She pulled it from her purse and handed it to him after she put in the code to unlock it. She had an older iPhone with the button and he opened her contacts. He found his name and added a number. “I’m giving you the unsecure line to work. If you need me and I’m not answering my cell phone, you call that number and tell them it’s important. Someone will find me.”
She took the phone back and looked at what he’d typed. “Okay.”
“It goes without saying, baby—if the threat is immediate, use the silent alarm or call the cops. Call me after if you can.”
Her eyes were big as she nodded. He hugged her to him and she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. He kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “We’re just being cautious. Doesn’t mean anything’s gonna happen. They’d be stupid as fuck to try it in the daylight on that street with all the security cameras.”
He hoped like hell that was the case anyway. He couldn’t be there 24/7 and he couldn’t send HOT assets to guard her either. He also couldn’t expect her to hole up at home and never go anywhere. Not until they had a specific and credible threat against her.
She shuddered. “They might be that stupid.”
“If they were, I doubt they’d have called to warn you first.”
“That’s true.” She sighed and stepped back. “There can’t be many of them left anymore. Whoever it is, they’ll be careful to protect what’s left of the club. They also want me to suffer, because that’s how they operate. I betrayed them, which calls for revenge—but not before they terrify me first.”
He opened her car door for her. “Get in and follow me over to my car so I can follow you to the salon.”
She sank onto the seat, buckled her seatbelt, and started the car.
He was still holding the door. “I’ll see you after work,” he told her. “How’s pizza for dinner?”
“Sounds great.”
“I’ll bring one over around six. Does that work?”
“Yes.”
“Any preferences?”
“My favorite is cheese.”
His eyebrows rose. “Just cheese? Nothing else?”
“Yep, just cheese.”
Neo made a show of frowning. “I dunno, Kayla. That’s pretty weird. I’m not sure we’re going to be compatible after all….”
She laughed, which is what he’d hoped for. “Goofball,” she said. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat whatever you want, just that cheese is my favorite. Put whatever you want on it. I can pick it off if I don’t like it.”
He dipped down and kissed her. He was liking this courting thing. “I promise you’ll like what I bring. See you tonight.”
“I can’t wait,” she said.
“Me neither.”
Kayla fed Ana and changed her into her jammies by six. Ana sat on a blanket on the floor, playing with her soft cloth blocks. Kayla kept on eye on her in case she started crawling off the blanket, but she was content at the moment so Kayla got plates and napkins out, poured herself a small glass of wine, and waited for Zach to arrive.
He’d followed her to the salon today, waited for her to park in the employee lot behind the building, then waited for her to walk inside. Once she was in, she turned and waved at him. He didn’t pull away until she’d shut the door and locked it. She’d been on the lookout, but she didn’t see anyone suspicious all day. By the time she left work at five with everyone else, her nerves had relaxed again.
Zach knocked on the door at five after six. Kayla went to open it. The sight of him started the butterflies swirling in her belly again.
He was tall, dark-haired, sharp-eyed, and looked like he could bench press a small car. Not that he was overly muscled, but he had the hard look of a man who didn’t lose any of the challenges he set for himself. He was still in uniform, which told her he’d gone to pick up pizza and come straight over instead of going home first.
He grinned at her. “You look pretty, Kayla.”
She fought off a blush. She’d changed into a soft jersey shirt dress when she’d gotten home because Chloe’d had a perm customer today and Kayla didn’t want any of those smells around Ana. She hadn’t smelled the chemicals on herself, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Thank you.”
Zach held up two pizza boxes. “I came prepared.”
“You can put them on the table,” she said, stepping back so he could enter. A quick glance outside after he walked in told her that Bailey and Alexei were home, and there were no cars she didn’t recognize parked on the street. She’d never really gotten out of the habit of checking her surroundings, but these days she was even more alert. She had to be.
Kayla shut the door and went over to the table where Zach had put the pizzas. “How much do you think we’re going to eat?” she asked as he flipped open the boxes.
“I don’t know about you, but I can eat a lot of pizza after a day’s training.”
Her heart squeezed when she realized he’d brought a cheese pizza and a pizza loaded with meat.
“The cheese is for me,” he said with a straight face. “I figured you’d like a bunch of meat on yours. Barbarian.”
Kayla blinked, and then she laughed when it hit her that he was teasing her. “That’s right, mister. I love a pizza loaded with saturated fats. My favorite thing in the world. Mmm, more meat for me!”
“Knew it.”
“Seriously though, you didn’t have to get a cheese pizza just for me.”
He shrugged as he picked up two of the cheese slices and set them on her plate. “You’re my girl now, Kayla. I’m going to take care of you to the best of my ability. You want cheese, you get cheese.”
She sat down and lifted a slice. “Thank you, Zach. That’s sweet of you to say.”
He put three big slices of loaded pizza on his
