to him to pass the time. He was too young to really understand what I was saying, but he seemed to like to hear my voice. He squirmed in my arms and my thoughts wandered as I read the same familiar story, the same story I always read to little Mason.
Things were moving so fast. Just a week ago I was a totally normal person, starting back up at college. Sure, I was a single mother, but there were hundreds of thousands of single mothers all over the place.
There weren’t many single mothers that were also wanted by international terrorists.
All of it felt so unreal. My emotions were twisting in the wind, shifting from one extreme to another. One second I felt terrified, and the next I felt safe with Emory around. I barely knew him, and I already felt like he was the strongest person I knew, like I could trust him instinctually.
It seemed like he’d do anything for me and Mason. I got the sense that he was already sacrificing just to be with us, protecting us the way he was.
I didn’t know how we could ever have a normal life after this. I didn’t know if there even was anything after this. He never said he was going to stick around and help with Mason or if he even wanted anything to do with Mason. In fact, he barely ever spoke about his son, although he had gone out of his way to hold him.
And on top of everything else, all the confusion and the danger, there was the way I felt every time he was close to me.
My heart began to beat fast when Emory was near. My stomach felt light, nervous, and I could feel excitement running in my veins. Every time he said a single dirty thing, it drove me wild, my panties practically dripping and useless. I was trying hard to resist that, since sleeping with him again was only going to make things more complicated, but I couldn’t help myself.
