She wanted that. She hadn't known it could be real, but the evidence was right in front of her. She loved being what she was, what she could do, even the good she knew she'd done with her various assignments, but this was personal. This was something that touched her where nothing else ever had.
"Bellisia?" Nonny had come a few steps into the hallway. "Are you all right?"
Her tone was gentle. Caring. Warm. All the things Bellisia associated with Ezekiel. Was it possible to miss a man when she barely knew him? When he'd only been gone a short period of time? Remembering the way Nonny and her husband had looked at each other, she believed it possible.
"Yes. It's just that . . ." She trailed off, sweeping her hand to encompass the house. "I've never done this before. I don't go into homes."
Nonny smiled at her and stepped back to indicate that she go into the kitchen before her. "Then you'll fit right in. My daughter-in-law, Pepper, had never been in a home before, and certainly Cayenne, Trap's wife, hadn't either. My three granddaughters were equally without knowledge of homes until Pepper brought them here."
Bellisia stepped into the kitchen and inhaled. Even the scents were unbelievable, the way she'd pictured a home should smell. Cinnamon. Sugar. Spices. The room was large, the table long and beautifully carved. Pots and pans hung from a rack over a center island that should have been messy after preparing a meal, but was spotless.
A woman stood up gracefully. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair was very thick and dark with strange patterns woven through like diamonds and was braided into a thick rope. Her eyes were gorgeous, a distinct shade of blue violet. "I'm Pepper, Bellisia. Welcome to our home." She spoke with a French accent, her tone low and sensual, even to Bellisia's ears. "Apparently you've already met my girls. Ginger, Thym and Cannelle couldn't wait to see who was sleeping in their uncle Zeke's bed." She did her best to look disapprovingly at her daughters, but only succeeded in looking proud of them.
"Yes, they were nice enough to tell me breakfast was ready." She couldn't believe how nervous she was. It was silly. Pepper and Cayenne had been prisoners of Whitney just as she had been. They were enhanced psychically as well as physically. They were sisters, just as the women she'd been raised with had been. Not by blood, but in every other way. They just . . . fit . . . here, whereas she had no idea what she was doing.
"We're so happy to have you join us," Cayenne added, skirting around the table to join Pepper and Bellisia. "I'm Cayenne. Trap is my husband. I don't know if you've met the team members yet." She sounded as if it was a forgone conclusion that Bellisia would.
Pepper was ultra-feminine. Soft. It was difficult to see her as lethal or a warrior at all, yet she had to be in order to have been enhanced by Whitney. Cayenne looked very small and fragile, and very young. She was slight with dark black hair, so dark and shiny it almost looked a midnight blue, although down the back of it ran a red hourglass. It was hidden until she moved and then it burst to life beneath the lights in the kitchen. Although she looked young, she also gave the impression to Bellisia that she was someone to contend with.
Bellisia looked young, small and defenseless. She was anything but defenseless, so she recognized a warrior when she saw one. She identified more with Cayenne, and that made her feel as if she had a chance with Ezekiel. If Cayenne could transform herself into someone who fit there in that home, it was possible Bellisia could.
"Please call me Bella. Everyone does. Well, with the exception of Ezekiel."
Nonny waved them all to the table. The triplets were in chairs with booster seats. All three were making short work of strawberry waffles and what looked like homemade whipped cream.
"Where did you meet Zeke?" Cayenne asked, her voice casual.
Bellisia wasn't deceived. This was going to be an interrogation. She was very, very good at interrogations. She'd been through enough of them. She took the chair Nonny indicated, not surprised in the least that it was directly across from Cayenne.
"I worked as a waitress in New Orleans. Jackson Square. He was shopping, he told me he was getting spices for Nonny, and he sat at one of my tables. He asked me to sit down with him when I had a break so I did." She rubbed the pad of her thumb over the center of her palm where he'd kissed her. Her fingers closed around the center as if she could capture that feeling forever. "He's very compelling when he wants something."
"Yes, he is," Cayenne agreed.
