MYSTERIOUS LOVER #1: FALCONE

CHAPTER 4.4

The memory of his daughter's break-in had completely left his mind. I had one. He was an Army veteran. Not a man like Jonas De Ryann, who Dad told me after I divorced him and whom he always felt was a p***y (and who had uttered the f-word directly in my face, but Dad actually really despised Jonas). Reynaldo Gomez's world had all of a sudden become right, and the person in front of him was the one who had brought it about.

I was undeniably messed, yes.

Dad looked down at me as he released Falcone's hand and swung me back to his side, asking, "Honey, why didn't you tell us you were seeing someone?  " He inquired, shaking me and grinning maniacally in my direction.

I muttered, "Um."

Melinda said, "This is beautiful, we'll have to invite you around for dinner." I turned to look at her and saw that she was grinning warmly at Falcone.

Melinda was that. If it was alright with Reynaldo, she would be quite fine.

Shit!

This time, my mumbling "Um" was louder and comical.

Dad gave Falcone his order and turned to him, saying, "Make your lasagna. The garlic bread she makes is better than the lasagna, son. Everything is created, from scratch, even the bread."

God, oh God! Did my father really refer to my mysterious lover as "son" after only five seconds of knowing him? He had never addressed Jonas as "son". He never called Jonas anything other than "Jonas" and "a pussy."

“Um…!

It came out sounding like a choked cry.

Magtanggol yelled out "Giabella," and I hurriedly turned to face him.

“Yeah?"I replied.

He took a step forward to join our huddle, his hand in his jacket pocket, and while speaking, he pulled out a wallet. "I'm done here," he said, withdrawing a business card from his wallet and handing it to me, his beautiful brown eyes locked with mine, "but if you need anything, hear anything you think I need to know or recall anything, phone me, day or night." "My phone number is on that card."

"Uh... alright," I answered, receiving the card, and his gaze shifted to Falcone.

"Do you have video footage?" he inquired.

"Yep," Falcone said.

"Are you familiar with this guy?" Magtanggol continued.

"I haven't watched the footage," Falcone said, "but my lads were unable to identify him." I'll check into it when I get back to base."

"What about the car?"  Magtanggol persisted.

Falcone said, "Ran the plates, it's stolen."

"Would you mind sharing the video with us?"  Magtanggol went on.

Falcone said, "It's already been e-mailed to the Station."

“Footage? " My father butted in, and Falcone's gaze was drawn to him.

"I have a company, and one of the things I do is security." Gia and I got together, and I installed cameras around her house. It is monitored throughout the clock. We put extra cameras to watch the roadway a few weeks ago. We have video of the intruder."

Dad gripped my arm, and his countenance, which had been somewhat amused when Falcone and Magtanggol were conversing, began to brighten again at the image of my Army guy watching over my house to keep me safe.

What he didn't realize was that it was an attempt to keep track of me.

My gaze shifted from Dad to Falcone.

"Ray, do you believe this has anything to do with Isabelle?" Melinda said to my father, and I opened my eyes and stared at my stepmother.

She had a profusion of somewhat curled, strawberry blonde hair that was now streaked with appealing white. Her face was pixie-like, and she had cornflower blue eyes and an upturned nose. Standing at five feet five, she was small, at least three inches shorter than me and eight inches shorter than Dad. This allowed her to wear high heels, which she did nearly constantly. In fact, she was wearing fashionable high-heeled boots when she responded to her stepdaughter's call about a break-in late one night. In other words, she taught me how to accept my style, whatever it developed, and with her support, I did. She had also taught me how to wear high heels.

Dad's eyes tightened, and he said, "I have another daughter, and she -" as he turned to face the guys.

"We know about Isabelle, and it's probable Gia's break-in has something to do with Isabelle's latest activities Falcone announced.

Dad's entire body tightened at my side, and Melinda let out a little cry.

But me? I lost my cool.

"Can I talk to you?" I shouted as I slipped out from beneath Dad's arm and grabbed Falcone's hand.

I didn't wait for him to respond. I pulled him from the kitchen into the living room, up the stairs, down the hall, and into my bedroom. I shut the door, it creaked, and turned to face him, releasing his hand and stepping straight into his space, standing up on my toes to get in his face.

"What made you do that?"

" I said beneath my breath.

"Do what?" he said, peering down at me.

"Inform them about Isabelle!  " I was snapping again, but this time beneath my breath.

"Babe," he murmured, then stopped.

“Babe? Is that your response? " I inquired forcefully. "You are not allowed to tell them about Isabelle."

His brow furrowed. “Why not? ”

"Because it will disturb them, concern them, and upset them again," I responded.

"Sweet Pea, if I were a father with two daughters in danger, I'd want to know, and I wouldn't be pleased if information was concealed from me," he said.

"Perhaps, but I'm a daughter with a troubled sister who knows a thing or two more about my family dynamic than you do, and you might think you'd would really like to know, but trust me, Dad doesn't want to know, and Melinda should just not know either."

"You need to explain things to them," he said, and my rage flared, so I moved closer to his face.

"Do not even tell me how to handle my family," I yelled.

"I can and will keep you safe, Gia, but I'm not going to waste my time dealing with your sister's nonsense.  If she doesn't perform a miracle, things are going to go wrong for her. They've got to realize that's a real possibility."

I began multitasking since I had a lot of territory to cover.

"I'm happy you brought it up," I said. "You're doing nothing, not just for Isabelle, but also for me.  You may turn off your cameras and quit keeping track of things.  You and I are done."

"We had this chat earlier, darling," he added with a smile.

"You said you end things, but you live in Badass World." "I live in the Real World, and when a woman says it's over, it has the same weight as when a male says it."

Falcone's gaze swept across my face.

"See my error," he mumbled.

“What?" I yelled.

His gaze shifted to mine. "Should have given you time instead of f*****g you, missed out."

“What?" I did it again on another picture.

His hands elevated and came to rest on my jaws, so I yanked my head free and took a step back.

Then, so abruptly that I couldn't tell you how it occurred, I was pinned to the wall by his enormous, strong body, his hands were at my jaws in such a manner that I couldn't wrench my face away, and his face was directly in my face.