Page 143 of Protecting You

“I’ll take my sisters. It’ll be fine.”

His expression looked…tortured. “Please, take care of yourself too.”

At her nod, he followed the route her father had taken through the throng of guests and into the building.

She wanted to follow, to know what was going on, but Callan trusted her to make sure Peri was safe. She wasn’t going to let him down.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO

Callan found Gavin in the hallway near the expansive foyer, speaking to Robert.

“Your preferred room is available,” the club employee said.

Callan didn’t know how much Gavin knew, but the time for pretenses was past. “A different room, please.”

Gavin gave him a squint-eyed glare, but Callan ignored it.

Robert waited until Gavin gave a quick nod.

“The library, then.”

The library lived up to its name with books stacked from the floor to a fifteen-foot ceiling on dark mahogany shelves, complete with rolling ladders. Deep, plush armchairs and sofas were arranged around coffee tables.

All it needed were men in smoking jackets, puffing on pipes.

The place was empty except for a woman wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt reclined in a reading nook. A nice, normal-looking woman, clearly welcome in this very masculine space.

Robert, the manager/valet, led them to a door at the back that opened to a tiny room housing a partners’ desk with rolling leather chairs on each side. A large window gave Callan a view of the ocean and jetty.

He spotted his daughter outside kneeling on one of the rocks, her tiny hand reaching for something.

Levi was with her. They seemed to have made fast friends as the babysitter looked on. The guard was a few feet back, head on a swivel as if threats could come from any direction.

Alyssa and her sisters meandered along a narrow stretch of sand separating the building from the rocky shore. Talking. Laughing. Perfectly at ease.

Callan saw nobody else. No terrorists moving in. No boats getting too close. They were safe. For now.

“I trust this will work?” Robert asked.

“Yes, thank you.” Gavin closed the door behind him, then got in Callan’s face. “What are you playing at?”

“I don’t know what you mean, sir. Unless you expected me to ask you for Alyssa’s hand, but she’s?—”

“Cut the act,Caleb.”

No doubt the man knew that wasn’t his name, but how? And, more importantly, how much more did he know?

Rather than ask, Callan sealed his lips and waited.

Another standoff, while Peri was out there, surrounded by danger. He didn’t like it, but an idea had been niggling at the back of his mind since the first moment he’d met Gavin Wright.

Callan had to know, but he couldn’t risk asking.

“It’s one thing for you to pretend to bedatingmy daughter, but to pretend you’re engaged? That kiss was out of bounds. You’d better watch yourself. You’ll have me to answer to.”

Callan crossed his arms, lifted his eyebrows.

They were closing in on the truth now.

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