"Actually, I need to talk to you about that."
"Go ahead, Nathan."
"Alone."
He stared at me for a second. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of your mother."
"No, sir, I can't, because my mother is a harpy and will tell the first reporter she can find."
They both gaped at me. "Nathan," Jonathan said, "you can't talk about your mother that way."
"Yes, I can," I said quickly, stifling whatever Lucille was about to say, "because you want to hear about this."
Jonathan looked at me for a long second.
"You can't be serious, Nathan," Lucille said during the silence. "Are you this desperate for male attention? I know your father died when you were young, but this is pathetic."
I had to clench my fists to keep from smacking her across the face. I knew she was my mother, but that was a low blow, even by her standards.
Jonathan seemed to agree. "Lucille, leave the boy alone." He gestured at me. "Follow me."
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.
I assumed it would be my father. After my conversation with Nate earlier that day, I figured things were through between us, which was fine by me. It may have been true that I couldn't stop thinking about his tall, ripped body, or the way he tongued my clit until I came over and over, but he was too much of an asshole, too cocky.
I was beginning to understand why my dad kept bringing around those rich guys all the time. At least they had manners. Maybe they were boring and stuck up and douchey, but at least they didn't say the dirtiest things they could think of to me whenever they felt like it.
At least they didn't make me soaking wet every time they were around.
Nate was a brainless Neanderthal. He was an ape. True, he was an ape with an incredible cock and a strength I'd never seen before, but still an ape. He was never going to change.
"Come in," I called out.
The door opened slowly and there he was, my asshole stepbrother.
"Hey, Claire," he said, grinning at me.
"What do you want? I figured we were done talking."
"I don't know," he said, coming inside and closing the door behind him, "I think I had some interesting things to say."
I tossed my phone away and sat up. "The only thing I kept hearing was how much of an asshole you are."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Please, little sis. You know you love it when I tell you how bad I want you to slide down my thick cock."
"No, thanks. And don't call me ‘little sis.' That's gross."
He crossed his arms. "What would you prefer? Princess?"
"My name is fine."
"Okay, princess it is."
"What do you want, Nate?"
"I have some good news for you." He walked over and sat down on the bed. I reluctantly made room for him, though I couldn't help but remember the last time we were in that bed together, our arms wrapped around each other, our naked bodies pressed together.
"I'm not sure I want to hear it."
"Trust me, you do."
I sighed, not in the mood to go back and forth for another twenty minutes. "Okay, spit it out."
"I told your father about what happened to us on the boat."
I raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I thought you said we couldn't tell anyone?"
"I changed my mind. Plus, I told him I scared the guys off with a gun."
"So you lied to him."
"I left out some incriminating details."
"Well, what did he say?"
"Came to the same conclusion I did, actually."
"Which is?"
"I'm pretty sure your family is in danger." I listened carefully as he told me about the Broken Hearts and how he found it all out. It shocked me that he had gone through all that without saying anything about it, and my heart began to beat fast in my chest.
Who was this man, and how far was he willing to go for me? Just when I was ready to give up on him, he decided to go and do something like that.
"So what does this mean?" I asked him once he finished.
"It means some local outfit likely wants to get at your father."
"And that means I'm in danger?"
"Damn right it does. I'm betting the whole goal of that little pirate bullshit was to kidnap you."
I blinked, letting that sink in. I had a hard time actually believing that anyone would want to kidnap me, let alone over some stupid business deal. Then again, if I knew my father, there was probably a lot of money riding on the deal. "Okay, fine. I believe you. What do we do?"
His face lit up. "That's exactly what I wanted to tell you about. Your father gave me a job."