"Help yourself to food," Nonny said. "There's no need to be shy."
It was a good thing Bellisia had decided to learn to waitress. The food provided in the barracks had been nutritious, but definitely not like what she'd seen at the restaurant where she'd worked, or spread out across Nonny's table. There were the waffles, but also a very traditional Cajun casserole of eggs, grated cheese, salt, butter and Worcestershire sauce. As if that wasn't enough, there was a platter of bayou crab cakes. Someone had cut up fresh berries and put them in a bowl to eat with the waffles and whipped cream. In order to blend in, Bellisia had learned to do her homework, and food was one of the identifiable markers for New Orleans. She could name all of it and even knew the ingredients, but she hadn't tasted it.
"Aren't you hungry?" Nonny asked, nudging her plate.
"Yes. I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours." She'd been too busy watching the men train. She'd been in the water the entire time. Her body had loved it, but her stomach--not so much. The others had food on their plates, but she wasn't certain how to proceed. "I've never done this before." She thought it better to tell the truth. Ezekiel wanted her to be with these people--the ones he considered family. They might as well know the truth about her.
"Eat breakfast?" Pepper said, frowning.
All three little girls stopped laughing with one another and went eerily silent, forks with waffle bites hovering in the air. As usual it was left to Ginger to do the talking. "Never?"
"Not in a house. A home, with other people around. I grew up differently." She sounded casual because she felt casual about it. That was a fact. She'd been sold to Whitney as an infant and experimented on almost from birth. She'd been trained as a soldier and then an assassin. She was a highly skilled operative and she'd performed numerous successful missions. She wasn't ashamed of that, only anxious that she didn't offend anyone without Ezekiel present to guide her a little.
Nonny smiled at her. "Just choose the food you like and put it on your plate. If it isn' close to you, just ask for it. We don' stand on ceremony in the kitchen. I like my girls to eat up, keep their strength up." She looked at all three girls and instantly they began eating.
Determined, Bellisia took a little of each dish. Donny often left spicy food, mostly fish and shrimp that he'd caught, for her to eat. She enjoyed it, but she learned to go easy since she was new to the varieties of New Orleans cuisine.
"Thanks for savin' Ezekiel," Nonny said. "He's a good boy, tough as nails. I was upset that I didn't get your warnin' in time to stop him from goin'."
Again silence reigned. The triplets exchanged long looks. "What happened to Uncle Zeke?" Ginger asked, a little quiver in her voice. Her chin wobbled. "Mama?" She looked toward Pepper.
"Do you remember when I told you we always have to be careful because there are some very bad people who want to find us and take us away? That's why we have guards and dogs and we have to look after one another," Pepper said softly. "Uncle Zeke was busy trying to help some people who really need it and the bad people had infiltrated the team he was working with."
Bellisia kept her eyes on the three little girls absorbing news that was far too mature for them, but that they clearly understood. She watched them while taking her first bite of the casserole. It took a minute to process all the flavors. It was good. She definitely could eat it.
The triplets' faces dropped and tears shone bright in their eyes. "But Uncle Zeke is . . . special. Tough. No one can take Uncle Zeke. He's like Daddy." Ginger again voiced what all of them were thinking. It stood to reason that if Uncle Zeke wasn't safe,
neither was their father.
"The bad men made everyone sick and then pretended to help Zeke, but instead they injected him with drugs that made him unconscious. They took him to the marsh, to one of the camps there," Pepper explained, clearly having been given all the details by one of the other GhostWalkers.
Cayenne leaned across the table toward the girls. "I know that scares you, that someone as tough as Uncle Zeke could be taken by our enemies, but the reason we're always together and tell one another where we're going is because someone will come and get us, just like Bella helped Uncle Zeke."
"Actually," Bellisia said, mostly for the triplets, "I'm not as certain as he is that he couldn't have gotten out of there without my help. He was awake and already out of his bonds when I managed to get to him. They had several mercs positioned around the cabin and it took a while to work my way through them. By that time, he was groggy and . . ." She paused searching for the right word to describe Ezekiel cut to pieces. "Hurt." She settled on that as the least scary word for the triplets. "He was hurt but ready for action."
