SEAL Protected (2 page)

Chapter
2

While the driver had said my father wanted to see me immediately, by the time I got home his adviser had talked him down and I was told to sleep in my old room. I wanted to go home, but by then it was after two in the morning and sleep was more important than the place I slept.

I slept fitfully and when morning came I showered and scrubbed every speck of blood and grim off my body. The dress was going in the trash along with the shoes and the jewelery A purple bruise bloomed on the left side of my face, curving around my cheekbones and marking the outside rim of my eye. A small purple bruise on my neck reminded me of how close the man had come. I cringed, felt the pull of the bruised muscles, and bit my lip to catch a wince. My father wasn’t going to like this.

The driver from the night before was standing in the hallway when I opened the door and he led me down the hall to my father’s dining room. The large, empty house which I had grown up in didn’t feel any smaller than it had when I was a child. In fact, it seemed almost impossibly large now. The hallway stretched on for miles toward the doors, and I couldn’t help but swallow hard as the man pushed them open.

At the far end of a long, dark table in a room with dark paneling sat my father. It was a fitting atmosphere for my mood and for the conversation. Dark words in a dark room. I bit back a wry smile. My father’s glasses were pushed up, hiding his eyes in their reflective gleam, and his hands were clasped on the table in front of him. I studied him from the doorway. Tense shoulders, flexing jaw – anger, if I ever saw it. I sighed and stepped into the room. My head was held high and my expression did not betray my thoughts.

“Hello, Dad,” I said, nodding to him. He gestured for me to sit at the chair closest to me – directly opposite his own. I did.

“Before we begin, I have one question for you,” he said. His voice was smooth and low, a danger rumble of anger building behind coated words.

“Yes?” I asked, though I already knew what he was going to say.

His snarl answered my question. “What the Hell is on your face?”

I did not flinch, though I wanted to, from his words. He glared. His glasses slipped from the top of his nose to show his small, dark eyes. “A bruise,” I said. I mustered all of my self-control to keep my expression calm. He banged his fist on the table and cursed, though it seemed more to himself than to me. I frowned, studying him closely.

“Daddy?” I asked. He twitched at the endearment. “Is everything all right?” He sighed and shook his head.

“No, but it doesn’t concern you,” he said. I clenched my fists and let a low growl build in my throat. “He, however, does.” My father gestured toward a man in the corner – whom I only now noticed. He was a tall man, taller than myself, but not by much, with broad shoulders and pale eyes. Close cropped hair and stance made him look military – something I recognized from Taryn’s days in service. He did not look directly at me when he stepped out of the shadows. Instead, his gaze fixated on a point behind one of my shoulders. He was a handsome man – Taryn would have called him a beast, and part of me agreed – but his somber expression was a bit off-putting.

“This is Tom,” said my father, nodding to the man. Tom stood perfectly still. “He’s going to be your bodyguard from now on. He is a Navy SEAL and his training should prove adequate for protecting you.” My jaw dropped and I banged my fists on the table. A body guard? Over a little attack at a bar? This was ridiculous.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. The chair banged backward as I stood. “I can handle myself just fine!”

“The bruise on your face says otherwise.” The carefully schooled neutral expression was back on his face. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to take a breath.

“So a guy at the bar got a little bit handsy, it happens. I took care of it.” Well, Taryn did, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“You are my daughter, and so long as you are my daughter you will be protected.”

“I am not just your daughter – I am a grown ass woman, and I will be respected.” I stalked around the table and slammed my open palms into the wood inches from my father’s plate. “Listen to me. I will not have a bodyguard. I will not be followed around by a man I do not know.” No matter how handsome he was, I added internally. “You can’t control me.”

My father set down his fork, stood up, and turned to me with fire in his eyes. “I am your father and you will respect me young lady. Tom is your bodyguard. That is final.”

“But-“

“This conversation is over.” He turned and walked out of the room. Throughout all of this, Tom had barely blinked and I turned to him and glared. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly immune to my anger.

