For Her Protection: 1 (Personal Protection) (12 page)

Connor stood in the center of the park, resting his hands on
his knees and sucking in deep breaths. Fucker had gotten away. The Volvo hadn’t
been able to outrun him on the road so had veered into a park full of kids,
forcing him to take to foot to warn the playing children.

His lungs burned but adrenaline still spiked his muscles,
tempted to him to keep running.

Thank fuck the kids were okay but they’d scattered like
mice. He tugged out his phone and walked back to his car, mounted on the curb
where he’d left it to run.

“Yeah,” Mark answered.

“She’s being followed,” Connor said and slid into the driver’s
seat.

“Is it him?”

“Couldn’t tell. Not his car but I got the license plate.”
Connor recited the details and listened as Mark looked up the vehicle’s
information on the other end of the line.

“Stolen,” Mark said.

“Shit.” Connor blew out a long breath. “Tell me you got
something new for me?”

“I do.” Mark went silent for a moment then said, “We’ve
managed to trace some of the money back to an offshore manufacturing plant—one
that’s linked with Halifax.”

Connor rubbed his jaw and stared out the window.

“It’s only a matter of time before we get to the bottom of
what’s really going down there—you don’t think Charlize…?” Mark let the
question hang.

He dropped his hand, his chest tightening. “No way. Charlize
has nothing to do with anything. Trust me on that.”

“I’ll take your word. But if you want my advice—the woman’s
the CEO. If the place is dirty, she’s in the hot seat. If you want to protect
her, keep her away from Halifax.”

Connor laughed and shook his head. “Have you met Charlize?
There’s no way I could keep her away. She’s made that business her life.”

“I remember a time when you could talk a female witness into
anything. What happened—lost your touch?”

There was only one thing he wielded over Charlize and it
wasn’t influence. “She’s stubborn.”

“Just do what you can. The less she knows the better.”

Connor pushed the keys into the ignition. “I said she was
stubborn, not stupid. They’ve been keeping things from her but she’s on a
mission for answers.”

Mike sighed. “Keep her safe, keep her nose clean. I’m not so
sure this was a simple revenge attack.”

Connor’s breath rushed out hot. “I’ll do what I can.”

* * * * *

Charlize washed her hands in the bathroom sink, scrubbing
sticky cinnamon residue from her fingers. She hadn’t intended on staying so
long but somehow she’d gotten conned into helping bake cinnamon scrolls with
Aunt Bess. She wasn’t sure what was worse—ending up wearing a frilly floral
apron that matched the one her aunt wore—or being plagued with images of domesticated
bliss with Connor as she did the one thing she’d thought she’d never do—bake.
Images still bloomed in her mind—the two of them in Connor’s cozy family home,
her feeding him sticky scrolls with her fingers, wearing nothing but a frilly
apron.

She groaned and looked in the mirror. Her long hair hung
over her shoulders in black waves, making her look younger than she was. She
smoothed it back and flat. It was happening already. She’d started giving in to
him. And not just sexually. She wasn’t just kneeling when he said kneel and
bending over when he demanded—she’d worn her hair down for him. Soon she’d have
no say in her own life.

No one can have it all. Not possible to screw a man who
could command every cell of her body without him commanding her heart and
existence as well. Tears pricked her eyes and her chest felt hollow. She leaned
her hands against the sink and bowed her head.

Steps echoed, dull thuds on the tiles behind her.

“Charlize?”

The voice caused a wave of dread to curdle her belly. Her head
snapped up and she met pale eyes in the mirror. “Simon?”

His gaze ran over her rear, which stuck out due to her bent
position. She turned, words emptying from her head. There were so many things
she’d wanted to say to him, wanted to scream at him. But now all she could
think was that he seemed shorter than she remembered. Even so she couldn’t
block out the gut-deep pain eating her insides at the sight of him.

“What are you doing here?”

He stepped closer, backing her into the sink. “Don’t look at
me like that, Charlize.” He touched her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

She jerked her face away. “Don’t. You’ve lost the right to
touch me.”

His gaze grew icy as she’d seen it do so many times. Except
now she didn’t have to put up with the tantrum that usually followed.

“I’d hoped we could keep things civilized between us.”

