“Probably this guy knows that. You should stick as close to routine as possible. We’ll keep the curtains open but don’t stand directly in front of the windows. What would you usually be doing about now?”
“Umm, I’d usually work until around nine then watch some TV.”
His eyebrow rose. “Working? At this time of night? Screen time right before bed ain’t something I’d ever allow. Surprised Jed does.”
She scowled at him. “I changed my mind, your accent isn’t sexy, it’s annoying.”
He huffed out a laugh. She looked over her shoulder as Bain entered the room, standing in the doorway. Not that she’d heard him move, she’d just felt him.
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to work, she pretended to watch TV for a while, until it grew truly dark. She turned on a floor lamp and, combined with the fairy lights on the mantel they provided enough light for her to see. Macca kept to the shadows. Bain had come downstairs; he was keeping watch out the dining room window.
“This waiting stuff sucks.”
She was worn out. But at the same time, she was wired and knew she wouldn’t sleep.
“Lie down on the couch, baby,” Macca told her. “You can go up to bed soon.”
“I won’t sleep.”
“You can rest.”
“What if he doesn’t show? Are we going to have to do this again tomorrow night?” How the hell would she get through this night after night?
“Tomorrow, we install cameras around the house. When Jed can’t be here one of us is. We’ll catch him, Daisy.”
Nope. No way. She didn’t want strangers in her house.
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“First time you received those flowers, you should have told Jed,” Bain told her. “You couldn’t get hold of him; you should have told us. We could have had cameras on this place, gotten him well before now.”
“Bain.” Macca frowned over at him.
“Now, you got to put up with someone with you at all times to make you safe then that’s what you have to deal with. Jed’s not here, one of us is. You need to go somewhere, then someone is on your ass protecting you. Deal.”
Wow. Someone who was even blunter and growlier than Jed. She didn’t think it was possible.
Macca grimaced. “We normally don’t let him speak to clients. He tends to scare them off.”
“I’m not a client.” She very much doubted she could afford their rates.
“No. You’re family,” Bain told her. Then he grunted and stiffened. “Jed’s caught sight of someone approaching. They’re gonna see if he heads to the spot.”
“Right, baby,” Macca told her. “It’s show time. Let’s head upstairs and lure this guy in. Last thing we want is to scare him off by doing anything differently. But you do what I tell you, yeah?”
“What if he’s got a gun? What if he hurts someone?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“What’d I tell you about your man, Daisy?”
“That he’s a badass.”
Bain snorted.
“Didn’t quite put it like that,” Macca said with a grin. “But yeah, baby, he’s a badass.”
“He?
?s gonna have your balls, he hears you calling his woman baby,” Bain warned.