Soldier Bodyguard

by Lisa Childs

  Cole hoped Dane didn’t have to use it, not with the child in the car. At least the trip would be a short, and hopefully uneventful, one.

  Even before the minister announced that Xavier Bentler had invited everyone back to his home for a memorial luncheon, Cole knew that was where he would be heading next. Home. Not that the monstrous mansion had ever really felt like home.

  Cole glanced at his friends. Manny wouldn’t be surprised; he knew more than the others did about Cole’s life. But now everyone would know exactly how damn rich he was—so rich it was embarrassing. That was one of the reasons why he hated talking about himself or the past. But that wasn’t the only reason. It hurt too damn much when he thought of it because he always thought of her.

  *

  He was home.

  And Cole Bentler looked even more handsome than he did every time she’d thought of him over the past six years. His hair was dark gold and his eyes such a deep blue. He seemed taller than she remembered him and much more muscular, but then some of her memories were of the boy Cole had been, not of the man he had become.

  Just as she’d been warned, he had changed after joining the Marines. Not after boot camp. After boot camp, he’d come home and proposed to her. It was after all the missions, after leaving for months on end, that he had returned tense and distant and different.

  It was easier to remember the sweet, sensitive boy with whom she’d fallen in love than the cold, unemotional man who’d broken her heart.

  What in the world was he doing here? As Shawna settled into the back seat of the limousine and Xavier Bentler sat across from her, head down as if unwilling to meet her gaze, she knew. “You told him?”

  That was where Xavier had gone. Some time yesterday, he had slipped away for several long hours. She hadn’t been too concerned at the time. She’d figured he’d sneaked away to play a round of golf and smoke the cigars she’d banned from the house. She should have known Cole’s grandfather had been up to something; he usually was.

  And as usual he was completely unabashed at getting caught. He nodded.

  But she was still surprised that Cole had showed up. Even after he’d heard about her husband’s funeral, she doubted he’d have any compulsion to attend it.

  “I hired him to be your bodyguard,” he added.

  And she gasped.

  So did Maisy. “Why does Mommy need a bodyguard?” Then her blue eyes widened in realization and fear. “So nobody kills you like they killed…” Her voice cracked with sobs.

  Shawna slid across the seat and wrapped her free arm around the child’s thin shoulders. Her heart broke every time she heard her daughter cry and saw her fear. Shawna had done her best to try to shield the five-year-old from all the news broadcasts. But even if Maisy hadn’t heard it from the media, she would have known about the car bomb. The explosion had woken her up.

  Fighting to keep her voice calm and steady, she told Xavier, “I don’t need a bodyguard.” She glared at him, hoping he would take the hint.

  “Yes, you do!” But it was Maisy who argued with her. “You need to make sure nobody tries to kill you, too!”

  Shawna’s heart broke again at the terror in the child’s voice. She pulled her daughter closer and held her trembling body. “You don’t have to worry about that,” she assured her. “Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

  Maisy’s head bobbed up and down in a quick nod. “I know,” she agreed. She fluttered her long black lashes and stared up at her with those deep blue eyes of hers and added, “Because Grampa X hired you a bodyguard.”

  But the man he’d hired to protect her was the one who’d already hurt her more than anyone else ever had. Who would protect her from him?

  Especially if he ever learned the truth…

  Chapter 2

  How could he protect someone when he couldn’t be in the same room with her? That wasn’t completely Cole’s fault, though. Shawna had yet to remain in any one area. Maybe it was just that she was moving from guest to guest, speaking softly with everyone as she accepted their condolences and expressed her own to them.

  Or maybe, as he strongly suspected, she was trying to avoid him—because every time he entered a room, she left it.

  And there were a lot of rooms in his grandfather’s house, so many that Cole had been able to do his best to avoid his family. They were all here, all still living in the French provincial mansion. Even his mother lived here with his stepfather. And of course his two uncles and their assorted offspring would never venture out on their own.

