Page 5 of Guarded By the SEAL

HARRY

“Good, full fridge,” I mutter as I check around the kitchen. Max is usually pretty good at keeping things well stocked for the first few days that a safehouse is needed, but I’m particularly glad for this one. To get anything in, I would need to get the boat over to take me back. There’s no store on the island. “And I’m starving.” I glance toward the stairs. “I bet Petra is as well. I’m going to cook.”

Since my job is to keep my client safe and well, which can include welfare, I don’t mind cooking. I’m a pretty mean chef, anyway. I actually enjoy cooking and don’t have much time during my normal work hours, so this will be nice. A bit of a break aside from the constant danger that could be lurking around every corner. I still don’t know what the danger is at the moment, but things will come through soon, I’m sure. Max never leaves me too long without the details. This has probably been longer than usual.

I don’t know how long I’m going to be here in this break from life, but I’m going to make the most of it. Even if Petra seemingly isn’t the most pleasant person in the world, it doesn’t matter. Webarely know one another, and we don’t need to come across each other in the hallways much if we don’t want to. I’m not here to give her company, I’m just here to make sure that the woman stays alive.

“Ah.” My cellphone bursts out with the email tone which I know is coming from Max. It’s here at last, the email, the information I need to do my job properly. I’m eager, keen to get started, but I have to finish cooking first. I get everything to a safe place, I make sure nothing will get burned, and I read.

I’m expecting the worst. I know this isn’t going to be great, but what I get is even more terrifying than I first thought it would be. Petra is in serious danger now. She’s in a mess. No wonder she wanted to say goodbye to her married name when she got into the car. I would too.

“A fucking monster,” I growl, my fist screwing up in anger. I hate men like this. I absolutely despise them. How could anyone treat another human being like this? Especially someone they are supposed to love and trust. It’s despicable. This is why men like me need to protect. We fucking have to from assholes like him. Jake goddamn Thompson, a man with mob connections, with sex trafficking connections, who wants to drain his wife’s family of money and then have her sold off. “Goddammit.”

This enrages me. It drags an anger out of me that I didn’t think was possible. Of all the things that I’ve been through in my life, I’ve never felt like this before. This really winds me up and makes me see Petra in a different light. She might seem like she’s a bitch, but she has been through a lot.

“Wow.” I stare up toward the stairs again, wishing that I could find a way to make things a little better for her. To discover all of this and have to leave her whole life behind in one day, it mustbe horrendous.Wow. Well, dinner is the best thing that I can do for her right now. That’s about it.

I suppose I’m also keeping her safe, so that’s something. That’s the best thing that she can ask for right now. To be out here, in the middle of nowhere, not being sold off to God knows who. God, I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to know that she escaped all of that.

I wait for a few moments before I head up the stairs to get Petra. Now that I know about her life, I’m going to have to find a way to address her to make her feel comfortable. I’m usually pretty good at that. It’s one of the reasons Max puts me on the harder cases like this one, but there is something about this case which really gets under my skin. It makes me feel like a pressure cooker about to explode.

“Petra?” The door is tightly closed, blocking me out on purpose. I get that, she doesn’t want anything to do with another man again, but I’m not the bad guy here. “Petra? I just wanted to let you know that I’ve cooked for you. I don’t know what you like, but I made a basic pasta dish. I hope that’s okay.”

I guess that might be an issue because of the carbs. Some people don’t like carbs, but since we’re going to be out here for a while now, there isn’t any need to be fussy about our diet. But it doesn’t matter anyway, because Petra is sleeping again across the bed. She’s crashed out, passed out as if she hasn’t slept the entire journey here. The shock and exhaustion of the day must have really crushed her.

“Sorry,” I whisper quietly. “I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’ll just wrap it up for you.”

I don’t know why I tell her this like she can hear me. I feel completely stupid as I do, but I creep backward with my eyes on Petra the entire time. Without the pain and hardness of the day on her face, she looks younger, sweeter… I can see the model in her all over again. She’s gorgeous. But that isn’t why I’m staring at her like a madman. It’s simply because I want to watch her, to see who I’m protecting without her staring right back at me like I’m the enemy. Because I’m sure she doesn’t trust me. I can see it in her eyes as she looks at me, on the odd occasion that she really does look at me.

