by Lisa Childs
Chapter 20
What the hell kind of bodyguard was he?
Cole couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep. Of course, he hadn’t slept at all the night before. But he’d been on duty that night and last night, as well. He was supposed to protect Shawna, not put her in more danger.
He’d put himself in danger, too, and not just physically. He was in danger of falling even more deeply in love with her than he’d already been. So when he’d awakened to find her clasped in his arms, her head on his chest, he’d panicked more so than if he’d discovered another intruder in the room. His heart pounded frantically, so hard and loud that he was surprised it didn’t awaken her. He was able to ease her away to a pillow with only a slight murmur of protest from her.
She had to be as exhausted as he’d been. She’d lost her husband and nearly her own life a couple of times. And his grandfather…
If something happened to the old man, she would be devastated. Cole had to make sure nothing happened to Xavier—for Shawna and Maisy and for himself. He couldn’t lose the one family member he trusted. Not that he had any reason to trust Xavier after the stunts he’d pulled.
Changing his will…
Hopefully no one found out about that or Shawna and Cole would be in even more danger. He dressed quickly and slipped out into the hall. And was nearly shot as a gun cocked and the barrel pointed at him.
He lifted his hands. “Hey, easy…”
This man with his bushy beard and long hair was one of Parker Payne’s bodyguards. Most of them were former cops Parker had worked with while he’d been in the vice unit with the River City Police Department. Unfortunately, they all looked as if they might have picked up a few vices from all the years they’d been undercover.
Cole would have preferred it if Logan had sent his bodyguards. They were all Payne family members and unequivocally trustworthy—unlike Cole’s family, who could not be trusted at all. One of them was a killer.
Which one?
Another door opened off the hall. Cole grabbed the bodyguard’s hand before he could draw his gun again and terrify the little girl who rushed out of her bedroom. Nikki followed her, and she drew up short as she nearly ran into Shawna’s guard. “Hey.”
The man nodded at her but that was it. He wasn’t a talker, which was fine with Cole. He heard enough talking from Manny.
Apparently his daughter was chatty, too, because words poured out of her. “Daddy! Daddy! I was telling Nikki that you’re going to marry Mommy soon.”
Nikki nodded and studied him through narrowed eyes, probably trying to determine if he’d lost his mind. “That’s what she’s been telling me.”
“Where would you get that idea?” he asked as he lifted the little girl into his arms.
“Grampa,” she said. “I heard him saying that you gotta marry Mommy for his heritage.”
“Heritage?” Nikki asked, with an arched brow.
Inheritance. “Grampa told you about that?” Had the old man lost his mind completely? Maybe the poison had affected him more than Cole thought.
The little girl’s face flushed pink with embarrassment. “I heard him telling you ’bout it.”
She must have been eavesdropping outside his grandfather’s bedroom. Alarm had his every muscle tensing. “Did anyone else overhear that?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe Dane. He was with me.”
He didn’t have to worry about Dane telling anyone. He was as quiet as Manny was chatty. “Did you tell anyone besides Nikki what you overheard?” he asked.
If the killer knew…
She looked down into his face, and she must have seen his concern because she tensed. “I—I told Miss Tiffani.” Her brow puckered. “Should I call her Grandma?”
Cole realized that she probably already had. And of every member of his family, his mother was the last person with whom Maisy should have shared what she’d heard. Like Manny, Cole’s mother couldn’t keep a secret, at least she certainly hadn’t been able to when she’d been drinking. And despite her AA attendance, Cole was skeptical as to whether she’d ever really stopped. She was still given to outbursts where she shared too much information. Surely she had already gossiped with everyone around the breakfast table.
Now his whole damn family—the killer among them—knew for certain that Maisy was his child and that Grandfather had changed his will.
Damn it!
How would he protect them now?
