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Guy opened the door as Tori hovered just inside the living room. Todd glanced at both of them and ran his hand over his face in a tired gesture.

“Hi, kids,” Todd said evenly. “Guy, go take a little walk. I need a few minutes with Tori.”

Guy frowned as he searched Todd’s blank expression. Slowly he reached for his coat. “Fine,” he agreed without asking any of the questions he had. He knew Todd wouldn’t supply any answers. Not when he already told him to give them privacy. “I’ll be right outside, Tori.”

Tori tried to stay calm as she watched Guy close the door. She knew she was safe with Todd but still wished he hadn’t made Guy leave. Even if she was petrified of facing him she’d feel better if he were there.

“Can we sit for a minute?” Todd strolled into the kitchen. “I just want to talk, Tori. There’s no need to look so nervous.”

“Oh. Okay.” She returned to her seat and hid her hands under the table.

“I wanted to speak to you without Guy because I have some things to say that are in reference to him,” Todd’s tone was strictly professional as was his posture.

“What’s wrong?” Tori’s voice broke as she choked back a sob.

Todd frowned at her growing unease. After an uncomfortable silence, he must have realized he was the cause and slumped forward, resting his elbows on the table with his head held between them. “I didn’t mean to frighten you by barging in like this. You don’t have to pretend I didn’t.” He smiled gently.

“Yeah, well, maybe just a little,” she admitted. “You seem so different today.”

“I’m not surprised. I tend to get a little rigid when I’m tired. Terese calls this my professional FBI guy mode.”

“Mm. I guess you’ve been toning it down for me.”

“Perhaps I was subconsciously but I think it has more to do with the extenuating circumstances.”

“Huh?”

“Forgive me for being blunt but you’re not purely a part of this investigation. Hear me out,” he rushed on before she could deny it. “The simple fact that Guy called me directly and asked me to get involved made that clear right from the start. He hasn’t said a thing unless I asked point-blank but I would have known anyway. We’ve been friends for a long time. It’s obvious that he has feelings for you every time he looks at you.”

Tori groaned and hid her face with her hands.

“I’m sure he’s told you so I’m not saying anything you don’t already know. I don’t think I understand why you seem so horrified that I noticed though. Sure, the timing sucks but you don’t usually have any control over that sort of thing. When it hits you it does.”

“Oh God.” Tori blushed hotly, clearly embarrassed by the conversation.

“Hey, hold on a sec. I’m not criticizing you or condemning you or anything of the sort. I wanted you to know that I understand so you don’t feel awkward when it’s just the three of us. Guy won’t hide his feelings for you then and I wanted you to know you could be open too.”

“But it’s not like that!”

“Oh.” Todd was stunned. “Please excuse me for misinterpreting the situation. I guess I was mistaken and I apologize for jumping to conclusions.”

“Wait.” Tori looked miserable. “Damn it! I didn’t mean it like that. Well, I did but…oh hell.”

“I see.”

“That’s it? I see? What the hell does that mean, I see?”

Todd lost the battle not to laugh. Tori’s face took on a look somewhere between mortification and utter disbelief. When she started to slide her chair away from the table Todd caught one of her hands to keep her there. “I’m not laughing at you,” he declared even before he had his laughter under control. “Truly, I’m not. At least not directly,” Todd took a deep breath but continued to grin.

“No wonder Guy’s so bent out of shape. Let me see if I can explain. Guy is one of the rare individuals who is as genuine as he seems, probably even more so. Has been for as long as I’ve known him. You know how some people are better at, say, being part of a close family or exceptional in their careers or treating others with kindness and respect or going beyond the description of being a true friend? With Guy, all areas of his life are in balance. He matured evenly instead of in spurts with one facet lagging while another surged. You can ask anyone who knows him and they’ll all tell you the same thing. He’s a good guy. Good cop. Good son, brother, uncle. Good neighbor. Good friend. No, good’s not right. I should have used great or the best even. He’s unconditionally fair and level-headed. Even with his sisters who could all make a saint’s head exploded, Guy is often the one to stop yelling first and become the peacekeeper. Two weeks ago, I would have sworn it was impossible for any situation to throw Guy so far off that he’d go into a tailspin. Then you popped up and showed me just how wrong I was.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve had him tied in knots from the moment he laid eyes on you.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to imply that you had. You don’t have to. Guy would never admit this or even mention it but he’s been pretty frustrated the past few years. He wants someone to share his life with and his inability to find the right woman had him discouraged to the point where he was beginning to accept there might not be one for him. Then he met you.”

