SMK: The Ties That Bind Chapter 4

Emilio's: Day 1, One hour later (Noon)

"You're awfully quiet." They were sitting in a corner booth at the back of Emilio's. Soft music played over the restaurant's sound system, and the atmosphere was softly lit even though it was high noon outside.

Amanda sat leaning forward and resting her forearms on the table. Absently, she fiddled with the wedding ring on her finger; she really liked seeing it there. Maybe with everything going on, she'd be able to wear it more often.

Lee reached out and covered her hands with one of his. He ducked his head to look directly into her face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." Without turning her head, she offered him as much of a smile as she could muster and entwined her fingers between his. "I'm okay. Just tired. It's been an emotional morning. Kind of wore me out."

"I know." His other hand came around her and caressed the back of her hair as he sighed. "I'm so sorry, Amanda. I'd really like to get you home so you can rest." His gentle nudge on the back of her head brought her face around so he could look her in the eye. "Hey, don't worry. It's going to be okay."

"Oh, I know," she closed her eyes and leaned back to rest her head against the tall seat cushion. "I'm okay." She squeezed his fingers. "I can handle it as long as we're together."

"Are you kidding me? After the last two months of hardly even seeing you because of work?" Lee chuckled, but she knew he was dead serious. "There's no way you're getting rid of me, Mrs. Stetson."

Amanda smiled, but she was dead tired and didn't even open her eyes until Lee tapped her hand and cleared his throat. Realizing Francine and Billy must have arrived, she sat up quickly and started to pull away from him, but his free arm wrapped around her shoulders and pinned her against his side. She turned to look at him and ran smack-dab into his intense gaze. The message in them was clear. No more hiding.

Lee let go of her and stood as Billy and Francine scooted into the curved booth with them. Without even looking at her, Amanda could feel Francine stare at them as Lee sat back down and put his arm around her. Amanda took a steadying breath. Here went nothing…

"Francine, it's time I made proper introductions."

"Excuse me?"

"Let me introduce..." he took a deep breath, then turned and gazed at her. "...my wife. Mrs. Amanda Stetson."

Francine just stared, as if not sure what to think. A moment later she chuckled. "Ah, okay. This is your new cover. Got it. So...what's the plan?"

"No, Francine," Lee shook his head slightly from side to side. "This isn't a cover, and I'm not kidding." He turned and smiled softly into her eyes for a moment. "Amanda and I are married." He turned back to Francine. "She's my wife."

Francine felt confused. She looked around the table at each one of them, trying to figure out what kind of game they were playing. "Come on, you guys. Don't lock me out. I'm pretty sure I know how to hold up someone's cover."

"We're not locking you out, Francine," Lee reassured her. "We're including you. You and Billy are the only ones who know. For now."

"What?" Francine's eyebrows nearly met above her nose. He couldn't be saying what it sounded like he was saying. "Wait. How can it be a cover if we're the only ones who know?" She pinched the bridge of her nose… "I'm really confused." …then looked back up at them. "How is this supposed to work?"

"Francine," Amanda cut in. "Lee and I have been seeing each other exclusively for over a year now. We got married by a justice of the peace four months ago in a private ceremony. No one knows – not even my family. You and Billy are just finding out today."

Francine felt her jaw drop. She looked back and forth between Lee and Amanda, alert for any signs they weren't being completely honest; she found none. A sinking feeling snaked out from her stomach. "You're being serious, aren't you?"

Lee and Amanda nodded their heads. "Yes, Francine. Totally serious," Lee confirmed.

Francine leaned back abruptly in her seat, still starring at them. She shifted her gaze toward Amanda and looked her up and down trying to figure out what exactly it was about her that had induced the legendary Scarecrow to settle for just one woman.

Amanda met her gaze stare for stare and Lee's jaw tensed. "Before you say anything you will later regret, let me make one thing perfectly clear." Lee spoke softly, his arm still protectively around Amanda. "I love my wife, Francine. In fact..." he glanced at Amanda. "...I've been in love with her far longer than she realizes."

