Page 106 of Finding Elodie
Elodie had never seen the man before, but she couldn’t help but take a second glance.
He was gorgeous.
He looked older, possibly in his mid-forties to mid-fifties. But men always seemed to age more gracefully than women, so she could be way off. He had black hair that was liberally peppered with silver. It was longer on top and, even as she stared, he ran a hand through it, making it stick up even wilder. His neatly trimmed short beard was more gray than black, and she definitely approved. He had on a pair of black jeans with a black T-shirt. His skin was darkly tanned and she could see the edges of a tattoo peeking out of the right sleeve.
But it was his eyes that pinned her in place. They were a dark green, almost jade, and seemed to see way too much. She knew without having to be told, this man had dark secrets.
She shivered and broke eye contact with the newcomer as Scott covered her shoulders with a throw blanket.
That was another thing, ever since her time in the ocean, she had difficulty staying warm. Her body temperature had gotten so low, her organs had been on the verge of shutting down. It seemed as if her fingers and toes were always cold now. The doctors told her that would disappear with time.
The stranger greeted each member of Scott’s team with a handshake or a chin lift and then stood a respectable distance from her.
“Elodie, this is Baker Rawlins. He’s a retired Navy SEAL who lives on the island,” Scott told her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Elodie said. “Thank you for your service.” She wasn’t sure why she was meeting this man, but she had no problem being polite and welcoming to anyone who Scott and his team seemed to like.
And they definitely liked and respected this man. It was easy to see in the way they interacted with him. Their behavior was almost deferential.
Baker pulled Aleck’s fancy coffee table over in front of the couch, then sat on it and studied her.
Elodie shifted uncomfortably at his proximity, but he didn’t make her wait to let her know what he was doing there—and why he was so focused on her.
“I heard you’ve been having some problems with the Columbus family out of New York.”
She blinked at the way he didn’t beat around the bush. She glanced at the others, and they all nodded at her with encouragement. Scott squeezed her hand. Mentally shrugging—if the guys trusted this man, she supposed she had absolutely no reason not to either—she told him, “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Well, you don’t anymore.”
“Um…what?”
“You don’t have to worry about Paul Columbus or any of his capos coming after you anymore.”
“I’m not sure it’s that easy,” she protested. She wanted to believe him, but she knew firsthand how ruthless the man was.
“It is when he’s dead,” Baker replied.
Elodie frowned. “He’s dead?”
“Yeah. Happened a week ago. New York’s a dangerous place. Carjacking. He and the man he was with were both shot in the head, their bodies dumped, and his Mercedes was stolen.”
Elodie wanted to believe this man. Needed to. But she was afraid to hope. “I’m sure whoever took his place will take up where he left off,” she whispered.
Baker shook his head. “Nope. Here’s the thing…Paul was an asshole. Most mob bosses are, but he’d gotten so bad, his own family hated him. His second-in-command, his son Jerry, is now in charge, and he didn’t know anything about Paul’s vendetta against you.”
Elodie couldn’t take her gaze from Baker’s green one. “How do you know all this?”
“I asked him.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I know people who know people, and I took a trip to the mainland when my friend Tex asked me to step in.”
“Tex?”
Baker looked over at Scott. “She doesn’t know who Tex is?”
Scott shook his head. “No.”