There was a brief silent interchange between the three girls while she calmly ate her food. She could see why the team was so obsessed with Nonny's food. It was delicious and maybe a little addicting.
"How hurt?" Ginger asked suspiciously.
That brought her a flashback of her first sight of Ezekiel lying on the table, covered in blood. Blood dripped from the table onto the floor in a steady rhythm. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry and she put her fork down and pushed her plate slightly away from her.
Ezekiel was a big man and strong. He looked--and felt--invincible. He wouldn't have made it out of there before the charges had been set off. He'd lost too much blood and was too weak. She'd nearly lost him. All of them had. She hadn't allowed herself to think about that. She'd fallen so hard for him in the weeks that she'd followed him, stalking him like some crazed woman. A great pressure suddenly squeezed hard on her chest. Behind her eyes tears burned.
"Obviously he wasn't hurt that bad, Ginger," Nonny said. "He came home, didn't he? He's still carryin' out his work because he left before dawn this mornin'. He'll be coming back in a few days, and he's asked us to look after Bella for him. He's countin' on us."
Nonny reached out casually and put a hand on Bellisia's shoulder. It was light. Caring. That gentle touch made her want to cry for real. The girls comforted one another on those nights in the barracks when things had been rough and particularly awful. Having Nonny comfort her was--extraordinary.
A crackle sounded and beside her Nonny went still. "Incoming." Rubin's voice was terse and came from a speaker somewhere in the kitchen. "Cayenne, move it."
Cayenne instantly was up and gone. Nonny rose without a word and went down the hall, Bellisia trailing after her while Pepper took the three girls in the opposite direction. The girls were obviously well versed in security precautions. They didn't protest or argue in any way as their mother shepherded them toward safety.
Nonny picked up a shotgun that was set right beside the door before opening it. Bellisia didn't like her exposed that way, but she stayed back, out of sight, ready to spring into action, trusting that wherever Cayenne had gone, she was protecting Nonny.
"Donny. What a surprise," Nonny greeted their visitor. "What brings you out this way?"
Bellisia sagged against the wall with relief. Of course Donny would come for her. He was considered a little crazy by the local population, but those who knew him were aware he was loyal to his friends, and if you were in his inner circle, he was protective. He'd allowed her to live on his island. That made her his. It also made her very aware that the compound needed more guards.
"I believe one of my kids is here, Grace. I've come to bring her home."
"You look loaded for bear."
"I am."
Bellisia hugged herself tightly. In a few short weeks, her life had changed dramatically. Those two quiet words, "I am," said it all. Donny was prepared to go to war with GhostWalkers for her. Whitney had raised her from the time she was an infant and he'd planted a virus in her that would kill her if she were a few hours late returning from a mission. Donny had known her a few weeks and he was ready to fight trained soldiers. He lived and worked in the swamp. He knew the Fontenot family and he was a veteran. He'd served his time in the military and he recognized dangerous men. Still, he'd come for her.
Bellisia moved up beside Nonny, unable to keep the smile from her face. "Donny, I can't believe you came looking for me."
"Armed to the teeth," Nonny added.
He shrugged, in no way perturbed by Nonny's assessment. It was the truth. He was dressed for war. He hadn't even bothered to pretend that he was there for anything else. He had guns, knives, grenades and a vest filled with ammunition right out in the open.
"Didn't want anyone to mistake this for a friendly visit. They came and took my girl last night. She was exhausted and she hauled that soldier's ass into a boat, all the way to my island, got him up on land and took care of him. Even donated blood. They hauled her away hog-tied, Grace." He stepped closer and reached out to catch Bellisia's hands. He turned them over and held them up to the light. "You see those bruises? They weren't gentle about it either."
