Protect Her

Chapter Twenty Two

Derek

Camryn, Riley, and I had been living blissfully in our own little dreamworld at my grandparents' place for almost a week. We spent our days playing and exploring with Riley, cooking dinner together in the evening, and in the early mornings I fell asleep with Camryn in my arms after making sweet love to her all night.

I loved watching her be a mother. The way they laughed together and the love between them was the purest form of art I'd ever seen. I knew it was too soon to be going there, but I could almost picture adding another little girl to the mix. One that would have my personality and hopefully her mother's looks. Riley would be an incredible big sister if that day ever came. Things were going so perfectly here that sometimes it was easy to forget the threats that were still out there.

Robby still hadn't been arrested again, and I still didn't know who was hijacking our shipments. I was getting anxious, but there wasn't a lot I could do from up here, and I wasn't about to leave Camryn and Riley again. I had to rely on Will, and while I trusted him implicitly, he had a lot on his plate. He was picking up all the slack for me, while also doing his own job. Right now, Camryn and Riley were on a hike, and I had stayed back to get a little work done.

They had only been gone about fifteen minutes when I heard the front door open. "Cam?" I called.

"Honey, I'm home."

Instead of seeing Cam and Riley come through the door, it was Will with a big goofy grin on his face.

I let out a sharp laugh. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I've been traveling all day, bro. At least pour me a drink first." He chuckled, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the dining room table. He had a small duffel bag with him and it looked like he was planning to stay, at least for a few days. I was thrilled to see him, but the slightest bit irritated that someone was infringing on my perfect world with Cam and Riley.

"Isn't it a little early?" I arched my eyebrow at him.

"Damn, you're right. Time zones." He shook his head. "Well, I guess that means it's five o'clock somewhere, right?"

"If you say so." I grinned, pulling a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet and pouring both of us a glass.

"Where's the wife and kid?" He shot me a smug smirk, trying his best to get a rise out of me.

I rolled my eyes. "Cam and Riley are hiking."

"Adorable. Will they be back soon?"

"Probably an hour. Why?" I joined him at the table.

His expression got serious. "I brought you a little present. It's tied up in the shed."

My eyes widened. "Robby."

"Hah. No. An NYPD detective under investigation for murder would be a little harder to smuggle across the border than a gang banger with a big mouth."

"You found the guy who has been stealing our money?"

He shrugged. "Tom came through. He's not the one actually stealing, but he's feeding information to whoever is."

"Impressive." I grinned. "Who is it?"

"His name is Jason. He's only been with Tom a few months, and he swears he doesn't know where the money actually is. That he's just the middleman." He continued. "Tom said to do whatever we had to do. I haven't even spoken to him since I grabbed him off the street, wanted to see how you wanted to approach it."

I rubbed my chin, mulling over the new information.

The front door opened again.

"I'm dying of thirst." Riley huffed dramatically, throwing herself onto the couch.