Page 62 of Protected By the Billionaire Ex-SEAL

Mr. Jones definitely likes the topic of traveling as he talks about his ventures abroad when he worked as an English teacher. We bond over it. I can hear Mrs. Jones and Raven getting into their topic, too, until she brings up something that has Raven going still.

“By the way, you haven’t mentioned Sam. How’s he doing?”

I’m still listening to Mr. Jones, but half of my attention is already on the other conversation. Raven twirls her pasta, trying to look casual.

“I don’t know how he’s doing, Mom. We broke up a while ago and haven’t kept in touch since.”

The lie’s casual, too, but I see her free hand trembling under the table. Subtly, I reach out and take it from her lap, then squeeze it. Mrs. Jones shakes her head.

“I know you broke up. But I was wondering if you guys remained friends.”

“We didn’t.”

“That’s a shame. He was a really sweet guy.”

Mr. Jones agrees. “Yeah, he was a nice guy. Got us those cool trinkets when he visited with Raven. Have you met him?”

I nod. “I did, actually.”

“Oh? Did you visit San Francisco, then?”

“No.” Raven’s voice is calm. “Sam visited Sweet Haven.”

Her hand trembles again, but it’s a lighter movement now.

They talk some more about how nice the guy is, which makes me want to punch him in the face more. Thankfully, they drop the subject after some time, but I don’t fail to notice how Raven is no longer in the mood. She wants to please her parents, though, so I do my best to help cover her mood until dinner is done.

I volunteer to do the dishes, but Mrs. Jones shoos me off, insisting that I’m a guest and guests shouldn’t do dishes. Instead, I’m shown the guest room, which happens to be adjacent to Raven’s room. When they excuse themselves to let me unpack, I cross straight toward her room to check in on her.

“Nice room.” For a second, I’m distracted by all the pink touches and posters of old boy bands. I grin. “Really nice room. Reminds me of Clara’s room when we were kids.”

She grins back. “Thanks. I was proud of my poster collection when I was a teenager.”

“You should be. My sister would have been jealous of your collection.” I study her. “You’re not going to tell them about what Sam did?”

As expected, her back goes up and she gets tense all over, but she knows my question isn’t coming from a judgmental place. Raven takes her time answering, willing herself to calm down first. Then she sighs.

“He was pleasant to them when we visited this place twice…really pleasant, and I know it wasn’t fake pleasantries, either. He genuinely liked them and they liked him back.”

“But the things he did to you…”

“I know. Trust me, I do, and it’s only logical to tell them. But my parents are old. They had me and my sister late in life, and I don’t want them to worry over the troubles that Sam caused me. My mother gets stressed easily, and I know it will hurt them when they find out what he did.”

“I see.”

And I do see, especially after witnessing the love that the two have for their daughter. It’ll break their hearts when they learn the truth, and she just loves her parents too much and wants to spare them that.

But it also strengthens my resolve to make sure that bastard never gets to be near her or her loved ones again.

As if reading my thoughts, Raven takes my hand this time and squeezes it. “Stop thinking about him. This time is for us.”

She’s right. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Besides, we haven’t gotten to the best part yet.”

“Oh?”

I glance at the bed hopefully, which has her dying with laughter.

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