Page 59 of Daddy, Sir

Fiona turned to her. “Because they know what fear is like. They’ve lived it and there is no way in hell they would subject another living soul to that pain.” She turned back to Matt, reaching out to touch his arm. “I don’t mean to be unhelpful or cause conflict, but I won’t have you disrupting their lives. I’d rather… rather just let it go.”

“That’s not an option,” I said, stepping up. “For now, we have enough to get started.” I’d not lied when I’d told her we were a team. We’d been a team for years and words didn’t always need to be spoken. We’d proven we could read each other… hell, our very lives had depended on that skill. Within a couple of minutes, the conference room had cleared out except for me and Fiona.

“You did really well.”

My praise seemed to catch her off guard, but after an initial look of surprise, she managed a nod.

“Why am I not surprised that this is the type of work you chose?” she asked.

“I could ask you the same,” I replied as I moved to stand beside her and offered her my hand.

For the first time in a couple of hours, she smiled, taking my hand and allowing me to pull her to her feet. “What? Did you think I was going to be an NFL cheerleader or something?”

I chuckled. “That wouldn’t have surprised me in the slightest, and any team in the league would have been honored to have you, but psychology?”

If I was grateful for the smile, I was willing to give a year’s salary for the gift of hearing a sound I hadn’t heard in years… her laugh. Not a sarcastic or fake laugh, but a lilting sound ofamusement that instantly made anyone within hearing distance want to hear it again.

“Did you forget I grew up with six boys who not only thought they knew the answer to everything, but every single one believed himself to be ‘king of the hill’ and if that wasn’t enough, they were all bossy as hell. One day I decided that instead of continuing to pound my head against a wall, I’d learn what made them tick.”

I didn’t need to ask to know she’d included me as one of those boys. After all, when we’d been kids, if I wasn’t at my house, I was at hers as Fiona and her brothers had been my best friends. “And did you?” By this time, I’d turned off the lights behind us as I closed up the office. No one else was in sight as we walked down the hall. I was willing to bet they’d all retired to the security office to discuss the case with Tommy who would have come on duty a half hour earlier to replace Reggie.

“I honestly don’t believe anyone will ever be able to decipher everything that goes on in the human brain, or understand why someone makes the choices they do, especially if those choices are meant to hurt another person. But, I did learn enough to feel that I can help those people who search for answers or need help to know they are enough just the way they are.”

Pushing a door open, I guided her through it. It wasn’t until she looked around that she seemed to realize we were no longer inside. I clenched my jaw when I saw her eyes dart around and felt her fingers tightening around mine.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe here,” I assured her, moving her steadily toward where my truck was parked.

“What about my car? I didn’t park it in here.”

That didn’t surprise me as the garage was only for employees to use. “It’s fine in our lot for tonight. It’s actually safer there than at your place.” When she glanced up at me, I lifted my chin, drawing her gaze to where a security camera was mounted.“There are cameras placed all around the building. If anyone so much as decides to take a look at your car, they’ll be on film and find themselves answering a lot of questions.”

“But how am I going to get home?”

“You’re not,” I said, opening the door to my vehicle. “You’ll be staying at my place.”

She’d put a foot on the running board in preparation of climbing into my Range Rover, but turned to look up at me. “I’m not staying at your house, Landon.”

“You are.” I easily lifted her off her feet and set her down on the passenger seat. “If it helps, don’t think of it asmyhouse. Consider it asafehouse.” Before she could do more than roll those gorgeous eyes, I shut her door and moved around the hood to climb into the driver’s seat.

“What if I jump out of the car?”

The question came the moment I pulled my door open. “Then instead of being seen sitting in my car talking as we are now, they’ll see me catching you and reminding you that when I say I’ll keep you safe, I mean it. Even if the person I’m keeping you safe from is yourself.”

“How are you going to be reminding me?”

“The same way I did when you lied to me about not being grounded and snuck out of your house to meet me.” I settled in my seat and turned to meet her gaze. “And I really don’t believe that’s the sort of video you want to star in. Unless you’ve discovered you have an exhibitionist kink?”

“What if I have?” she asked tartly. “And you can’t just threaten to spank me. I’m not a star-struck teenager anymore, Landon.”

“I’m very aware of that but can you honestly tell me you don’t believe it’s about time we clear the air?”

Chapter Five

Fiona

Have you ever met someone for the first time and just know they were going to be someone important in your life? That’s how it had been for me when it came to Landon. Of course, our meeting didn’t involve any formal introduction.Glancing over to where Landon sat, eyes flicking briefly to mine before returning his gaze to the road, I felt the years melting away. The cab of his truck disappeared as my mind took me back to the canary-yellow kitchen in the house where I’d grown up.

One minute I’d been counting the cookies on the tray Mom had left cooling on a rack, and the next I was seeing a flurry of fingers the moment the timer dinged.

---