*
Shawna had awakened the minute Cole slipped out of bed. It had been obvious that he hadn’t wanted to wake her so she’d pretended to stay asleep. When he left the room, she’d dressed quickly, which was good because she’d heard the voices in the hall. She hadn’t been able to discern words, though—just the high, lilting voice of her daughter and the deep voice of her lover.
Of Cole…
She couldn’t face him again, not after last night, after she’d thrown herself at him. She waited until she no longer heard his voice before she opened the door to the hall.
“See, she’s awake!” Maisy told Nikki who smiled at Shawna over the little girl’s head.
“Yes, I’m awake.” She had slept in longer than she normally would have, longer than she should have. She’d felt so safe and protected in Cole’s arms. Crazy, considering nobody had ever hurt her like he had. “I need to check on Grampa X,” she told her daughter. “Then after we eat breakfast, we can play.”
Maisy’s bottom lip began to quiver and tears pooled in her eyes. It wasn’t like her to pout when she didn’t immediately get her way. But she hadn’t actually even asked Shawna to play. Cole was the one with whom she had wanted to play checkers again.
Shawna pulled the little girl into her arms and hugged her closely. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she asked, her heart breaking as tears trailed down her daughter’s face. “Why are you crying?”
Nikki lowered her head and bit her bottom lip, as if she was tempted to cry, too.
“I think my new daddy’s mad at me,” Maisy said.
“Of course he isn’t,” Shawna assured her even as she flinched over Maisy calling him her new daddy. He wasn’t new. He was her real dad. Guilt weighed heavily on her for all the years they’d missed out on being with each other.
“Is he mad at you?” Maisy asked.
“Why would you ask that?” Shawna wondered.
Maisy was so intuitive that she might have picked up on Cole’s anger with her, his resentment over the choices Shawna had made—to marry another man and let that man claim his daughter.
Or maybe she’d overheard something…
“Because he doesn’t want to marry you,” Maisy said.
Shawna sucked in a breath of shock. Why was the little girl talking about marriage?
“He never said that,” Nikki cautioned her.
“But he was mad about what Grampa X did,” Maisy said.
What had Grampa X done? She braced herself and turned to Nikki. “What did he do?”
“You should really talk to Cole about it,” the female bodyguard said. She wouldn’t meet Shawna’s eyes.
Oh, God, what had he done? Was it why Maisy was talking about Cole marrying her? Or was that the little girl’s own wish—for her parents to marry?
“Where is Cole?” Shawna asked.
“He’s talking to Cooper,” Nikki replied.
Was he asking to be removed from the assignment? He’d made it clear six years ago that he didn’t want to marry Shawna. While she suspected—while she hoped—that he may have only broken their engagement to protect her, she didn’t know that for certain. And even if he had, it didn’t mean he would ever want to marry her now after what she’d done, after she’d kept his daughter from him.
Now that daughter had more tears spilling from her deep blue eyes and pouring down her cheeks. “I don’t want to lose my new daddy, too.”
Shawna tightened her embrace. “You’re not going to lose him,” she said. She hoped she wasn’t making a promise she couldn
’t keep.
Cole was only doing his job. And maybe right now he was getting out of that job and out of her and Maisy’s lives. He’d never said he wanted a relationship with his child. Or with her…
*
Cooper shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“I wasn’t asking permission,” Cole said.
And Cooper realized that his employee hadn’t even asked for this meeting. Cole had found Cooper downstairs and pulled him into his grandfather’s den, breaking through the crime scene tape. The room had already been searched by the police and by Nikki the day before. Whatever evidence had been there was already collected.
“Did you forget who’s the boss?” Cooper asked.
He should have taken Cole off this assignment despite his objections. But given how Cooper felt about his wife Tanya and their own children, he understood there was no way he could have gotten Cole away from his daughter and his ex-fiancée while they were in danger. He hadn’t left Tanya’s side when she’d needed protection. Hell, he hated leaving now, even when she didn’t need protection.
