Page 161 of Defenders of Jawhara

Trent brought her back to their room and set her down on the bed. Pulling off her shoes, he rubbed her feet, and she sighed. “That feels good.” He dug his knuckle into her foot, and she let out a loud groan. “Okay, that feels really good.”

She looked down at her pants and saw the coffee stain on her thigh. There was no way she was going to be able to get that stain out, and she was fairly sure she was out of a job, which meant she couldn’t afford to replace them. That also meant she couldn’t afford rent or anything else for that matter. Wrapping her arms around herself, she suddenly felt very cold and alone.

All the tears she’d been holding back and everything that had happened and the dead bodies… She tried to keep it together, but a sob broke through and once she started crying, she wasn’t sure she could stop.

Trent grabbed her, pulling her into his arms, and he held her tight as she cried. Stroking her hair, he made quiet, soothing noises while he let her cry. She had no idea how long she sat in his lap, but eventually her tears slowed.

Still stroking her, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I stained my pants, and I don’t think I can get the stain out, and I can’t afford to buy another pair because I don’t have a job anymore, not that I could have afforded it to begin with because I’m pretty sure these cost more than I made through the temp agency.”

To his credit, Trent didn’t laugh at her as she’d suspected he might. Instead, he hugged her tighter. “Remember when I said there was a job available? That’s still true. I think you’d be great at it. We already know how good you are under pressure.”

Chloe sniffled. “Is that what Slade wanted to talk to me about?”

He nodded. “Among other things.”

“It’s the other things I’m worried about,” she confessed.

“Well, I can help a bit there.” Reaching behind her, he grabbed something and handed it to her.

“My phone?”

“It is. I found it in the bag you left in the limo and when I charged it for you, I found an app on the phone. Looks like the Guardians were monitoring your activity and could block contacts remotely. Including me.”

“Wait? What? Really?” Chloe turned her phone on and waited for it to start up. Once it was fully booted, her phone lit up like a Christmas tree with ping after ping, notifying her of voicemails and text messages. Staring at her phone, she said, “I didn’t get any of these messages.”

Trent kissed her head. “I know.”

Scrolling through the messages, she found the ones from the hospital. “Oh my gosh, they’re moving my dad? How did I not know about this? I have to call.”

Before she could call them, Trent put his hand over hers. “We stopped the move. I got worried when I couldn’t reach you, so I sent someone over to check on him. Carlos arrived as they were getting ready to transfer him and put a stop to it. We have someone at the hospital keeping an eye on him, but your dad is okay.”

“Who would do this?” She clutched her phone to her chest.

“It was Anna Neills. We suspect that if things didn’t go well, she was going to use your dad as leverage. Thankfully, we got there in time, but you should call him.”

Chloe slid off the bed and walked to the window as she called. Staring out into a beautiful garden, she counted each ring until someone answered.

“Dad?”

“Chloe? Where have you been? I’ve been worried about you.”

“I’m so sorry, Dad. I…I had to go out of town for work. It was sudden. How are you? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine. Except they keep serving me pudding with dinner. Didn’t you tell them I like chocolate cake?”

Chloe sniffled, so happy to hear his voice. “I did, Dad. Maybe they ran out. When I get back, I’ll stop at the bakery down the street and pick up one there so you can share with everyone. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like I won’t be getting much cake,” her dad grumbled, making her laugh.

When she finished up the call, she looked at her other messages and they were all from Trent. He’d called her multiple times and left her at least a dozen text messages, each one increasingly worried. She whirled around to look at him where he still sat on the bed.

She waved her phone at him. “You really called me. And texted me.”

Trent slid off the bed and began walking toward her. “I did.”

Looking at her phone, she looked back at him. “Like, a lot.”

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