Page 58 of Scar

“Who is he? How do you know him?” she demanded of her father.

“That’s classified, Tally.” Her father’s voice was still stern but was a bit kinder than a moment before. “All I can say is that he’s a very bad man who came here to harm you because it would hurtme.”

No. Her insides screamed at the notion. “He would never harm me.” She knew that. Shebelievedit down to the marrow of her bones.

“I am so sorry, Tally. I have no idea how he found you or how he even knew you existed. My men have been hunting him for a long time. He’s a killer, Tally. He’s dangerous.”

Dangerous. She knew that too. It had been her first impression of him on the streets. The two thugs had attacked her and he’d…just watched. Thinking back on it, she wondered if he was enjoying watching her fight. He hadn’thelpedher, but then again, she hadn’t needed help.

Tally was aware of how dangerous he was. Not only had that assessment of him been confirmed by the few people who had seen him, but she’d witnessed it firsthand the evening before in her storage unit. She had excellent aim, but she was nowhere near his level. He had been scarily accurate.

But there was something about him. It was more than the fact that hehadn’thurt her, even when he’d had countless opportunities to. It was the way he helped her without being asked. Hell, he’d organized her desk for her! He’d moved items out of the way when she’d gone to Mark’s apartment. He cleaned up her dishes after she cooked him breakfast every morning.

And the little boy, Grayson… She knew he’d done more than help get food to him. She had a suspicion it had something to do with new clothing and shoes, but she was never close enough to Grayson to confirm and had been too distracted that morning to think to verify.

Thinking of Grayson made her think about the body the police had discovered behind her burned down restaurant. Even she’d suspected that her mystery man had been the one to kill him, but she’d also placed the disclaimer on that assumption that he’d done it to protect Grayson.

A protective killer.

Tally’s hands tightened around the leather on her mystery man’s back. “You’re wrong.” Well, not about the dangerous part and probably not about the killer part, but her dad was wrong that her mystery man was here to harm her. “Dad, who is he? Tell me his name.”

“I told you, that’s classified. Tally, I need you to let go of him.”

She heard others approach them from the other side of her mystery man. Tally stiffened, not liking the other men nearing her mystery man when he was so vulnerable.

Before Tally could tell them to back off, her dad put his hands on her upper arms and forcibly pulled her back.

“No!” Tally shouted. She’d been so shocked at her father’s actions that she hadn’t reacted quickly enough. She pulled, trying to get back to her mystery man.

“Tally, stop this! Stop this right now!” her father yelled, still pulling her backwards.

Tally struggled. As soon as her hold on her mystery man had been broken, the other men had swarmed in.

“Dad, no! Stop! What’s happening!?”

“It’s for the best, Tally. Trust me, baby. We’re going to take him where he can’t harm you anymore.”

“He didn’t harm me now!” Tally argued. Her father had pulled her on her backside nearly to her hallway leading back to her bedroom. As soon as he let go, Tally scrambled to her feet. Where was the gun? She’d stupidly put it down on the floor, thinking her father was there to help his employee.

“Tally!” Her father stepped in front of her, blocking her from getting back to her mystery man and weapon.

“Dad, don’t do this! I’m begging you, please! Tell me what’s going on! Are you arresting him? He didn’t do anything wrong!” She mentally rebutted her own words, thinking about the dead body behind her restaurant.

“Baby,” he took her shoulders, “I need you to listen to me very carefully.He was here to hurt you to get to me. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”

She understood what her father was saying, but she didn’t believe it. She couldn’t. “Why?” Tally demanded of her father. “Why would he want to hurt you?”

“It’s what bad men do, baby. They don’t need a reason.”

Tally wasn’t buying it. Being dangerous did not mean he was bad. A bad man would not have helped her as he had. A bad man would not have protected her. A bad man would not have stopped Tremont’s lackey from hurting Grayson. A bad man would not have listened to her babble on, day after day, about her life and whatever nonsense she felt like talking about. A bad man would not have made her fucking coffee!

She heard the footsteps of the others leave and she knew without having to click her tongue that they’d taken her unconscious mystery man with them. “Where are you taking him?”

“I can’t tell you that, baby.”

They weren’t taking him to jail then. They weren’t involving the police.

Her dad owned a paramilitary group, a world renowned security company. They employed veterans and traveled the world, helping to protect people. She knew her dad had enemies. That had been drilled into her before she even fully understood what it truly meant. Her father’s identity, as well as his relation to both Tally and her mother, were ‘classified’, as her father would say. Only a certain few knew her father’s name within his own company.

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