Page 33 of Amore
I balked. “How?”
“Break a window or something.”
“Right …” I exhaled. “Then how do I stay safe?”
Luke squeezed my knee. “I told you I’ll stay with you.”
“You can’t stay with me forever.”
“I would,” he said under his breath.
10
LUKE
“Luke,”Frankie breathed, twisting her head quickly to look at me.
I cleared my throat, not believing what I’d let slip. “Let’s see how tonight goes, and if you feel safe after I set everything up, then I’ll go back to my place.”
“Okay.” She hesitated for a moment. “I can also see if Nick wants to come over.”
“Have you heard from him?”
Frankie shook her head. “No. He’s probably getting ready to head to New York.”
I found it strange that the two went to a sex club, and she hadn’t heard from him since. It had almost been two days. If I were to do that to Candace, she would have my balls, which, seeing her jealous side, wasn’t attractive. I wasn’t in love with her, and if we weren’t partners, I would probably break up with her. It was clear she didn’t trust me, and I didn’t need the drama. Growing up with Lucy and Frankie, I knew chick drama, and I wasn’t down for that.
I’d never seen myself long-term with Candace. I just never knew how to end it. But being partners had an expiration date because the LAPD typically had officers change cars every one or two years or be promoted. I wanted to be a detective, but I had to have four years of service under my belt. I had two.
With Frankie back in my life, I knew I needed to break up with Candace sooner rather than later because, deep down, I still had feelings for Frankie. It was why I was doing everything I could think of to keep her safe. In a perfect world, she would move immediately into a place with security, like a condo or a building with a doorman. I would hire a bodyguard for her too. Celebrities had bodyguards for a reason, and she needed one. The problem was, celebrities typically didn’t have live-in bodyguards and only used them while out in public. I knew some celebrities had panic rooms, but there was no way I could set one up before my next shift, and I didn’t want to mention it because I didn’t want to frighten her even more.
It was clear whoever the fucker was who broke into her house didn’t care what time of day it was. Or maybe he did it because he knew she wasn’t home.
“Whatever you want to do. I just don’t want you to be alone,” I admitted, jealous she was thinking of calling Nick.
“I can call Emily, or my friend Tori if Nick doesn’t want to come over.”
“Okay, and I’ll still stay tonight, but I have to be on shift at 5 a.m.”
When we arrived back at her home, everything was as we’d left it. There were no mysterious flowers, or anything else, for that matter. Frankie did some things around her house while I installed the cameras and changed the locks on her front and back door. I made sure no one was watching me, so they wouldn’t have a heads up everything was changed. The cameras weren’t hidden, but if someone were to come again, I was hoping they didn’t bother to look up, or if they did, it would be enough to scare them off.
Frankie arranged for her assistant to be at her house in the morning and stay the night. I had originally asked if her assistant could have been the one to break in, but she knew the code to Frankie’s house, and it was clear someone had tampered with the locks on her back door.
“I ordered us dinner,” Frankie said as I put my tools into my bag.
“I thought we were going to work on your cooking skills?” I teased.
She chuckled. “Well, I have no groceries, and you shouldn’t have to cook after doing all of this for me. Plus, I’m starving.”
“Fair enough. What did you order?”
“Still a fan of pineapple on your pizza?”
“I am.” I grinned.
“Well, then you’re in luck because I ordered us a ham and pineapple pizza with jalapeños.”
“Just like old times.”
