Love's Taming(72)
Chapter 23
The last of the furniture had been delivered and placed in the new home and all that remained was to unpack the boxes. The furniture they had been buying for the past month had been held by the stores and it was nice to see the house finally come together as they had planned.
Tony Alverez was outside of the house with Shane. Annie stood at the large window in the living room watching them as they talked while they looked at the house then pointed to the roof. Sighing she turned away walking back over to another box. She had tried to talk to Shane about Rochelle, but he gave her very little information. She knew that Rochelle had been killed, but he had not shared any details. Rochelle had been flown back to Texas where her parent’s lived, and given a full burial with honors. But other than that, Shane had shut her out of his feelings about Rochelle’s death.
He had Tony put someone on her so that she constantly felt as though she had a shadow. Right now, they were outside discussing the best security system for the house, leaving her inside to place family pictures on the mantel.
“You okay, baby?”
Startled, she turned around almost dropping the picture frame in her hand. “Jesus, you scared me!” Looking around, she asked, “Where’s Tony?”
“He’s got what he needs so he and his crew will be back tomorrow to get things set up.”
Nodding, she looked at him, desperate for him to talk about what he was feeling. “Are you hungry?”
“No, babe. We can order something in a little while. You don’t need to cook.”
Walking over to Shane, she put her hands gently on his chest. “Honey, I wish you’d talk to me. Please. I know you’re upset over Rochelle. I get that. She meant something to you and …”
“What are you talkin’ about?” he asked harshly, holding her hands still from rubbing on his chest.
“You. This closed off, not talking very much, brooding YOU. I know you cared about her and it’s okay if you need to talk about it. I get that you can’t be very happy now over our new house. I get that, Shane. But I’m not used to you closing me out. My untamed man will shout, curse, and get angry but at least I know what he’s thinking.” Her voice hitched as she tried to hold back her tears. “This man,” she moved her hand back to his chest, “I don’t know how to help.”
Shane dropped his head for a moment before lifting it back up to hers. Taking a deep breath, he clutched her hands to his. She’s worried about me. Pure, fuckin’ sunshine.
“Baby, you got it wrong, but that’s on me ‘cause in tryin’ to protect you, I’ve kept you in the dark. And that’s got you mulling things over in your head and comin’ up with the wrong idea.”
“How can I know how to deal with this Shane if you don’t tell me? I didn’t know Rochelle, but she came to warn me and now she is dead. You’re exactly right if you think I’ve been mulling things over in my head.”
“I don’t want you to worry about anything, Annie. That’s my job.”
She looked at him incredulously. “You’re kidding, right? I’m supposed to just go about my job and this move and act like everything is normal because you’re going to worry about it all? Newsflash Shane, it doesn’t work that way. You worry therefore I worry!”
He lifted his hand to cup her face, rubbing his thumb over her cheeks. “I got this, baby.”
Annie just looked at him, not having an idea of what he meant. She allowed him to lead her to the new sofa and was pulled down onto his lap.
Wrapping his arms around her small frame, he tucked her in tightly, one hand stroking her back and the other hand cupping her head. “Baby, I’m sorry. I was shocked by Rochelle’s death, but my quietness on the subject wasn’t due to my grieving over a lost love. I can’t even say we were friends. We were both in a dark situation and took advantage of it. That was all. So I hate like hell that a fellow officer has fallen. And yes, I hate that a young woman was killed. But she knew the risks and knew what she was doin’. When I saw her, she admitted that she could have sent her intel to her contact or to me, but she broke cover when she went to the clinic. And she did that just so she could see you, meet you. She broke cover for somethin’ that didn’t matter. That was fucked. She risked her cover and she’s now put you back in the light. That doesn’t make me harsh, just real.”
Allowing his words to have a chance to slowly sink in, he continued to rub her back in silence. After a moment, she leaned up and looked into his eyes and he gently moved his fingers over her cheeks.