CHAPTER Twenty

Carmella dragged her butt to work that morning because she needed to do it or go crazy every time she thought about Clifton breaking into her house.

Ginger hadn’t been in a panic the night before when Carmella had come into the house because she knew Clifton most likely. Didn’t like him really, but he’d been the one to bring Carmella the puppy he’d picked up heaven knew where.

But she sensed Carmella was upset so she’d stuck close, sleeping at the foot of Duke’s bed with her head on Carmella’s feet.

Carmella had tried to get the dog to sleep in her very nice doggie bed, but Duke wouldn’t hear of it. He seemed to know how much they needed each other and he was the one who picked Ginger up and put her on the bed.

Wherever he came from, she didn’t deserve him. But it didn’t matter because she wasn’t giving him back.

Once at work, she had a few cups of coffee and finished the calls she needed to make, and she felt a lot better. Well, enough to call Craig to tell him about the break-in.

She left a voicemail because he was in class. Cowardly, probably. But relating what happened without being interrupted to be told how awful Clifton was was preferable and she didn’t have the energy.

By lunchtime, the burst of energy she’d had earlier was beginning to evaporate. And after the phone call she had with her renter’s insurance agent, it was all gone.

The deductible she’d have to pay was more than the worth of the stuff Clifton stole. And money couldn’t help the feeling of having her privacy and safety violated. It wasn’t like she thought he perved over her panty drawer. After all, it was utilitarian white cotton for the most part. But he’d been in her house. Looking through her things. He knew her. At one time he’d professed to love her and he’d broken into her house to steal a bunch of cheap jewelry and her household money stash, a grand total of fifty-six bucks.

“You’re still here?” Duke came in. “Shut everything down and go the hell back to my house. Watch movies with me and your dog. You don’t need to be here.”

“I had work to do. I can’t afford to go falling apart every time something bad happens.”

He knelt next to her chair, taking her hands in his.

“This is inappropriate. We’re at work.” The words were flat even to her ears.

“Your boss says this is cool with him. Shut your stuff down and come home with me. We’ll stop and get lunch. Mick and I did some work at your place so your window is fixed and we put new locks on your front and back door too.” He handed her the keys. “You’ll be much safer now. Here’s a set for you and another for your landlord.”

“Thank you. Tell me how much I owe you.”

Duke rolled his eyes. “You can make me baked ziti to thank me. I had the locks anyway. Most of the hardware we needed we had here or in my garage.”

“I don’t like owing people.”

“Too bad, Carmella. I wanted to do it for you because I care. I did it. You’re safer and things are fine. Say thank you and let’s go get lunch.”

“You’re very pushy.”

“I am. Because I’m worried about you. And because you’re so fucking resistant when people try to help you. Which tells me how often it happens and that when it does, it’s not always people who are out for your best interests. So I’m pissed off at that. Not at your stubbornly beautiful ass. And I want you to give yourself a break, leave work for the day, and let me satisfy myself that you’re okay. Let me spoil you just a little.”

She put her hands over her face. She was so accustomed to taking care of her shit, no matter how much of it there was, that having someone help her was foreign in a way that made her uncomfortable as well as happy.

She felt as if she were a very brittle piece of glass. One more bump and she’d shatter into pieces. Carmella didn’t want to fight with him. Not when he was trying to be kind. And she didn’t want to make a scene at her job either.

“Okay, fine. Thank you.” She turned her computer off and let the receptionist know she was leaving.

When she finished, he opened the door and led her out. “I’ll follow you home,” he said at her car.

“I keep waiting for that thing you’re going to do. That thing that makes me say, I knew it. You seem too good to be true and it scares me,” she whispered.

“Gorgeous.” He kissed her knuckles. “I get that you’ve been let down. But that’s not me. It’s not who I am or what I do. Give me a chance to show you what it means to be cared about by a real man.”

Carmella told herself she was too tired to argue, but really, she didn’t want to. Instead, she drove home, and true to his word, he met her there.

“Come on in. Your dog is with me. She misses you, though. Even cookies aren’t enough to make her forget you.”

She took his hand and they ignored her house and went to his, where she had lunch and they watched movies while she did laundry. It was normal. And relaxing. And by the time late afternoon had come, she knew she had to face her house at some point.

“I’ll sleep at your house tonight,” he told her as if she’d spoken her fears aloud.

“I have to deal with it. He wouldn’t hurt me. Even if he came back.”

Duke stared at her for long, silent moments. “I know you came up rough. I don’t want to freak you out, but if he knows what’s best for him, he’ll stay away. Because if I catch him before they toss him in jail, I’m going to beat his ass.”