“Touch me, and you will pay for it,” I stated. He opened his mouth to respond but I cut him off. “I’m serious. If you touch me or get in my personal space without my express consent, I will take you to court on assault charges. I do not care if you are my bodyguard. I do not care what my father thinks I need. You do not touch me. You do not follow me into my house. And you do not invade my personal space.” He said nothing. “Are we clear?” A nod. I nodded back and stalked out of the room, muttering ‘asshole’ under my breath as I went. I guess I was taking all my anger out on Tom just because he was the only person that was there.

It took all of ten minutes to call Cindy and have her grab Taryn and come meet me at the pizzeria a few blocks down. An older Russian man named Aleksis ran the place and his wife, an Amazon of a woman named Sasha, made the dough fresh every morning. They both greeted me when I walked in.

“Ah, Michelle, good to see you.” Aleksis stared at me as I took my seat. “Are you all right?” I sighed and shook my head.

“He gave me a bodyguard, Aleksis,” I moaned.

“Is the bodyguard attractive?” asked Aleksis. I scowled at him, my eyes narrowing. Aleksis ducked behind his wife as she walked up to the counter. Looking down at him, Sasha shook her head and smiled at me.

“I said I would teach you to fight. You refused, and now you deal with the consequences,” said Sasha. Her smile widened into a mischievous smirk as she turned away from me.

The door opened and Cindy and Taryn rushed in. Taryn’s hair brushed the top of the door frame. I looked at her feet. She was wearing heels, I noticed, which would explain the extra height. Not that she needed it - Taryn was as tall as Sasha. That made two Amazons in my life – both tall, strong, and always wearing little smiles that made me wonder what they were thinking.

The first words out of Cindy were, “A bodyguard?” Taryn was practically cackling as she slid into our usual booth across from me. Cindy slipped off to the counter to grab drinks. Leaning over the table with her head in her hands, Taryn grinned at me.

“A bodyguard?” she echoed. “Are you sure? Is it because of last night?” At her own question, she lost the smile on her face. Her eyebrows knitted together in time with mine. I sighed and leaned back against the booth seat, staring up at the ceiling.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I don’t even know if he knew about that before he saw this.” I gestured to the bruise. Taryn’s eyes followed my hand and she nodded. “But now I’m stuck with a bodyguard. Who is probably outside right now, actually.” Taryn leaned around the booth and peaked out the window. Her eyes flicked left, then right, and she bit her lip.

“Is it the one with the broad shoulders and the military hair?” she asked. I nodded. Fanning herself, Taryn fell back into the seat, grinning. “God, if men had looked like that when I was in the army I wouldn’t have left!” She laughed. “But he doesn’t strike me as army, though.” She shrugged.

“You can tell?” I asked. I leaned forward, purposely not looking out the window. Before Taryn could reply, Cindy slid into their seats. She had a tray of drinks in one hand and a tray of pizza in the other. We snagged our drinks from her and Taryn slid over to let her in.

“So, a bodyguard?” asked Cindy. Taryn pointed out the window and winked. Following her gaze, Cindy glanced out as well and obviously saw Tom, as she came back with a flushed face.

“Wow.” She grinned. “Military.”

“Navy, I bet, he carries himself more like a sailor than a soldier,” said Taryn. “But God that means he is strong and smart and not to mention
fine.
” I rolled my eyes at both of them.

“My father said he was a Navy SEAL, actually,” I said.

Taryn’s eyes went wide and her lips parted slightly. “Wow,” she breathed.

“Have you two stopped to think about what this means beyond having a hot guy to talk about?” I asked.

“So you do think he’s hot,” said Taryn.

“Of course I think he’s hot, you’d have to be blind not to,” I snapped. Then I sighed and slumped back against the seat. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I groaned. “I don’t think you guys get it. I was finally getting away from my Dad and all his stupid senator shit. I was going to be independent and not have to ask him for help anymore. Then I get assaulted and this stupid bodyguard thing happens. I don’t want a bodyguard. I don’t need protecting. And if I did, why wouldn’t I just ask you?” I looked Taryn in the eye when I said this. “You’re probably just as good as him, and not nearly as obvious.”

