could be downright deadly.” She shuddered, just thinking about what had happened to Joe.
He looked her straight in the eyes and his were full of concern. “Nothing is more important to me right now than ensuring your safety, Molly. Ford being your brother has nothing to do with it.”
That surprised a little laugh out of her. “Then why? Why are you doing it?”
Damien looked away and shrugged. “You said you needed me. That’s reason enough.”
It wasn’t, of course.
Unbelievable as it seemed, she suddenly wondered if Damien might want to become involved on a very personal level with her. She had to admit, Damien Perry was a very tempting man. However, at this point in her life, she couldn’t even afford to think about anything like that happening.
It was one thing to weave fantasies about a guy like him, quite another to take those imaginings seriously.
Yet how could she make that clear to him right up front without talking about it? She couldn’t very well do that when the yearning she thought she saw in him might only be a projection of her own. Wouldn’t that be the most embarrassing blunder in the world, if he hadn’t even considered…?
Molly prayed this was only her imagination working overtime.
Chapter 3
You can’t kill her now. Jack Jensen argued with himself as he forced his foot to remain on the accelerator of his dark blue Mercedes Benz. Reluctantly, he cruised by the house again.
He would just love to slam on the brakes, tear up that walkway, kick in the front door and strangle the bitch right now. The jerk she had in there with her, too.
But he had to be careful. So far, he had been. No way was he spending another hour behind bars because of that tramp. He could wait. Play it just right. He backed into the driveway of a vacant house just down the street where his car would be concealed by the shrubbery.
Shadows hid him as he got out and made his way back to the driveway where the bastard had parked his car. He could risk doing this much now, just in case they decided to take off together somewhere. Nobody was getting away from Jack Jensen.
He quickly set his device under the bumper and hurried back to his own car, needing a little something sweet to keep him alert and on top of things.
All he had to do now was wait until the boyfriend left and Molly went to bed, he thought with a quick sniff.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known she had another man around somewhere, now was it? Molly always had a man. She’d suckered him into proposing by being stingy with that body of hers. And looking innocent as a kid.
Damn, she’d made him feel stupid, but he wasn’t stupid anymore. He sniffed again and smiled at the thought.
The phone calls were a start, but he was ready to escalate now. The hit-and-run that killed Joe Malia had been a godsend. Jack couldn’t have planned that better if he had arranged it himself.
He relished the sheer horror in her voice every time she’d answered the phone after that had happened. But it was no longer enough. No, he had big plans for Molly.
Jack fingered one of the keys hanging from the ignition, grinding his teeth and watching the house.
“C’mon, babe, why don’t you send him home and go to bed? Turn out those lights and give me some dark time. A half hour’s all Jackie needs to plant your little surprise. Just a tiny something to make you think about me.”
The oak mantel clock struck ten. Molly had called her mother earlier and explained the plan. The problem now was to explain to her mom why she wouldn’t be staying with them herself.
“It’s time to go,” Damien said as he stood. He glanced from his thin gold watch to the playpen where Sydney talked to and wrestled with her teddy bear. “Does she need to, uh…”
“Go potty?” Molly said, laughing at his refusal to repeat the kiddie lingo she knew he’d heard her use with Syd. “No, she’s fine.” Sydney hadn’t quite learned what was expected of her yet, but was very vocal about her bathroom training nonetheless. “She’s suited up for bed and goes out like a light when you crank up the car. Great traveler.”
“That’s good,” he said, lifting the large suitcase and over-size tote that Molly had readied. He headed for the back door that led out through the garage.
Molly flipped on the outside lights and followed, carrying Sydney and the teddy bear. She looked longingly at the new steel-gray Lexus sitting in the driveway.
“We’d better take my van,” she suggested.
“You can trust me to drive,” he said coolly.
Molly clicked her tongue impatiently. “I do. I was thinking about the car seat.”
“Oh. Well, those things are portable, aren’t they? I’ll change it over.”
The very idea of watching that exercise in frustration appealed to Molly in a very devilish way. Riding in something other than her boxy rattletrap appealed even more. “Okay. Have at it.”
Molly took pity when, a good quarter of an hour later, he backed out of the car to catch his wind from all that under-the-breath cursing. She whisked Syd off the fender where she’d perched her and held her out. “Hold her for a minute and I’ll fix it. It is tricky.”
He grasped Syd under her arms and held her out from him as though Molly had handed him a full-grown rattlesnake. Molly hid a laugh as she crawled into the back seat and began wrestling with the seat belt that he had twisted through the wrong holes.
When she emerged, her breath stilled at what she saw. Damien held Sydney close, her face tucked into the curve of his neck. He leaned against the side of the car with his eyes shut and his bottom lip caught between his teeth. One large hand applied gentle, irregular pats to Syd’s back.
This was the first time he had held Sydney and the man looked transported. She hated to interrupt.
“Want me to take her?” Molly asked softly.
His eyes flew open and he appeared confused. Reluctant, too, which amazed her. “I believe she’s nodded off,” he whispered, making no move to give her up.
Molly laughed and reached to take her. “She’ll go right back to sleep, I promise.”
“You’re a very good mother, aren’t you?” Damien commented thoughtfully as he carefully handed Syd over.
“Don’t know how good, but I am dedicated,” Molly answered, snuggling Sydney against her and kissing the side of her face. “And I mean to make sure she’s safe from Jack. No way am I going to let him hurt her.”
He grasped Molly’s arm gently and turned her to face him. “Do you really think he might hurt her just to get back at you?”
“That’s about the size of it,” she admitted. “As far as Jack’s concerned, she’s just an extension of me and an embarrassment to him.”
“Be
