Page 40 of Broken Bodyguard

Grace’s shoulders shook as she cried.

“Gracie-bell,” I started, my voice calm. “You should listen to your daddy.” I only said it because if I didn’t, he’d become violent. Every inch of my skin prickled with awareness, with readiness. It was a type of trigger finger snap judgment that only came out under duress.

“See? Smart man. Bad, but smart.” Jericho sneered at me. When he bent down to scoop up Grace, she wriggled away from him, screeching.

“No!”

“Grace. We’re leaving.” He lunged for her again and she darted away, an ear-piercing wail slicing through the air.

“Shut the fuck up,” Jericho snarled.

“Let her pick where she wants to go,” I blurted, my eyes on Grace’s pained expression. My heart was splitting in two. I didn’t understand how Jericho could willingly inflict this on his own flesh and blood. “Look at her. She’s scared. If she wants to go with you, she will. But you need to let her choose.”

Jericho huffed as though this was the stupidest idea he’d ever heard. “I’m her father. It doesn’t matter what she wants. It matters whatIwant.”

“Okay. But you have to understand that she’s going to make your life hell if you take her out of here scared like this,” I told him. “Let her choose. It’ll be smoother.” I stepped into the room, placing myself at Jericho’s side. I had my palms lifted, to show him that I wasn’t a threat, and that I was all-in on Grace making this decision. “This will be easier for her.”

Jericho rolled his eyes. Then he cleared his throat, as though preparing to recite lines. “Grace. Who do you want to leave with? Me, or the bad man?”

Grace couldn’t even talk from how hard she cried.

But she pointed her little finger at me.

“You’re safe, Gracie-bell,” I said softly. “It’s okay.”

She edged closer to me.

“You’re not leaving with him,” Jericho snapped.

“Come here, sweetie,” I encouraged her.

Grace sank to the floor, an immobile mess. Beyond the utter heartbreak of seeing her faced with this scary situation, all I could see were the next moves to get her to safety. Away from ‘daddy’. So then I could deal with daddy myself.

“She didn’t choose you,” Jericho informed me. He took a step toward Grace, but I jutted my elbow into his side forcefully. Awhoompescaped him and he staggered to the side. I scooped up Grace, holding her shaking body to mine as I raced out of the room. I pulled open a different bedroom door and dropped her inside.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” I promised her before pulling the door shut. It wasn’t ideal, but it would protect her from what came next. That was the priority right now: minimize damages. Minimize trauma. Obliterate Jericho.

After what he’d done today, I considered this my blank check. And I fully intended to write the amount of my dreams in the blank space.

Jericho barreled into the hallway just after I shut the door. He charged at me, swinging his fist. I ducked, catching him at the chest and hauling him against the opposite wall. Drywall cracked behind him and I slid my hands to his neck, pinning him there.

“You need to knock it the fuck off,” I hissed, pressing my thumbs into the hollow of his neck. I had no time to waste. He’d done enough damage, and I wasn’t interested in proving my strength or battling it out. I wanted him subdued and carried out of here on a stretcher.

But Jericho wasn’t so willing. He had more fight in him. Or maybe I underestimated him. He landed a punch into the side of my head that made me loosen my grip. He jerked away, headed for the room where Grace was hidden. He landed a hand on the doorknob. From inside, Grace’s wails drifted out.

He’s not getting in there.It was the only thought on my mind as I grabbed for his wrist, yanking him away.

“Stay away from her,” I growled.

“She’s my fucking daughter. Not yours. And I’ll make sure you don’t ever go near her again,” Jericho spat. But his words lacked bite. These were empty threats and I could tell.

“You’re the one who’s about to be kept from your family. From behind bars.” I hauled him up against the wall again, and then I landed a punch to his face that made him shut up. Blood trickled from his nose immediately.

“That was for what you did to Maddie down there.” I punched him again, feeling the crack of bone beneath my fist. “And that’s for scaring Grace.” He was fading out of consciousness already, but I wasn’t done. I punched him again. “And that’s for the baseball bat to the knee, you asshole.”

Jericho crumpled to the ground and I spat on him. My chest heaved as I struggled to catch my breath and assess whether or not he was really out. I half expected him to lunge at me, zombie style. But he remained slumped and unconscious. I dragged him by the arm pits to the top of the stairs. At the base, Maddie’s parents were still gathered around her. Maddie’s mother was openly crying.

“Jericho’s out,” I reported.

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