Page 22 of Unlikely Guardian

“The cops aren’t going to catch him, are they?” Lilly whispered.

“They will.” Though he didn’t know how he would make good on that promise. He just knew they couldn’t continue to go through this.

“Is everything okay?” Erica’s voice poured through the house’s intercom system. Only then did Jason realize she’d probably been listening since he’d installed an intercom unit in the panic room.

“It’s okay,” he assured her. “But just in case, don’t take Megan near the windows.”

Thankfully, Erica didn’t ask for a just-in-case clarification. He heard the slight click to indicate she’d turned off the intercom.

Lilly wheeled her chair closer to him. She was breathing heavily, probably from the exertion and the fear. “As long as I was in a coma, Megan was safe.”

It was true, yes. But Lilly hadn’t been responsible for her father’s business practices or her coma.

Or her recovery.

Jason was about to remind her of that when he caught the movement in the foyer. Erica. With Megan straddled on her hip, she came to the entryway of the living room. Staying away from the windows, she snagged Jason’s gaze.

“Ms. Nelson’s right,” Erica concluded. “Megan is in danger as long as she’s here.”

He considered reminding Erica that it was his job to protect both Lilly and Megan. But it was more than that. Now that Lilly was out of the coma, Megan wasn’t safe. Period. Because anyone who would attempt to murder a woman in a hospital bed probably wouldn’t hesitate to use a child if it meant that child could lead him or her to Lilly.

“I have my orders,” Jason explained to her, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. It was for Megan’s sake. Even though she was a baby, she could no doubt sense the tension. He hated seeing that puzzled look on her face. “And those orders are for me to protect Lilly and Megan. That’s what I’ll do.”

Erica didn’t do an eye roll, but it was close. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she insisted.

“Unless it’s an emergency, it’ll have to wait.” Jason motioned toward the playroom. “I want Megan and you in the panic room awhile longer. Until we’re sure this guy isn’t going to try to make a return visit.”

A god-awful thought.

“It’s not an emergency,” Erica continued. “But it’s important. I don’t think it should wait. Once you’ve heard what I have to say, you might change your mind about guarding Ms. Nelson.”

He was both intrigued and baffled by that, but Jason didn’t miss the catty tone in Erica’s voice. He wasn’t stupid or blind. He knew that Erica had feelings for him. Despite his earlier denial to Lilly that Erica’s possessiveness was limited to Megan, he knew otherwise. Oh, yes. He’d seen that look in Erica’s eyes, and he suspected that she would like to marry him so the three of them could be a family.

That wasn’t going to happen.

He has no plan for marriage. Not to Erica. Not to anyone. He needed to concentrate on two things: raising Megan and doing his job. He didn’t have the time or energy for anything else. And in this case, doing his job meant dealing with Lilly and all the danger that came with her.

Lilly got her wheelchair moving in the direction of the playroom. “I’d be interested in hearing what you have to tell Jason,” she said to Erica.

“You already know,” Erica snapped.

She brought the wheelchair to a dead stop. Right in front of Megan and Erica. Lilly stared up at the other woman and shook her head. But then, the head shaking came to an abrupt stop, as well.

Lilly whirled the chair around so that she was facing him, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything.

Erica beat her to it.

“There was a call earlier, just before you arrived,” Erica said. “It was from Michael.”

Michael. Erica’s brother. And Jason’s friend and attorney, as well. In fact, it was Michael who’d asked Jason to hire Erica to be Megan’s nanny. “What did he want?” Jason asked.

“I knew something was wrong when he called,” Erica explained. She was nervous now. “I pressed him to tell me. And he did because he didn’t want to be blindsided by this.”

“Blindsided?” Jason repeated. “By what?”

“Michael got a call from Ms. Nelson’s attorney.”

“Oh, my God,” Lilly mumbled.

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