She'd never heard that particular hardness in his tone. Donny was a law unto himself. He wouldn't think twice about shooting a trespasser, but he took in stray children, gave them work and put them through school. He had a dog he sounded gruff with, but the dog was taken to a vet regularly and Donny went over him every day looking for parasites or signs of trouble. Now, he sounded as if he wanted to go to war.
Nonny reached out and gently removed Bellisia's hands from Donny's grip. "I've got something for these bruises, child. You should have told me."
Ezekiel hadn't seen them either and she knew instinctively he would find them abhorrent. She shrugged. "His friends weren't taking any chances, Donny, and they shouldn't. They're soldiers. Bad things happened, and I was a question mark. A stranger they didn't know or trust. Their friend was hurt. At least they didn't shoot first and ask questions later." She sent him a faint grin, referring to one of the numerous signs he had up around the island to warn people off.
Nonny stepped outside the screen and raised a hand to her hair. It took a moment for Bellisia to realize she'd signaled to Cayenne and Rubin that their visitor was a friend. "Come in, Donny. Sit a spell."
"Prefer outside, Grace."
She nodded and waved her hand toward one of the three rocking chairs on the front porch. Hand carved, the rockers were beautiful. Donny nodded and took the one that afforded the best view of the river and surrounding trees at the edge of the swamp. Grace sank into her favorite, leaving Bellisia the third chair.
"Had some visitors." This time Donny looked directly at Bellisia. "That's why I was late getting here this morning."
Everything in her stilled with the exception of her heart. That slammed painfully hard in her chest and then began to gallop. She knew what was coming.
"Two men. Big. Something off about them. One showed me a picture of you, said he'd tracked you to a local restaurant in the square and one of the waitresses said you knew me--that you'd talked about me."
Her big mouth. She hadn't said she'd lived with him, but in attempting friendly conversation, she had admitted she'd met him. The waitress had been regaling her with tales of the locals and she'd mentioned Donny and that he was out of his mind. "Batshit crazy" she'd called him. Bellisia couldn't help but defend him. She'd said she'd met him and he seemed very nice.
Donny hadn't taken his eyes off her face as he took his phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket. "This one said he was your husband. Said you were bipolar and sometimes ran off. He always tracked you down and took you home."
He passed the phone to her. "That's Gerald Perkins, and he's probably with his partner, Adam Cox. I'm not married to either of them. In fact, I'm not married." She handed the phone back to Donny.
"You're running from them." Donny m
ade it a statement.
"Yes. What did you tell them?"
"Said I'd met you a time or two, but didn't have a clue where you lived. Thought you were too fancy for the swamp, said I pegged you for a townie."
"Do you think they believed you?"
"Don't care. They'd better not try to come on my island."
She knew Donny was a hard-ass, but Whitney's supersoldiers would wipe the floor with him. "You can't fight them."
"Bullet kills them same as me," he stated.
She shook her head. "It doesn't always though. A bullet won't kill them. Some of these men have armor under their skin. Seriously, Donny, don't try to go to war with them. If they come on the island, use one of your many ways to get out. Don't be seen. Dump anything of mine into the river, and get rid of all the evidence that I was ever there."
"I packed your things and already got rid of the evidence. Brought your clothes and personals to you. Knew you might have to run again. Brought money and supplies." He sounded gruffer than ever.
How could he care after only a few short weeks, when Whitney had been around her for her entire life and was willing to kill her if she was late? It made no sense to her, but that warm feeling inside of her began to grow stronger. There were good people in the world after all, and she'd been lucky enough to find some of them.
"That was so kind of you, Donny."
"That's me, kid, I'm all about the kind."
"Would you care for some coffee or breakfast?" Nonny asked.
"Coffee works. I scouted around before I came in. You got one man here and a bunch of women. Think I'll sit a spell and wait for your reinforcements to arrive. They are coming, aren't they, Grace?" He looked to Nonny.
"Rubin said we got word that a few of the boys are back and will be comin' home soon. I don' know what that translates to in time, but thank you, we could use your skills."