Page 117 of My Damaged Protector

“Good luck, Chief.”

“Yeah, thanks. Have a safe trip.”

He ends the call, and I'm back to being alone in the truck.

Tossing my phone on the other seat, I crank the truck alive and pull away, hoping to God that I'm not subjecting innocent people to death because of my decision.

34

SARAH

We arriveat Glazer Ville before the sun comes out. As I park my car at the spot Ian asked me to meet him, he's standing beside his truck, and I'm unable to meet his eyes. That doesn't stop me from noticing how good he looks, though.

It's only been a week since we last saw each other yet somehow, he looks so much better. Maybe not telling him that I was leaving town was for the best, after all. He seems to be doing well, and I feel a little bad for calling now and disrupting whatever peace he's managed to get. I wouldn't have called him if it wasn't important, though.

He is the only person I can think of I can trust right now.

“Hi,” I say when I'm in front of him.

“Hello,” he responds and doesn't say anything else.

He's not going to make this easy for me, is he?

He clearly wants answers, and I wish more than anything to give him some, if not all. He'll see Olivia soon, and I know he'll have questions.

“You look good,” I compliment him.

He chuckles and shrugs, nodding his head at me. “You don't look bad yourself,” he says.

I do. I've been on the road all night, and I've spent half of the trip trying to assure my daughter, who's now gone from being pissed at me to being frightened, that everything will be fine.

She hasn’t even asked me a single question, and that tells me what state her mind is.

“So, where's the place you have for us?” I ask him, my doubts surfacing again. When he said he had a place I could stay, I was at first skeptical. Then I remembered he'd come to Glazer Ville for a reason, and I never got to find out why. Maybe he has a house in town?

“It's down the road. I'll take you there. I just need to make sure you're not being followed. I have someone doing that, and they'll call when we're clear.”

I nod at his words, wondering how he suddenly has access to people working for him, but I don't question it. I'm honestly just grateful that he's helping despite the situation between us. I've always wondered if I could count on him. Now he's proven it.

“Who’s that in your car?” he asks, suddenly on guard as he walks toward the car.

Shit.

“Ian,” I call his name to stop him from going, but there's no stopping him. He goes to the car and finds Sheila and Olivia in the back seat. Olivia is huddled against Sheila, her face in her chest so Ian can't see her, but I can see the questions in his eyes the moment he turns back to look at me.

“Who is that?”

“Ian, please.”

“I'm not taking you anywhere until you tell me what's going on here. I've had it up to here with you. What's with the many secrets?”

“Fine, let's just step back and talk about this in private.”

“No, I want him to stay.” Olivia's voice comes from the car, her eyes now on Ian. She's looking at him with a weird curiositythat leaves a bitter taste at the back of my throat. She thinks he's her father.

Oh dear.

“Well?” Ian presses.

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