  But he had had no idea how entwined their lives were with Shawna’s yet. He had broken up with her nearly six years ago, yet she seemed more a part of his family than he had ever been.

  Of course that had been different when his father was alive. Then Cole had felt as if he’d belonged—at least with his father. Coleman Bentler Sr. had not lived here. Nor had he worked for Xavier, like his older brothers did. He’d made his own money and his own way in the world.

  But when Dad had died…

  To Cole, he had bequeathed all of his money and his family’s resentment. Cole could understand why his mother would have been angry. Tiffani and his father had never been happily married. In fact, she’d admitted to purposely getting pregnant to trap him into marriage. In the end, Coleman had gotten his revenge when he’d cut her out of his will along with a lot of other relatives who for some reason thought they were entitled to inherit.

  No, these people who glared at Cole with such hatred and anger were not his family.

  His unit was his true family. He’d been a fool to worry about what they’d think of his wealth. When they’d seen the house, not one of them had made a comment or even blinked in surprise. Money didn’t matter to this family of his. Manny, Cooper, Lars and Dane were like his brothers. The rest of the unit, the ones who were still enlisted, they were his extended family—the ones he didn’t get to see all that often but who were forever in his heart and thoughts.

  Shawna had been forever in his heart and thoughts. He’d loved her so much that he had never wanted anything but happiness for her, even at the expense of his own. Had she been happy with Emery?

  The guy had called him once and wanted to talk to Cole. But he had been about to leave for another mission and hadn’t had the time or the inclination. Nor would he have been able to handle the distraction. The last thing he’d wanted to do was have a discussion with the man sleeping with the woman Cole had loved. He couldn’t remember exactly what he’d said to the guy to get rid of him, but it probably hadn’t been too nice.

  He felt a pang of regret now as he approached the urn. It had been set up on a table in the library, flanked with flowers and photos of the dark-haired, dark-eyed man. Emery Little had been a good-looking guy—the kind of guy who was so good-looking he was almost pretty. Or maybe that was just more of Cole’s jealousy seeping out.

  “Did you know my daddy?” a soft voice asked, and small fingers grasped his arm, tugging on it to draw his attention.

  As Cole looked down at the little girl, he felt another pang. But he couldn’t identify it. Was it regret that she wasn’t his child? Jealousy that she was another man’s? Or was it just that she reminded him so damn much of her mother?

  She looked so much like Shawna, just like a little doll, with her mother’s black, silky hair and porcelain skin. She didn’t have Shawna’s warm brown eyes, though. The child’s were a deep, bright blue.

  “Did you know Daddy?” she asked again as she stared up at him.

  He shook his head. “No. I knew your mother…” Or at least he’d thought he had. But he’d been wrong, painfully wrong.

  Her eyes brightened with recognition, and she exclaimed, “I know who you are!”

  Had Shawna showed her daughter his photo before? She would have had enough of them—from every prom and homecoming dance they’d attended—along with all the candid pictures she used to take of him. Or had she destroyed all of those when he’d ended their engagement?


  The little girl answered his unspoken question when she exclaimed, “You’re Grampa X’s grandson!”

  His grandfather had photos of him around the house. At graduation, in his uniform.

  But then he tensed as he realized what she’d called his grandfather. “Grampa X?”

  Why would she refer to him as that?

  Could she be…

  Cole’s heart slammed against his ribs as the thought occurred to him. Could she be his?

  *

  Shawna had been so busy avoiding Cole that she’d lost track of her daughter. There were so many people in Xavier’s home—so many mourners. Emery had been a wonderful man, sweet and caring. He hadn’t deserved to die like he had. But then nobody did.

  He had only been gone a couple of days, and she already missed him—so much. And so did Maisy. But Shawna didn’t miss Emery like she’d missed Cole. While she’d loved Emery, she’d never been in love with him.

  He hadn’t cared, though. He hadn’t been in love with her either. They had only been very good friends. And because neither had been able to spend their lives with the one they really loved, they had decided to build a life together—for Shawna’s baby.

