Page 51 of The Bodyguard and the Bombshell

Alex slapped Ian’s shoulder. “Yeah, Scotch sounds like a good idea. I’ve never been so happy Coop is mostly transportation.”

“Your boy was the smart one,” Ian agreed.

“Meal ticket?” Daisy asked, her voice going low.

“Oh, shit,” Devi said under her breath. “Dais, you should think about this. You’re kind of half naked in front of your parents, and you have that look in your eyes.”

Brianna shook her head. “There’s no stopping her now. We should go with the uncles.”

“This is going to get bad,” Devi whispered. “Daisy is super sweet until she gets angry and then… Well, it’s bad. But she never does this around her parents.”

Avery sighed. “No, she never does this around her father. I assure you I’ve seen my daughter get really angry. It’s odd. Almost like she got it from somewhere. From like DNA or something. I wonder from who.”

Daisy’s eyes had narrowed. “Nathan, I’m going to need you to hold my coffee. Maybe you should go pour some Bailey’s in it. Or whiskey. I’m feeling like whiskey this morning.” Her accent changed, and she sounded as Irish as her father. “Táim chun labhairt le m'athair.”

Devi held Bri’s hand and started to back away. “She’s gone Irish.”

Nate took her coffee. “Daisy, it’s okay. I told you I don’t care what he thinks about me.”

Daisy ignored him. “What meal ticket do you think I am, Da? Minigh seo dom.”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you, iníon,” her father replied. “I have obviously been too lenient, and that stops now.”

“Liam, please,” Avery begged.

He shook his head. “No. Avery, you know I love you. You’re my world. But she’s my responsibility, and I’ve failed.”

He watched Daisy’s skin go pale as her father’s words hit her.

“I’m a failure?” Daisy asked.

Damn it. “He doesn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t say you failed,” Liam replied, a shocked expression hitting his face. Like he hadn’t thought those words through. “I said I did. I should never have let you go off to college. I should have known you would run wild.”

“Oh, Da.” She shook her head. “I started running wild so long before college.” She’d gone a bit cold. “You want to know all the reasons why I’m a failure? Let’s talk about who stole your whiskey when I was fifteen. You were so sure it was Aidan. It was me. And then when you locked it up, I still got into it. I replaced it with the big jug of iced tea I always made Mom get from the store. The one I kept in my room and everyone wondered how I could drink it without ice. You told me a proper Irish girl wouldn’t drink it at all. Well, that’s because this proper Irish girl was drinking your whiskey.”

Devi held up a hand. “Okay, could we maybe not mention this particular part to my parents?”

Liam pointed a finger his daughter’s way. “I knew it wasn’t whiskey. I convinced myself it had gone bad.”

“It was delicious,” Daisy replied, a dark gleam in her eyes. “And the time the school let out because the fire alarms went off? I made good use of the free time, Da.”

“Yes, you went to the library.”

“I went to the lake with Leo Hall, and you do not want to know what we did in the back of his truck,” Daisy taunted.

Liam went pale. “No. You wouldn’t.”

Avery threw up her hands. “Of course, she would. She is your daughter, Liam. You know I love you, but you have blinders on when it comes to her, and it’s not doing either of you any good. She feels like she’s forced to lie because you won’t love her if you see the truth, and you’re trying so hard to not notice she’s your mirror image except she’s got boobs, and that makes her even better at getting what she wants than you were. And I swear if you wreck her shot at happiness with Nate, we’re going to have serious problems.”

“I did a spot of underaged drinking myself,” Nate admitted. “And there’s this billabong on the station. I actually lost my virginity in it. Damn lucky it wasn’t full of crocs.”

“Oh, I can do so much worse, Nate,” Daisy promised.

“She can,” Bri agreed. “She probably shouldn’t, though. Hey, bestie, remember all those ‘we’re never telling anyone about this’ vows we made?”

“I don’t need to hear it.” Liam stepped back. “I’ve got work to do.” He pointed Nate’s way. “If you get my daughter killed, I swear on my soul I’ll take yours. And I’m leaving my wife here, too. I’m going to go fix this for Daisy. Avery…”

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