Stronger (The Unit Book 2) (12 page)

Again, she sensed his pain. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Clearly you’re not fine. What is going on? You can talk to me. I won’t judge you, I promise.”

“No.” He turned away from her.

Not being able to stand seeing this man who she was so desperately attracted to in pain, she approached him. She stood behind him and felt the heat crackle between them like a wild fire burning out of control. She reached for his shoulder, but he shrugged her hand away. How was she going to reach him?

How was he going to forgive himself for losing Lizzie so he could finally move on? How long was he going to torture himself with her memory? When would it finally begin to fade? When would the movie and her cries stop playing in his mind?

Securing the outside, he led Lola to the SUV parked in front of her brownstone. Opening her door, he helped her inside. Once he closed her door, he rounded the vehicle and hopped in the driver’s seat.

“Can you direct me to the nearest grocery store? One that will have the ingredients we need?”

“Sure. Go straight and make a right at the second light.”

He pulled out onto the street with ease. Following her directions, they arrived at Whole Foods Market and he pulled into the lot and parked the car. Again, he placed his hand on her knee, and again it felt like her body had caught fire. A simple touch was too much for her.

“Stay here until I make sure we’re safe. I don’t think we were followed, but just let me check.”

She waited patiently inside the SUV while he monitored and observed his surroundings. When nothing appeared threatening, he opened her door and extended his hand to her. Without being shy, she took his hand and this time interlocked their fingers. They held hands into the store.

They traveled down the aisle with Rob pushing the cart and Lola placing the items inside the basket. They strolled up and down every aisle. Lola took great comfort in the mundane experience of grocery shopping, especially with Rob at her side. When they turned down the spice aisle, a woman openly stared at Rob. Lola was desperately attracted to Rob and his gorgeous features, so she shouldn’t be surprised other women would be too. But something about the way this woman was looking at Rob raised the hair on the back of Lola’s neck. She had never felt jealousy before, but she was feeling it now with a vengeance. Lola had to stake her claim on the man by her side. She reached down and grabbed Rob’s hand, interlocking their fingers together. Rob, surprised and taken aback, jerked his head at Lola. He saw her staring at the woman who was checking him out. Wanting Lola to know he felt the same way about her, he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed his lips softly to the back of her hand. Surprised and curious, she looked at him. His lips tugged at the corners of his mouth. Her cheeks burned at being caught acting jealous. His grinned widened and for the first time since meeting him, she saw his glorious dimples in both cheeks. That smile was worth all the embarrassment and then some. Right then she made it her mission to get him to smile like that more often, especially at her. He always looked either serious or sad. It was such a heartwarming relief to see him smile at her. It felt like this man was going to give her a chance.

After covering all of the aisles and getting what they needed, they headed to the checkout. Rob insisted on paying. She would never understand why. It was clear she had way more money than he did. He worked for a living. She had a well-endowed trust fund. Nevertheless, she let him have his way, because it brought another dimpled smile to his face.

He realized he was having a good time. It had been a long time since he felt that way. The last time he truly enjoyed himself was with Lizzie. Guilt consumed him. How dare he have a good time when Lizzie wasn’t even alive anymore? He shook his head and folded back in on himself. The real Rob was shut down once again to Lola. Rob couldn’t make eye contact with her. He cast his eyes upon the ground until they stepped out of the grocery store, and then her warrior was back. Little did he know Lola was on a mission? And when she was on a mission, she could be ruthless.

Arriving back at the house, they unloaded the groceries, and Rob helped put them away. Rob got out the pan and the ingredients to cook their dinner. Lola busied herself making the marinade for the fish. Once she was finished, she handed it to Rob. Rob poured the marinade over the fish and placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours. The security installation team would be there any minute. He peeled two carrots and handed one to Lola to snack on while they waited.

∞

The men arrived, and Rob questioned them on their level of expertise as well as the equipment and the installation. He knew as much as they did by the time they were done.

This was no ordinary, simple system any trained criminal could bypass by turning off the power. No, this system was the best money could buy. They installed ultra-sensitive motion and body heat detectors. This was backed up with motion detectors able to tell the difference between a human and a cat on all windows and doors. Cameras were set up on the fire escape, front door, and back door which would feed into the monitors now taking up desk space inside Lola’s living room. The men had to access the roof to install the box necessary for all monitors and motion detectors. Rob would know if anyone was trying to gain entry into her brownstone. Also, part of the security package was a tracker they placed on her necklace which was chosen because they had not removed it the first time they took her, so chances were, if they got her again, they wouldn’t remove it.

Her necklace meant so much to her. It had belonged to her mother. Her mother loved the ocean and so did Lola. She went every chance she got and even learned how to surf. The necklace had a seashell charm dangling from it, perfect to attach the tracker to. She didn’t care, as long as they didn’t break or ruin the charm. It was all she had left of her mother.

“Are they going to have to break the necklace?” she worried while she looked down at the floor. He could sense the necklace was important to her and felt an overwhelming desire to reassure her.

“No. They won’t break it. Watch. They are going to place that tiny little piece inside the seashell with superglue. You can take it to a jeweler and have it removed once this is over with.” He reached out his hand and ran it up and down her bare arm trying to assure her that everything was going to be okay. She had to be scared, but she sure didn’t act like it. He admired that about her.

Once the tracker was installed, she was instructed to never remove the necklace, not even in the shower. Now she could be tracked from Rob’s cell phone and Blackrain’s office.

