Page 58 of Her Protector Daddies

Too quiet.

In fact, every family and child we’d passed, even every dog walker we’d seen appeared to have vanished from the park, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.

Selena and Dae thankfully hadn’t noticed and they continued their happy chatter as we walked. I subtly increased our walking pace but just as I tried to reach for my phone, the reason for the empty park made themselves known.

More men than I cared to count melted from the treeline, forming a semi-circle around the path and forcing us to a stop. Dae stopped talking immediately and latched onto Selena’s leg when she stepped in front of him, trying to hide him from view.

I swallowed, angling my body slightly in front of Selena and staring each man down. Every single one of them held an assault rifle in their hands. We wouldn’t stand a chance if this turned ugly.

“Gentlemen.” My eyes darted about before a tall, lanky man stepped forward with a silver handgun glistening between his crossed palms. He raised the gun and my heart punched into my throat, ready to throw myself down on my son.

Thankfully, he only used the weapon to indicate to Selena.

“Word on the street is, you ain’t too friendly with your pops no more,” he said, his voice rough.

Selena flinched behind me, then her hand pressed against my lower back and stayed there as she took a half step forward.

“Maybe.”

“It’s a yes or no question, bitch,” he snapped.

I refrained from pointing out that he hadn’t actually asked a question at all.

“Fine. Yeah, we don’t see eye to eye. Can you blame me? What kind of father uses his daughter for protection and then fucks up her life. The shit he put me through? I’m done protecting him.” Selena’s fingertips pressed firmly into my back, the only point of contact she had for comfort.

“You lookin’ for him?”

“Trying to. Nearly had him before you lot showed up last week and scared him the fuck away.”

The lanky man scoffed and wiped his nose. “Aye. Our bad, I guess. But you know how to reach him, huh?”

“Yeah I know how to,” Selena replied, and her voice had a faint tremble. “I’m still trying. The shit he’s put me through, if nothing else I deserve a cut of the shit he stole.”

The man snorted with laughter. “Hm. Boss wants to meet ya.”

“Who's your boss?” Selena asked immediately.

My eyes narrowed. It was a good question, and vocal confirmation that Andrés was looking for Selena is what we needed.

The lanky man’s narrow eyes darted between the two of us and his lips parted, showing how he was dragging his tongue across his teeth.

“Andrés. He just wants to talk, mutual interest as it were.”

“Where?”

“Boss is holding a little get-together in a few days. Some business associates, you know how it is.” His eyes snapped to me and lingered, then they drifted down to Dae and back up to Selena. “Eleven PM at the Anderson Charity Gala.”

Is he hosting his business during a charity gala? Somehow, I’m not surprised.

“How will I know I’ll be safe?” Selena asked.

The man smirked, “You won’t be, but if you want that money, you’ll make the smart choice.”

“Alright.” Selena sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

With that, the armed men began to disperse like a shadow lifting from the grounds. My grip on Dae didn’t slacken though, and wouldn’t until we were as far away from this place as possible.

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