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Damien found Riley at the dining table, shrugging out of his jacket to hang it over the back of a chair, looking entirely like he planned on staying home.
“Riley?”
His son-in-law smiled. “Looks like it’s just us boys. Coffee?”
Disappointment stole through him at the thought of not spending the day with Penny, but it was short-lived. If she was spending it with Stevie and Max, she’d be more than safe and have every chance at working on their relationship. Besides, he’d spent the night with her and if it was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be their last.
“Sure.”
Riley turned and set the kettle to boil. “I notice you didn’t come home last night...” The not-so-subtle reference to his walk of shame made him chuckle.
“Your point?”
As if realizing he pried, Riley turned crimson with a blush and shook his head. “None of my business.” He lit the burner under the kettle. “But for what it’s worth, I think you made Stevie’s day.”
“Nothing happened. Really. We slept.”
He took a seat at the dining table to watch Riley fluff about at the kitchen bench preparing their mugs. Riley chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully. “If I said that about Stevie and I, would you have believed me?”
Fair point. Damien coughed to clear his throat, preferring not to think of the man opposite in an intimate embrace with his daughter. There were some things a father did not need to know.
“We’re not jumping into anything.” Although the way she’d woken him had almost caused one thing to lead to another...he decided to change the topic. “Just make sure Penny is never caught alone. If I’m not with her, Stevie is, or you are, or one of the others.”
A spoon clinked against a ceramic mug. “Have you heard anything about Sebastian?”
“No. You?”
At the fridge, Riley pulled out a carton of milk. “Whispers, nothing concrete, but if they hold any truth, you can be certain he’ll come for you both.” Riley paused to make eye contact. “Sooner rather than later.”
Anger filled Damien’s chest. “Let him.”
When the kettle whistled, Riley turned off the burner before looking at Damien with an expression that urged him to be serious. “Please don’t be blasé about this. Stevie has just got you both back, it would break her in two if something happened to either Penny or yourself. It’s not all about you, you know?”
He sobered at the reminder of what was at stake. Damien raised both hands in a sign of surrender. “Alright. I don’t need a lecture.”
“I have a bad feeling about this, Damien.”
He’d said the exact same words before they parachuted out of the cargo plane in East Timor over a decade ago, and look how that turned out. Damien watched him set the coffee mug on the table, noting the rigid jaw and the tension in Riley’s muscles. The kid had always had good instincts and he needed to remember that.
“Point taken.”
Riley took the seat opposite. “I feel it only to fair to warn you, I have someone keeping an eye on you. Friend, not foe. I’d be surprised if you see him, but if you do, don’t freak out.”
The news took him by surprise. “I find that oddly comforting.”
A wry smile flashed before disappearing behind a mug. He’d always known Riley had been well-connected courtesy of his time as a private bodyguard, but to think he still had such contacts unnerved him. To most people, he appeared to be a loving father and husband, and a local handyman doing odd jobs, but it seemed he hadn’t left that life behind completely. Like Damien, it lurked in the background with the potential to suck them back in at any given moment.
“And yet, disturbing,” Damien murmured. “We need to break these ties.”
Riley nodded. “Agreed, but not before we put Sebastian Mustang where he belongs. For Penny’s sake.”
He couldn’t have said it better himself. “You really are the perfect son-in-law.”