Page 78 of The Stolen Dagger
“Wow, meeting your father already,” Drew teased. “You sure move fast, don’t you, darlin’?”
“Too late to back out now, smooth-talker.” I chuckled. “Besides, I’ve already met your parents.”
Drew took my hand that wasn’t holding the jewelry box in his. “Oh, that’s right. I guess the next step would be a proposal then, wouldn’t it?”
When I turned to him with wide eyes at the “P” word, Drew just winked and pulled me out of the room and downstairs.
I couldn’t tell if he was truly joking or not, but the idea caused butterflies to flutter in my stomach.
Nope. Definitely not the time.
I reminded myself we had more important things to worry about than when he was getting down on one knee.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
KATHERINE
“Who exactly is your father?” Drew asked as we stepped into the mansion my father called home.
After I got the dagger, Drew and I met a fuming Mack outside near his truck. He was furious that Drew had got the jump on him and told him so with a gun pressed squarely in his face.
But after Drew explained that he thought he was protecting me from one of Adrian’s goons, Mack huffed and said we needed to get back to my father’s house before someone who really worked for Adrian saw us.
On the ride back, I had explained everything that had happened in the last 24 hours to Drew, including Hunter’s fake abduction of Leah, Mack taking me to my father, and our conversation about the dagger.
I told Drew I had agreed to hand over the dagger to my father when all of this was over but left out the part about him wanting to be my father again.
I was still too conflicted to even think about that at the moment.
Now, we were in my father’s office. Mack stood with his beefy arms crossed over his chest, flanking my father, who sat behind his desk.
Both men glared at Drew, but he didn’t cower under their stare.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” my father said to Drew.
I rolled my eyes. The testosterone in the room was enough to choke me.
“I’m not leaving her to face this alone, sir.” Drew gave my hand a little squeeze. “Whether you like it or not, I’m here for Katherine, and I’m willing to do what it takes to keep her safe.”
HIs words tugged at my heart, but my father only leered harder at Drew, his jaw clenching so hard it looked painful.
There were a few more seconds of tense silence before my father spoke again. “You’ve protected her this far. You’ve kept her safe. I admire that. I’m grateful she had someone like you, even if you are just another pig in uniform.” My father said “pig” like the word disgusted him.
“Shecan look after herself, sir,” Drew pointed out. “Katherine never needed my protection. She’s more than capable of handling herself.” Drew glanced over at me, then back at my father. “I made sure of that, but I’ll always be there for her, with or without your approval.”
My father seemed to study Drew as his dark eyes shifted between us and then to our clasped hands.
“You’re obviously important to my daughter, so I guess that makes you important to me,” he said casually. “You can call me Roman.”
Drew stiffened beside me. “Roman? As in the Reaper of Vegas?”
“You’ve heard of me,” my father said smugly. “I’m glad to know my reputation precedes me.”
“Why do they call you the Reaper?” I asked, obviously not understanding the significance of my father’s title.
Drew answered me. “Your father is known in the underworld as the Reaper because when he comes to collect a life, he never fails. When he gets your name, you’re better off dead.”
“Yes, well, I made a name for myself early on when I joined this organization,” my father said. His gaze softened when it shifted to me. “The leader before kept me in his pocket for that very reason. To keep me in line, he threatened you and your mother. It wasn’t until right before she passed I overthrew him and became the boss. All the responsibilities of the organization then fell to me.