Too late, Francine realized she'd not been able to wipe the look of skepticism off her face before Lee saw it. "Yes," He nodded his head. "I am quite aware that I was a jerk of a womanizer."

"Yuh think?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Amanda knows all about it, no secrets."

"Really." She glanced over at Amanda sincerely doubting Lee had revealed all his dirty secrets to her. Well, she was going to challenge his little narrative. "The Petrovich Twins?"

Lee narrowed his eyes at her. He was right; that had been a pretty low blow – even for her.

"Yes, even the Petrovich Twins. But I'm not that man anymore, Francine." He looked back at Amanda and squeezed her shoulder. "Amanda's the best thing that ever happened to me, and she has my full and undying devotion."

"You're serious, aren't you?" Francine felt sucker-punched. "I can't believe it. You're married..."

"Francine…" She hadn't realized she'd spoken so loudly until Billy warned her with a growl and looked around the restaurant.

She lowered her voice to a near whisper and leaned forward. "...to her..." She glanced dismissively at Amanda then back at Lee. "I mean, I knew you were close. And yeah, I know at one point it was more than that, but I thought that was over."

"I'm sorry, Francine," Amanda jumped into the fray. "I purposefully led you to believe I'd broken things off with him, but it was never over. We were already engaged by that point."

Francine stared at her, but Amanda just stared back. "Well, Amanda, I've got to hand it to you. You bagged the Scarecrow." She looked Amanda up and down again. "Not sure how since so many women before you have tried and failed. Beautiful women. Women much more Lee's..."

"Let's get one thing straight from this moment on," Lee interrupted her and leaned into the table. "Amanda's a big girl, and she can handle your little verbal sneak attacks. But I won't tolerate them anymore. Is that understood?"

Ouch. Francine took a deep breath, held it, then blew it up over her face. "Much begins to make sense," she acquiesced as she cataloged the last year in her mind. "Stem-Winder. You didn't want to do the Peacock Dance with that Russian Agent…" Francine snapped her fingers. "…what was her name? Ah, yes. Sonya Chenko. And then there was the time you two took off together after the Nick Grant thing..."

"Our wedding," Lee explained.

"Keeping things business with Alyssa Danton..." Francine saw Amanda flinch and Lee tightened his arm around her almost imperceptibly. Interesting. There must be a little more to that story than she realized; it was obviously a trigger. Francine sighed. "Wow. I just really have no words right now."

"That may be a good thing," Billy deadpanned, interjecting into the conversation. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

Feeling the brunt of the rebuke, Francine wrestled her emotions down into a deep and dark but well-known place inside herself. She tried to clamp the lid on tightly so she could focus on whatever job she was going to be called upon to do. "Yeah, sure, Billy."

"Thank you." Billy looked directly at her. "Now, Lee and Amanda would like to handle this recording by doing nothing about it." Shocked, Francine opened her mouth to argue, but Billy stopped her with a look, and she snapped it shut. "I've agreed." He looked around the table. "We need to flush this guy out, People, but doing it this way puts a target squarely on Amanda's back. Lee is going to stick to her like glue 24/7…"

Francine snorted. "How lucky for her…"

Amanda sighed loudly and spat fire at her from her eyes. "Francine…"

"Stop it, you two," Billy growled. "If we're all going to survive the next couple of weeks, we've got to work together." He looked back and forth between them. "Understood?"

Amanda got ahead of her by a split second. "Yes, Sir."

"Yeah, Billy."

"Alright. Now, I want more than just Lee's eyes on her, and that's where you come in, Francine. I don't want Amanda left alone under any circumstance, understood?"

Francine took another deep breath trying to get her brain to switch into work gear. "Sure," she nodded her head. "That makes sense."

"If Lee absolutely must be away from her, you're to be with her before he leaves without making it obvious what you're doing. I don't want to take any chances, and I'm sure Lee and Amanda don't either."

Francine sighed and looked across the table at Lee and...his wife. Now that was going to take some getting used to. Internally, she sighed. She was tired of this 'Amanda King Bandwagon' both Billy and Lee were on, but it wasn't like she wanted something bad to happen to the woman. "Okay, so what's the plan for catching this creep?"

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