Page 19 of Dangerous Obsession

“Ihavemoved on.” Her tone was whiny and defensive because her friend was right.

“In many ways, you have, and I am so proud of you.” She sighed. “But honey, you are an amazing human with so much love to give, and you deserve to be with someone who really cares about you. I’m not saying Viking is that guy, but you sure could do worse. And here’s the thing: You’ll never know until you take a chance.”

“Maybe.” Even the thought of opening herself up to another man left her feeling nauseous.

Cliff wasn’t the only man who’d disappointed Marigold—her father wasn’t a sterling example of what a man should be, either. Her dad never physically abused her, but he hadn’t been there for her either.

“Just … be nice to him and see what happens.”

“I’ll be nice to him, but I promise nothing beyond that.” Baby steps and all.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Hey,Cole.”Vikingpuffedout a breath, straightened his arms, held the barbell high above his chest for a beat, then lowered it. “What’s up?” He repeated the lift.

“Five more.” Eddie, his spotter, took a sort of perverse joy in pushing his teammates to their physical limits.

“It’s about Marigold.” Cole propped his hands on his hips.

Viking immediately lifted the bar, settled it on the rack, and shot up off the bench.

“Who’s Marigold?” Eddie stepped over to them.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Cole speared him with a look.

“Uh, yeah. I guess I do.” He gave them a last look and moved over to the heavy bag.

“Thanks, Eddie,” Viking said, and his teammate lifted his hand in acknowledgment.

Cole waited until Eddie started punching before continuing.

“She needs protection and—”

“Protection? From whom?” Whoever it was, he would see to it they got nowhere near her. “What happened?” He yanked his towel off of the nearby weight rack and swiped it over his face. “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay, and we’re not surewhoshe needs protection from yet. But Dulce and I would feel better if someone kept an eye on her until we figure this out.” Cole told him about the note and how it might’ve been sent by her ex-boyfriend. “The guy could just be dickin’ around with her. But until we figure out what’s going on, I want someone on her.”

“What’s the deal with the ex, anyway?” He’d prefer to hear this directly from Marigold, but this sounded too important to wait.

“I can’t go into the details—that’s for her to share if she chooses. Let’s just say he is not a good guy.” He explained how her powerful testimony had been what sent Cliff Barnum to prison. “The senator is going to contact the warden to find out about visitors he might’ve had, get more details about his activities, and get more information about his actual release date.”

“He might have someone doing his dirty work on the outside.” Man, he had an urgent need to finish this conversation and get on the road to Georgetown.

Viking needed to see with his own eyes that Marigold was okay.

“That’s the only thing that makes sense.” Cole crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’ll shower, grab my gear, and be on the road to Georgetown in twenty minutes.” He kept a bug-out bag in his locker and another one at home. In their line of work, they had to be prepared to take off at a moment’s notice.

A couple of guys in town from OSI’s Pac NW operation walked over and started resetting the weights on the bar.

Cole tipped his head to one side, and Viking followed him over to a quiet corner.

“Marigold knows I’m sending you to watch over her, and … well, let’s just say her thoughts on having a bodyguard have not changed since the last time.”

“This in no way surprises me.” One side of Viking’s mouth lifted. “She values her independence.”

Cole stepped closer. He was one of the few people who stood almost eye to eye with him.

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