If I Say Yes (31 page)

I glance between the two men who hold my heart and smile. “You
got it,” Eli says. I smile at Reid as I walk towards him. He winks at
me and holds his hand out to me.

“See you later, Eli.” I wave over my shoulder.

“See you later,
little rabbit.
”

After we reach the car in the parking lot, I peek over at Reid and smile. “Rumor has it that you came to see Eli the other day… what gives?”

Reid moves his hands off the steering wheel and shifts in his seat so he is facing me. “The truth?” I nod my head. “I came to ask him if it was okay if I asked for your hand in marriage.”

Tears brim my eyes. I lean over the center console and pull him into
a kiss. “You…” Another kiss, “Are…” kiss… “Perfect.”

Reid chuckles and plants a soft kiss on my lips. “I know.”

He starts the car, puts it in reverse, and slowly backs out of the
parking space. We reach the house in no time, and I head inside to start dinner. I glance through the pantry and refrigerator and decide to make spaghetti. Reid pulls open his bag and pulls out his laptop.
As I start prepping dinner, I glance over at Reid and smile as he clicks
away on the keyboard. Just as I get the sauce going, Reid’s phone starts
to ring, and he steps out onto the patio to answer it. At first, it used to bug the hell out of me when he stepped out of the room, but now I have grown accustomed to it. Especially since I know that if I was to
walk outside, I wouldn’t be forced back inside. I can listen in if I want
to, but the moment I leave the office, I like to leave work behind.

Everything between us has settled into a bit of a routine now. Reid
returns to the kitchen just as I’m dishing up the plates and pulling
the garlic bread out of the oven. We eat dinner, talk, and then make
our way upstairs. We share a shower before crawling into bed and
watching horror movies. I’m no longer ashamed when he sees or
touches my scar, especially now that he has one similar to mine.
Although, I still haven’t been able to see it without the guilty feeling
that it’s my fault. I try to avoid looking at it as much as I can. Not
because I find it unattractive, but the weight of guilt is overbearing.
Eventually I will overcome that, but in the meantime, I will keep loving
the man next to me in bed.

Sometime during the movie, I drift off to sleep, something I am no
longer afraid of. None of my nightmares haunt me any longer, as they
are now a thing of the past. I jump awake when I hear the doorbell
ringing in the middle of the night. I glance at the clock glowing in
the dark on the night stand and see that it is a quarter past two in the
morning. I have no idea who would be ringing the doorbell at this
time of night. The bell rings again, and I glance over at Reid, who is
sound asleep. The poor guy has been working hard over the last few
weeks. When the doorbell rings again and Reid doesn’t make any
indication that he is getting up, I quietly slip out of bed, pull on my
robe, and head down stairs.

I can see the shadow of a tall man standing in front of the door as
I approach it. I flick on the porch light. Slowly, I tiptoe to the door and
peek outside to see a man I don’t recognize. I should go back and wake
up Reid, but the man seems harmless enough, so I open the door. “Can
I help you?” I ask softly.

The man jumps and turns to stare at me. My face meets a set of
broad shoulders and I glance up into a pair of brown eyes. He removes
the battered hat off the top of his head and reveals a headful of dark
blond hair. “Oh sorry,” he says deeply, “I think I have the wrong house.
Is this Reid Harder’s house?”

“It is.”

“And who are you?” The man tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t see how th—” The man barrels past me and leaves me standing by the front door in complete disbelief.

“Reid!” he bellows out.

“Excuse me, but I think you should wait outside until I get him.”

The man laughs and spins on his heels to look at me. “Nonsense.
Just go tell him Marco Rodriguez is here to see him.” My feet stay
planted to the floor, unwilling to move, and I’m not sure what to do. “It’s okay… I mean no harm. Now, hurry along and go wake him.”

“
REID!” I NUDGE HIM
on the arm. Reid stirs in the bed and doesn’t
respond. I shake his arm a bit harder, and he slightly opens his arms.

