James had done nice things for her at the beginning, but they hadn’t been the kind of things where he paid attention to what she wanted. He went for the grand gesture, like flowers and chocolates and little things like bead bracelets, and then he told her what he thought she wanted to hear. All a part of softening her up for easier exploitation. He’d never done anything like brought her a cheese pizza because he knew it was what she preferred.
The pizza was a small gesture, and yet it said something about the kind of man Zach was. He listened.
Ana turned to look at them both. Then she threw her block and started crawling toward the table. Kayla was still struggling to wipe her hands free of pizza grease when Zach reached down with his free hand and scooped Ana onto his lap.
Ana reared back to stare up at him as he grinned at her. “Hey, cutie,” he said. “Do you like pizza?”
Kayla’s heart lodged in her throat as her baby watched the big man holding her. “She could probably eat a little bite of cheese. I think the crust is too chewy though.”
Zach set his pizza down and took a small bit of cheese off the top. He blew on it and offered it to Ana. She grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth. Then she squealed and pumped her arms.
Zach laughed. “I think she likes it.”
“I can take her if you want to eat without a baby on your lap.”
Zach’s green eyes met hers. “Why don’t you eat your dinner? I’ll hold her. She’s no problem.”
“Okay,” she said quietly. She picked up her pizza and took another bite. Zach ate with one hand, folding slices in half like a sandwich, which left him with a free hand for Ana. He gave her another small bit of cheese and she squealed again.
Kayla laughed because it was such a sweet sound. Zach laughed too.
“This kid has great taste. Mmm, pizza,” he said to Ana.
She put her hand on his mouth.
“Pizza,” he said again.
“Za!” she yelled.
They spent the next twenty minutes at the table, eating and laughing with Ana, talking about the day and how work had gone for each of them. It was pleasant. Normal. Kayla felt like a part of her observed from afar, always analyzing, always wondering if things were about to fall apart. She’d spent so much time watching her world implode as a kid that she just didn’t trust it. She didn’t know how Bailey did it. How did her sister have such a normal existence with Alexei? How did she not fear it was all going to come unglued tomorrow?
Because it had, so many times before, and they’d been left to pick up the pieces.
Except this time. So far. Bailey had been with Alexei for seven months now, and she’d never been happier. She didn’t have that haunted look anymore. She didn’t look like a woman trying to survive and making contingency plans if the first plan didn’t work out.
For months, Kayla had ridden that same wave, happily going to work, living in the in-law suite, and making a home for her and Ana. She’d been uneasy at first, but as time went on she relaxed and began to believe she was finally in a good place, that life was going to get better and the bad times were over. James and the Kings of Doom were gone from her life and she’d stopped looking over her shoulder for them to pop up again.
It had all been going so well until she’d gotten that phone call. Now, she was fearful again. Making plans upon plans in her head. Trying to focus on the initial plan and not trusting her judgement there either.
“Hey,” Zach said.
Kayla focused on him. “Yes?”
He looked a little puzzled. “You seemed a million miles away.”
She noticed that he’d finished his pizza. She had too. She stood to gather the plates. He gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist and she stopped. Swallowed.
“What is it?” he asked.
Ana stared up at Kayla with wide-eyed innocence, a smear of tomato sauce on her cheek. Kayla’s heart flooded with love. “It’s nothing. I just… I was thinking about how nice the past few months have been.”
“And?”
He’d said he wanted the truth, so why not tell him? “And I was thinking that I shouldn’t have let myself believe in it too much.”
“Because someone called you and scared you.”
She nodded.
“I’m going to find whoever did that, Kayla. I’m going to find them and make them pay for putting that look in your eyes.”
He would do it, she knew that—but how many times would he have to?
“What about the next guy? Or the next? What if they keep coming after me? If the Kings know it was me who told Alexei how to find them when they took Bailey, they’ll never stop. They’re out there. Maybe only one or two of them at a time, but they’re still there—and they’re never going to let me go.”
“They don’t have a choice, beautiful. You wanted protection, you got it. If they keep coming, I’ll keep fighting.”
Chapter Eight
Neo hated that she was so upset. He could see the fear in her eyes, the doubt. They’d been having such a good time together, but he’d known when she’d started to distance herself emotionally. He’d seen the vacant look as she got lost in her head, as her brain churned out doomsday scenarios for herself and baby Ana.
He understood where it came from. Kayla had PTSD, whether she knew it or not. He was trained to recognize the signs. She’d been traumatized as a child and traumatized as a young woman, and they both worked against her when she started to feel happy and secure. The fear reared its ugly head whenever she got too comfortable.
It was his singular goal in