  Maisy…

  Where had she gone?

  Had all the sympathy and tears gotten to be too much for her? It had for Shawna.

  She felt like a hypocrite. Everyone thought she and Emery had had the perfect marriage. But they hadn’t had a real marriage at all.

  But maybe that was what had made it perfect. They hadn’t had to deal with the mess of real love—with the passion, with the insecurity and hurt.

  After Cole, Shawna had vowed to never again risk that kind of pain. And she’d vowed to be Emery’s wife. She’d never expected him to leave her like this.

  She had thought that maybe someday he would leave her to finally be with the person he really loved. She had wished him that happiness, and for the past few days, he’d seemed hopeful that it might finally be possible.

  Was that person here among the other mourners? Shawna had no idea who it was. Emery had never told her the name of his beloved. Maisy might know, though. She was the epitome of little pitchers having big ears; the child never missed a bit of gossip.

  Unfortunately…

  Was she hiding somewhere now, eavesdropping on conversations? Or had she gone to the library to find solace in her books?

  Shawna slipped through a group of mourners in the hall, passing them with nods but not letting them stop her. She had a sudden instinct that she needed to find Maisy. Now. She quickened her step and rushed through the open pocket doors into the library. And a gasp slipped through her lips when she found Maisy—talking to her father.

  Cole stared down at the little girl, and Shawna could see the speculation on his face. He was wondering…

  If he realized…

  He would hate her even more than Shawna hated him.

  “Hey, Maisy,” she called out to her daughter. “You know what I’ve told you about talking to strangers.”

  Maisy laughed as if Shawna were joking. Had the little girl figured it out? Or had she overheard the speculation about her paternity that had been rampant ever since Shawna had started showing. Fortunately it had taken a while for her pregnancy to show. Or it wouldn’t have been just speculation.

  “Cole isn’t a stranger, Mommy,” Maisy protested. “He’s Grampa X’s grandson.”

  Cole turned toward Shawna and arched one of his dark blond brows. “Grampa?”

  “He insists she call him that,” Shawna said, “since we’ve been staying with him.” Actually he’d insisted on it even before that. She suspected he knew the truth, although he’d never outright asked her.

  “You live here?” Cole asked, his jaw dropping in shock.

  “I work for your grandfather,” she said. She hadn’t intended to quit her job at the hospital, but Xavier hadn’t had to do much to talk her into it. She’d been devastated when he’d come into the ER while she was working. He’d been so close to death.

  She had already lost so many people she cared about. She had vowed to do whatever she could to keep Xavier alive. But that had meant quitting her job at the ER. She’d even had to scale back on the hours she spent at the high school as assistant coach to the cheerleading squad. And that was a job she’d done since she’d been in high school herself. That was the job that had brought about her friendship with Emery.

  Had nobody told Cole that she was working for his grandfather now? But then he rarely had anything to do with his family. She could understand his reasons regarding the rest of them.

  But his grandfather…

  And his mom?

  She could not understand Cole cutting the two of them out of his life. She would do anything to have her family back again. But her parents had died, in a tragic accident on one of their weekly date nights, when she was so young that she sometimes struggled to remember them. Would Maisy remember Emery?

  He had been so good to the little girl. He’d treated her like she was his. He could not have loved her any more had she been. Shawna hadn’t had that experience with her aunt and her cousins when she’d come to live with them. If it hadn’t been for Cole…

  She would have felt so alone. But the first day of elementary school, Cole had beat up her cousin for her and had threatened he would hurt the kid worse if he ever picked on her again. Cole had been her hero back then.

  Now he was her nightmare.

  “I work for Grandfather now, too,” Cole said.

  Her stomach twisted into knots at the reminder. “He shouldn’t have hired you,” she said. “I have no need for a bodyguard.”

  “Yes, you do!” Maisy said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you!” And she burst into tears, her thin shoulders shaking with her desperate sobs.

