Protecting His Brat

by Sorcha Black

  I trailed along behind Blue, nodding my agreement to his cover story about us watching movies. When I was calmer, I started to wonder if everyone could smell the sex on us or could tell I was walking weird. I ached inside, but it was a good ache. It meant I was his. He’d never let anything happen to me.

  As concerned as Mother seemed about the danger to me, she was calm and only gave me a cursory once-over. No hug. No pat. Not that she doled those out in abundance, but one would think maybe she’d show some affection if she was worried? How could she claim to be concerned and yet show no evidence of concern?

  Eventually, Blue brought me back into my room, which felt alien and violated. I didn’t want to touch anything.

  “Pack some clothes, Miss Kincaid.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked timidly.

  The room was filled with detectives. Did they always look for clues so carefully when something like this happened or was my mother’s money making them diligent? Maybe she was paying their overtime or something. They’d gotten to the house so fast.

  “Your mother wants me to take you to a secure location for a few days,” he said vaguely. Was he being careful about what he said in front of these strangers? I’d seen a lot of movies, though.

  Wait…

  What if he was in on the plot to kidnap me?

  I stared at him for a long moment. He looked like he wanted to kill someone. No one could be that good of an actor, right?

  Besides, this was Blue—the man I’d just coerced into bedding me. He could have stolen me away anytime simply by feeding into my crush and luring me away. There would have been no point in him playing hard to get.

  Once the detectives or whoever they were gave me the okay, I grabbed a small roller bag from the closet and packed what I might need for a few days away, everything comfortable and modest, no jewelry, just basic things. Was I really going away somewhere alone with Blue? If only this was a vacation, and not me running from danger.

  He brought me and my bag out to a car, his own bag slung over his shoulder. Instead of a driver, he was driving the car himself. He’d chosen a non-descript sedan with tinted windows that was probably used by the maids for running errands.

  “Where are we going?” I asked again once we’d pulled off the property.

  “To my house to lie low for a few days,” he told me matter-of-factly. “No one will think to look for you there. They’ll assume I’ve taken you to a hotel.”

  “Are your roommates going to be there?”

  “I have no idea.” His voice was grim. “I hope not, because they’ll be annoying as hell, but I also hope they are because they’re in the same line of work.”

  “Oh.”

  This was all so weird. It was hard to believe this wasn’t all a dream—from the sex with Blue, to the men in the house.

  Blue drove through town, and I wondered how far away he lived until I realized we were zigzagging and doubling back from time to time.

  “Do you think we’re being followed?” It felt like a line from a movie. I shrank down in my seat and looked suspiciously out the back window.

  “It’s possible, so I’ll treat it as probable.” He was frowning.

  “Are you worried you won’t be able to handle them?”

  His eyes moved to the rearview mirror for the millionth time.

  “I’m feeling like this was all too easy, you know? I get the impression I’m trying to lose people who aren’t even following us.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t feel like we’re being watched. It’s like they left the house and fucked off.”

  I checked the passenger side mirror, again and again, to see if any of the cars behind us appeared suspect. It would have helped to know what I was looking for. Maybe they were just good at blending in? Run-you-off-the-road level abductors must be more a fiction thing. It would draw too much attention from law enforcement.

  We drove into the parking lot of an expensive-looking hotel, then out the back way. We went across town and sat in the parking lot at a park. We got take-out and ate as we sat in the back parking lot at a mall.

  “You didn’t shoot anyone,” I observed.

  “There’s more danger once the shooting starts,” he told me. “I draw a gun, they draw guns. What if you caught a stray bullet, or what if a shot went through the drywall and hurt someone sleeping in one of the bedrooms? It’s not as simple as it looks in the movies.”

  “Oh.”

  “You’re okay?”

  “Yeah. A little shaken up, but I’ll make it. Are you okay?”

  “A few bruises, but you helped me keep you safe. I wasn’t as outnumbered as I would have been otherwise, although I’m not happy you put yourself in danger.”

