Page 8 of Guardian Daddy

“Actually, that’s him.” Seth nodded over at Ink.

“And it’s Ink,” Ink said in a clipped voice.

The smile drooped. “Ahh, right. Nice to meet you. Rip has told me lots of good things.”

Ink just nodded.

“Listen, here’s the thing, boys.”

Boys? This guy looked to be around their age, yet he was talking to them like they were kids.

“I told Rip it would make much more sense to get a local team in to protect him. I’ve been after him for ages to hire a permanent bodyguard, but he’s always refused. But this would be a good way for him to find someone he can work with long-term. You get what I’m saying?”

Kind of.

It did make sense, but if it wasn’t something the client wanted . . .

“If Rip wants that, then he’s welcome to tell me,” Ink said, eyeing the guy. “But I need to hear it from him.”

“Look, here’s the thing,” the guy said. Again. Did he know he was repeating himself? “Rip won’t say anything because you’re an old friend. He wants to give you the work. You know how generous he is. And seeing as you’re small fry from the country, you probably aren’t that busy, I’m guessing. So he would feel bad about putting you out of a job. But if you tell him you can’t do it, he’ll understand.”

Ink crossed his arms over his chest. “You want me to tell Rip that I can’t do the job?”

“Yes, you understand. Good.”

“Even though it’s obvious we just flew hours to get here? Changed our schedules? Uprooted my men from their homes?” Ink added.

“Uh, well, I’m sure you can come up with a reason.”

“Who are you?” Brody asked, peering at the guy.

“Oh, I’m Rip’s agent. Kevin Knightly.”

Kevin Knightly? No way that was his real name.

“Here’s the thing, Kevin,” Ink said, repeating the other man’s words. “Rip asked for my help and that’s what he’s getting. Now, you need to stop preventing us from doing our job and get out of our way.”

“Fine, fine. If you’re not going to pull out, I guess we can work together.” Kevin gave Brody a skeptical look.

To be fair, Brody did look like he was in a state. He’d met them at the airport. Ethan didn’t know how he’d even gotten to Los Angeles, but he looked like he’d fallen asleep at some stage during the trip. His hair was standing up on one side and there was a curious stain on his T-shirt.

“One other thing I need to talk to you about before you go in.”

Ink sighed.

This guy was gonna be a problem.

“What is it?” Ink asked.

“It’s about Rip’s sister. She’s a bit, uh, odd.”

“Are you implying that there is something wrong with Cate?” Ink asked in a low voice.

Kevin held his hands up. “No, no. Not at all. I’m telling you because I don’t want you to make her uncomfortable.”

Uh-huh.

Ethan wasn’t so sure about that.

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