When she and Mrs. Silva were finally in the car, she asked what it meant when Derek went out of his way to hurt her. That whole episode in his room had left her hurt but even more confused. But not Mrs. Silva. In fact, she was practically jumping up and down in the passenger seat in delight. Her mother’s intuition told her that Derek was jealous and he wanted Elaine back. Elaine just nodded and smiled when Mrs. Silvia got excited all over again but she was still confused. From what she’d seen of Ellie and Tasha’s relationships, their husbands didn’t go out of their way to hurt them just to show them they loved them when they got some attention from other men. They got all Neanderthal and practically peed on them but never hurt them in any way. Elaine decided to just shelf that and concentrate on her house warming party. It would just be the family, thank goodness but she’d extended an invitation to Daniel and Kris. Daniel because they were now friends, they were each other’s sounding board and Kris because she thought it was high time she and Ellie made up. Two years was a long time to go without talking.
Once they went back to the house, it was only two hours before her quiet home filled with children’s laughter and adult voices. Her kitchen was a big hit to the point the grandmas took over cooking and she and the girls just stood around sipping wine and waiting to be needed. When everything was cooked, the grandmas left them to dish the food up. Elaine had just walked out to the dining room with a huge bowl of mashed potatoes when she spotted Daniel in the hallway staring into the living room.
He looked a little disheveled, his tie askew, his hairraked one too many times by his fingers. Elaine had a bad feeling about this. She rushed to the dining room, handed Ellie the bowl and rushed back to him. Slowly she approached him, her fingers crossed and her heart pounding a mile a minute. She’d never been this anxious before except the moment the doctor was taking too long to hand her, her newborn baby.
“Daniel?”
He turned around and this huge grin appeared on his face that made Elaine sigh with relief.
“You lost?” she asked for confirmation.
He dropped his briefcase and opened his arms, “I lost!”
Elaine cheered and leaped on him. He caught her, and spun her around before putting her down. Since she’d known him, she’d never seen the man so happy.
“Congratulations! I know this won’t help with your tally, but I think it’s a great win.”
Daniel just kept smiling, “If it wasn’t for you, I would probably be at home, drinking my sorrows away. Professionally I know it was unethical just doing the bare minimum, but I feel great. I did the right thing and if it costs me my career,” he shrugged, “Fuck it.”
She chuckled, pressing her finger against his lips and looking around for young ears. “We don’t curse anymore. Ellie and Tasha hear you, they’ll wash your mouth with soap.”
He bellowed his laughter, “Yeah, I can totally see them doing that.”
“Well, it happened, to Stacey-Ann. Dale was so miserable watching, but he couldn’t do a thing unless he wanted a bar of soap stuck in his own mouth.”
“My poor goddaughter—”
“Daniel, how nice of you to drop by.”
Elaine jumped, surprised and wary. There was so much anger in Derek’s voice, it unsettled her.
“Derek right? Good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from the girls.” He said holding his hand out to him.
Elaine wasn’t sure why he didn’t just say he’d heard most from her, but she was grateful. She wasn’t comfortable with Derek knowing Daniel was trying to help her understand him.
Derek took his hand and Elaine could see from how clenched their hands were they were doing that stupid macho thing. She just hoped Derek let go before he fell for the temptation to break Daniel’s hand.
“Yeah, they are quite a river of information aren’t they? Look, Daniel, we are having a house warming party, family only I hope you understand?”
Daniel just chuckled. Elaine smothered a smile and said, “I invited him. And he is family, he is Stacey-Ann’s godfather, Ellie’s best friend, and my close friend.”
A condescending brow went up followed by, “Close friend, not fuck buddies?”
Elaine was so close to punching him until Daniel said, “That too but we’re not exclusive if that’s what’s eating you.” Elaine covered her mouth with her hand and turned away to hide her smile. “If you don’t mind, I was about to introduce her to someone.”
“Kat—Elaine, a word?” Derek hissed. He didn’t wait for her to respond, he just grabbed her arm and dragged her aside.
Elaine stumbled and bumped into his chest when he came to an abrupt stop. He held her to his chest with one arm wrapped around her waist, the other grabbed her chin and tilted her head up.