He was so damn desperate to wrap up this assignment just so he could get home to Tanya and their babies that he was tempted to go along with Cole’s crazy plan. But it was too risky.
“I know you’re the boss,” Cole assured him. “But I know this family. You don’t.”
Cooper was glad that he didn’t. The old man was the only Bentler, besides Cole, that he actually liked. The others were all self-absorbed, selfish and spoiled. Not like his family at all. Nobody in the Payne family was any of those things. After meeting the Bentlers, Cooper had never appreciated his family more than he did now.
“That’s why I needed to come up with the plan,” Cole continued.
But what he was suggesting… Cooper shook his head. “I’m not sure how this even flushes out the killer.” Although, he suspected Cole was less worried about the risk to himself than keeping Shawna and Maisy safe. And the only way to really do that was to catch the killer and make sure he could never harm them.
“I have to do it,” Cole insisted. “It might be the only way to protect everyone.”
Maybe Cooper hadn’t understood exactly how the plan was supposed to work, because he was certain that someone was going to get hurt. And it wasn’t just that sixth sense he’d inherited from his mother. He didn’t need to be clairvoyant to see that this plan wasn’t going to turn out well.
“This whole thing could backfire on you—badly,” Cooper warned.
Cole might lose his chance at happiness.
Forever.
Chapter 21
Cole drew in a deep breath before stepping into the dining room where all of his family had gathered around the long table. He’d missed breakfast but then so had most of them.
His cousins, although older than him, stayed up late and partied like they were still in college. They weren’t too concerned about getting to the office on time since their fathers weren’t all that concerned either. His uncles made their own hours, as well. Even after their father’s heart attack, they apparently hadn’t stepped in to help out any more than the very little they already did.
But his grandfather hadn’t built his billion-dollar empire by accident. He was smart enough to have hired other people he could trust since he couldn’t trust any members of his own damn family.
Cole looked away from them, too disgusted to study their faces for signs of guilt. He knew he wasn’t going to find remorse in any of them.
He focused on his mother instead. Since getting pregnant with him during her internship at his father’s business, Tiffani Bentler-Inman had never worked beyond helping out with Shawna at the high school, coaching the cheerleaders. His stepfather had worked, though. Jeff was retired from the military. Like Cole, he never talked about his service.
Everyone glanced up as he entered the room, as if surprised to see him. He had pretty much been trying to avoid them all since taking this assignment, so he understood their surprise. “I guess by now you’ve all heard about Grandfather changing his will,” he said.
Uncle Lawrence snorted. He had the Bentler blue eyes and blond hair but his had thinned so much he was nearly bald. “So what—you’ve come in here to rub it in?”
Yes, they’d all heard.
“I don’t want his money,” Cole said. He wanted the old man alive and well. If only Xavier could live forever.
“Just like you didn’t want your father’s,” Uncle Ronald sniped at him.
Cole wished his father could have lived forever, too, or at least long enough for the two of them to spend more time together. Coleman Bentler had always been so busy, but maybe that was because of Natalie. If he hadn’t stayed occupied, he would have focused on what had happened to her—because of him.
“I didn’t want my father’s money,” Cole insisted.
“So why didn’t you spread any of it around?” one of the bleached-blonde twins asked. He couldn’t tell who was Tori and who was Lori.
“I couldn’t,” he said.
His father had been very specific in his will, which had included a video message to Cole. He hadn’t wanted any other family member to ever touch his money. What about Maisy? She hadn’t existed yet when his father had died, but Cole suspected he would have loved the little girl—just like Xavier did.
Just like Cole did.
He had to do this for her, to keep her and her mother safe, he reminded himself. As per his wishes, Nikki had taken the little girl out to the gardens, well out of earshot of this conversation. He couldn’t risk Maisy overhearing what he was about to say. She would hate him.