“Liza?” His voice is groggy. “What are you doing? Get back into bed.”

“I wish I could, but some guy downstairs is eager to see you. He
came barging in the front door and insisted on me telling you that
Marco Rodriguez is here.”

Instantly, Reid jumps out of bed. He is wide awake now. “Why
didn’t you tell me that in the first place?” He rushes past me in nothing
but his plaid pajama pants.

“I just did,” I whisper.
What the hell?
I make my way downstairs
to find out what is going on and who exactly this man is that came
barging into my house in the middle of the night. When I reach the
foyer, I discover that it is empty. I can hear voices coming from the
kitchen and follow them into there.

Reid is standing across from the stranger, who is sitting on a bar
stool and sipping on a beer. The two of them are in a deep conversation
when I walk into the room, and I clear my throat. They stop talking,
turn their attention on me, and for the first time, I get a clear look at the
man. He’s handsome in a rugged, manly kind of way. His features are
soft and kind, and his eyes seem to have a trace of green mixed into
them. He’s taller than Reid and has a bigger build. I have no doubt in
my mind if these two were to start knocking fists around this very
second that he would overpower Reid in a heartbeat. My eyes flicker
over to the knives along the back of the counter near the stove. If I am
quick, I can make it over there before he can stop me. I laugh silently at being so absurd. It’s obvious they aren’t going to fight, and in fact, I can see they are good friends.

“Marco,” Reid says, “I would like to introduce you to my fiancé, Liza.” Reid walks towards me and wraps an arm around my waist.

“Fiancé?” The man seems slightly confused for a moment before a beautiful smile crosses over his face. “Hell, congratulations, man.”
He walks over towards us and pats Reid on the shoulder. “Sorry about
earlier; I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” Reid squeezes me tightly. Marco heads back over to the stool and sits back down. As Reid begins to lead me to a stool across
the
bar from his
friend
, I l
ean
in and whisper to him. “Is
everything alright?”

“We’re about to find out,” he whispers back. I take a seat across
from the man and watch as he takes a sip of his beer. Reid stands behind
me, his body pressing against mine, and his chin resting on top
of my head.

“Wow, I seriously can’t believe what I am seeing here.” The man
laughs and takes another sip of the beer before placing it down on the countertop
. “Reid Harder is finally settling down.”

“Cut
to the chase
, Marco. Why are you here? At two in the morning?”
I can feel Reid slightly tense behind me. I debate asking him if I should
leave the two of them to some privacy, but curiosity wins, and I stay planted firmly in my seat.

“It isn’t good.” Marco sighs. “I lost him.” The hand Reid is using
to rub my arm stops and digs into my skin. I don’t know if he realizes
he is squeezing me or not, so I just bite my lip and say nothing to him.
“I fucking lost him, man.”

Reid releases my arm and rounds the breakfast bar. I’ve seen this
look in his eyes before, the one filled with anger, and one I haven’t seen
in a long time. It’s more intense than I have ever seen it, like a storm is dancing in his pupils, and I start to wonder if grabbing a knife just
might be necessary. Reid stops just in front of the man, his face inches
away from him, and his breathing is shallow. I squirm in my seat, worry
and fear begin to fill me as I wait to see what might happen next. After
a few seconds, Reid takes a deep breath and a few steps back, allowing
some room between the two of them.

“Where? Tell me what happened,” Reid says. His voice is hoarse.
He glances at me, and I see a glimpse of fear flash in his eyes.
What in the world is going on?
Who did this Marco man lose and why was he following him for Reid in the first place?

“We were in Russia, man,” Marco says. “I had been following him
in and out of bars and clubs for four days straight, never stopping to
get any rest. I think he was on drugs at the rate he was going. He was plowing through drinks and women as if it didn’t faze him. He was
chatting up some escort in a bar, and I figured I would be okay if I used
the bathroom. I was gone for less than five minutes, and when I came
back out, he was gone. Poof! He vanished into thin air.”

