Page 36 of Guarded from Danger

And while it’s only been two days since her flashback, Lucy’s already doing better. She had two online sessions with a counselor, which she admitted were hard but helpful. Erik came over to do light yoga with her and go through some mindfulness exercises. And during a tearful FaceTime session yesterday, Lucy finally told her parents everything.

“I felt terrible,” Lucy told me afterwards, “because they were so upset. But once I got everything out, it was such a relief.”

I think our date helped, too. It put a light in Lucy’s eyes that I haven’t seen since she was abducted. Having that chance to really talk, to open up about what happened to Rhiannon and the guilt I’ve felt about it…

And then the most important part—hearing her say she’s falling in love with me.

Every time I think about it, I can’t help smiling.

After thirty-eight years, I met the most incredible woman in the world and fell in love with her. And by some stroke of luck, she’s falling in love with me, too.

“Hey, Xav.” Niall nudges me, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Why are you grinning all of a sudden?”

I try to work my face into an expression more appropriate for our weekly team meeting, but my lips keep twitching up. Elbowing him back, I retort, “Am I not allowed to smile?”

Rhiannon looks at me with an assessing gaze. Her lips quirk. “I thinkIknow.”

“I think I do, too.” Niall grins. “Something to do with your date the other night? Jade mentioned that Lucy said it went well.”

“It was fine.” As they both stare at me, I amend, “Okay. It went really well. What’s up with wanting to know about my dates with Lucy, anyway? You never asked before.”

Niall’s expression sobers. “Because we know she’s been struggling. And you have, too.”

Rhiannon reaches across the table and pats my arm. “We’re not trying to be nosy?—”

Erik snorts from one end of the table.

“Okay, a little nosy,” Rhiannon admits. “But only because we care about you. I know it’s been hard for both of you, so when I see you smiling… I’m glad. That’s all.”

“But if you don’t want to talk about it,” Matt interjects, glancing up from his laptop, “that’s fine. Don’t let these two pressure you?—”

“It’s okay.” Casting my gaze around the table, I add, “She’s doing better, I think. We talked about some things, and now Luce is seeing a counselor. It’s still early, but I think it’ll help. And setting up the barn to have a date like we used to… it was nice. So, yeah. I’m pretty happy about it.”

Erik lifts his chin at me. “Good. Glad to hear it.”

Dante meets my gaze. “You know we’re all behind you. Both of you. Anything you need…”

Niall nods. “Absolutely. Lucy’s part of the family. So if there’s anything we can do, we’re happy to.”

Emotion makes my voice rough. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

After a moment of silence, Dante clears his throat. “Well. We’ve got some important stuff to go over today, so…”

Right. The actual reason we’re here.

Squaring my shoulders, I give Dante a quick chin lift. “Of course.”

Around the table, everyone’s postures shift, straightening to attention. Matt grabs the remote for the projection screen and turns it on, and a second later, his desktop appears on the display. He nods at Dante. “Ready whenever you are.”

“Okay.” Dante glances at his tablet. “So, before we get into Lucy’s case, I just want to go over a few upcoming jobs. We’re coordinating security for that charity event in Atlanta next week, and originally, we planned to have Rhiannon, Erik, and Xavier go. But given everything going on with Lucy?—”

“I can go,” Niall volunteers quickly. “It’s no problem.”

I flash him a grateful look. “Thanks.”

Dante lifts his chin at Niall. “That works.” He pauses. “So, you three will fly out Monday night, meet with the event coordinators on Tuesday, stay for the event on Wednesday, and fly back Thursday morning. It should be a pretty simple job. No known threats to any of the attendees at this time.”

Rhiannon nods. “Works for me.”

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