SWNOVELS Bossy Bodyguard: Part 2 – Chapter 17
There have been a few times in forty years of life that I wished I wasn’t present in a particular situation and instead lock myself in a room, bury myself in huge blankets, and never ever meet another person again. Most of the time, it was during a life-threatening situation where I had to save a comrade who had been shot, when Olivia went into labor, and when I found her dead.
Apparently, standing in the guest room of my son’s ex-girlfriend, whose damp hair was wetting her tee shirt, was one of those situations. Mostly because I was the one between her soft thighs last entire night.
Jesus Christ. Did I fucking sleep with…
“Dad? What the fuck are you doing here?”
My eyes twitched—which was never a good sign—looking at Caleb and Emma. He looked like he was ready for school in his very rumpled uniform and tousled hair.
“This is work,” I said, trying to keep my voice emotionless. Because I had slept with my son’s ex. Emma. “I thought you were Emma Grant,” I added, tilting my head at her, who looked equally shocked, if not more, by the entire ordeal.
“She’s Emma Moore. She kept her mom’s last name,” Caleb said, his eyes narrowing on me and turning towards his ex. “Why is my dad in your guest room, Em?”
She looked like she was having a hard time processing all of it. Her brows were scrunched and she wasn’t meeting either of our eyes. “W-why are you here?” she asked, diverting the topic, clearly not ready to share to her ex that he could be a suspect.
Fucking great. I’d need an alibi for Caleb, because I knew he’d never do something like that. Even if he could… no. He was out of the suspect list if I was handling her case. Emma herself said he’d never do something like that, and I was with him.
“My car’s here,” Caleb mumbled, his cheeks turning pink. “I parked it in your garage.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Why did you park it in the garage?” Emma asked, crossing her arms.
“Because I thought you’d need me after… after everything.”
My brows raised, seeing Caleb look nervous and flustered.
Emma’s eyes flickered to me before she looked at Caleb and said, “Ask Mrs. Karen for the keys. You can leave. I need to talk with Cillian.”
“About what?”
“It’s personal, Caleb.” I tried the stern dad-look, but it hadn’t worked a single time. “It’s a private case. If you want in, you have to sign an NDA and follow all the security protocols.”
His eyes widened, pinning on Emma and stepping towards her. She looked away, her hair covering the sides of her face, and Caleb’s face dropped before he took his hand back. Hm, interesting. She wasn’t afraid of him. If he had been violent towards her in the past, she’d have retreated, but she didn’t even flinch. That meant whatever Caleb had done broke her emotionally.
Yet it still made me mad that Caleb dared to hurt her.
“Can’t I know as a friend?”
“Leave, Caleb.”
I kept my mouth shut, seeing him leave with slumped shoulders. He clearly didn’t want to leave and wanted to talk to her about something.
I just hope I can survive this last case.
Emma
Fuck. Me.
The hot, muscular, stoic man with hidden tattoos and barely a few wisps of grey in his thick dark hair was none other than Caleb’s father. Dad. He was a dad. And I had made a move on him last night… after breaking up with his son. Then I had fucked him. I was still sore because of him.
I move real fast, don’t I?
“I didn’t peg you as a single dad,” I said, after a few moments of silence. Cillian was leaning on the wall beside the window.
I knew Caleb’s mom had passed away and his dad was not home most of the time, because I had visited him a lot. A pretty suburban house. I never thought his father was that hot—a literal sex on legs, as my friends would say.
Must be his fantastic Asian genes.
“I know Caleb did something really terrible,” Cillian started. Oh, boy, you have no idea. I looked away, swallowing a lump in my throat when he continued, “He’s stupid sometimes about his feelings, clearly got that from his dad, so I apologize for that.”
“It’s okay,” I muttered, rubbing my arms and closed my eyes. “He—Caleb isn’t stalking me. He’d never do that. You know that, too.”
He straightened up and buttoned his suit, his expensive watch catching a glint in the light. “My opinion is biased as his father.” His eyes drifted to the door as Damon walked in, typing on his phone before looking at both of us.
“What did I miss?”
Oh, I just took a shower, teared up while asking Cillian to stay in the room, wore a Barbie bra and a Teletubby underwear that he brought for me from my room, talked about stalking, got interrupted by my ex who, by the way, also happens to be Cillian’s son and had a fun chat about it.
Nothing much.
Cillian said, “We will gather the evidence and I’ve to talk to Elena about the case.” He glanced at me. “Do you feel safe in the house? In your room?”
I froze up when they both looked at me. I didn’t know why I was breaking into cold sweats all of a sudden and why the fuck my palms were getting so sweaty—
“I’ll take that as a no.” Cillian looked at Damon and said, “She needs security around her. And possibly another place to live. There’s an eighty percent chance that that person might try to leave another gift or try an attempt to meet you. That attempt could either be forceful or violent.”
“What?”
“You mean to tell me my sister is not safe in her own house?”
“What?” I asked again, my voice smaller this time.
“I am not telling you. I’m stating the facts. She’s being stalked. Chances are, this was not the first attempt. This person already succeeded in scaring her if she’s shaking on her feet going to her room.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Guys…” I was feeling parched and seeing black spots.
“I think you heard me the first time, Mister Grant. This was the reason Elena wanted me to take this case, because Emma is being stalked and she needs our help.”
“Our mother just died, okay? What she needs is some space and therapy and she’ll—”
“Emma.” I heard Cillian’s voice first. My knees gave as I fell on the floor. “Emma!”