Securing His Destiny (Power Security #2)

Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

T he last thing Steve wanted to do was head to the office—a strange feeling he’d never had since starting Power Security. He wanted to stay at the café and watch Tabitha work.

Her place was bustling, and even though they’d arrived a little later than she normally would, together they’d managed to get the café open as the first batch of chocolate chip muffins and flaky croissants came out of the oven. It helped that she had batter and already-prepared pastry in the fridge, waiting for her.

Watching her create it all with a serene smile was amazing. Tabitha really was happy doing her job, and Steve would let nothing, or anyone, take that joy from her.

Which was the reason he needed to get his ass out of the chair he was currently in and head to the office.

His phone had blown up with good-natured teasing from the guys when he’d let them know he wouldn’t be at the beach that morning. However, he’d taken it on the chin and planned that one day he’d be able to return the favor.

There was a slight lull between customers, so Steve found Tabitha. “Hey, honey, I’ve got to go.”

A flash of disappointment briefly dulled the blueness of her eyes before she blinked it away. “Oh, okay.”

He wanted to pull her tight into his arms and never let go, but he couldn’t do that. He canted his head to her office, and she picked up on his silent message.

“I’ll be back in a minute, Lauren.”

Lauren glanced up from the coffee machine she was wiping down. “Sure. I’ve got it covered. Take as long as you need,” she finished with a wink, as if she knew exactly what was going on between them. The woman was a young single mother, and Steve liked her even more now.

“Thanks,” he said, and Lauren nodded in return.

The second Tabitha’s office door closed, he tugged her into his arms and slammed his lips down on hers. It’d been far too long since he’d held her, and it was going to be even longer until he could do it again.

They were both breathless when they broke apart. “That’s one heck of a kiss, soldier,” Tabitha remarked.

“Only because of you.” None of what he’d said was a lie. Everything with her was different than what he’d had in the past. Kisses were more intense. The need to touch her overwhelming. Their lovemaking was deep and meaningful.

Which only solidified what he’d known when he’d first seen her—she was it for him. That was the reason he’d stayed away in the beginning. As he’d said to her, Steve should’ve known it would be impossible to keep his distance. They were as inevitable as waves crashing on a sandy beach.

“Thank you for helping me this morning. I don’t think I would’ve got it done without you.” Tabitha’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“It was partly my fault you were late.”

“Only partly? I was more than happy with just washing your back and you washing mine. You were the one who took things further.”

Steve laughed. “Hmm, that’s not quite how I remember it, but can’t say I was upset about how the shower turned out. And you looked especially fetching in the cap to keep your wound dry.”

“Neither was I and I should be embarrassed about it, but I’m not.” She rested her head on his chest.

“That’s the way it should. We’re a team. We can share anything.”

Being part of a team was something she worried wouldn’t happen for her, now she was.

They hugged for a few more moments, as if they were both reluctant to break the embrace. “I really should let you get back out there,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

“I know, but I don’t?—”

“I don’t either.” There was no need for her to finish her sentence. Steve knew what she meant. He didn’t want to leave her either.

Squeezing her tight one last time, he dropped his arms and stepped back. “If you need anything. Anything at all. Call me. But know that you’re covered. We’ll be watching the cameras from outside, and if you’re okay with it, I’ll have your feed from inside the shop running on my computer. Just me. No one else.”

“It’s fine. I’ll wave to you now and then,” Tabitha whispered.

He studied her, looking to see if she was just saying the words to appease him, or if she really didn’t mind that he could look in on her. Her gaze was steady, and her body relaxed. The faint trace of redness from his early morning scruff lingered on her neck, and he couldn’t stop the very inappropriate feeling of pride at seeing his mark on her. He brushed his thumb over her soft skin. “You’re still a little red here,” he murmured.

Tabitha shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

They stared at each other for a few more seconds before Steve took a deep breath and put a little more distance between them. “I really need to go.”

“And I really need to get back out the front.”

Neither of them moved.

“One of us is going to have to do it,” he remarked.

“Do what?”

“Make the first move.”

She laughed. “I think we’re long past that, but okay, let it be me this time.” She winked and turned to head back to the front of the store.

Her hips swayed left to right, and Steve could’ve sworn she’d put in a little extra swing to torment him. Which it did. His body instantly sprang to life. “Minx,” he muttered, loud enough for her to hear though.

Tabitha’s laughter only increased.

She’d known exactly what she’d been doing and how it would affect him.