“You shouldn’t be telling me this.”

“I have to. He’s too lost not to make a complete mess of it if he attempted to. Tori, I know the basics of how you got here. I understand why you question everyone instead of taking them at face value as many people do. I’m not judging you or trying to push you into anything with Guy. I’m sure this would be hard enough for you even without the many complications of your current situation. My point is that Guy is very likely to do and say things that would normally have you running in the other direction without looking back. I already noticed he’s protecting you to the point of smothering you and I doubt you’ll have much success if you tell him to back off a little. If I don’t stay on him he’ll start believing that he’s the only one who can keep you safe until these men are caught. I can see how hard he finds it to stop himself from reaching for you constantly and I suspect it’s close to impossible to let you out of his sight.”

“Yeah,” Tori mumbled.

“When I met Terese, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t even spoken to me yet and I knew I’d love her forever. Guy invited me home with him while my car was being repaired because we’d spent much of the afternoon kidding around like guys do when they first meet and aren’t sure of each other yet. I followed him into the noisiest house I’d ever been in and announced who I was and why I was there. His mother was stirring a pot on the stove and yelled for one of his sisters to get something for her. Terese was at the sink and turned to hand it to her. She looked up to see who Guy had with him and as soon as our eyes met it was like we were the only ones there.

“The rest of the room faded and I couldn’t hear any of the commotion that had been there a second ago. The only thing I was aware of was that the most beautiful girl in the world was smiling at me. Guy saw how we were looking at each other and managed for me to sit next to her. After dinner he asked her to help him out by keeping me company while he did his homework. He gave us the opportunity to spend some time alone which I’m sure his parents would have objected to if I’d suggested it. Guy brought us together by being the generous man he’s always been.

“Terese and I have often wondered if we would have realized our feelings for each other if Guy hadn’t stopped me from returning to the garage as I’d planned to. We don’t like to think about our chances if he hadn’t taken me home that day. You probably wish I’d mind my own business but I can’t sit by and watch him flounder around and do all the wrong things where you’re concerned without saying something to you. He’s being overbearing and controlling with you because he’s petrified that they’re going to find a way around all of us and hurt you. I can’t promise he’ll ease up once we have them but I can assure you that his heart is in the right place even if his actions aren’t.

“I’m pretty sure his mind is racing in a million directions at once right now and he has no idea what to do about that. This is hitting him hard, much harder than I thought it would. It would be damn amusing for the whole family to see him like this if you weren’t in danger. I’ll be the first in line to bust on him once this is over. I’ll do what I can to keep you out of the middle of it as I know Guy will but you should be prepared to meet the rest of the family. They’ll come on like gangbusters, welcoming you and you’ll feel like you’ve been attacked by a swarm of rabid locusts by the time they all leave. You’ll need to learn to stick up for yourself and be blunt to the point of offensive until you find the right balance with them. The sisters have all been actively trying to fix Guy up. They’re going to ask very personal questions and pick up every little thing but it will only be because they love Guy so much and want him to be happy.”

Tori shrugged to hide her nervousness. “Thanks, Todd, but I don’t think I have to worry about that since I know Guy will realize he isn’t at all interested me as soon as you arrest those guys. He thinks he is now because of how closely he’s protecting me. I won’t deny that he’s a handsome man and we have managed some decent conversations but we don’t really have anything other than this in common so once it’s over we’ll say goodbye and get back to reality.”

