Page 61 of Zero Hour

It wasn’t often Pat was rendered speechless, but this was one of those times. While he was mouthing like a guppy, Izzy waved and backed out of the door. “Be careful, okay. Call me in a couple of days and let me know how it’s going.”

“Will do.” Was all he could manage.

Then he turned to go back inside. To Jasmine.

CHAPTER 22

“She’s great,” Jasmine said when he walked back into the living room.

He eased his frame into the armchair. “Yeah, she’s something else. I’m lucky to have her.”

“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?” she asked.

He shifted, nervously. “I guess.”

She laughed. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I just wondered why you told her she didn’t have to call you dad.”

He hesitated. “It’s a recent thing. We’re still getting used to it.”

“Oh?”

On the television, a slow-motion shot of a bullet cutting through the air played in eerie silence. He knew what that sounded like. He’d had rounds zip past his head, making that sharp, high-pitchedpew. It was a sound that stayed with you.

He knew the other sound too, the one that came when a bullet found flesh. He had two scars on his side to show for it.

“Yeah,” he said, switching his gaze back to her. “I found out a while ago but only told her the other day. I thought it was time. She doesn’t have anyone else.”

“I see.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. You didn’t really need to know that. You just have this way about you, it makes people want to tell you their darkest secrets.” Was that how Al-Jabiri had felt too?

She smiled. “Occupational hazard.”

His lips quirked. “Yeah.”

She sipped her wine, her fingers wrapped around the delicate stem of the glass.

Long, elegant fingers.

He was appalled to find himself wondering how those fingers would feel curled around him. His throat went dry.

“She seems to be taking it well,” Jasmine remarked, oblivious to his sudden discomfort.

“She is now,” he croaked, then cleared his throat. “When I first told her, she shut me out. Told me to leave.”

“Shock will do that. She probably needed time to process.”

He nodded. “It’s great having her in my life. I’m sorry I waited so long to tell her.”

“Why did you wait?” Jasmine fixed that warm, probing gaze on him.

“It never seemed like the right time.” He hesitated. “Then last summer, Izzy was kidnapped, and I thought I’d lost her.”

Her eyes widened. “Kidnapped? Dear God.”

“Yeah.” His jaw clenched. “She’s worth a lot of money. Not only is she wealthy in her own right, but she inherited a mining company from her father—or rather, the man she thought was her father.”

“How did you get her back?” Jasmine leaned forward, intrigued.

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