Page 73 of Guardian Daddy

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

“I’ve got Cate.”

Seth shot him a sharp look. “Yeah?”

“Something wrong?” Ethan asked.

“Nope. I’ve just never known you to be anything but professional with a client.”

“I’m being professional.”

“Hey, man. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. Technically, Cate isn’t paying us. She’s an adult. She can do what she wants. But Rip might not see it that way. And Cate is . . . vulnerable.”

“I know that,” Ethan snapped. “I’m not going to take advantage of her.”

“But if you like her, I’d never stand in your way. I know you’ve had a long dry spell.”

Ethan groaned. “Get out of my business, dickhead.”

Seth grinned before he grew serious. “But I should probably take point with Cate if you want to pursue anything.”

“I’m not pursuing anything.” Much as he might want to.

“Yet,” Seth said.

Asshole.

“So you think we should give Rip a heads-up about that phone call?”

Ethan sighed as Rhodes and Samantha stepped up to them. “Can I have a moment before you leave, Rhodes?”

“We have to go,” Samantha said.

“It will only take a minute,” Ethan said firmly. “You can go wait with Seth in the car.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth.

“Please go wait with Seth, Samantha,” Rhodes insisted.

Ethan turned to him after Seth and Samantha had left. “Listen, I need to talk to you about?—”

“Your intentions with my sister,” Rhodes said. “You’ve been reading with her.”

“Um, you say that like it’s a bad thing. It’s just reading.”

“No, it’s not. Reading is her favorite thing to do. It’s her escape. The world can be a hard place for her. It can be overwhelming. When she reads, she relaxes. And she doesn’t do that around other people. Except you. So, do not hurt my sister. If you do, I will come for you.”

Ethan nodded. He understood. “I respect that. If someone hurt my sister, I’d destroy them.”

He was still considering killing Stu for letting Lana go to a concert alone. Even though she’d come home perfectly safe.

That wasn’t the point.

“Good. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“I walked in on a phone conversation between Samantha and someone called Polly.”

“Her assistant. She’s a sweet girl. She might be a regular visitor now that Samantha is staying for a while, so we should add her to the list.”

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