Page 11 of His To Protect

Chapter Four

Spanking Alexis Riker had done dangerous things to Jack’s libido. It was out of control now. Even fresh from her nap, she was being a petulant brat and his cock was stirring in his jeans. She was an imp, a foolish little girl, who needed to be put in her place often! Normally that would be a huge turn off—like it was with his clients’ wives and daughters. He liked women with a little flirty sass and a lot of sense—women who were quick to submit and didn’t dare push his buttons. Women who didn’t need a full-time daddy.

Alexis was defiant, deliberately disobedient, foolhardy and bossy-as-hell, and she needed more than he’d ever given a woman before. Jack should be limp and full of contempt for her, but he wasn’t. His cock was hard and his friggin’ heart was soft. She’d needed a nap, but he also pushed her away so he didn’t pull her closer. He wanted to hold her, brush his fingers through her unruly curls and make her mewl in pleasure as he buried his face in her sweet little pussy. He wanted to open his heart.

“Are you listening?” Alexis asked petulantly, snapping him out of his mind. “You’re the one who demanded we talk.”

“Of course I am,” he groused. “Now lose the attitude and continue or else.”

Her eyes narrowed on his for several seconds before she continued.

“I never knew my parents. I was only a few days old when my mom died. My grandparents told me she’d left my dad in Colombia before I was born. But mostly they refused to talk about either of them. My grandfather would get really angry when I asked questions. Not angry at me, just angry, so my grandmother would always whisk me away and distract me. I thought maybe they blamed him for my mom’s death, but according to the will, she’d already been cut out of it, so I think they were mad at her too. Anyway, they didn’t like talking about any of it so I didn’t ask.” She swallowed hard.

Jack noted she did that a lot. He watched as her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip, another habit of hers. He wanted so badly to take that lip between his teeth, suck it in and tease it with his tongue, but he focused on her words instead.

“I found out more when I went through all my grandparents’ stuff. There were letters from my mom from Colombia. She talked about being in love with a man named Samuel and how they’d eloped. It was a long shot but I sent a letter to the return address in hopes he still lived there.” She paused.

“Baby?” The word came out gently and her eyes went wide. His brow knitted before he quickly cleared his throat, plastered a grumpy expression on his face and continued as he’d never said it. “Was that the one you gave me? In Bogotá?”

She nodded, searching his face carefully. Jack moved his eyes from her quickly and looked through his pocket for the paper with the address. Staring at the address, he cursed himself for letting the word slip. Baby.Fuck! He couldn’t afford for her to see he was going soft. He needed her to be afraid of him. That would be best. Yes, so afraid she wouldn’t dare disobey him. That would keep her safe.

“I know some of this from our interviews but it helps hearing it again, this time without the holes and lies,” he said, still keeping his eyes on the address. Even her handwriting was beautiful.

Get your mind on point, Cole.

According to Pete’s research, Alexis had been officially adopted by her maternal grandparents, Edna and James Riker shortly after her birth. No father had been named on the birth certificate, and her mother’s surname at the time of Alexis’s birth was Riker. Prior to that, she’d been Lilianna Litster. She was divorced.

“Go on now.” His eyes flicked up to see Alexis still studying him.

“So I sent the letter…to Samuel, no last name.” Jack stopped her.

“What did your letter say?” Her eyes scrunched in confusion.

“Does that matter?” she snapped.

Ah, there was her snippy attitude, Jack thought. “It does.” She didn’t ask why, just nodded, checking herself.

“I told him who I was and that I’d always wondered about him, and that I knew my grandparents had likely kept him from me, but that they were dead now, and I wanted to get to know him.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Almost six months.”

“And when did you hear from the kidnappers?”

“A few days before I came to you.”

His brow furrowed. Six months? That had warning bells ringing in his head.

“Didn’t you wonder why they contacted you when your father had never answered your letter?” She shook her head, her gorgeous unruly curls bouncing around her beautiful round face. Her eyes, still a little red-rimmed from the spanking he’d given her earlier, double blinked. She was lying again. If they were home and safe, he’d pull her across his thighs again to reinforce his dislike for lies, but they weren’t.

He wasn’t the only one who was suspicious about her father’s intentions. She shifted on the couch and looked out the window. She just didn’t want to admit it, didn’t want Jack to know she was so desperate she’d try to rescue a father who had brushed her off.

“What did the kidnappers say?”

“They immediately asked about my grandparents. Said my father requested the information.”

More warning bells rang and louder this time.

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