Page 6 of Jealous Bodyguard

Still clutching the note, I thrust it out in front of him. My huge hand an inch away from his face so quickly he gasps, but I need him to read this note again. Aloud.

“Read it again, Shulton,” I growl. “Read it word by word and think of Stacey while you do it,not your dog,” I order him. Watching him swallow hard and take the note in his free hand that trembles a little. He’s reached the end of his rope with me, I can tell. But before he tries to have me booted out, I need him to understand this much.

To his credit, Shulton does as I ask. And after skimming the lines, repeating them absently once, he shrugs and gives me a ‘So?’ look.

“Again,” I order him, watching his features shift when he reads it through a second time, thinking about Stacey like I’ve told him to. He goes pale and finds the same seat his daughter took a few minutes ago. Clutching his dog tight and the note even tighter to his chest.

“Good god! Do you mean-?!”

“Someone means to breed your daughter, Mr. Shulton… And you’d sooner have me walking your dog?”

He tries hard to get offended, tries to make it something else in his mind as I watch his features twist as he battles with the idea. But I think he knew all along what the note means, he just couldn't face it. A threat like this is something I take deadly serious and I’m obliged to inform the authorities. But my remark to Shulton just now wasn’t just about the contents of the note. And as much as I’d give my all to protect anyone in a similar situation, it means more to me because it's Stacey.

My Stacey. Nobody else’s. Not even her own Father’s once I do what I know needs doing around here.

Thereissomeone who plans to breed his daughter. But it won't be whoever sent that note. No chance.

It’ll be the man who’s been sent to look after her properly. Now and forever.

Whoever did send the note is going to have me to deal with long before the authorities get involved.

After a long silence, Shulton nods. “I- I don't know what to say, Mr. Slade… But I can’t have a man your size alone with my daughter. Surely you can see that?” he asks, looking more like the dad I’m sure he is at heart. But mostly sounding relieved that someone isn't after his little Angel after all.

Not his four-legged angel anyway.

But I’ll have my angel on all fours soon enough… I just need to get her away from here so I can explain things a little clearer to her. Show her just how I plan on looking after her from now on.

“I’ll need to move Stacey,” I announce, making Shulton puff with instant rejection, but I mean it. “If you think keeping Stacey here as some sort of bait or making her an easier target is going to keep her safe, Mr. Shulton, then you’re dead wrong,” I clip.

Shulton surprises me by looking thoughtful. And rising quickly, he moves to the doorway, calling after Melinda. Handing her his little dog and murmuring some instructions before coming back into the room.

“Mr. Slade? I- I think you should probably be aware of a couple of things…”

4

STACEY

What starts as a walk of shame, leaving the room and Steve alone with my dad, turns into something else.

The one thing on my mind is whether or not he’s actually interested in me in that way, or am I losing my mind completely? Steve’s announcement that he's taking me with him only makes my internal defenses crumble even more.

But I can’t see my dad going along with a plan like that, even though I’d go anywhere with Steve. Do anything he told me. And I mean anything.

So once Melinda and I reach the bottom of the stairs and I hear Steve’s deep voice booming at my dad, shouting that someone intends to breed his only daughter, I have to stop.

Frozen to the spot, I feel my legs about to give way under me at the thought. The very idea…

What if Steve Slade wanted to breed from me instead?

“Stacey! Are you okay?” Melinda asks, darting to grab me mid-swoon, but she looks confused by the little smile playing helplessly on my lips. My other set of lips doing their own slippery little dance too. Hearing him say it out loud, so loud the whole house could hear.

Melinda assumes it’s this ‘shock’ thing again, I’m guessing. Young girl, overwhelmed by the threat of imminent danger. But with Steve in the house, talking like that, I’ve never felt safe or happier in my whole life.

When dad calls Melinda, handing her Angel with a firm, unapologetic look, I know he's made up his mind too. He’s not gonna have Steve tripping over Angel when he could be guarding me. Right?

Here’s hoping.

I try to catch his eye, but daddy’s quicker to head back to the library after ordering Melinda to take me and Angel for a walk. The only times daddy lets Angel out of his sight is when he has to focus on make or break ‘business’ stuff, billion-dollar deals like the one he's worked on the past few months.

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