  “I guess it’s good that I made you teach me some self-defense.”

  “I guess you’re right, although we both know it was only an excuse to make me grope you.”

  “Are you going to keep pretending you didn’t like it?”

  “No.” He smiled for the first time in hours.

  Exhaustion dragged at me, but his smile made me feel a little less shaky.

  “It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t believe this was their first opportunity to try to grab you, so why now? What’s changed? Since you were a kid, the ‘attempts’ have always felt like threats rather than a real interest in kidnapping you.”

  “I don’t know what’s changed.”

  “Maybe because of something going on with your mother’s company? Maybe because you’re out in the world more, being seen, and therefore you’re more of a threat? But to who? Why?” He shook his head. “There are too many unknown variables, and I don’t exactly have any experience with private investigation. I’m just the muscle.”

  “It’s not your job to figure out why this is happening,” I reminded him. “Police and my mother’s investigators have been trying to figure this out for years. You can’t expect to come along and magically solve the problem.”

  He grunted. “It’s frustrating. If I can’t figure it out, it will probably keep happening.”

  I sighed. It wasn’t like we were going to figure things out sitting in a parking lot eating fast food.

  “Do I get to sleep in your room?” I asked, nibbling a chicken nugget. I was getting tired of being scared and wanted something else to think about.

  “I don’t know yet,” he replied around a mouthful of burger.

  “Are your friends going to know about…us?”

  “What about us?” he snapped. “That I got so distracted by an infant that I almost failed to do my job?”

  Indignant, I swallowed my mouthful of strawberry shake. “I’m not an infant! You’re barely ten years older than me.”

  “When I was graduating from high school, you were in…what? Grade two?”

  “Oh please. You’re hardly Hugh Hefner in this scenario.”

  “If you don’t think of me as being much older, then why do you keep calling me Daddy?”

  I shrugged. “Because it makes you grumpy, which is hot.”

  “That’s it?”

  “And…you make me feel small…and protected. And you’re bossy.”

  “I’m just doing my job. I’m your bodyguard.”

  “Do most bodyguards dress up their clients and buy them presents for no reason?”

  “Sure.” He wasn’t looking at me when he said it, and he shifted in his seat as though suddenly uncomfortable.

  “Uh-huh.” I put my hand on his jeans-covered thigh, and he picked my arm up by the wrist and put my hand back on my fries.

  He sighed. “Drink your princess milkshake and behave, little girl.”

  “It’s a strawberry milkshake. There’s nothing princess-y about it.”

  “And the nuggets?”

  “The regular-sized meals are too much food for me. Besides, I wanted the toy.”

  He chuckled like I’d proven I wasn’t old enough for him.

  “I always saw the commercials and never got to go,�
�� I admitted.

  “You’ve never been to McDonald’s?”

  “Not until now.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but you’re too old to get into Playland.”

  “I’m well aware,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster.

  He seemed to think that was pretty funny, so I stuck out my tongue, which apparently made things funnier.

  Chapter Ten

  “Don’t tell them who you are,” I reminded Aberdeen as we left the car and headed for the door. I could feel her looking everywhere at once, clutching the handle of her roller bag. Snagging the handle from her, I closed it and picked the thing up. It wasn’t much bigger than a briefcase, and she was dragging it around like she was going on a three-week vacation to Mexico. It was a baby blue, and adorable, instead of practical—very Aberdeen.

  “What’s my name then?” she asked, lurking behind me.

  “Arabella?”

  “Okay, and who am I?”

  “Who do you want to be? Cousin? Old friend of my sister’s?” There were a few options. We probably should have come up with a cover story before we got out of the car, but it was more for the neighbors than for the guys.

  “Can I be your girlfriend?”

  The question pulled at something in my chest. I’d fucked a virgin, and then all hell had broken loose, and now she was asking me to pretend she was my girlfriend? It was as good a cover story as any if people asked, but…

  “I’d planned on you sleeping in the spare room,” I told her.