“Why did you come? You knew I’d be here.”

His mouth twitched. “Joyce wanted me to.”

He paused and she recognized the nervous jerk of his chin.
He had something more to say.

“Joyce and I are getting married.”

The pain turned knife sharp, cutting deep enough to stop her
from breathing. This was the betrayal she couldn’t cope with, the one that lost
her a cousin. “It’s been three months,” she whispered.

“Don’t be a bitch about this, Charlize. Rejection sucks, I
get that.”

She shook her head. “No you don’t. You don’t get it at all.”
Her chest tightened the way it had two nights before but she ignored the added
pain. “I’m not upset because you left me. I’m upset because you spent eight
years forcing me to conform to the person you wanted me to be. You tried to
make yourself the only thing I had.” Her chest squeezed and she jabbed his
shoulder with her finger. “You did all that and then you left me for my cousin.”

Simon’s face flooded pink and he closed in on her. Such
moves used to scare her—not anymore. She held her ground.

“Are you kidding? If I tried to make myself number one with
you, I sure as hell failed. I never came first with you—you couldn’t agree to a
wedding date, you didn’t want to have kids.”

The rage she’d been holding back came spurting out. “I never
said I didn’t want kids. I do want children. I just didn’t want to have them
while I was studying or starting my career.”

“That’s right, your precious studies. I’m a fucking lawyer,
you didn’t need to work.”

Those words, the ones she’d heard from him and everyone
else, over and over, seemed to echo louder than all the rest. She ran the back
of her hand across her dampening forehead. “It was never about needing to work
and that’s what you never understood. As far as I’m concerned you and Joyce are
perfect for each other. She’d fucking love not to work.”

She barged around him for the door. A woman stood in the
way, a hand pressed to her belly, brown eyes wide. A lump rose in Charlize’s throat
and she stumbled back. Joyce stepped in. She’d heard, obviously, judging by her
stiff movements. No one had said it out loud but no one had been surprised when
Joyce had scored herself a lawyer by any means necessary. Uncle Steve’s
daughter through and through.

“Charlize, I’m sorry if you’re still upset about how
everything happened, but Simon and I are engaged and you’re going to have to
get used to it.” Joyce moved to Simon’s side, her blond locks shifting over her
shoulders. He put his arm around her waist. “I thought you’d have moved on by
now.”

“I have moved on. But continuing with my life doesn’t mean I’ve
forgotten my cousin fucking my former fiancé.”

Joyce slumped against Simon, eyes shiny. There’d been a time
when they’d been close. Not as close as Charlize was with Alicia, but close. It
helped to see that maybe on some level, Joyce felt bad.

“You don’t sound like someone who’s moved on,” Simon
snarled.

Joyce looked from Simon to Charlize, mirroring his
skepticism in the rise of her forehead. Charlize’s shoulders hunched. They both
thought she was lying. But one thing was for sure—only one man had any claim on
her now.

Connor strode through the house, having been directed by
Aunt Bess on where to find Charlize. Murmurs hummed down a hallway and he
approached the sound.

“I’m seeing someone.” Charlize’s clear voice reached him.

Damn
right
. A smile tugged his lips. She was
his woman. Good thing she’d started coming around. Even better she was telling
family about him.

“If you say so.”

Connor stiffened. A snide male tone was not what he’d
expected to hear. The meaning of her words slipped from the boast he’d assumed
to a defense of some kind. He stepped into the doorway, his gaze taking in the
couple facing Charlize.

Her back faced him, straight and unyielding, softened only
by the inky black waves. He draped his arm across her shoulders. She twitched
for a moment before he tugged her against him.

“There you are, baby.” Connor’s voice filled the room.

Charlize relaxed into him and her hand gripped the back of
his shirt where it tucked into his waistband. He studied the man, the way his
gaze flicked from him to Charlize, his neck coloring, lips thinning. Connor
squeezed his fist, resisting the temptation to simply knock the fucker out for
daring to look at his woman as if he had some claim on her. For daring to make
her uncomfortable.

She didn’t introduce him, just looked up at him and smiled.
Smiled only for him. “Let’s go find Aunt Bess,” Charlize said.

