Executive Protection(58)

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll die, too.”

Lucy gathered the girl into a hug. “No, I won’t. I’m not going to die. You’re safe now, I promise. We’re all safe.”

Sophie clung to Lucy, in need of love and attention. Lucy would give her all she had this weekend and for however long she had with her.

Thad came inside just then and paused on his way to the counter, carrying a plate of cooked burgers. He was all man standing there and probably feeling awkward over interrupting what was obviously a tender moment between woman and child, two things he struggled with most. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yeah.” Lucy ruffled Sophie’s hair. “Just a little girl talk.”

Lucy swiveled the stool back toward the counter. “Finish your meal. We’re here to have fun. Forget all the rest.”

Sophie lifted her spoon and dug into the macaroni and cheese. Lucy couldn’t tell if all the death that surrounded her still bothered her. Her mother’s death would stay with her for the rest of her life. Rosanna’s she may not understand. She may think about it for a while but Lucy was confident that it would pass, and as soon as she got somewhere stable, as soon as someone adopted her, she’d flourish.

She and Thad made their plates and sat at the island as Sophie finished and jumped off the stool to go back to playing with her dolls.

Thad was quiet after seeing her with Sophie and he kept glancing over at her.

“What do you think will happen to her?” he asked in a low enough voice that Sophie wouldn’t hear over the television.

“She’ll be put in another foster home.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don’t know that, either.”

He studied the girl. “I wish there was something we could do.”

“I suppose we’re doing all we can,” she said.

When he met her eyes, she could tell he struggled the way she did.

Thad turned back to his plate but didn’t resume eating. He’d already finished most of his food. Talk of what to do with Sophie had ruined his appetite. Why? Lucy wondered. Because he’d considered the possibilities? And if he had, it had probably scared him.

Lucy decided to spare him. And herself. She got the feeling he was beginning to test waters—with her. Something in him sought to find out if Lucy had what it took to make it all the way. Something strong enough to bypass his beliefs about marriage. Even if he never married in his life, long-term commitment was difficult for him. Was he contemplating whether Lucy would make a good candidate, or was worth a try?





Chapter 14


When Thad heard Sophie’s cries, he threw the covers off of him and picked up the jeans he’d worn yesterday. He put them on as he stumbled toward the door. There were two master bedrooms on the third level, one on each end of the house, and two smaller rooms between. Sophie was in the one closest to Lucy. When he reached the room, he saw that Lucy was already there, comforting the girl.

The nightmares were becoming a regular occurrence. He went to sit on the other side of the queen-size bed.


“A green-eyed man came to get her,” Lucy said as she held a crying Sophie. Sophie was still under the covers, her arms looped over Lucy’s neck and Lucy leaning toward her to hold her close, rubbing her back and looking solemnly at Thad.

“She had the same dream the last time.” He felt helpless while everything in him urged for some action that would make it all better for the girl. “We’ll get her counseling. Help her get past this.”

Lucy realized along with him that he spoke as if Sophie would be in both of their lives...indefinitely.

His determination to rescue the girl as though she were his own daughter instilled a bolt of panic in him. What was he thinking? None of this was a sure thing. Lucy. Sophie. Especially Sophie. The two of them together spelled family. And family he did not do without sharing a single last name. Sharing a last name meant forever. And he’d never have forever with any woman. That would take a miracle, and Thad didn’t believe in miracles. He believed in reality, and reality was a lot harsher than that.

He stood up. “You’ve got this covered.”

Sophie pushed back from Lucy, her crying subsiding for a moment. “Where are you going?”

Thad froze, looking down at Sophie’s teary face, her eyes beseeching him, needing not only Lucy but him, as well.

“Nowhere,” he heard himself say.

He saw Lucy’s adoring smile over the child’s connection to him.

“You have to chase the green-eyed man away,” Sophie said. “Lucy said he’d be no match for you and that you’d chase him away.”

Thad lifted his brow. “Lucy is telling stories again.”

“It’s true,” Sophie insisted. “You can scare him away.”

“Okay. I’ll go scare him away.” Indulging them both, he began his search in the room, spending extra time in the closet and under the bed.

“He’s not in here.” He went to the window and made a show of searching through the darkness. “Don’t see him...wait a minute. What’s that?” He looked back to a wide-eyed Sophie and a delighted Lucy. “I think I see him.”

Sophie clung tighter to Lucy. “Go get him! Go chase him away!”