  “Oh. Am I embarrassing? I mean, are you embarrassed to let your friends think we’re together.”

  I wanted to laugh out loud. Did she honestly still think she wasn’t gorgeous after having both me and Courtland panting after her?

  “Of course not, but what if your mother hears about it?”

  “Who would tell her?”

  I shrugged. “Up to you, but you’d better behave because these guys know how I treat my women. I won’t hesitate to put you in your place.”

  “Your women? Like plural? At the same time?” She trotted after me.

  “It has happened, but it’s not standard.”

  She giggled then seemed to realize I wasn’t joking. “Oh.”

  I let us in the back door. Ariel was standing in the kitchen in athletic shorts and no shirt, and I could feel Aberdeen staring at him. I had the urge to cover her eyes.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. Eventually, she’d realize how ugly I was and get bored of me, but I wasn’t ready for her infatuation with me to transfer to my best friend just yet. “Ariel, this is Arabella. Touch her and I’ll rip your fucking arms off.”

  Ariel laughed as Aberdeen stared up at me, looking shocked.

  “Just my arms?”

  “Any appendage that decides to get friendly.”

  “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

  “Fuck off.”

  She gave Ariel an awkward wave as I led the way from the room.

  “That’s not a very nice way to talk to your friends,” she admonished.

  “If that’s not how a guy talks to his friends, he doesn’t have any real friends,” I told her. “It’s a toxic masculinity thing—you wouldn’t understand. By the way, he looks pretty but he’s a dog. The man will fuck you against a wall if you look at him the wrong way.”

  “But I’m your girlfriend,” she said, her brows pulled together in confusion.

  “That just makes you more interesting,” I explained. “If I fuck you then he knows you’re worth fucking.”

  She blushed, her cheeks turning the beautiful shade of pink they did whenever we were doing things together that we shouldn’t.

  “So, are your friends kinky?” she asked.

  “They are.”

  “So they won’t be shocked if they hear you, you know…”

  “Hear what?” I opened my bedroom door and led the way in. Thankfully, I was tidy enough that our lack of a maid wouldn’t be shocking to her. The other guys were pretty good about cleaning up after themselves, too, otherwise our arrangement never would have lasted long-term.

  “If they hear you spank me.”

  I turned to frown down at her. “We’re here to keep you safe, Aberdeen—”

  “Arabella.”

  “Arabella,” I corrected myself. “We’re not here to roll around in bed.”

  “Well…the sex against the wall thing sounds hot too.”

  “No sex!”

  She pouted at me, eyes wide. “But you promised to teach me about anal,” she whispered loud enough that if Ellis was home and in his room, he definitely would have heard her.

  Damn, I was going to hell. My dick was getting hard even though I kept mentally telling it to get down. It really did have a mind of its own. Then again, I had packed lube, so maybe my intentions weren’t as honorable as I wanted to pretend.

  “You’re in danger. Sex should be the last thing on your mind.”

  “And yet the adrenaline is making me ready for anything.” She gave a helpless shrug. Her hand found the hem of my T-shirt and slid it upward to expose my stomach. My muscles flexed involuntarily as her fingers shyly explored. “We’re here, and I’m supposedly your girlfriend. No chaperones. No interruptions. Just a girl and her Daddy.”

  Her wild grin made me want to pump something other than the brakes.

  Fucking brats. I couldn’t handle brats. They were like fucking catnip.

  I cleared my throat. “I’m going to check the perimeter of the house and figure out whether I can guard you here, or if we’d be safer to move somewhere else. You stay here and keep out of trouble. You can play on my computer if you want.” I gestured to the laptop on the bed, then realized I’d need to out myself. I sighed. “The password is Aberdeen.”

  “Your password is my name? What a huge coincidence.” She gave me the most mischievous grin I’d ever seen, and I shook my head at her. Incorrigible girl.