They walked out of the bathroom. Connor caught a look at the
silent blond, her lips pursed as if she wanted to say something, but she
glanced at the man beside her and her lips smoothed.

* * * * *

“I’m proud of you, Cuz.” Alicia nudged Charlize’s shoulder.

Charlize nudged her back. “Well I couldn’t be chased out of
my own family forever.” She looked out over the crowded deck, taking in every
member of her extended family.

Uncle Ross turned sausages on the barbecue and Aunt Bess
sipped iced tea and laughed with her sister-in-law. Charlize’s chest squeezed.
She’d nearly lost them all. How could she have been such a coward?

Her gaze stopped at the half-sized basketball court her
uncle had poured in the backyard years ago when she and her cousins were all
kids. Somehow Connor had taken command of every male under the age of
twenty-five, leading them in a game of basketball. He’d removed his shirt and
ran across the court, bare chest on display. He tossed the ball toward a hoop
and his muscles flexed. She breathed in deeply, needing a little more air.

“So do I get an ‘I told you so’?”

“Huh?” Charlize replied, watching Connor toss the ball to
her eight-year-old cousin Jamie.

“You and Connor, I called it. Just didn’t expect it to
happen so fast.”

Charlize glanced at Alicia. She hadn’t even told her about
Gregory. For some reason she just couldn’t bring herself to say anything. The
only people who knew were the police, Bob and of course Connor. “What can I
say, he swept me off my feet—literally.”

Alicia laughed. Connor lifted Jamie to the ring and he
dunked the ball through the hoop with a
swoosh
.

“Shit.”

Charlize blinked, dragging her gaze from Connor’s biceps. “What?”

“Just thinking it’s good to be you.”

Charlize laughed. The sound radiated louder than she’d
intended, drawing gazes—including Joyce’s. Her cousin sat alone at a table,
drinking soda. Not because she was outcast for what she’d done—she wasn’t. Her
family rocked an “accepting disapproval” attitude toward all matters of
controversy. No…Joyce sat alone for an entirely different reason. One Charlize
knew well.

Simon stood a few steps behind Joyce, chatting to one of her
uncles. He might not look as if he was watching but he’d see everything she
did, everyone she spoke to, ensuring she did nothing to stir his jealousy.
Apparently, Joyce had already learned it was easier not to provoke him.

Charlize rubbed her collarbone where everything had become
painfully tight. Her anger dissipated. Joyce had saved Charlize from a
situation she hadn’t known how to escape. A part of her couldn’t freaking
believe it’d been her sitting in that chair only months ago.

She exhaled slowly. If she hadn’t been sixteen when she met
Simon, she’d never have gotten that involved with him. She’d never have let
someone else assume control of her world. Would she?

Her attention moved back across the yard to the game of
basketball. But Simon didn’t matter anymore. She was free and there was no way
in hell a man would ever own her again.

“I need a drink,” she said and went to the cooler. She
fished a soda out of the ice and popped the lid. The drink released a
satisfying fizz. She wiped her hand on her dress and took a deep swallow then
turned—and nearly choked. Her aunt’s neighbor, Nate, stood an inch away from
her. She barely caught her breath before he planted a kiss on each of her cheeks.

He pulled back and she couldn’t help smiling at his lopsided
grin.

“Hi, Nate.”

“Hey, gorgeous. Heard you finally dumped the loser.” He
tilted his head toward Simon.

Charlize shook her head. “Something like that.”

“Too bad for him,” he said and wiggled his eyebrows in a
gesture that was all goofy Nate.

His unique blend of humor and awkwardness meant he could get
away with just about anything. Probably why Simon despised him. Nate stretched
his arms out wide then casually draped one around her shoulders. Charlize
froze. Her gaze flew to Connor. Her heart rose in her chest. He’d stopped
playing and stood a few yards away, draining a bottle of water in a few gulps.
He swiped his wrist across his mouth and looked at her.

Her cheeks warmed then he winked—a slow, careful wink. A
lazy smile revealed his laugh lines. Her held breath released. He’d winked. Not
scowled or shot her any kind of look to let her know she would pay for this
later.

He turned and ran back to the game.

That look said it all. The cocky bastard wasn’t worried,
could tell with one glance exactly where her interests lay—knew he had no
competition.