Page 14 of Harmless Secrets
Alicia couldn’t help it, she chuckled. Dee was probably as smart as her brother.
He nodded—once.
“Good, well, we better get going. Micah has texted twice, which means he’s getting antsy and you know better than to let my husband get that way.”
Devon wanted to argue. She saw it in his eyes, but he relented for his sister.
“Okay. But now that I know who you are, there will be no hiding. Not anymore, so running away will be useless.”
“Oh, good Lord,” Dee said. “Dial down the big bad agent attitude.”
She poked her brother, urging him on.
As they walked to the door, Bridget came running down the hall. She was holding a piece of paper.
“I made you a picture,” Bridget said, grinning. She handed it to Devon. “It’s of our house and me and Mummy.”
Devon hesitated, then took the piece of paper.
“That way you won’t forget about us.”
He continued to look down at the picture, then he swallowed. The silence lengthened and Bridget looked at Alicia. Confusion stamped her features. Then she turned to face Devon again.
“You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to,” Bridget said.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “I would never forget about you.”
Bridget giggled and ran back down the hall. When he straightened, Alicia saw a flash of vulnerability in his eyes before his gaze hardened.
“Don’t leave Seattle.”
Then he turned and walked out the door. Dee sighed. “And they think that women are temperamental. I know you don’t know me at all, but I promise you, from one mother to another, I will make sure that Devon doesn’t do anything stupid. And I promise you, he would never do anything to hurt you or Bridget.”
She thought back to the expression on his face when he looked at the picture. He wasn’t as tough as he wanted her to think. She nodded.
“I better go catch up with him. Oh, wait.” She dug into her purse. “Lord, when did I end up with so many crayons in my purse?”
Alicia smiled. “Just get used to it. It doesn’t get any better.”
Dee looked up at her. “I need to get a bigger purse.”
She pulled out a business card, then grabbed a red crayon to circle something on it. Dee handed it to her and she blinked. It was to a BDSM club in Hawaii.
“My husband owns the club,” she said with a smile. “The number is mine that I circled. Is there some way I can get a hold of you?”
She nodded and grabbed a piece of paper. “Please, don’t give this out to anyone. I…I don’t share a lot with other people.”
“No problem. I can completely understand that. We totally need to talk about why Devon felt the need to run away that morning. We’ll call tomorrow.”
As she looked out the front door, Alicia realized Devon had parked his SUV behind hers in the driveway. Dee walked to the driver’s side door. Alicia couldn’t hear what was being said, but she was pretty sure Devon was being ordered out of the car.
Words were exchanged and Alicia watched—thoroughly amused—as the former CIA trainee and one of the most dangerous men she knew, stepped out of the SUV. He gave his sister a nasty look, but he walked around the other side. Dee looked back at Alicia and it was easy to see his sister’s smile. She watched as they both got in the car and Dee backed out of the driveway.
She shut the door and turned to find Bridget standing behind her.
“They were nice. Especially Dee.”
Alicia nodded. “Yes.”