Todd shook his head and stared at her. “You don’t believe that any more than I do and you aren’t going to no matter how often you say it. Love like I have with Terese and you could have with Guy is a very powerful thing. It’s the scariest and most wonderful thing when you finally let yourself accept that that’s what you’re feeling. For me, it’s still some of each. But the wonderful far outweighs the scary and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

“Why’s it still scary?”

“Oh, lots of reasons. There are many times when I’m so overwhelmed that it seems too good to be true. It hits me when I’m alone and lasts until I see Terese again. The second I’m with her I know it’s real and even better than I thought. I’m also scared that something unexpected will take her away from me and I don’t think I could live without her anymore. We’ve talked about it and she feels the same way which has made both of us more aware of how precious our time together is and why we shouldn’t waste any of it. Our daughter, Sarah, compounds it every day as I know our new baby will when it’s born in about three months. I don’t know if Guy told you much about us but Terese and I lost babies twice when she miscarried, both times in her third month. I didn’t think you could survive something that hurt that much, let alone open yourself up to the chance of it being repeated but we both made it because we had each other.”

“Guy did tell me about that and I can’t imagine what you went through.”

“Just as I can’t imagine what you’ve survived. Tori, I know I’m way out of bounds and I’ve said too much but please just think about it. Don’t give in to the fear and hide behind how others have treated you in your past and reject Guy without honestly considering what you could have with him if you let yourself take a chance. Take your time and listen to your heart. Tell him to give you room to breathe as often as you need to for him to hear you and back off. He’ll wait as long as it takes if you tell him you aren’t rejecting the idea of being with him. He’s the kind of man who doesn’t commit lightly and wouldn’t break it once he does so I promise you with all the love I have for Terese and Sarah and our unborn child that there would never be a need for you to be insecure with him.”

“Don’t say that!” Tori jumped up to stare out the window. “You can’t make promises like that for someone else.”

“When it comes to Guy and how I know he would be if he had you in his life, I can. It’s up to you to figure out what you want and if there can be something between you. All I’m asking is for you to be fair to both of you by looking beyond your current safety zone until you honestly see what could be out there.”

Tori slid back into her chair and faced him. “I don’t know if I can do that and I’m still not sure there’d be anything to see if I managed to look.”

“Understood.” Todd squeezed her hand again. “Just try to let yourself think about it. It’s your decision, Tori. Yours and Guy’s although I’m certain he’s already made his. Okay, I promise I’m through meddling so you don’t have to worry about me cornering you like this again. No matter what happens from here on in you will have my continued respect and highest regard for the strength and courage you possess. If you end up married to someone else, I’ll still believe you’re someone special who could have become a friend. Even after this case is closed, you’d be safe trusting me with personal details but I can see you don’t believe that so I won’t push it. I will however belabor the fact that I am available if you ever need to talk about Guy or just listen if he’s being an ass and you need to vent.”

“I may take you up on that venting part if you don’t find them real soon,” Tori blurted before she could stop herself.

Todd chuckled. “Anytime and I honestly mean that. If I thought he would listen I’d offer to have a talk with him but since I already made him give his word that he’d let the rest of us do our jobs I doubt that I’d get as far as you will if you point out his less than endearing behavior.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Better to save my breath.”

“I know you don’t need me to make excuses for him but he really does know what he’s doing. He simply can’t stop himself even though I’m sure he tries to.”

“That makes one of us.”

“If you say so. One more thing before I go see if he has any mind left after the way this is driving him crazy. Today is going to be stressful for all of us but even more so for you. Guy will attempt all sorts of things to distract you and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of them are too bizarre to tell anyone because they’re too unbelievable for words. I won’t be asking you for details by the way. If you have the slightest interest in whatever he comes up with please go along with it. It’s getting to all of us that we’re going to know when we’re out of time and watching you hurt without being able to do anything about it is going to be extremely hard for him.”