“Oh, you know,” I laughed. “Typical situation of two people getting drugged in Vegas, then making the unfortunate decision to get married as we fled the mafia.”
Feeling awkward, I took a seat, grateful when she laughed at my humor.
“Yeah, those are pretty typical circumstances around here.”
“Many people get drugged?”
“No, just meet under interesting circumstances,” she grinned. “I’m actually surprised you agreed to come out here. It takes a lot to move away from someplace you’ve lived your whole life.”
“Well, you could say I have some issues with my father.”
A small chuckle left her lips as she poured the first of the batter into the waffle maker. “I know all about Daddy issues.”
“I don’t really get it. My sister Lizzy is the perfect child. She can do no wrong by anyone, but me? I’m a classic screwup.”
“Well, maybe moving out here will help you mend the rift with your father.”
“Did that work for you?”
She huffed out a laugh. “No. My father was basically going to sell me off to a man in marriage, all for some business deal. I ran, and Sam saved my life, then blackmailed my father to leave me alone. And when that didn’t work after a few years, all of Reed Security set up this elaborate scheme to take him down. Now, he’s dead, and I try not to think about him,” she smiled forcefully.
I stared at her, completely in shock. “Wow, that’s…nothing at all like my daddy issues.”
“Yeah, sorry to unload like that.”
“No, it just…kind of puts my problems into perspective.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to downplay what you’re going through. We all have issues.”
“Well, it sounds like yours got better when you moved here,” I said hopefully.
“Yeah, things have been great.”
I was still worried about the danger aspect of their jobs, and with Vanessa, I felt like I could really get a straight answer. I checked over my shoulder, making sure Rob wasn’t around. I didn’t want her mincing her words just because he was watching.
“So…I mean, it’s not really dangerous here, is it?”
Cocking her head at me, she paused for a moment. “Well, not really.”
Relief flooded me at her words. Anything in life could be dangerous, but I didn’t want to live knowing that I could be murdered at any second.
“I mean, a few years after I moved here, Chris, who works here, went back to his hometown to save his high school girlfriend from a gang. Unbeknownst to him, he had a kid. It was kind of messy at the time. Anyway, it started this war between Reed Security and the gang. Some of our houses were torched and?—”
She stopped suddenly, busying herself with the waffles.
“And what?”
“Well…I was taken, along with Kate and Maggie. They held us in this horrible place, and…I don’t remember much. I was pregnant, and I had a miscarriage. I was passed out for most of it.”
“That’s horrible,” I whispered.
She shrugged, giving me a fake smile. “It’s in the past. Other than that—well, and the year we all went on the run, things are pretty slow around here.”
“The—” My eyebrows shot up at her words. “The year you went on the run?”
“Well, Chase—he’s on a different team—was working this case and…” She laughed to herself. “Wow, I sound like a broken record. You probably don’t want to hear this.”
“Oh, I really think I do.”