My father called me first thing this morning to tell me he wants to meet to discuss my living situation. If I’m honest, last night did freak me out a little, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to move back home. I love my apartment and I don’t want to live anywhere else. It’s so close to Matthias’ school and we’ve made friends with our lovely neighbors, but I know that my father isn’t going to let this go without a fight. Perhaps there is something we can do to at least make my apartment more secure—something that doesn’t involve Jackson Decker sleeping on my sofa every night.
I mean there was a time that would have been like a dream come true, but now it just reminds me that I can never have him. I hardly slept at all thinking about him lying out there, remembering the miracles he can perform with his tongue.
I feel a blush creep over my cheeks and I focus on the road ahead as I drive to my father’s hotel with Jax sitting beside me.
“So, tell me more about this asshole who’s been stalking you,” he says, breaking the silence.
“I never said he was stalking me,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “He just sent me a bunch of messages. Weird guys do that kind of shit all the time. Women are constantly fending off dick pics.”
“Okay.” His eyes narrow. “So what makes this guy different then? Why did you mention him and no one else?”
I frown. Why is he any different from the other fishing messages I get on a regular basis? “Because he is persistent. No matter how many times I block him, he creates a new account and messages again.”
“Like a stalker.” He arches an eyebrow at me.
“Semantics,” I mutter under my breath.
“How do you know it’s the same guy?” His brow is furrowed as he glares at me but I know this is Jax’s process. I can almost see the cogs in his brain working.
“Because he always calls me chica and he always signs off with the same thing.”
“Which is?”
“Your one and only.” I shake my head because saying that out loud makes me cringe.
“Some guy you’ve slept with then, who maybe thinks he was the only guy?” he asks. Heat creeps over my chest and neck at the question, but Jax is working and this is business now.
“I don’t see how that’s possible. I mean there have only been five guys my whole life. Two of them are dead. The other two were guys from college who knew I had a child and the other one…” I swallow. Well, he’s sitting here in my car grilling me about my sex life.
“Why does he call you chica? He knows your parents were Spanish?” he frowns at me.
“My user name is Chica21,” I say.
“That’s not exactly anonymous Lucia?” he scowls at me now.
“Oh come on!” I shake my head.
“Can I have your phone?”
“Why?” I whisper.
“So I can look at the accounts. I’ll start a trace later but right now I just want to have a look.”
I hesitate. There is so much personal stuff on that phone. Messages to Archer about my night with him last week. Oh, God. What if he sees them?
“I won’t look at anything except them. I swear,” he says, sensing my hesitation.
“Fine. You know where it is,” I say with a shake of my head.
He pulls it from the center console and puts in my passcode.
“How do you know that?” I frown at him.
He frowns right back. “Because I set it up for you.” He frowns right back.
“Oh, yeah. Of course. I could have changed the passcode for all you knew though,” I add.
“But you didn’t.” He holds up the phone as evidence.
“You think he’s going to make me move home?” I ask quietly.
“He’ll certainly try.”
“I don’t want to, Jax. I love my parents, but I love my independence, too.”
“I know,” he replies with a nod, because he gets it. He’s lived alone since his mom died when he was seventeen.
“Will you back me up?” I whisper.
“Luce,” he sighs. “Don’t ask me to come between you and your father.”
“I’m not. I’m just asking for you to be the voice of reason when he starts foaming at the mouth. Because you know he will.”
The faintest smile plays on his lips. “If he gets completely loco, I’ll help you talk him down.”
“Thank you.” I smile.
By the time we reach my father’s office half an hour later, he’s pacing the floor waiting for us.
“Papi,” I say as walk into the room.
“Mija,” he pulls me into a hug.
“Hey amigo,” Jax says as he takes a seat.
My father simply nods in greeting, his attention focused on me. “I’ve spoken to your mama, and we both want you to come home—”
I shake my head. “No.”
“At least until we can find out who tried to get into your place last night and Jax can find out who this creep is who’s sending you messages.”
“That could take months!” I reply.
“Hey!” Jax interrupts us. “When has finding some asshole online ever taken me that long?”
“That app has billions of users, Jax.” I frown at him; he’s supposed to be on my side.
“So?” he scowls and I realize I have insulted him, because he is the best at what he does. I have no doubt he could hack into the White House if he wanted to.
“I don’t want to uproot mine and Matthias’ life, Papi.” I turn back to him.
“And I’m not asking you to, mija. All I’m asking is that you stay with us for a few weeks until we figure out who was behind this.”
I look between him and Jax.
“Think of it like a vacation. The boys are going to be thrilled to have you and Matthias around.”
There he goes, playing his trump card. He knows I would die for those boys.
“Two weeks, Papi,” I agree because I know I’m not going to win this argument, and also because last night, along with all the talk of stalkers in the car with Jax, has me spooked.
“Perfect!” He winks at me. “I’ll have someone move your stuff.”
“No,” I shake my head. He will have my entire apartment moved in the blink of any eye. “I’ll get our stuff together. This is just a vacation, right?”
“Okay. I’ll get someone to help you.”
“Fine.”
He stares at me and I sense he has something else on his mind. “I do have one more condition.”
“What?”
“Jax is going to be busy on this for the next week or so.” He looks at Jax who nods his understanding, but I don’t know where this is going yet. I do know that the thought of not spending every day with Jax makes me feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest. It feels like a punishment, even though my father cannot possibly know that. “So, while you’re not working with him, you’ll need a bodyguard.”
“Papi!”
“Yes, Lucia. This is non negotiable.”
“So moving back home was?”
“Yes, but you’ve agreed to that now, so—” He shrugs and grins at me.
“Why do I feel like I’ve just been completely played?”
Jax laughs softly. “You know better than to give in to his initial demands, because there’s always more.”
“How could I forget?”
“Hey!” My father laughs too. “Is it so bad to live with your parents and be spoiled for a few weeks? And to have a father who worries about you so much?”
“No.” I roll my eyes because he speaks the truth.
“Why don’t you go get your stuff now and take it home? Your mama is working from home today and then you can surprise Matthias when you pick him up from kindergarten later.”
“But what about work?”
“Jax is going to be busy today and I have nothing for you to do, mija. Just take a day off.”
“Okay,” I agree because this is another argument I’m not going to win.
“Take my car. Raoul is downstairs.”
“Raoul?” I arch an eyebrow at him. Raoul is one of my father’s most highly trained men. A skilled assassin, but he barely speaks.
“I told you you’d be having a bodyguard, mija.”
“But Raoul though?” I pout and I see Jax chuckling to himself from the corner of my eye.
“He’s the best,” he replies with a shrug.
“He’s mute,” I reply.
“He’s not there for conversation, Lucia. He’s there to stop a bullet from entering your body or some psychopath from running away with you.”
“You’re so dramatic,” I sigh and then I kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Bye, mija.”
“Bye, Lucia,” Jax adds.
I give him a faint smile and a wave of my hand. Why does it feel like I’ll never see him again? That’s ridiculous, right? I’ll still see him all the time. So, why does my heart ache like this, just because we’re not working together for a while?
I take the elevator down to the lobby and see Raoul waiting in the huge black sedan. It’s the armored one and it makes me wonder if there is something else going on that I should know about. Upon seeing me, Raoul jumps out and opens the door for me.
“Thank you,” I smile.
He nods and grunts in response.
“I see you’ll be my babysitter for the foreseeable future,” I say once we’re both seated and he pulls the car away from the curbside.
Nothing. Not even the hint of a smile.
I miss Jax already.