Taryn shook her head, “As much as I love the compliment, girl, I’m not as good as him. SEALs are an entirely different class from regular military. Besides, I didn’t keep up with my training, just my running. Plus, your father is overprotective but-“

I cut her off. “There is no but! This is an invasion of my privacy.” I scrubbed my face again and bit savagely into a slice of pizza. “God, I don’t want this. I don’t need this. I am independent and I will not be made a mockery of!”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Cindy asked. She was nibbling on a slice of her own. I thought about it. I couldn’t very well go back to my father and tell him about how I felt – I’d tried that earlier and it had had no effect. I couldn’t just tell Tom to fuck off, he was being paid to listen to my father, not me. That left a few options, but only one of them really appealed to me.

“I sneak out. We go to a party, get drunk, have fun. I prove that the assault was a one off thing and that it won’t happen again.” I grinned and felt the pull of the bruise again. A curse slipped passed my lips.

“You sure? That’s a pretty nasty bruise,” said Taryn. I almost rolled my eyes at Taryn. I didn’t need reminding from her when it was doing a good job on its own.

“Hey, I’ve got you, don’t I?” I asked. I looked to the window and grinned. “Besides, if Tommy-boy is going to guard me, then he better know just what he’s getting in to. I’m not going to make this easy for him. Not at all.” A low chuckle built in my throat and I only just caught the way Taryn and Cindy glanced to one another.

“All right,” said Taryn. “We’re in.”

“Good,” I said. “Tomorrow night then.”

“Tomorrow night,” agreed Cindy.

Chapter 3

At two in the morning my watch started beeping. I grinned and threw back the bed covers. My boots were at the end of the bed – no more heels for me for a long while. I slipped across the floor and went to my window. It was only the second storey, so I swung out and rolled when I hit the ground. An old trick I’d picked up in high school. My father never had figured that out, and since he was insisting I stay with him for a few days, I figured using it was fair game.

I slipped through the shadows around the edge of the building and bolted for the road. Half a block down was Cindy’s car – a sleek red thing with white rimmed tires. Cindy and Taryn were sitting in the front seats. Taryn’s dress was done up in dark green with little patterns that made me think of the army; whereas Cindy was dressed like something out of a spy movie. Both were fitting, considering who I was running from tonight.

“You ready?” asked Cindy. I looked back at the house – at its darkened windows and imposing size, at the house that I had once called home, and at two men who probably didn’t know I was gone.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m ready.” I climbed in the backseat and we sped off. Taryn cranked the radio as we drove, making it almost impossible to speak. I didn’t mind. My mind was too wrapped in today’s events, and even here, on the way to a party, I was thinking about my father. I just couldn’t figure out why he was so absolutely insistent on my having a bodyguard. It seemed like such a huge overreaction.

“You guys see that behind us?” asked Cindy. I looked back. Her voice was high and worried. Headlights from a car behind us burned into my eyes and I winced, looking to Taryn and Cindy. Behind the driver’s seat, Cindy was pale and shaky. I didn’t understand why until I realized how close the car was. “Why is he so close?” Her voice cracked at the end. I looked from the car behind us to Taryn, my own eyes widening.

“Take the next left,” said Taryn. “Let’s see if they follow us.” Cindy swung into the next street. For a second, we were alone, and then the headlights reappeared.

“Taryn…” I leaned forward and gripped Cindy’s shoulder as she whimpered Taryn’s name. Taryn was frowning, her fingers playing with a piece of her afro.

She said, “Let me think.” The car grew closer and closer. I watched through the rear view window and gripped Cindy’s shoulder more tightly.

“Just don’t stop. We should be fine,” I said. I hoped my voice didn’t betray my doubt. The car grew closer and closer and as it did, Cindy accelerated. With a sudden burst of the speed, the car slammed into us. I jolted forward. My head banged against Taryn’s shoulder. Cindy screamed. The car slammed against us again. It got right up to our bumper and pushed. Cindy kept screaming. Her car moved even as she slammed the breaks. Taryn pulled the emergency break, but it kept moving. The car behind us pushed us faster and faster down the empty city streets. I pressed a hand to my head and breathed deep.