  “Why aren’t you scared?” I demanded. “A group of men tried to kidnap you last night, and you’re acting like this is an adventure.”

  “You won’t let anything happen to me,” she said with a terrifying level of confidence.

  “I’m not a superhero, Aberdeen. You’re in danger, and I’m only one man. There were a lot of them, and there are probably more. You need to keep your head on straight.”

  “Yes, Daddy,” she said, biting her bottom lip.

  I blew out a frustrated breath, feeling like I was talking to myself. The expression in the brat’s gaze was pure invitation, and my defenses against her were evaporating.

  She kicked off her flats and settled onto my bed, and I tried to ignore how much I enjoyed seeing her there.

  When I got downstairs, I passed Ariel, who was eating cereal in the living room while watching a rerun of some cartoon. Hopefully he hadn’t heard Aberdeen talking about anal.

  I checked to make sure the main floor and basement windows were locked, then went around the outside of the house, checking it over. We’d removed the trellis first thing after we’d taken possession of the house, and we fixed the patio door that was too easy to pop open. It was a quiet neighborhood, but our line of work made us paranoid.

  From the yard, I looked up at my bedroom window and saw Ariel leaning against the doorframe, as though he’d been standing there a while.

  His mouth was moving.

  That bastard. If he was flirting with her, I was going to snap his neck.

  Maybe he was just being polite, but I doubted it.

  I reentered the house, locked the door, then went up to my room.

  “Twenty-one,” I heard Aberdeen say.

  That fucking jerk.

  “Where did you guys meet?”

  “At a bar.” She sounded like the shy girl she was in public and around her mother, polite, cultured.

  “What bar?”

  “I don’t remember the name of it.”

  “He’s never mentioned you.”

  “We’ve be
en keeping things low-key.” She gave a half-laugh. “He probably wants to keep his options open.”

  “Well, if you need anything…and I mean anything, I’ll be right downstairs.”

  “Thanks. It was nice to meet you. Blue sort of skipped the introductions.”

  “I don’t know why. I’m completely harmless.”

  “Harmless. Ha,” I cut in. “Like a wolf in wolves’ clothing.”

  “So? I’m sure Little Red would enjoy being eaten.” He winked at her, and I elbowed him in the ribs.

  He oofed. “Okay, man. Fuck. I can take a hint.”

  “Go find your own Little Red.”

  He grinned at me. “I have a soft spot for your leftovers.”

  “She’s not that kind of girl, Ariel,” I told him, squashing down my temper. “Go away.”

  Snickering, he passed me and descended the stairs.

  “He seems nice,” she observed.

  “None of us are nice. We’re men.”

  “Is this the beginning of a ‘don’t trust men’ lecture?”

  “They’ll tell you what you want to hear to get into your pants,” I couldn’t help but say.

  “I know, Daddy.” Her gaze flicked almost impatiently from me to something on my laptop, and her expression turned to a somewhat horrified fascination.

  Shit. What had I left open on there?

  “Arabella?” I asked, barely remembering to use her new alias as I strolled into the room and shut the door.

  She didn’t look up. “Yes?”

  “What are you watching?”

  “Nothing.” She flashed me a cryptic smile.

  “Let’s try the truth this time.”

  “A video started playing when I opened your laptop,” she admitted. She tapped the unmute button and the sound of a woman quietly whimpering drifted to me. Her brows rose and she tapped a button until the volume was down to almost mute.

  I grimaced, trying to remember what I’d been watching.

  Shit.

  I settled on the bed beside her.

  “She must be a very bad girl,” Aberdeen observed. “Her daddy has a whole room full of things to punish her with.” She was watching the scene with rounded eyes that were missing nothing. “I thought you spanked me hard, but she is completely covered in scary red belt marks.” Eyes even bigger, she leaned in closer. “Oh my god, he’s going to do her in the butt.”