Uncontrollable Bachelor (Bachelor Tower Series), стр. 39
“Shannon, are you there?” he asked.
“Oh. Yes. Sorry. I’m… I…I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?”
“This is going to sound crazy, but…do you remember me telling you about Prince Babboo?”
“Of course. Why?”
“I think he’s here.”
“In your house?” his tone elevated. His concern was real. He believes me.
“Not in my house, but I’ve seen this car that keeps driving by. I…I don’t recall seeing it before and it’s going…slow. The driver is looking for something.” Or someone.
“I’ll be right there. Do not open that door for anyone but me, understood?” he said forcefully.
“I won’t. Please, Jace, hurry.” I didn’t want to panic him but something was about to go down. I could feel it deep in my gut. It was a horrible feeling.
With traffic in the city, I knew it’d take him at least thirty minutes to get here. Until then, I wasn’t going anywhere near a door or window. The more I paced, the more anxious I became. Eventually, I went into the kitchen and pulled out a large knife. If anyone did come in to attack me, at least I would have something to defend myself.
The doorbell rang and I rushed to the door. Before opening it, I peeked out the window and saw Jace’s car parked directly out front. Thank God. I unlocked the door and opened it. He was barely inside when I let the knife fall to the floor and wrapped my arms tightly around him.
“Thank you for coming. I was so….scared,” I said.
My father must’ve wondered who was at the door, because for the first time today, he left his study. “What are you doing here? I told you I’d watch her,” he said.
I looked at my father quizzically. It seemed like he knew exactly who Jace was. It sounded like they had even talked. About me. That couldn’t be. Those two didn’t get along. Why would they be talking?
“I asked you a question, Jace, why are you here?” he demanded.
“He’s here because I asked him to come,” I interjected. “What did you mean, you’d watch me?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said.
I turned to Jace and the scowl on his face said he was pissed at my father. “Tell me, Jace, what’s going on?” Would he be honest with me this time? Or would it be more secrets? For all I knew, it was my father he’d been talking to that day in the woods. But why?
“Maybe we should go and sit down.”
“Only if you’re going to tell me what’s going on. Otherwise, there’s the door,” I said firmly. I didn’t care how scared I was of Babboo, I needed to find out who I could trust.
“Jace, I’m warning you,” my father snapped.
Jace didn’t flinch. “Let’s go sit.”
I led him to the living room and directed him to the couch. I sat on the other end and my father followed, sitting across from us. Good. All here. Now maybe I’ll get some answers.
“Who wants to go first?” I asked.
Jace stiffened, but said, “I guess I will. When you told me about Prince Babboo, I… was already aware of the issue you were having with him. Not everything, but enough.”
“How? I haven’t told anyone,” I said, stunned.
“After we met for dinner the first time, an old friend came to see me the next day. He suggested I stay away from you. That it might get one of us hurt if I didn’t,” Jace said.
“Why would he think such a thing? And why would you be at risk?” I asked.
“Babboo clearly isn’t going to walk away and let you live your life. He still wants you for himself,” Jace said.
“And your friend knows this how?”
My father said, “Because I hired him to protect you.”
“Hired who?” I was so confused. For a situation I thought I had kept pretty well under wraps, it seemed I was the one in the dark.
“Carlton. He and his crew have been your security team for the past few years.”
“Few years? Someone has been watching me all this time?” Ha! So I wasn’t paranoid. All those times I looked over my shoulder thinking someone had been there, someone really had been. That should ease my mind a bit, but instead it pissed me off. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“There was no need to tell you,” my father stated. “You were safe and that’s what mattered.”
“But what made you think I wasn’t safe in the first place?” The missing pieces needed to be filled in.
“A threat came in and I intercepted it. Once I knew it was valid, I took the appropriate actions to ensure your safety.”
“Without telling me about it. So I went about my business all this time and I was actually constantly in danger. I’m not sure that was the best way to handle this, Father.” Typical. Once again, my father playing with my life, and me knowing nothing about it. “And these men are still watching me?”
He nodded. “And now Jace and some people he trusts.”
I turned my eyes onto Jace, hoping I would find that my father was wrong. But I knew from his expression it was the truth. “You knew? And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was instructed not to,” Jace responded.
“That’s why he took you to the mountains, so Prince Babboo couldn’t find you,” my father said.
The words echoed and ripped at my heart. No! It can’t be true. That was supposed to be a vacation. He took me away because he wanted to be with me. He missed our time together and this was…All a fucking lie.
I felt like I was dying. The two men I thought would always be honest were now the two I couldn’t trust. How long had they been allies? What else were they hiding from me?
“Shannon, it wasn’t like that,” Jace said. “I–”
“I don’t want to hear it. Not from you, and not from my father.”