“Please, please, stop,” sobbed Cindy. She clung to the steering wheel, tears pouring down her face. I gripped one of Taryn’s hands, my own vision blurring with tears. What did they want? What were they going to do to us? I bit my own lip hard enough to taste the familiar old-penny-tang of blood.

“They’re pulling back,” said Taryn. Sure enough, the pressure of the car lessened and we slowed down. With both the breaks on the car slid, spinning around to face the car. Their headlights blinded me from seeing the driver. Cindy’s car slammed into a building behind us – slow enough not to cause damage, but fast enough to jar us. I groaned, head resting against the seat in front of me.

Two figures climbed out of the car and came at the car from other side. They pulled open the doors. I stared at them. They were wearing masks and waving guns. I blinked a few times. Why did they have guns? My head was fuzzy, too fuzzy to put together what was going on. I was pulled roughly from the car and tossed to the ground next to Cindy. There was blood coming from her head. Had she hit it?

“Come with us,” said one of the figures. He pointed his gun at Taryn. She stared at me with wide eyes. Her mouth was dropped open in surprise. “Or your friend gets it.” The pieces slid together. They were attacking me because of my father. I tried to push off the ground but fell. The world spun around me.

“Michelle!” cried Taryn as they hauled her by her hair. The rumbling of a motorcycle roared behind me. The engine cut and a figure leapt over my prone form. I was sure it was Tom. I stared as he dove at one of the men, tackling him around the legs. The gun pointed at Taryn fell away as she kicked the man who had been holding it. A gun went off – Tom’s – and the figure he was fighting dropped like a sack of bricks. Taryn kicked the man again, but he grabbed her by her hair and threw her against the car. She gritted her teeth and spat at him. He released her and came at me. Tom shot, but it went wide and the man grabbed my arm. He yanked me to my feet and pressed a gun to my temple.

“Drop the weapon.” Tom froze; his eyes were wide. He raised his hands, gun in one and looked over the man’s shoulder. His lips curled up into a small smile and he shook his head. Cindy was on the ground and Taryn was against the car, but I realized the kidnapper couldn’t see Taryn. The man looked over his shoulder and I took the opportunity to elbow him in the gut. The kidnapper spun, but by then he’d lost his grip on me.

“Tom!” I shouted. Tom shot and so did the kidnapper. The bullet caught the kidnapper in the neck and he dropped in a fountain of blood. I scrambled over to Cindy’s fallen form, checking her head. The sound of Tom crumbling to the ground raised my gaze. He was lying near Taryn. I crawled over to him and checked his pulse. It was slowing.

“Are you all right?” he asked me. His eyes were unfocused.

“I’m fine, are you?” I asked. My fingers flew to his neck, finding his pulse. Cindy was as stable as I could make her and Taryn were cursing behind me, so she was conscious. Tom was my first priority now. “Tom? Are you hurt? Where were you shot?” He groaned and rubbed at his head. His hands were shaking. Bit by bit his eyes slid closed, his gaze finding its way back to me. He cracked a weak smile at me, and then his eyes fluttered shut.

I cursed under my breath and dialed for an ambulance. “Hi, I need an ambulance to…,” I checked the street signs, “The corner of Carter and Wellington for three people.” The operator asked me for the injuries. “Head wound, concussion with possible broken ribs, and a bullet wound – location unknown, blood not found.” I hung up when they told me it was on the way and gripped Tom’s hand.

“Damn it, Daddy,” I muttered. This would have never happened if Tom hadn’t been hired. But if he hadn’t come, well, I didn’t want to think about what would have happened to us. “Hang in there, Tom.” I waited for the ambulance, praying that Tom would survive. I felt so terrible when I realized how disrespectful I had been towards the man who had now saved my life.