Page 55 of Resolution
“Madelyn, youneedfood, water, shelter, and air. Everything else is a want.” She starts to say something, but I cut her off, in a strict, no-nonsense tone. “If you want me to do things for you, I suggest you change your attitude and check your words.”
Before Maddie can say anything, there’s a knock at the door. She rushes to grab her backpack, lunch, and open the door for Soren. The little twerp doesn’t even say goodbye.
When Enzo calls a few hours later and asks about my day, I groan loudly. “Are you sure it isn’t a Monday? Ugg… Anything that can go wrong, has today. I started off by getting into it with Maddie, our network’s down at work and the IT guys are here fixing it, and a client I’ve spent the last three weeks planning with decided to go in a different direction.”
“I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a bad day, beautiful.”
I dismiss his kind words and continue with my rant about my day, “I now have to leave early, pick Maddie up from school, take her to get a poster board for a project, buy Frankie snacks for a school party, and since Declan has team pictures tomorrow, I also have to take him to get a haircut. Oh… and the snarky teen had the audacity to tell me she needed to go driving today, too. As if I want to spend more time with her after our morning.”
“Samantha.” Enzo’s deep, sexy voice is the medicine I need after a day like this. “It’ll all work out. Trust me.”
“I know. It’s just been a crappy day,” I whine.
“I actually called to let you know I’m on my way home now. We’re wheels up at zero five-hundred, and from the looks of the mission, I’ll be gone a few days.”
I know it’s inevitable he’s going to be gone from time to time, but I can’t help the pang fluttering through my heart upon receiving this news.Can today get any worse?This isn’t what I need to hear right now. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, it’s just a routine mission, so get that worry out of your voice, Samantha.” I know he can’t tell me where he’s going, but from what he’s told me, he’s basically their transportation as well as some behind the scenes intel, so I shouldn’t worry. But I obviously do. It’s in my nature to worry.
He’s silent as he waits for me to respond. I let out a huff. “Fine. I’m just going to miss you.” I’ve gotten used to him being around and I sleep so much better with him here.
“I’ll miss you, too, beautiful.” There’s silence on the other end of the line for a few heartbeats and when he breaks it, the tone of his voice is back to business. “What do you think of this… I’ll pick up the kids from school. We’ll take Dec to practice and then get the things Maddie and Frankie need for tomorrow. I’ll even let Maddie drive, and we’ll grab dinner en route.”
“Are you sure?”
“Samantha.” His stern voice tells me not to question him.
I look at the pile of unfinished work on my desk and glance at the clock. It would be amazing to be able to work for a couple more hours without having to worry about the kids’ schedules. “Sounds good. I’ll pick up Dec to get his haircut before I come home.”
22
Enzo
Workingfor Riggs and having a family to come home to every night these past few months has been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least. I’m not used to having people to check in with. These last few days, I’ve put in some long hours. We joined forces with the Department of Homeland Security, so they took over the rest of the operation once we got the girl we were after. DHS has a shitstorm on their hands after what we witnessed. I sigh and shake off the action of the day.
I pull into our driveway just a little after three in the morning. I do my best not to wake Samantha and the kids. Knowing it’s late, I showered the grime off at headquarters before coming home. Samantha only has a few more hours of sleep until Frankie will be up at the crack of dawn, so I leave the lights off as I enter our room. I undress to my boxers, slip back the covers, and snuggle close to Samantha. God, having her in my arms and holding her close is what I need after the week I’ve had.
I wake up a few hours later to the feeling of being watched. Samantha’s laying her head on my chest, so it can’t be her. I open my eyes to find Frankie on the other side of Samantha. Her head rests on Samantha’s pillow, but her eyes are bright and a huge smile is plastered to her face.
“Hi,” she whispers.
“Hi,” I whisper back, suddenly worried because Frankie’s in our bed and I’m only in my boxers.
“I had a bad dream. Mama said I could sleep with her since you weren’t home,” she explains, as if it’s no big deal.
“I see that. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m going to watch TV,” she says, as if this is a normal occurrence. Thank God, I decided to let Sam sleep this morning, instead of my usual sexy wake-ups with her.
“You do that. I’ll come down in a bit and make breakfast.” After I put on some pants.
“Okay, Enzo,” she whispers.
She hops out of bed and goes to the door. Before she goes out, though, she turns to say, “Oh, Mama says she needs to sleep in, so be very quiet.” She rushes back to my side of the bed and hugs the part of me that Samantha’s not sleeping on. “I’m glad you’re home. I’ve missed you.”
This completely takes me back and I have no idea what to say. “You, too, kiddo,” finally comes out as she rushes out the door.
I feel a soft kiss on my pec, right as the door clicks shut.