His fist pressed into the small of her back, his hand around her jaw spasmed as he glared down at her, “I don’t want you fucking that dude anymore, not if we’re to have a chance in hell of making this family work.”
That took her aback, “Wait, when I suggested that, you blatantly refused. What makes you think I would agree—mph!”
His lips pressed down on hers in a punishing kiss. His fingers pressed on her jaw joint, forcing her mouth open and he pushed his tongue inside then grabbed the back of her head and held her in place. Elaine fought his hold just for a minute more before she succumbed and returned the kiss. Then a second later, he broke the kiss and released her.
“It’s not up for discussion anymore,” he declared, turned on his heel and left.
Elaine stood there, watching his retreating back as her equilibrium returned.
“Wow, that was pretty clear,” Daniel whispered over her shoulder.
She slapped his arm as she turned to face him, “Introduce me to whomever it is.”
He chuckled at her fogged-up mind, “I brought her in while Derek was peeing on you,” she slapped his arm again then he stepped aside. Standing at the door was a beautiful Hispanic girl decked out in designer clothes which she looked extremely uncomfortable in. “Ellie, that’s Luciana, the love of my life.”
Elaine watched the girl with a smile as she watched Daniel with wide starry eyes. She’d seen that look numerous times around Ellie and Tasha when they were staring at their husbands. She called it eye worshiping. It made her think of a quote she once read, that the eyes were the window to the soul. But her next reaction surprised her despite what Daniel had already told her.
Dale walked out of the living room and just said ‘hi’ and she jumped right out of her skin. She was distracted exchanging googly eyes with Daniel that she didn’t see him coming. She ran to Daniel and hid in his side. Elaine saw how pale she’d gotten, she was even shaking. She had to hide her tightly fisted hands behind her as they shook in outrage and kept a calm mask over her face.
“Daniel, what’s up?” Dale cautiously asked.
“I brought a guest for Elaine’s house warming.” He responded.
Dale nodded slowly then moved his keen gaze from Luciana to Elaine. He was quiet for a long moment, his eyes moving over her face as if he was trying to read her, waiting for her to reveal something. Elaine had been in that game long enough to hide even the most monstrous intent behind a smile.
“Elaine?”
“I’ve got it handled.”
“Just don’t—”
“I know.”
“But if you must—”
“I know.”
He nodded then stepped back into the living room. Luciana visibly relaxed. Daniel turned her into him and held her tight in his arms, leaned his head down and whispered in her ear and she got her color back. Elaine wondered how her husband hadn’t seen the closeness between them, which made her think what if he had? She’d researched the slim ball after Daniel first told her about him. It was the way that Daniel spoke that set off her instincts and they were right. The man was a mid-level criminal and fraud was equivalent to pocket change when it came to his crimes. He was the go-to guy for the mobs when it came to money laundering. Damien’s department had him under investigation but couldn’t make anything stick except the fraud charge. She had a dilemma on her hands, but she was very sure of one thing.
“That was a whole conversation despite the few words spoken, wasn’t it?”
She nodded yes. “Daniel, put me on speed dial and for the next few days, keep your phone on you.”
His expression grew grave and he held Luciana tighter, “Why?”
She smiled at him then Luciana, “Just a precaution.”
“Daniel say, that you help us against Tomas?” Luciana asked in a timid voice, her accent heavy.
There wasn’t an ‘if’. Even with her broken English there was no if in her tone. Luciana knew for sure Tomas wouldn’t let this betrayal go. Elaine laid her hand against hers fisted in Daniel’s suited arm, “Si Luciana, puedo ayudar.”
“Cómo? Él es un hombre peligroso!”
If Elaine had a dollar for every time she’d heard that during an assignment briefing. She’d always returned with she was more dangerous than they were especially since they always underestimated her.
“Soy una chica muy peligroso que él. Confía en mí.”
“And she has backup. We’re safer with her than we would be leaving the country.” Daniel added.
That was a very dangerous plan, but she wasn’t about to tell them just how much, “Come on, join the party. Food will be ready to serve in a little bit. Hey, did Kris tell you if she was coming?”
Daniel shook his head no, “We haven’t spoken in a while. She considers me a traitor blind to the truth.”
“Well then, it’s good she didn’t turn up then.”
****