Shelter Me(66)

I start shaking and tears start to form in my eyes. I will them away as I don’t want Lucy to come in and see me crying, but Luke sees I am upset and closes the distance that separates us, pulling me into his arms.

“I am so sorry if I seem harsh, baby. Just please stay away from him, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree.

I lay my head on his shoulder and bring my arms up around his neck. We stand there holding each other, but I know there is more to this story than he is telling me. I am going to go visit his father and find out exactly what is going on.





Chapter Twenty-One



As we are cleaning up from dinner, Luke’s phone rings. When he picks it up and looks at the screen, he gets a disturbing look on his face and I notice he puts it back down on the counter without answering. It stops ringing for a few seconds and then starts back up again.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” I ask.

“No, they can wait until morning.” he says, but the phone rings a few more times.

“Fuck!” he finally mumbles before picking up the phone and walking toward his office.

I stand there thinking about what I can do to help him if this call is about the case he has been working on, when an idea pops into my head. I tiptoe toward his office but when I approach, the door is closed. I stand outside contemplating whether I should knock and go in or wait until he is finished when I hear him raise his voice.

“Listen, Antonio. Pay him a visit and tell that bastard to stay away from them. I am about to lose my shit here and I have had enough. We need to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly what the hell he wants. Make sure our guy is in place. I am sick and tired of these fucking threats.”

Backing quietly away from the door, I run and grab my phone out of my purse and then go upstairs and check in on Lucy, who is playing in her room.

“I am getting tired, Mommy,” she says, noticing me standing there.

“Then let’s give you a bath and get you ready for bed.”

I start her bath and go about getting everything she needs to sleep in. After putting her in the tub, I pick up my phone and dial the one person I know can give me the answers to whatever the hell is going on.

“Hello, Shayne. This is an unexpected surprise.”

“Hello to you, too, Vincent.”

“How’s my granddaughter?”

“She’s good. She is getting herself ready for bed now, and it’s been a very long day for her.” I take a deep breath and push on. “Listen, Vincent. There are a few things I would like to talk to you about. Is there a time where we can meet somewhere in private to talk?”

I hear him moving around and then the opening and closing of a door.

“What is this about?”

“I would rather not talk about this over the phone, Vincent, but you know if this wasn’t important to me I wouldn’t be calling you.”

“Well, all right, Shayne. Let me look at my schedule and get back to you as soon as I can. This doesn’t have anything to do with Luke, does it?”

“No. Everything between Luke and me is fine, you have nothing to worry about there.”

“Glad to hear that, Shayne. I will call you tomorrow and let you know what works for me.”

Lucy calls out to me to come and wash her hair, so I say my goodbye to Vincent and toss my phone back on her bed. I go in and wash her hair. Just as we are finishing up with putting on her sleep shirt and drying her hair, Luke walks in with the same disturbing look on his face. However, the minute Lucy gets off my lap and jumps into his arms it disappears, replaced by happiness.

“Will you read to me, Daddy?” Lucy asks.

“Of course I will,” he says, placing her on the bed.

Taking that as my cue to leave, I stand up and give Lucy her hug and a kiss and a secret and walk out the door. As I take my first steps down the hall, I hear Lucy’s voice floating back to me.

“Do you want a hug and a kiss and a secret, Daddy?”

Listening to the two of them talk puts a big smile on my face. I continue down the hall, planning to take a long, hot bath. Starting the water and adjusting the temp to my liking, I pour some bath salts to try and ease the tension. I strip my clothes off before climbing in and laying my head back. I let the warmth of the water relax me and let my mind drift to Erin and how much I miss both her and Sierra. I hope she really takes me up on my offer and moves up here; it would be great to have her. Reaching up and shutting off the water, I start to lie back down when Luke walks in.

“There you are.”

He slowly walks towards me and bends down, then runs his hands up my leg.

“Sorry about overreacting about Ben tonight, but the guy is nothing but trouble. I don’t want him around you or Lucy.”