“What were you thinking?” Reid shouts. He begins to pace across
the kitchen, and all I can do is sit and try to figure out what the hell
is going on.

“I wasn’t, man,” Marco admits. “He must have finally caught on
that I had been following him the past few weeks and disappeared the first
chance he got.”

Reid stops pacing, quickly looks at me, before turning his attention
back to Marco. “Do you have any idea where he is? Or where he is going?”

“I have reason to believe he hopped back on a flight to the States using an alias. I’m still trying to figure out where he came in at and where he is going.”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Reid says loudly. “This isn’t any fucking good.”

“You think I don’t realize that?”

I can’t take being silent anymore and finally muster up the courage
to speak. “What the hell is going on?” Reid stops walking around the
room and stares at me. “Is anyone willing to clue me in on what is
going on?”

“You haven’t told her yet?” Marco asks Reid, who shakes his head.
“Shit, man. You need to tell her. I’m going to leave you two alone and
grab some shuteye. One of the guest rooms, okay?” Reid nods his head
and Marco leaves the kitchen.

He glances at me before stomping towards the refrigerator. He
yanks open the door, pulls out a beer, and slams the door closed. Reid
pops off the top of the beer and takes a big gulp of it before walking
towards
me and placing it down on the
breakfast
bar. “We
need
to talk.”

“I would say so.” I laugh softly, trying to make light of the situation.
O
n the outside, I seem calm and collected. Like nothing that’s been said
in the past few minutes is doing anything to me. On the inside, my
head is spinning with confusion and a hundred and one questions I want to ask.

“Marco is a friend of mine,” he pauses and takes a sip of his beer,
“He’s ex-Special Ops. The best there is and he’s been keeping an eye on
someone for me.”
Who?
I say nothing and wait as Reid takes another gulp of his beer. “The person he has been watching is my brother.
He’s been watching him, because he is a dangerous man caught up
in some dangerous business. Business that my moth—” The landline begins to ring and interrupts Reid for a moment. Neither of us move
to answer it. “Look, he’s dangerous. That’s all you need to know for now.
Okay? Let’s go back to bed, and I will tell you everything tomorrow, but for now, let’s just leave it at that.”

I want to protest. I want to demand that he tells me everything I need and want to know right then and there. Instead, I get up off my
chair and wrap my arms around Reid. He presses a kiss against my
forehead and holds me close to him. “Sounds like a plan to me,” I
finally say.

Reid stands up, walks towards the sink where the hidden recycling
bin is, and pounds down the rest of his drink before tossing it in with
the rest. The glass bottle clinks against the rest of the bottles and echoes
throughout the kitchen. Reid takes my hand and begins to lead me out
of the kitchen when the phone starts to ring again. “Maybe you should
answer that.”

Reid shakes his head, “Nah, let the answering machine get it. I mean,
who calls phone lines anymore these days anyways? Whoever it is
clearly hasn’t heard of a cell phone before.”

I laugh, and he pulls me into his side. As I flip off the light, the
answering machine clicks on with the standard greeting. When the
robotic voice stops talking and beeps, a haunting voice plays out
through the speaker. “Silly brother.”

Reid stops and tenses next to me. We are frozen in place as we listen to the rest of the message. “You really didn’t think you could
get rid of me forever, did you? What a shame. You clearly don’t know
me as well you think you do. You don’t think I didn’t notice the man you’ve had following me? What a joke he is! He stuck out like a sore
thumb. Here’s a little advice for you, baby brother. Don’t play in the big
leagues if you can’t keep up. In the meantime, while you are awaiting
my arrival, don’t let that pretty woman of yours out of your sight. You
never know what is going to happen to her if you do. Oh! Before I go,
I should tell you that our mother says hello and that she can’t wait to
have both of her boys under the same roof again. I’ll be coming for you
when you least expect it, and when I do… you will have hell to pay.”