A small smile pulls at the corner of his lips. “Pretty sure you are the only one who can get away with talking to Boss like that, ma’am. And this isn’t about someone babysitting you. It’s a precaution. There was a security breach earlier today.”
His words turn my stomach. A security breach? What does that even mean? Am I in some kind of danger? Is Ty? Roman? “What happened?”
“I just do what I’m told.” He shrugs. “Everybody is fine. We’re just amping up security for a while, so you’re going to have to get used to it, because I’ll probably be here more often. I’m sure the Boss will have more information for you once you get home.”
Either this guy really doesn’t know what happened, or he takes his loyalty to Roman very seriously. Regardless, he’s just following orders.
“Will you at least tell me your name? I should probably know that if we’re going to be friends.”
“Oh, I don’t want to be friends with you.” He chuckles. “I saw what Roman did to Russ for barely breathing in your direction that night at the warehouse, and I want no part of that. But my name is Ernie.”
A few seconds later, the other students come back in. I do my best to act natural the rest of the day, but it’s hard knowing that Ernie is watching my every move, and I have no idea what happened this morning.
The thought of Ty or Roman being in danger paralyzes me, and I’m a little irritated he hasn’t called me himself. Then, my anxiety gets the best of me and my mind wanders. What if he’s not calling me because he’s hurt? Ernie’s been here for hours. What if something happened in that amount of time that he doesn’t know about?
I check my phone incessantly, but nothing comes from Roman.
This shift can’t be over soon enough.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Itisn’tuntilIwalk into the house and hear Ty and Roman laughing together that I feel like I can finally breathe. I’ve been on edge the entire afternoon, but that sound is like music to my ears and relief floods me. No matter what we’re up against, they’re okay.
“Hi guys.” I give them an exhausted smile as I come into the kitchen. Everything seems business as usual around here; Roman even has dinner started.
“Maddie!” Ty leaps out of his chair and throws his arms around my legs. “Dad said we can go to see the sharks at the aquarium this weekend!”
“Wow! That sounds like fun!”
Roman laughs. “Only if you get all of your school work done, though, right?”
He walks over to me and presses a hungry kiss to my lips. “How was your day?”
”Interesting.” I click my tongue. “Did you send one of your men to the hospital to babysit me today?”
Roman grits his teeth, completely ignoring me and the question. “Ty, let’s get the plates out so we can set the table for dinner.”
“Roman.” Frustration drips from my voice.
He catches my stare and then nods toward Ty. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Whatever happened, he doesn’t want Ty to know about it, and I can understand that. Although, by now, the anticipation is killing me.
Roman is tense. He’s distracted and quiet while we eat dinner, and when he does answer, he’s short and irritated. I do my best to keep up with Ty so he doesn’t know anything is off, but it’s a relief when Roman finally takes him upstairs to bed.
I get dinner cleaned up and change my clothes, and then wait for Roman in the kitchen. When he finally comes back down, he leans onto the kitchen counter, bracing himself against the granite. He won’t look at me, but I can see the darkness in his eyes from here, and every breath he takes is shallow and tempered. I haven’t seen him worked up this way since the day that Ty was hurt, and I hate it.
“You’ve got to talk to me, Roman. What’s going on?”
He lets out a heavy sigh and finally looks up. He shoves his sleeves up, exposing his decorated forearms and folding them across his broad chest.
“I should have told you Ernie was going to be at the hospital, and I’m sorry I didn’t, but he wasn’t there to babysit you. Something happened this morning, and I needed someone there to keep you safe until I could talk to you about what’s going on.”
I chew on my cheek. The urgency in his voice sends a chill through me. It takes a lot to rattle Roman, and something clearly has.
“This morning, when I dropped Ty off at school, I found a picture in his backpack. It was of the three of us, taken the day we went to the zoo. It was a threat to both you and to Ty, and whoever did it was close enough to us to put it into his backpack.”
I suck in the short breath, blindsided, and unsure how to even respond. Luckily, I don’t have to. Roman hands me the picture, and I look it over.
