Page 187 of Sweet Temptation

Really, there was nothing he could do, short of building himself a guard’s shack in her yard and sitting in it with a shotgun, twenty-four-seven.

Had to be a hard position for any loving father, even when his daughter was an adult. And even when she had twenty-four-hour security that wasn’t him. I understood that I was a stranger to him, despite my credentials; that both me and his daughter were asking him to trust me with her life.

“Your daughter is safe,” I tried to assure him. “The police are involved. We’ve got the restraining order. And we’ve got a team of qualified professionals at our disposal, at any given minute, to see that Summer’s security needs are met. Her manager, his head of security and their team, and my team, we’re all working together on this to assure her safety.”

I didn’t mention that a key component of his daughter’s safety had pretty much been insured by the Vice President of the West Coast Kings motorcycle club.

There were some things that were better kept on the down-low.

He nodded, looking up at the house. “I can see that you’ve got things covered here. I’ve been on my daughter about that fence post for the better part of a year. I tried to pay for an alarm system to be installed, several times, and she wouldn’t hear of it. I advised her to get more of those motion-activated lights in the yard. She doesn’t listen.”

“She values her independence,” I offered. “I can respect that.”

“A young woman on her own needs to know when to accept help. I’m glad she’s listening to this new manager of hers. I don’t know how you got her to come around on all of this…” He tapped the window, where the Triple X Security logo had been affixed on a sticker that warned potential intruders to fuck off—literally with a fist giving the middle finger. “But I am grateful.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m just glad I can help. And maybe provide you and your wife some peace of mind. Must be difficult, living so far away from your daughter under the circumstances.”

“It is.” He looked me over again, briefly. “But I can see she’s in good hands.”

“Thank you.”

“And I respect a man who can hold his own with my daughter,” he added, unsmiling.

“I do my best, sir.”

He nodded.

And yeah, I definitely felt like an asshole accepting the man’s praise when he had no idea I was boning his daughter.

But that seemed like a conversation for a later date.

As we were heading back into the house through the sunroom, my phone rang.

Naveen.

“It’s my partner,” I told Summer’s dad. “I need to take this.”

I left him in the kitchen with the women. Summer gave me a curious half-smile as I caught her eye; I pointed at my phone and headed down the hall to “my” room.

“Naveen,” I answered, slipping into the room and shutting the door. “What’ve you got?”

“We finally finished that check on Summer’s brother for you.”

“And?”

“Went pretty deep, reached out to connections in his neck of the woods, both street and RCMP. Turned up nothing. The kid is clean.”

“Really?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am, actually.”

“He’s not in the system, not even a parking ticket. His business seems completely legit. Pays his taxes. From what I can tell, he doesn’t owe any money on the streets.”

“Well, that’s a fucking relief.”

“Thought you could use some decent news.”

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