It took me over a week to get my security system updated. Our new security plan came complete with DEA surveillance on the outside of the house. We didn’t have agents waiting at the door anymore, but they were still in and out a good bit. We were keeping things tight without being overt.
As I’d expected, Tomlinson fired me. Or, really, he told me he was going to fire me as soon as Noir was behind bars. He couldn’t risk assigning someone new to Clare’s case.
With the information Clare had provided the department, they were able to take a large chunk of Noir’s operation down. And, slowly but surely, they were making great strides at bringing him down completely. After his little stunt with Elisabeth, he’d gone back into hiding. All it was going to take was one of his men who were now in custody to give up his location and we’d be home free.
“Oh my God, it’s so cute!” Clare exclaimed, bouncing with excitement in the passenger’s seat of my Explorer.
I hadn’t stayed at my house in weeks, but even with the lingering unease I felt about bringing Clare and Tessa there, I had to admit that it felt really fucking good to be home.
“Heaf, dis you house?” Tessa asked.
My whole body jerked, and Clare’s hand slapped down on my forearm.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered.
Oh, I’d heard it. Never had my name been so sweet.
It made me a bitch, but a lump lodged in my throat. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that I actually cared what Tessa called me. Luke was a fa?ade, but with a simple syllable, she’d made me something real in her life. And, if I had anything to say about it, something permanent.
“Jesus,” I breathed. After clearing my throat, I managed to speak. “Yeah, sweet girl. This is our house now.”
Clare squeezed my arm and offered me a smile.
Fuck, Walter Noir was insane. That man had had it all.
An amazing wife.
A gorgeous daughter.
A beautiful life.
But, for some reason, he hadn’t been able to get his shit together enough to hold on to it.
And thank God for that.
Because, now, she was my woman.
My girl.
My life.
Before I was forced to hand my balls over, I turned the car off and shoved the door open, saying, “Let’s go in.”
Tessa squealed as I unbuckled her from the car seat and again as I planted her on my shoulders.
Clare rounded the hood and took her place under my outstretched arm. “I have to confess, after seeing your yard, I’m even more excited.”
I chuckled and looked down. “You’re frothing at the mouth to get your hands on those bushes, aren’t you?”
“Yes! I know it’s January, but that’s just sad. They’re never going to bloom this year if you don’t trim them back.”
“Have at it, babe. The backyard should make you damn near orgasmic if this got your motor running.”
She draped her arm around my hips, tucking her hand in the back pocket of my jeans as we strolled up the sidewalk to my front door.
I released Clare long enough to use my key to open the door.
But, after I’d swung it open, the world stopped turning.
“Take her,” I growled, passing Tessa off to her mother before racing into my house.
The alarm beeped in warning as I spun in a circle, my heart slamming in my chest and ice coursing through my veins.
“You have got to be shitting me!” I growled, storming over to the bar that divided my kitchen and my living room. A vase of flowers sat on the granite countertop. I plucked the card off, read it, and then threw it on the counter. “Son of a…” I trailed off as I snatched my phone from my back pocket.
“Heath?” Clare called cautiously, her gaze flashing around the room.
“Put your code into the alarm, babe,” I ordered.
I dialed my phone as I listened to the chirps of her dialing her numbers into the security panel.
“Do I need to hit the green button?” she asked.
“Yep,” I snapped, lifting my phone to my ear.
He answered on the first ring.
“Leblanc? Put Elisabeth on the phone.”
“She’s in the shower. Everything okay?”
I gritted my teeth. “No. Everything is not fucking okay. I just got home and there are goddamn floral throw pillows on my couch.”
He barked a laugh.
“This is not funny! I have a coffee table, Roman. It has coasters on it.”
He continued to laugh.
I turned in another circle, taking in the explosion of patterns that had most definitely not been there when I’d left the day before. My gaze landed on Clare, who was biting her lips to hold her laughter back.
I pointed at her. “Did you have any part of this?”
A giggle escaped as she shook her head.
“Oh, Heaf, you house is beautiful!” Tessa exclaimed, rushing over to what could only be described as a massive vase filled with petrified branches covered in glitter.
My stomach actually churned at the sight.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned away only to find a table with a wicker basket next to the door. A matching pair of motherfucking sconces were mounted on the wall above it.
“Roman, put your wife on the phone,” I demanded.
“You know Elisabeth had help. Maggie was more than willing to let the delivery people in.”
“Of course she did,” I grumbled.