Page 86 of The Bodyguard

“And now?” I look right into my father’s eyes, and I hold his gaze.

He takes a deep breath, clasps his hands together tightly. “It isn’t important now. I have more pressing business to deal with.”

Okay. So, Jonah’s finally safe. Or, safe from my father, anyway. His job – what he used to do, I don’t know how much danger he might still be in because of that.

“Is that it? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“You need to move on, Lena. You need to put this behind you, and move on.”

“Because it’s that easy, huh?”

His expression hardens, becomes colder. And I find myself sinking back against the doorpost, is this how I really want to spend the rest of my life? In this family, living by their rules, because no matter what my father says or does that’s what’s been happening my entire life. I’ve been living by his rules. And I can’t do that anymore. I can’t. I won’t.

“It’s that easy.”

“You, mum, Ollie, you all lied to me. You knew, and you…”

He holds a hand up to silence me, and I stop talking. Because that’s what he wants me to do. And, actually, it’s time to change that.

“Everything we did, it was because I wanted to keep this family safe. To keepyousafe. There was no reason for you to know about Novak…”

“How did he find out? Who told him, that he was my birth father?”

My dad’s eyes remain locked on mine. “I don’t know. Your mother certainly didn’t tell him, so I can only assume it came from someone within his own family, someone who knew what had happened.”

“And you’re okay with that? You’ve been okay with that all this time?”

I shouldn’t be doing this, questioning him, like this, but I can’t help myself. I’ve become stronger, and I need to cling onto that strength. Fight for what I want. What I deserve.

“Your mother made a mistake. Butyouwere not a mistake, Lena, you were a gift. And you aremydaughter, I love you, and that is all you need to know.”

“What about Jonah?”

“Like I said, he isn’t important now. He’s out of our lives, and I’m grateful to him, for what he did, but I think he’s smart enough to know that he needs to keep his distance.”

“And what if I don’t want him to?”

My father frowns, and for a moment I wonder if I should pull back from having this conversation, it’s pointless anyway. I have no idea where Jonah is. I haven’t seen him since we arrived back in the UK, and he’s made no attempt to contact me. I can’t blame him for that.

“We’re moving on. And that means all of us. As a family.”

“What did you tell him? When we got home? I knowyoucouldn’t tell him anything yourself, but I know you, Dad. I know the people who work for you, I know Ollie. So, what did you tell Jonah?”

He just stares at me, because that used to work. If I started asking difficult questions, a look from my father could, sometimes, be enough to stop me pushing any further, but everything’s different now.

“Where is this going, Lena?”

“He saved your life…”

“And, for that he has my gratitude, but he deceived me. He deceived this family…”

“He had a job to do…”

“And that job was to bring this family down.”

I shake my head, because I’m not sure that’s true. “It was Novak they were watching.”

“They were watching us, too. You don’t think I have connections in his world?”

---