  Shawna knelt to pull the little girl into her arms. But Cole was already there, lifting up the child. The move shocked both mother and daughter, so much that Maisy immediately quieted.

  While he held her on one of his mammoth arms, he tipped up her chin with his other hand. “I won’t let anything happen to your mother.”

  Maisy blinked her thick black lashes and stared up at him with eyes that mirrored his. And panic clutched Shawna. How could he not know? How could he not stare into those eyes and immediately recognize that the little girl was his?

  Maisy tilted her head as she studied his face. Did she see it, too? Or was she trying to determine whether or not to believe him? “Really?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yes, really,” he assured her. “I’m a bodyguard. That’s what I do—I protect people.”

  A shaky little sigh slipped through Maisy’s rosebud lips. “I wished you would’ve protected Daddy.”

  “I didn’t know he was in danger,” Cole told her. “Or I would’ve.”

  And now he’d lied to their child twice—first when he’d promised to protect Shawna and now when he’d claimed he would have protected Emery. She was aware that her friend had tried to reach out to him. A hopeless romantic, Emery had wanted to help Shawna find her happy ending, even though at that time he’d given up on ever having his own. After that conversation with Cole, he’d given up on hers, as well.

  “Emery wasn’t in danger,” Shawna said defensively. “What happened was just a horrible accident.”

  “It was a bomb,” Maisy said, her little voice quavering.

  Shawna flinched. Her little spy needed to stop eavesdropping on adult conversations. Unfortunately, she’d had a front row seat to the explosion.

  Cole turned toward her and arched a dark blond brow again. He was surprised, too, that the child knew so much. But before Shawna could explain, Maisy added, “I heard it ’splode. It broke my window.”

  The blast had broken several windows in the cute little bungalow while rattling the rest of them.

  “It happened here?” Cole asked.

  Shawna shook her head. “Our home.”

  She had been there, packing up more of their stuff t
o move to the Bentler estate. Maisy had spent the night there—with Emery, who’d still been living in their house. He’d just been leaving for work.

  “Grampa X says this is our home now,” Maisy said. “That he needs us to live here, to take care of ’im.”

  Shawna suppressed a derisive snort. Sure, Xavier had had a heart attack. He had health issues. But he was the one taking care of them—especially now.

  “Why don’t you go check on Grampa?” Shawna suggested. “Make sure he’s okay.”

  The little girl nodded and wriggled down from Cole’s arms. He released her quickly, almost as if he was surprised to find himself holding her. Apparently his instinct to comfort and protect hadn’t completely deserted him. Maybe he’d lost it only that day he’d broken their engagement and Shawna’s heart. He hadn’t comforted and protected her then. He’d just walked away.

  Maisy hadn’t walked away yet. Despite wriggling out of his arms, she caught his hand and tugged on it until he hunched over so they were face to face. Then she lifted her other hand to his cheek and stared into his eyes.

  She was such an observant little girl, which unnerved Shawna for so many reasons. How would she feel if she learned the truth? Would she hate Shawna for lying to her?

  “You promise you will protect my mommy?” the little girl asked the bodyguard.

  Cole stared at her for several long seconds before solemnly nodding and replying, “I promise.”

  His word was good enough for the little girl who dropped her hand from his face and scampered out of the library.

  Still crouched down, Cole released an unsteady breath. And panic stole Shawna’s breath away entirely. He’d noticed. He suspected…

  “She’s quite precocious,” he remarked. Then he straightened up and looked down at Shawna, his blue eyes intense. “How old is she?”

  She knew what he was asking. What he wanted to know…

  Unlike him, she couldn’t outright lie like he had to their daughter. “Five,” she said, then forced herself to add the word that would mislead him. “Just five.”

  Implying that she’d just had a birthday, which would have made her too young to be his daughter. But Maisy hadn’t just had a birthday. That special day was actually coming up soon. In just a couple of weeks, she would be six. He couldn’t be here for her birthday, or he would know what the rest of his family only suspected.