ROYAL ROCK(126)

I walked next to him as my mother glared at me. I ignored her, following Jonathan out the front door. We walked in silence until we reached the path that led back around toward the beach.

“What’s so important that you’re risking my marriage?”

“Something happened yesterday. You may not believe what I’m about to tell you, but it’s the truth.”

He frowned at my serious expression. “Go ahead.”

And so I explained to him what went down. I started from the beginning. However, in this version, me threatening them with a gun was enough to scare them off, and getting a local drunk was enough to find out about the Broken Hearts. I wasn’t sure Jonathan needed to know about them, but I decided anything that could get him to take me seriously was worth divulging. But he sure as hell didn’t need to know that I had killed two men and had threatened to kill a third.

When I was finished, he looked thoughtful, though not as worried as he should have been.

“Pirates, huh?”

“Pirates. Real deal, no bullshit pirates. But I don’t think they were after the boat.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“The Broken Hearts are locals. They wouldn’t bother a local boat, even one owned by an outsider.”

“Besides,” Jonathan added, “Tommy works for me. He’s lived here his whole life.”

That was an interesting bit of information. I couldn’t help but tuck it away in my mind for later, even though none of this was my problem.

“You should hire security, just in case,” I said.

“Well then, it’s a good thing you’re here.”

“I don’t do private security.”

“I’ll pay you. A lot of money, actually. More than the SEALs ever paid you.”

“It’s not about money.”

He looked at me thoughtfully as we walked down the beach. “I heard what you said earlier,” he said finally.

“I know. My mother can be a bitch.”

“Yes, she can. But she has a good heart, believe it or not. Still,” he continued before I could argue, “the important part is what you said about my daughter. You clearly care for her.”

“She’s my stepsister, and she’s a good person.”

“Yes, she is. If you won’t run security for everything, please at least act as her bodyguard.”

I stared at him for a second, and it felt like my heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want anything to do with this. Hell, he could easily hire a guy to protect Claire.

But he wasn’t going to find anyone like me. I doubted very many SEALs did private stuff, let alone SEALs that would act as security to one spoiled rich girl. This would be the opposite of what I wanted, though. I wanted to put distance between her and me, hopefully let her get the message that what had happened was a one-time thing.

Except I did genuinely believe there was a threat to their lives, and I could never live with myself if I let that happen to her. When I said it wasn’t about money, I wasn’t lying.

It was about honor. And my honor demanded that I see this thing through, at least to keep Claire safe.

Besides, it was going to be fun. She clearly wanted to play some games with me, and although I was trying to avoid that, maybe I could spend a few more weeks riling her up.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll do it. Just for Claire.”

“Very good. We’ll work out the payment later. But for now, consider yourself officially her bodyguard. I’ll tell her as soon as we get home.”

“Actually,” I said, “maybe that should come from me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? She can be very willful sometimes.”

“I can handle it.”

“Very good.” He clapped me on the back. “I’ll hire some men for Lucille and my businesses. This is a very inconvenient time to have something bad happen, you know.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because of the big land deal I’m involved in. Boring business stuff, but it’s important.”

“Sounds like motive to attack you right there.”

“Yes. You may be right.”

We walked back toward the house, and although I could smell something wrong with the whole “land deal” thing, I decided not to press. I didn’t want to spook Jonathan, and besides, it wasn’t my issue.

My only job, my one and only mission, was to act as Claire’s bodyguard. And to mess with her as much as possible.

And to have her sweet pussy wrapped around my cock at least one more time.

Because as much as I wanted to pretend otherwise, I was addicted.





13





CLAIRE

I was lying in my bed scrolling through my Facebook feed, waiting for my hair to dry, when I heard a knock at my door.