Steve counted to ten and willed his body to settle down before he followed her back out to the front of the café.

The place had gotten busy again, and Tabitha was in the middle of dealing with a customer.

As much as he wanted to give her another quick hug and kiss, he refrained. He wouldn’t interrupt while she was working. This was her domain, not his.

Steve reached the door and stood to the side to let another couple in, but he glanced back, and Tabitha looked up at the same time.

She smiled big, and he gave her a chin lift before exiting and heading to where he’d parked his car.

He scanned the area and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but he’d ensure he was back here when Tabitha was closing up. No way was he going to leave her vulnerable again. Or alone if Elton Quinn showed up, and given what she’d said about him, Steve wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to harass her again.

Hopefully, by the time he got to the office, all the answers he would need to ensure that Elton and Linex wouldn’t harm Tabitha were waiting for him.

M argot greeted him with a smile. “Morning, Steve. There are a couple of files that came by overnight courier on your desk.”

“Morning, Margot. Thanks, I’ll look at them. Anything else I need to know about?”

“Nope. Everything’s good. Do you want a coffee?”

“I’m good, thanks.” Normally he would’ve said yes, but today was different from other days. Today, he wasn’t the first one into the office. Normally, he’d already have put in at least an hour’s work before everyone else had arrived so he was usually ready for another jolt of caffeine when Margot would ask him.

“Okay. Let me know if you do, though.”

“I will.” With one last nod, Steve headed to his office, ready to face the ribbing he was sure to get from the guys.

“Look who decided to turn up. Nothing like being—” Andy looked at his watch. “An hour late.”

He flipped him the bird while the others chuckled. He had an office, but the rest of the guys shared a common space with their workstations divided up by partitions. There were also two conference rooms that were available if they wanted somewhere quiet to work through a case if they needed.

His door was always open, so he could still hear some of the conversations that were had and could join in when he wanted.

“You got anything for me?” he asked Wilt as he walked past his desk.

“Yep.”

“Great, conference room in ten?” Steve directed his instruction to everyone in the room, and they all nodded.

Steve headed to his office and woke up his computer. He immediately sat and accessed the camera feed for Tabitha’s café.

As if she could sense he was watching her, she looked up at the camera and gave a little wave.

Warmth stole through him, and he wished he was back with her. Wished she could see how that little wave had filled him with joy.

He waved back, even though she couldn’t see it.

How was he even feeling this way?

How was he supposed to handle it?

For so long, his focus had always been on himself and achieving the goals he’d set. Starting his own business had taken a lot of attention, and he was proud of what he’d achieved, especially now with the impending contract with Alliez to help them.

Steve needed to touch base with Baden, their contact at the Australian Federal Police, to let him know it was all going ahead. When Ox from Alliez had first contacted him, he’d reached out to Baden to let him know what was happening, since they often worked with the AFP.

Baden had been happy to speak to Ox, and vice versa. This partnership was going to be a good thing for all parties.

However, Steve was prepared to put Damon in charge of that now that he had Tabitha, something he never would’ve expected of himself a month ago.

“You coming?” Damon stood in his doorway, as if he’d heard Steve think his name.

“Yep.” He studied his friend and second-in-command. There were shadows beneath his eyes, and strain lines were evident around his mouth. “You good?”

“Yeah.”

Steve wasn’t convinced but wouldn’t pry. When Damon was ready, he would tell him what was going on. “Okay, let’s go.”

They made their way to the conference room, where the rest of the guys were waiting. Then he remembered Margot had mentioned the files that’d come in overnight.

All his thoughts had been on Tabitha, and he hadn’t even thought to look at them. With everyone together, it’d be a good time to go over them, as Steve had a feeling they’d come from Ox, considering he’d signed off on the contract after he’d dropped Tabitha home from the hospital a few days ago.

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.” He hotfooted it back to his office, collected them up, and headed back to the room. “Right. What have you got for me?” Steve took his place at the head of the table.

Wilt played with his laptop, and the big screen on the wall lit up with an image of the person who’d attacked Tabitha, only this picture was clearer than from the video footage he’d initially gotten a hold of. The figure was carrying the balaclava he’d worn. “I took a drive down the street where Tabitha’s café is yesterday. Found a couple more houses with cameras. I knocked on their doors, and surprisingly, they were more than happy to let me look at their systems.”

Steve sat back, arching his brow. Why had Wilt gone door-to-door and not tried to hack the cameras? “Why did you do that? And what did you tell them that convinced them to let you do that?”

