Page 102 of Theirs to Take

“You can give Millie her old job back and let her work from home. She really is the best Cyber Security Analyst that McTavish ever had,” Ranger said. “After you hire her back, I’ll need for you to call Wan to let him know that you don’t appreciate him trying to poach your employees. Your threat will hold weight since Wan will know who you are, Alex. He’ll think twice about coming after Millie if she’s involved in McTavish industries.”

“Agreed,” Luke said. “If you call Wan, he’ll back down, and then Ranger can bring Millie home. His place has a ton of security. Have you agreed to move in with him, Millie?” Luke asked.

“I have,” she said.

“Great, all we need is for you to be on board with all of this, Alex,” Luke said.

“I hate putting you in this position, Alex,” Ranger admitted, “but I can’t lose Millie or the baby. I just got them back. Please,” he breathed. Ranger wasn’t above begging. He’d do it all day long if it meant that Millie and their child would be safe.

“I’m in,” Alex agreed, “you know that I’d do anything for you guys. Consider yourself rehired, Millie.”

“Well, then, I’ll need to send an email to my current employer to let them know that they are now my former employer,” Millie said.

“Take your time with that,” Alex said. “Give them the notice that they deserve, and when you’re ready, let me know. I’ll get in touch with Wan to let him know what’s going on. He won’t want to cross a business as big as McTavish. He’s not going to take this laying down, so your security measures might be a good idea,” Alex said.

“Already taken care of,” Luke assured. “I was over at Ranger’s house earlier, making sure that everything is up to date.”

“Thanks for taking care of that for us, man,” he looked over at Millie and she smiled through her tears at him. He wanted her to feel safe, but more than that, he wanted her to feel like she was a part of a team—his team.

Millie must have apologized about a million times before they got off the phone. Luke and Alex both agreed that she and the baby’s safety was their priority, and she seemed to relax a bit. He hated that he was going to have to move her tonight, but he had no choice. Ranger loaded up his truck and secured her car. He was going to have to send someone back to finish grabbing the rest of her boxes and her car because there was no way that he was going to let her drive all the way back home in her condition. He planned on getting Millie settled in his passenger seat and telling her to sleep the whole way home. Then, he’d carry her into his house and put her in his bed, because that was exactly where she was staying from here on out—his bed.

Ranger knocked on Millie’s neighbor’s door—the same woman who had given him the key to her place when he first gotto town looking for Millie. She opened the door, and he smiled in at her—a gesture that she did not return. “Hi,” he breathed.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

He pulled his business card from his pocket and handed it in through the door crack that she was peeking out from. “I’m taking Millie home with me. If men come snooping around, can you please call this number? Please don’t tell them where Millie is or answer any of their questions. They are bad men. Most likely, they will be Korean, but I can’t be certain,” Ranger said.

“You’ve gotten that nice girl mixed up with the North Koreans?” she asked.

“Actually, they are the South Koreans, and Millie got me mixed up with them, to be exact,” he admitted. The look on her face was priceless and worth telling her details that weren’t any of her business.

“I knew that Millie was trouble as soon as she got here,” the older woman spat.

“Listen,” Ranger growled, trying to keep his temper in check. “Can you please just promise to call me if the guys show up here snooping around?”

“Sure,” she grumbled, “but only because I don’t want any Koreans snooping around here causing trouble for me.”

“Understood,” Ranger agreed. “Thank you.” She quickly shut her front door in his face, and he almost wanted to laugh at her theatrics. Instead, he turned to go back into Millie’s place, finding her sitting on the sofa waiting for him.

“What about the rest of my stuff?” she asked.

“I could only fit so much into my truck. I’ll have someone come out here and pick up the rest of this stuff and your car, in a day or two. Will that work?” he asked.

“Yes,” she agreed, “I can live without most of it for a few days.” He knew that she was “nesting” as she called it and that she wanted to get everything perfect before their daughter gotthere. He couldn’t blame her; he was beginning to feel the exact same way.

“How about when we get back, we do a little online shopping, since you can’t go out, and find the perfect crib and nursery furniture for our daughter?” he asked. Ranger knew that giving her something to look forward to might get Millie out of her funk.

“Really?” she asked. He nodded and she squealed and clapped. “That would be wonderful,” she gushed.

“It’s settled then. And you can pick which room you’d like to be her nursery and I’ll get some paint swatches for you to choose from. We’ll have her room ready in no time,” Ranger promised.

Millie

Almost two months had passed since they had moved back home, and things were quiet—too quiet. They had finished the nursery, as Ranger had promised, making sure that she didn’t lift a finger the whole time. Everything she purchased for the baby was done online and she was itching to get out of the house.

Ruby had been by a few times to see her, but she was days away from her due date and her visits had almost stopped. Ruby was able to surprise her with a small baby shower at Ranger’s house. A few of the girls from the office had come by and it was a nice afternoon, even if Ranger did threaten to sit on her if she got up from the couch.

She was beginning to think of his house as her own. He had insisted that was the case, telling her to make any changes she’d like to his place to make it feel more like home. The very first thing she did, besides picking out a room for the nursery, was to donate his couch and bring hers over from her old apartment. When she ordered the paint for the nursery, she also ordered some for the kitchen. She explained to Ranger that she couldn’t live with his bright red kitchen walls, and he told her that theywere that color when he bought the house. That’s when she decided to have the entire house repainted and he just sighed and agreed with her. He even admitted that he hadn’t changed much since moving into his place and that it was probably time to make a few color changes.

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