The men finished up leaving Lola and Rob alone once more. Rob returned to the refrigerator and removed the fish. Lola began setting the table. Absentmindedly, she placed a candle in the center of the table and lit it. Rob had finished preparing the meal and served two plates, placing them on the placemats Lola had set out. Lola sat down after getting them drinks. She flaked off a piece of the fish and moaned at how delicious it was. “How did you learn to cook like this?” she asked watching Rob sink back into himself.
Why did she keep losing him?
“Look, I don’t know how long we are going to spend together, but I honestly would like to get to know you. What happened? You can tell me. I will understand,” Lola begged Rob wanting to ease some of his hurt.

“I lost my fiancée to a terrorist group known as the Armed Islamic Group. They operate out of Algeria but a year and a half ago they had a cell in the states. They kidnapped her and killed her.” He surprised himself. He never talked about it with anyone other than Michael or his other brothers.
What was it about her that made him so honest?

“Rob, I am so sorry. Did she suffer?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it. Let’s just enjoy our meal,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his sad grey eyes.

She flaked another piece of fish and ate it with a bite of arugula. “Thank you for protecting me. Why did you decide you wanted this case?”

He couldn’t tell her he wanted her like his next breath. He couldn’t tell her he longed to feel her body respond to his. He couldn’t tell her she cleared his mind better than any drug prescribed by the doctor could. Because doing that would be betraying Lizzie, and he couldn’t do that. Lola was different than the women he slept with. Lola made everything okay. Lola eased his mind and his spirit. She made him want to be a better person. He could feel things for her. In fact, he already did.

After a peaceful meal enjoying each other’s company, Lola got up and started to clear the table. Rob stood immediately to help her. He cleared his own place setting and brought the dish and glass into her kitchen and placed them in the dishwasher.

“I’ll clean up the pots and pans. You go rest. You must be exhausted after all of this.”

“No way. I’m helping. You wash, I’ll dry and put away. Deal?”

He smiled a real smile at her insistence and moved aside to allow her room to work. They finished the dishes in silence.

“Do you want to share a glass of wine with me?” she asked as she peeled the covering from the top of the wine bottle.

“Here. Let me,” he insisted grabbing the corkscrew from her hand. Once she relinquished the wine bottle to his control, he opened it with minimal effort and poured two helpings of wine into the glasses she had retrieved. Her plan was to get him a little tipsy so he would open up to her. He was helping her cause by pouring an extra-large serving of the white liquid.

Glasses in hands, they retreated to the plush furniture of her living room. Before she sat, she placed her glass on the coffee table, and although it was the dead of summer, she pressed the button to ignite the gas fireplace. She was trying to create a mood. She had to get to him somehow. Her instincts, which had only been wrong once with the man who had initially kidnapped her, were not wrong now. He felt something for her. But for whatever reason, he was fighting himself. She had to get to the bottom of the mystery that was Rob. She didn’t even know his last name.

He left her right hand side of the couch open and sat on the left hand side opposite her. This would never do. She had the need, the desire to be close to him, to be touching him. She picked up her glass and moved to the middle of the couch. She sat cross-legged facing his body so her knee was up against his leg. She slowly sipped her wine while she watched him gulp his. Thank God they bought several bottles at the store.

“What is your last name? Here you are risking your life for me and I don’t even know your full name,” she asked smiling as seductively as possible. She looked up to meet his eyes through hooded lashes. She blinked several times. She was sending all of the right signals to this man. She might as well paint a sign on her head that read, “Take me. I’m yours.”

Rob took another gulp of his wine. He was drinking two glasses to her one. Getting him to open up should be easy. Rob stood and walked back into the kitchen returning with another opened bottle of wine. “My last name is Fabik,” he said as he poured himself another full glass. She could tell he was uncomfortable. But surely he had to feel the sexual energy palpitating between them.

Rob had to get his urges, his craving for Lola under control. He took another large gulp of wine hoping to dull the sensation of being near her. But the more he drank, the more he thought about touching her body in ways no man had ever touched her before. That thought alone caused a longing deep within his soul. He wanted her desperately to give herself to him.

“So. I want to talk about your fiancée,” Lola said unashamed about prying into a practical stranger’s life. She sipped her wine.

“Let’s not go there. It still hurts.”

She was making progress. If it still hurt that meant he still felt something for the woman. Did she still possess his heart? That was Lola’s real question. Could he ever be hers?

“Which is all the more reason you need to talk about her. I’m interested. I want to know what the woman who won your heart was like.” She continued under her breath, “To see if I have a chance.”

Did he just hear her right? A chance? She wants a chance?

Rob felt the sting of tears at the thought of his dead fiancée. He would not break down in front of Lola. He blinked back the tears. He was a trained warrior for God’s sake.

Lola reached under his chin, raised his head, and turned it so he was facing her. What he saw amazed and humbled him. She was crying. She felt for him. Maybe he could share this pain with another person. Maybe if he did, it wouldn’t be so hard to carry. He downed the last of his wine and poured himself and Lola another glass. Lola wiped at her tears with the back of her hand.

“It hurts me that you’re hurting. Please let me shoulder some of your pain. I promise not to judge or even comment.”

Unable to keep the truth from this woman, he confessed, “They raped her to death. They raped her while I was on the phone with her captors, and I could hear her in the background. I could hear her cries, her grunts, her moans, as she begged them to stop. But they didn’t. They raped her so badly and so many times, they caused internal hemorrhaging and she bled to death.” He exhaled feeling lighter than he had felt in years. Lola reached for him, but he pulled away.

“Don’t you get it? I couldn’t save her. The one person above all others who I should have been able to protect, to save, and I failed. I’m broke. I’m no good to anyone.” The despair he felt was rising up again, threatening to consume him. He knew he needed to forgive himself, but he didn’t know how.

“Have you tried talking to her?” Lola asked as she gently caressed his shoulder and then his arms. She ran her fingers lightly over his taut skin, tickling him with her long nails.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Have you been to her gravesite and really talked to her? Told her how you feel?”