Shawna and her bodyguard walked into the dining room. Cole had requested that Manny bring her to the meeting. She needed to hear what he said and she needed to believe it—just as she had when he’d broken their engagement. Hurting her that time had nearly killed him.
He hated that he had to hurt her again. Last time, he’d thought he was doing what was best for her. He could see now that he might have been wrong. But this time…
He had no choice. He wasn’t just trying to protect her heart and her happiness. He was trying to protect her life and their daughter’s life.
“I don’t want Grandfather’s money,” Cole repeated.
Cousin Bobby shook his head. “You expect us to believe that?”
He wasn’t expecting it; he was counting on it. Otherwise his plan would fail and he would have hurt Shawna for no reason. It had to work. He had to make them believe him.
“There’s no way I would touch his money,” Cole insisted, “because of the condition he put on inheriting.”
Uncle Lawrence snorted again. “That you have to marry the woman you’ve always loved? Yeah, some condition.”
Cole mimicked his uncle’s snort of derision. “Love?”
“Don’t deny it,” his mother said as she looked from him to Shawna, who had gone deathly pale. “You’ve already hurt her so badly. Don’t hurt her again!”
“Of course you would defend her,” Cole said. “She did the same thing you did. But at least you were honest with my father. She hid my child from me.”
Shawna flinched as if his words struck her like blows. But she didn’t defend herself. She said nothing at all.
Had Manny warned her? But while Manny struggled to keep little secrets, he kept the big ones, the ones that mattered, the life-and-death secrets. So, no, he wouldn’t have told her about Cole’s plan. He wouldn’t have betrayed their years of friendship for a woman he didn’t completely trust himself.
“And for that, I will never forgive her,” Cole said. He forced a bitter chuckle before adding, “And I will damn well never marry her.”
“Not even for Grandfather’s millions?” one of his cousins goaded him. One of the damn twins again.
“Sure, right,” the other twin skeptically chimed in. Besides looking exactly alike, the two were nearly as inseparable as conjoined twins. They could have been working together this entire time.
; “I don’t need Grandfather’s millions,” Cole said. “I have my inheritance from my father that I haven’t even touched yet.” Except for the ring he’d bought Shawna. That was the only thing on which he’d spent his father’s money, knowing that he would have approved. His father had liked Shawna.
Why had he never told him about Natalie? Had it been too painful for him to talk about? Cole could understand that. He hadn’t discussed Shawna very much with his friends. The one who knew the best how he’d felt about her—how he still felt about her—was Manny.
His friend stared at him now, and Cole could feel his disapproval. Like Cooper, he hadn’t liked the plan at all. Cole didn’t either, but it was the only way.
“So if something happens to Grandfather, it looks like that inheritance will remain in limbo forever—because I will never meet his conditions.”
Shawna stood frozen in the doorway. Or maybe Manny was holding her in place. While he hadn’t agreed with Cole’s plan, he had committed to helping him carry it out.
His mother rushed up to him. “What are you doing?” she asked, and she stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. Cole suspected she never truly had. Every time she looked at him, she only ever saw his father. A large reason why they had never been close. “Why are you acting this way?”
“You’re the one who told me I’m like my father,” he reminded her.
She knew all too well that his father had never forgiven her. Maybe he hadn’t forgiven himself for Natalie’s death either.
Cole knew that if something happened to Shawna, he would never forgive himself. But nothing would happen to her—if his plan worked. He had to make certain that it worked.
“He didn’t need family and neither do I,” he said. “The only reason I’m here is because of Grandfather’s manipulations. So I am damn well not going to let that old bastard succeed at his sick little game.”
Shawna’s mouth fell open on a silent gasp as if he’d punched her. Then she turned on her heel and ran from the room.
Pain gripped his heart. He’d hurt her, just like he had six years ago. He’d seen then how devastated she’d been. That was probably why she’d kept Maisy from him. His plan had gone too well. He’d wanted to make sure she wouldn’t mourn him if he hadn’t survived his mission. But he had survived.