Page 55 of Koa's Little Girl
“Guilty as charged. Just something more appealing to focus on, little girl,” he said quietly to her.
“I need to say something to Brooklyn. I think she’s leaving.”
Giana walked around the car and wrapped her arms around Brooklyn. “Thank you,” she breathed in the other woman’s ear. “I owe you one.”
Stepping back, she asked Koa, “Could you find a piece of paper for me to write my phone number down on?” He nodded and ran to the guard station.
“Brooklyn, I want you to call me if you need anything.” Giana held her gaze until the quiet woman nodded.
“Here, Giana. I added your contact information and mine as well, in case it takes a while for you to get a new phone,” Koa told her.
“Good idea,” Giana said.
Caden snagged the paper and pen before Giana could hand it over. He jotted his phone number down as well. “Call me first,” he ordered. A moment later, he stepped in front of Brooklyn andshielded her from the reporters who had arrived. His muscular form protected Brooklyn from their videos and photographs.
“Let’s get you out of here.” Caden pulled off his sunglasses and perched them on Brooklyn’s face. “Zale? Got a mask?”
“On it,” Zale answered. He was back in a minute with a white mask.
Caden helped Brooklyn further disguise herself. “You’re as safe as possible. Take the long way home and make sure no one is following you.”
“Thank you, Caden. Could I ask you to drive my car out of here? I think they’ll swarm the car,” Brooklyn asked in a trembling voice.
“I’m so sorry you were dragged into this,” Giana told her. She didn’t know what the woman’s story was, but it was something serious.
“Let’s go. Get in the passenger seat and keep your head down,” Caden recommended. He moved with Brooklyn to the driver’s door, and she crawled over the console to huddle on the floor.
Caden leaned in to listen to something the mysterious young woman said and nodded. He glanced up at Giana and Koa. “Brooklyn wants you to be happy.” His tone echoed with sadness. Usually stoic and focused, Caden’s face softened for a split second. He slid into the driver’s seat and navigated out of the crowd.
Giana met Koa’s gaze. He didn’t need to say anything. He’d seen his senior teammate’s expression as well.
“Your car is here to take you to the station,” Koa said, pointing to a fire department vehicle on the far side of the assembled crowd. He turned to his team. “Protection detail?”
The men formed a wall around her. Giana stayed in the middle and remained silent as they escorted her to the waitingcar. The reporters pelted her with questions, trying to figure out who she was. As Giana expected, they followed her.
Giana spent hours coordinating with her supervisors before finally making a statement to the media. Of course, she got to add to her microphone collection. Surely by now, the news station charged the super pushy reporter for each one she lost.
As the day progressed, she reminded herself frequently that Koa would come get her soon and help her escape from this shit show. Thank goodness she had Koa. Thank goodness she had her daddy.
CHAPTER 18
Koa brought his stressed-out little girl directly to her nursery after ushering her inside. She loved to play in the fully outfitted and decorated room. It was her solace and recovery spot when life got crazy.
He rocked Giana on his lap. She held Tiger and Jellybean tight to her chest with her head resting on his shoulder. The stuffies seemed to reassure her she was safe. After several long quiet moments, he finally felt the tension ease from her muscles. “Good girl. Just relax.”
“This was a horrible day.”
“It was,” he commiserated with her. Koa had stewed for the rest of the day, plotting Tom’s demise in a number of gruesome ways. Thank goodness for his team’s efforts to burn off his anger and frustration. Jerico had stepped up to take on the training lead position since Caden hadn’t returned to work out with them. He’d chosen to shield Brooklyn from the media storm.
“I was so scared, but I didn’t let Tom know that. I don’t know how he hid all that anger inside for so long,” she worried.
“He obviously has problems. I doubt you were the first person he’s targeted. But now, he’s shown his true self. He can’t hide anymore.”
“The fire department suspended him immediately. Human resources folks will work with the lawyers to protect the department. The firefighters are pissed. A few admitted that he’d said some weird things about me over the last few months. They felt guilty for not warning me, but had chalked it up to awkward guy ramblings.”
“Do you think they’ll come to you if something seems weird in the future?” Koa asked, trying to squash the flash of anger that speared him at the thought that others had not spoken up.
“I think so. I have a meeting with the shift leaders tomorrow to create a plan to help everyone recover after this. Tom’s anger was targeted at me, but shared risk and experiences bond together firefighters. We’ll work on creating more open lines of communication and rebuilding trust.”
