Page 5 of Daddy's Bodyguard

“Then don’t call me princess!” She loses her temper, goes off in Spanish, but then takes a deep breath. “I’m not achildfor having morals.”

“You’re a child because you’d rather believe this isn’t real,” Mr. Hernandez growls. “You’re staying in a safehouse.”

“Not with Scarlett and you,” she hisses, sitting back.

They continue arguing while I remind myself this is the life I chose. I guess the two civilians came to an agreement because the car turns left instead of right, and we soon stop at an apartment building we had set up as a plan B safe house, just in case the first option becomes unsafe. Mr. Hernandez waves to the window and to me. “Sofia, your home and your muscle. Jasper Brookes.”

Cash shakes his head once while Kingston gives me a look apologizing for my luck. Sofia climbs over me, keeping herself so far from my body that I feel rejected despite not even making a move.

I climb out of the car, and Mr. Hernandez catches me. “I’ll be checking in soon.”

“Of course.”

“And … you should hurry up.” He motions towards his daughter. “She’ll run.”

I look over and see her doing exactly that. I sigh and take off as I hear a “Good luck” from Kingston. I’ll give it to the girl. She’s fast. If I didn’t have my height or my love of the chase, I’d be royally fucked.

I manage to catch the back of her shirt, and she falls, nearly taking me with her. I hold her in place as she tries to get free.

“Let me go!”

“I have a safehouse to get you to,” I remind her. “Plus, we are like sitting ducks out here in the open. We need to move. Now!”

She shoves me again. “I have a life to live! I don’t need this.”

“Your apartment begs to differ.”

“Let me go! I have things to do. I’m not stopping until I’m dead.”

“Good to know. Would you like that to be sooner or later?” I ask.

She glares at me, but the longer she looks, the more she softens until I smile. She tugs on her wrist again. “This isn’t my fault. My life shouldn’t have to stop because of my father’s dirty deeds.”

“You like having a choice.” I nod. “We can work with that. Do you want to walk or be carried?”

“What?” Her eyes go wide. I arch an eyebrow, making my face hard, giving her a stare-down that made violent men shake in their boots. She rolls her eyes and tries to take a step back. “I’m leaving.”

“Carried it is,” I decide.

“No! Wait!” She yelps as I sling her over my shoulder. “Fuck!”

I wrap an arm around the back of her thighs and clear my throat as I walk us back to the house. “So, I’m Jasper. In case you’re worried about my qualifications, I’m a former marine who’s done multiple extraction missions during the ten years I’ve been on tour in the middle east. I’ve worked in the private sector for about two years since I’ve been discharged. I take my job seriously, so please, don’t make it harder on us both, okay?”

Sofia grunts and tries to push herself up by bracing against my back. “Put me down. I’m an adult!”

“I’ll set you down in the apartment. Not a second before then.”

She clings to me and wiggles until I steady her with my free hand. She swats at me, Spanish whipping off her tongue. “No me toques!”

“You could have walked, but you chose this,” I remind. “I think I like it more.”

“Perve.”

“Oh yeah. Forgive my imaginary hands on your ass, princess.” I snort.

“Sofia.” She corrects, giving my back a solid whack as we reach the front door. “Stop carrying me around like a caveman.”

“Stop running, then.” I pat her thigh.

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