His buddy shrugged. “No reason really, just decided to try a different approach. And as for what I told them? I told them the truth. Seems they’ve been to Tabby’s Café a few times and were shocked when they’d found out she’d been hurt. They were more than happy to help.”

It didn’t surprise him that people were loyal to her. Yesterday had shown him that when everyone had come up to speak to her to see if she was okay, when she’d walked in. Tabitha made her patrons feel like a part of a family. Not people who would line her pockets.

“Any idea who this guy is?” Steve asked.

“Still working on it,” Wilt said. “It isn’t the greatest picture, but it’s enough to run it through AFP facial recognition database to see if they have anything on him. I’ve emailed it to the investigators on her case as well. Not sure they’ll do anything with it, but they’ll have it. I’m going to print out a copy as well for you to take to Tabitha to see if she recognizes him. I know she probably doesn’t remember every face that comes into her café, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Do that. And you’d be surprised at what she can remember. She knows all her regulars, and I have a feeling this guy probably went in a couple of times to scope things out before he did what he did.” Anger swirled inside of Steve as he recalled what the fucker had done to Tabitha. He wanted to get his hands on him and pay him back for what he’d done.

All through his career, he’d done what had needed to be done, and he done it without getting his emotions involved. However, this need to hurt this unknown man differed from everything he’d done in the past. His feelings were ruling him, and he was embracing it because this fucker was going after the person he cared for most in the world.

No, not cared.

Loved.

The person he loved most in the world.

Steve let that emotion flow through him. It didn’t freak him out. In fact, he wanted to shout it out loud, but he wouldn’t right now because the person he wanted to shout it out to wasn’t in the room with him.

If he mentioned it to any of his men in the room, they’d laugh and tell him he was being ridiculous feeling something so soon.

The only person who may not look at him like he’d sprouted another head would be Chris. He’d fallen for his wife quickly and had no issues relocating to the other side of the world to be with her.

Steve tucked the feeling away, letting it warm the darkest parts of his soul. The parts that had seen the other side of humanity that wasn’t pleasant.

“Steve?”

He jolted at hearing his name, so lost in his thoughts and this new feeling he had toward Tabitha that he’d zoned out on the meeting—something he’d never done before. “Sorry, what?”

Damon wore a slight smile, chasing away some of the shadows that’d lurked around him when they’d walked into the meeting together. “I was just saying that Linex Corporation owns the rest of the premises where Tabitha’s Café is. Have owned them for years, which is why they’re not getting hassled to break their lease like Tabitha is.”

Steve leaned forward. “Who owns the café then? And how is that possible that all the others were sold, but this one wasn’t?”

“I’ve run a title check on Tabitha’s property, and she’s listed as the owner,” Damon said.

“Who was the previous owner?”

His colleague consulted his screen. “Someone by the name of Elizabeth Triller. Records show she goes by Bess. She sold it to Tabitha four years ago. From what I can tell, she ran it as a café as well. Perhaps not as successful as Tabitha has made it, but from what I can see, Bess paid off her mortgage on the property ten years before she sold it to Tabitha. And she sold it to Tabitha well below market value.”

Steve pondered all the information. The key was why Bess hadn’t sold out to Linex. Had they offered Bess a silly-high price like they’d offered Tabitha? Or perhaps they’d offered Bess an amount well below market value.

“Okay, so we need to find out how long the other tenants have been on their premises, and if they were leasing from the previous owners with Linex taking over the agreements. Did someone own the café before Bess? Or was she the sole owner?”

“From the title, it looks like, prior to Bess taking over the property in the late nineteen eighties, that it was owned by a private company. I’m going to see if this company owned the whole complex. Or if each shop was individually owned. I didn’t go that deep on my initial search. I just checked to see how long Linex owned the others.”

“Thanks, Damon.” He looked at Wilt. “You’ll dig a bit further with finding out who Tabitha’s attacker is?”

“Yep. I’ve sent the picture to your printer, so it’s waiting for you to take to Tabitha.”

“Perfect.” Steve pulled the files he’d run back to his office to get. “These arrived overnight. They’re from Alliez. Looks like we’ve got our first venture with them. Wilt, please give Baden a call and see if he can join us for a video conference about this. Ox has left a note saying he’s sent a copy to him as well.”

A mix of anticipation and excitement ran through Steve as he opened the folder.

There was nothing he liked more than to mess up some fuckers’ illegal livelihood.