Page 62 of Close Protection

‘Do what you need to do,’ I respond. I feel completely numb. I don’t know why Teddy did this, and honestly, I don’t care. He held a gun to my face.

But what if he was being threatened?That little voice in my head queries, and it’s a valid point. This is completely out of character for Teddy so there must be a reason – not that Milosh, Henry or Daddy are going to want to hear it – but there has to be. He wouldn’t do something as drastic as this unless he was being blackmailed or something. However, blackmail or not, he still shot and attacked me.

Heshotat me. That’s not okay.

I look back over to Henry. ‘Just don’t kill him,’ I add, rolling my eyes. ‘Although I’m pretty sure Milosh may have beaten you to it.’

Henry laughs. Like, really guffaws. ‘Yeah. I think you’re right.’ He places a chaste kiss on Amelia’s lips before making for the door. ‘I’ll be lucky if there’s any Teddy left.’ He opens the door still laughing to himself. ‘This is gonna be fun.’

24MILOSH

Teddy lets out another howl of pain as I slam my fist into his jaw for the tenth time.

Since tying him to an old wooden chair in George’s study, I’ve broken his nose, his wrists and all his fingers. He’s passed out twice already from the pain but now he’s come around again, I’m working on rearranging his jaw.

I’ll leave his knees for Henry.

I’m considerate like that.

‘Please, stop,’ Teddy sobs, spluttering blood onto the hardwood floor.

‘You chose to hurt Daphne,’ I state, my voice void of emotion. ‘Now I choose to hurt you.’

‘I didn’t want to!’ he wails.

‘Hey, Ted,’ I cut in. ‘You’re embarrassing yourself. Stop it.’

I know I need to keep him conscious until we question him but his face is just so punchable I strike him again. After hearing that delightful crunch I gain some much neededrestraint and step back, letting him catch his breath just as Henry walks in.

‘You got started without me I see.’ He smiles when he notes the state of Mr Build-A-Bear. Teddy’s face pales several shades when he looks up with his one unswollen eye to see the look on Henry’s face.

‘Henr—’

‘No.’ Henry stops Teddy abruptly, walking over to him and bending down until they’re eye to eye. ‘There are certain people that you just don’t wanna piss off, Teddy. Yet you’ve managed to piss off all of them. It’s actually quite impressive, really.’ Teddy’s stopped crying now, but when the cold unnerving smile passes over Henry’s face again, Teddy’s lip starts quivering, prompting an automatic eye-roll from me.

‘Now, lucky for you, Milosh has self-control and has shown you grace.’ Henry stands up, treading on Teddy’s shot foot. Even though it’s been wrapped so he doesn’t bleed out, he shrieks at the increased pain and it’s music to my ears.

‘But Milosh works for the military,’ Henry continues, ‘so he has to show some level of restraint. I, on the other hand, don’t.’ Henry snarls, that cocky accent thickening. ‘Now normally, if someone touches my wife, they lose their hands. But you? You didn’t do that.’ His voice is eerily calm.

‘You hurt her. You knockedmy wifeunconscious. Thenyou shot Daphne. But not only did you shoot Daphne, you beat her up. That girl now has marks and bruises all over her body because ofyou. My wife may have a concussion because ofyou. You know what that means, Teddy?’ He walks away, coming to stand next to me.

‘Not only have you got to deal with Mr In-denial-about-his-feelings over here.’Dick. ‘You also have to deal with me. And you hurt my wife.’ He chuckles, shaking his head. ‘You’re as thick as they come, Teddy. Really just remarkably stupid.’

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ Teddy grits out.

‘That’s where you’re wrong, Ted,’ I say. ‘You’ve always got a choice.’

The door opens and George storms in. ‘Oh, good, he’s awake.’ When I went to check on Daphne, George went to search Teddy’s things to see if there was anything to lead us to the truth, but from the look on his face he’s clearly been unsuccessful.

Apparently, all Teddy needed was a gun, audacity and stupidity to get him through the day.

‘You ready to start?’ I ask. I just want to get this questioning over so I can go check on Daphne again. The thought of her sitting there in pain from all those injuries brings a new wave of rage crashing over me.

‘Teddy, tell us the truth. Why did you do this?’ George asks. His tone is measured and neutral, but his eyes tell adifferent story. Where me and Henry feel anger, George feels hurt. A boy he considered a son just attacked his only child with no explanation.

‘M-most of my story was true, George,’ he stutters. ‘I came home and my house was ransacked. There were two men who knocked me out then woke me up with ice water.’ He stops to cough, wheezing in pain before continuing. ‘The only difference was they instructed me to complete a task… by giving me a riddle… and a gun.’ He’s still sniffling, snot and blood running down his face. He looks like the mess that he is.

‘They told me that I needed to complete the r-riddle and give them the item it mentioned within two days.’

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