Chapter Thirteen
Simon stood in her living room and made phone calls while Lacie silently moved around her house packing things. He was trying not to watch her but couldn’t keep his eyes off the woman who was crawling inside herself, building walls, and basically trying to hide from the world. But most importantly, he was trying to ignore how that made his own insides shrink.
He made arrangements with his housekeeper to let her know he would be back and with a house guest. The captain of the family yacht was instructed to prepare it for a distraction tomorrow. He called Evan to get an update on what he was doing in Houston. This case was making him spend too much time away from the office. Even though it was to bring down Jonas, Evan hadn’t been able to find anything connecting him firmly to the trafficking thing in Houston. There was a shell transport company but no details on it. Simon tried to find out if Zack and Bonnie were still good in Pamona Gulch, but Zack didn’t answer. He called Ryan at the office and got updates on the rest of the gang: Jordan, Hollerman, and Deena Rae. He no longer had his finger on the pulse of the firm, and he didn’t like that, but as he watched the woman currently under his protection, Simon realized he wouldn’t have it any other way. If he was paying more attention to stuff at the office, he wouldn’t be with her as much.
When she still hadn’t said a word after packing her things in his Jeep, as well as his own stuff from across the street, he turned to her. “Okay, go back to compartmentalizing. You’re freaking me out, Lacie.” Simon was trying to be funny, but the joke fell flat as she turned to him with a wan smile.
“I can’t. They’ve been watching me. My home has been invaded, probably twenty-four hours a day, for God knows how long … I can’t even process this.” Her voice trembled, and Simon had the fear her tears would return and he couldn’t do anything to stop them.
Handing Lacie his phone, Simon said, “Well, call your dad, friends, and boyfriend and tell him you’ll be staying with friends. For security reasons, don’t give them an address.” Simon didn’t want her to call the boyfriend but also wanted her to have some semblance of normalcy. Everything she understood about her life had just been turned inside-out, and he wanted her to have the support of her family and friends. Besides, he didn’t have a stake in her life, beyond the professional aspect of it, which he was blowing all to hell by bringing her home with him. “Invite some of them to come out on the boat tomorrow. There’s plenty of room,” he offered, desperate to do something to make her feel better.
He drove to his house, listening while she called her father, Emily, Aubree, and then left a voicemail for douchebag. Simon noticed she didn’t invite anybody to the yacht ride and wasn’t sure how he thought about being almost alone with her on the boat.
He surely didn’t know how he felt about being all alone with her in his house.
Her fog lifted when he pulled up in his driveway. “Holy crapola! You live here?”
Sheepishly, he shrugged. “Yeah. My parents had money, and they died and left the house to all of us, my brother and sister and me. But I live in it until we decide to sell it. My sister was living in the guest house, but she’s staying out of town at the moment.” He wasn’t sure why he said that, except to emphasize the fact they would be in this palatial house alone together.
Simon tried to see it from her point of view—a massive, blocky structure, minimalist in design, cold exterior, what looked like cinder blocks but were actually some sort of Italian concrete. His mother had prided herself on having it designed by the famed Austin architect Dick Clark, and the kitchen had been done by local gourmet chefs. It was covered in windows which, from the outside, were nothing short of pretentious. From inside, they offered breathtaking views of the hilly countryside, something Simon liked the most about the cold home.
It had been his mother’s pride, her father’s affection for her, and Simon’s bane. When he’d left the force in San Antonio, it had sat, waiting for him. With getting Pierce Securities off the ground, he’d had neither the time nor the energy to put it on the market. So he’d moved in.
Dropping her bags in the entryway, Lacie looked at it all, gape-jawed.
He sighed. “You want a glass of wine?” Walking around her to the kitchen, he bent to the wine fridge and got out a bottle of Chardonnay. “Chateau Montelena 2010 okay?”
She pressed her lips together in thought. “I’m sure. If it costs more than fifteen dollars a bottle or doesn’t come in a box, I’m clueless.” She accepted the glass from him and watched as he reached under the sink for the scotch and poured himself a half a glass. “Simon, I suddenly feel as if I never knew you. It’s a bit discombobulating. You’ve been following me around for weeks and you’re a total stranger.”
He sat at the kitchen table—some modern, minimalistic thing that, under the untrained eye, would look like nothing short of laminate and aluminum, but Simon knew his mother had paid a hefty price for it.
“What do you want to know?” He spread his hands in a gesture of openness but was afraid of the questions she would ask. He was afraid he would answer them all.
God, he wanted to trust her, but it went against everything he’d taught himself for the last five years.
She waved her arms around, sloshing a bit of wine, but Simon didn’t care. “Where did all this come from? How did you end up here? Doing what you do?”
He took a deep breath and started talking. Lord knew why he was telling her any of this except, after the morning she’d had, he felt the desire to comfort her, but he couldn’t do it the way he wanted to. So he would answer her questions.
“My great-grandfather was an oil baron—one of those stereotypical Texans with all the oil money. My grandparents invested wisely and started Pierce Enterprises. My father kept up the tradition and groomed Quinten, Bonnie, and me to follow in his footsteps. Of course, none of us wanted to do that. I didn’t have a knack for the business aspect of it. All I ever wanted to be was a cop. Some sick, hero fantasy of mine.” He offered her a self-effacing grin. “Quinten compromised with a degree in law, but I don’t think he ever intended to use it much. Mother had grand plans of him being a politician, but she died right after he took the bar exam. Bonnie went to school for marketing, which mother saw as a superb choice for an event planner of her caliber. Mother threw the best parties here.”
“I imagine with those views, she didn’t have to do much decorating,” Lacie mused, looking out the window at the rolling vistas of Texas Hill Country. Turning back to Simon, she asked the question he dreaded. “Why did you get out of the force?”
Hedging, he shrugged. “Most cops pull retirement after twenty years.”
“So, you’re what? Forty?”
Grinning in relief he’d dodged that one, he said, “Forty-two. How old are you?” He was guessing thirty but would never say that aloud. His mother had taught him better than that.
“Thirty-four.”
“You take good care of yourself. I never would have guessed.”
“Likewise.” She avoided looking at him, and Simon realized they’d moved into awkward territory.
“Well, there are five bedrooms. Mine’s over there.” He pointed to his room. “That one doesn’t have a mattress, so you can choose from these.” Simon stood to lead her to the spare rooms. “The views are excellent everywhere, so you can do yoga and pretend you’re in the woods, or you can swim in the pool if you like. There are some trails cut through the woods down there, but please don’t go on them without me. I’ve got some pretty tight security here but don’t want to take any chances. We can watch a movie later if you want. I’m going to go see what Miss Irene left for us to eat.”
“Miss Irene?”
Simon dipped his head, looking at his feet. “My housekeeper. She’s been with the family for a century it seems. I couldn’t let her go after Mom died.”
“I see.” Lacie nodded.
“Besides, she’s a great cook. I’m sure she left us some comfort food in the fridge. Make yourself at home, and I’ll get something heated up. We can eat on the couch and watch something stupid and mindless.”
“Sounds heavenly.”
Simon went about his self-appointed tasks, trying desperately not to think about how perfect it was to have Lacie in this house. With him.