Eventually, I turn and head back down the stairs. I carefully wrap up the meal for Petra and sit down to eat mine alone. I’m used to eating by myself, it’s what I’ve been doing for a long time now, but there’s something about being inside this house that makes it feel even lonelier. Maybe because in the city, I’m surrounded by noise and people, even if they aren’t with me or talking to me, but here there is literally no one.

“It’s quiet,” I whisper to myself. “I can’t even hear any animal noises and I have some damn good ears.”

I could turn the TV on for some background noise, but right now, I’m trying to get adjusted to my surroundings. I want to understand everything about this place so I can be sure it’s safe. Right now, it doesn’t feel like the mob are here to kidnap Petra, but I can never be one hundred percent sure.

After I eat, I take a quick scout around the area. Even in the dark, I need to take a look around. Of course, Max has done an awesome job and everything is completely under control, so I don’t know why I even worried. Although I do always have to check for myself. I’m a bit of a control freak like that.

Once that’s done, I get back to reading the document that Max has sent me about Petra just to check over every unbelievable detail. The more that I read, the worse it gets. The more times I see the words, the harder they are to take it. Why the fuck are people like this? I came across some terrible things when I was a Navy SEAL, and of course, I know that the world can be a bullshit place, but still… this is messed up.

I try to call Max to talk to him about it, to see what he’s doing on his end to make this all okay again, but he doesn’t pick up. I know that he’ll be working with Petra’s father to see if he can keep Petra safe, but it makes me uncomfortable being out of the loop on that side of things. It’s utter crap. I try to call Benji as well to see if he has any information, but he doesn’t pick up either. I guess they’re working on something together. Fucking hell, that leaves me alone with only time and space. Time to think and the space to do it.

“Great. Well, this is going to be fun, isn’t it?” I sigh to myself. “My brain is my best friend.”

It used to be my friend. I’ve never had problems with it. Not until my love life imploded and I was left wondering why, what I did wrong, and why I deserved to lose it all just as I thought I was getting everything.

My God, I am driving myself insane. This house is already beginning to drive me wild. Now, for some reason, I keep thinking about what Benji said to me about needing to move on from my past. Even if my heart is hardened to love—and it has been for a long time—I suppose it doesn’t always have to be that way.

Short flings have gotten me this far, and they have been fun, but as much as I’ve tried to play it big in front of my friend, I know that they won’t keep me satisfied forever. I do want more, but I’m scared to open myself up to that possibility. After being hurt so badly, I don’t know if I can.

Why did Benji have to say all of that? Why did he have to get me thinking like that while I’m here? He knows I’m in the middle of nowhere with nothing but time on my hands… but I suppose that might be why he’s done it. He really wants me to get out of my funk and to find love once more. I know that’s because he has my best interests at heart, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. There are times when it seriously pisses me off, and right now, I am in the middle of one of those goddamn times.

“I’m not getting sleep,” I mutter knowingly to myself. “As tired as I am, it isn’t happening.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and attempt to block everything out. I need the world to close right now. I need a soft blackness to come for me. Since tomorrow is clearly going to be a long ass day, I need to be rested and on top of things. Everything is safe and secure at the moment. Petra is in bed, and I know that she’s fine. There couldn’t be a better time for me to get some rest. But I can’t do it. I just can’t. I can’t switch off. Thoughts are buzzing through my brain, putting me on edge. Memories I don’t want to think of, faces I no longer want to think about, people I no longer need in my life. I need them all gone, but they won’t stop coming. It’s starting to become fucking overwhelming here.

“Fucking hell,” I growl as I finally give up and rise to my feet once more. I know that I’m going to be doing a whole lot more pacing. “Fucking Benji, I am going to kick your ass. Just you wait until I get out of here. You are in so much trouble. You have absolutely no idea.”

I grab my gun and take another walk around the place, blocking everything out as I go. Each step takes me further away from all of those memories and to the blank, calm mind I need. None of that matters anymore, only what’s happening right here, right now. Petra’s protection is the only thing I need to care about.

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