Page 86 of Papa's Bébé
“Vince is vindictive. He’ll retaliate. And my father . . . he’ll believe whatever he says. There’s no way he’d ever believe me over Vince.” She shook her head. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Why?” he asked.
God. Why was he asking this? Why did he care?
“Because my father sees Vince as a son.”
“And you are his daughter.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “Not one he seems to want. He has my brother and sister. What does he need me for? I’m not important.”
“And yet here I am. He hired me to protect you.”
She clenched her hands together. She wanted to believe her father had done that because he cared. But she wasn’t sure that she could. “It’s probably about appearances. If something happened to the chief of police’s daughter and he’d done nothingto protect her when he’d known about the threat . . . yeah, that wouldn’t go down well. Not that he ever seems to care much about what anyone else thinks of him. He thinks he’s all powerful and so do his favored cops. Like Vince.”
“Vince is just a man. A dirty cop can be taken down just as easily as anyone else. I’m going to take care of Vince.”
She managed to stare at him again. “I don’t want you to get hurt trying to protect me.”
“Gonna take a lot more than some power-drunk cop to take me down, trust me,” he told her.
That was the issue, wasn’t it? Trust was difficult for her. Could she trust him?
She just didn’t know. But there was a growing part of her that was screaming that she could.
“I’ll try.”
“Good girl,” he told her. “I know it’s hard. But I do need you to trust and listen to me. I’m not going to give you a bunch of rules because I’m on some power trip. I promise. They’re there to protect you.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like telling me if there is a threat to you. Like the one on your garage door. And definitely telling me if there is a stalker.”
“Ryan really is harmless.”
“A stalker that is harmless,” he said. “That is the first time I’ve heard that.”
“You can come speak to him with me,” she said. “He’ll probably do another drive-by in about an hour. I doubt he was there when Vince spray-painted my garage door. Ryan tends to head home around ten-thirty, maybe eleven.”
“This is so bizarre,” he muttered. “I cannot believe we are talking about your stalker and you’re so . . . blasé about him.”
“Ryan really is harmless. I mean, he was a dick of a boss. That’s part of the reason why I left even though it was quite awell-paying job. I worked as his assistant. But when he wasn’t being an asshole, he would stare at me weirdly. He would stand too close and stare at my boobs. I learned not to wear low-cut tops.”
“That fucking bastard. And you think he’s harmless? Just because he hasn’t done anything yet, doesn’t mean that he won’t. He could escalate at any time.”
Okay, when she’d first met him, he’d seemed so calm. So in control. Now, he sounded anything but calm.
Crap.
Had she done that to him? Had she erased his chill with all her . . . issues?
That’s what she was. She was a chill eraser. All she did was add to people’s stress.
It was a gift, really.
Not a good one, though. One that you hoped came with an exchange voucher.
“I only met you a few hours ago and I’ve already raised your blood pressure, haven’t I?”
