Hard Justice

by Lori Foster

  “So it’s because of this big inheritance that you wanted her protected?”

  “Not entirely, no.” Mr. Wade looked off down the drive, visibly gathering his thoughts.

  Justice waited for him to explain the threat.

  Instead, he said, “I didn’t want Fallon to finally spend the money...only to spite me.”

  Damn, how big of a spat had they had? Justice found himself in the awkward position of feeling bad for Mr. Wade. “Yeah, okay, I get that.” He cleared his throat, searching for words to smooth things over. “Look, I don’t want to be a bone of contention between father and daughter. If there are strict rules here, just let me know and I’ll do my best. But if I can speak up?”

  A touch of desperation held her father stiff. “By all means.”

  “Well...” Justice rubbed the back of his neck, completely out of his comfort zone. Hell, as a fighter, he’d hooked up with plenty of girls and never, not once, had he been forced through a heart-to-heart with a father. “Fallon’s not a kid, right? The things she gets excited over, like drinking a beer? That’s stuff she should’ve done years ago. Seems to me she’s just spreading her wings a little, playing catch-up with other people her age. Why not let her? So she got a little drunk. You were mid-twenties once, right?”

  After a moment, the slightest of smiles tweaked Mr. Wade’s mouth. “Yes.”

  Somehow Justice couldn’t see the staid man before him ever cutting loose, but whatever. “No harm was done. And that fight she mentioned wasn’t much of a fight at all.”

  “She said the two of you were accosted by three men.”

  Bearing his own frustration, Justice propped his hands on his hips. “Yeah, but they were just bozos. I handled it, and I’ll handle anything else that comes up.” He threw caution to the wind and clapped a hand to the man’s shoulder. “Let her cut loose in the way she wants—with me keeping her safe. You’ll worry, sure. I get that dads do that.”

  Brows lifted, Mr. Wade looked first at the hand on his shoulder, then at Justice directly. “Your own father. Does he worry?”

  “He passed when I was young. But my mom? That woman could worry paint off the wall.” He grinned, gave the smaller man two strong shoulder slaps that left him staggering, then dropped his hand. “Thing is, Mom trusts me. I’m thinking you need to trust Fallon some, too.”

  “I do.”

  “Then how about trusting me? I come with good credentials.” Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Justice moved on to more important matters. “So about this Marcus character...”

  That soured the man’s mood even more. “They used to date.”

  Yeah, he’d figured that much on his own. “Didn’t work out?”

  After only a second or two of hesitation, Mr. Wade confided in him. “Marcus hurt her. I’m not sure how but they ended their relationship and she hasn’t dated since.”

  Justice went rigid. “What do you mean, he hurt her?”

  “Her feelings. He said or did something.” In a low voice, Mr. Wade murmured, “Bastard.”

  Well, what do you know? He and Mr. Wade were finding common ground after all. “Did she date much before that?”

  “Not since high school.”

  Which meant she hadn’t dated in college? Why the hell not? “So when did she and Marcus meet?” To keep from sounding too personally interested, Justice said, “It helps if I know what’s what, in case he shows up again.”

  “If he does, it won’t go well for him. I meant it when I said I’d fire him.”

  “What did he do for you?”

  Mr. Wade waved a hand. “Management position, created for him—which means he’d be easy to replace.”

  Hmm. “You think Fallon would be okay with that? I mean, I got the impression she wanted to handle it herself, not with your influence.”

  His shoulders dropped. “True.” After a huff, he added, “And Rebecca is fond of him.”

  Fallon’s mom? “So maybe you need to be just a little more subtle in how you scare him off.”

  Mr. Wade scrutinized him. “You?”

  Why not? After all, his job was to protect her. “I can easily handle it, and since you’re paying me...” Justice left that open-ended, and then waited.

  “Keep him away from her,” Mr. Wade instructed, “and I just might consider you valuable after all.”

  “I’ll see to it.” With pleasure. What had the prick done to turn her against him? Hands in his pockets, Justice asked, “You wanna give me any details?”

  Mr. Wade grumbled to himself a moment, something about a wasted promotion, then explained, “They were together for about four months and she seemed so happy. Fallon is private, so I don’t know what Marcus did to screw it up, but it ended about six weeks ago.”

  Stalling the million and one questions Justice had, Fallon opened the door—and drew up short when she saw the two men in close conversation.

  Suspicion lifted her brows, then animosity lowered them. In a chilling tone of warning, Fallon asked, “Dad?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  JUSTICE SAID, “UM...”

  Hell, he felt like he’d just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In truth, Fallon had probably saved him because he’d been close to asking questions that had nothing to do with the job, and had everything to do with the odd protectiveness he felt toward Fallon as a woman.

  It went beyond work ethic and nudged into...territorial.

  Assignment, assignment, assignment. He’d remind himself as many times as necessary.

  Being much smoother, Mr. Wade pasted on a tempered smile. “We were just passing the time until you finished getting ready, honey.”

  Fallon wasn’t buying it. Her doubt showed in the way she looked at Justice out of the corner of her eye.

  He grinned at her.

  That seemed to confuse her. “I would have been ready if Marcus hadn’t dropped in. I’m sorry for making you wait.”

  “Does he do that often?” Shut up, Justice.

  “Um, no.” She looked between him and her father. “But it did put me just a little behind.”

  “Not a problem,” Justice promised. “I’m on your schedule, remember.”

  “And it gave us a chance to chat and get better acquainted.” Mr. Wade pulled his daughter into an embrace, hugging her close. He looked at Justice over her head while he said, “Have fun, and be safe.”

  Next he offered his hand to Justice.

  Huh. Maybe they really had smoothed over the rough waters. “Right. Better acquainted.” Justice accepted the olive branch.

  “I’m trusting you to take care of her.” After that quiet acceptance, Mr. Wade went in.

  Fallon scowled up at Justice. “What was that all about?”

  Today she wore slim ankle-length jeans with flat shoes and a loose, blue striped sweater. She looked incredibly cute. “Just talking man to man.” Rather than go into detail, Justice gestured for her to precede him to the car. “Where to tonight?”

  “I checked out local attractions and found that there’s a street fair nearby. It’s open for a few more hours.”

  Justice tripped over his own feet. Damn it, he’d checked everything he could think of, but he hadn’t even known about the fair. “Where?”

  “It’s downtown. Lots of crowds expected.”

  He grabbed for the door handle right before she could.

  Once again, she sat up front.

  Like déjà vu, he got behind the wheel but didn’t pull away. “Will you need me tomorrow, too?”

  She tipped her head. “Is that a problem?”

  “Nope. But I’m thinking we save the fair till then.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “It’s a fair,” she said.
“There will be vendors, things to buy, food to try.”

  Justice figured it was past time they made some ground rules. “You need to understand, it’s my job to make you secure. I gotta know what’s happening a little beforehand, otherwise it’s impossible. And when it’s impossible, your dad gets pissed and I could end up canned again.”

  Not giving in, Fallon asked, “What could happen at a fair?”

  No idea, but he knew better than to take chances. “Anything, I guess.” He tugged at his ear. “See, what I do is figure out how to proceed in case anything does go wrong. Like, I need to know the quickest way out, the best route to take, the neighborhoods we’ll go through—”

  “You’re taking this all too seriously.”

  “Yeah, says the girl who got shit-faced, had to be carried in, got me fired—”

  “Stop!” Barely suppressing a laugh, she pressed her palms to her reddened cheeks. “That’s not who I usually am.”

  Justice noticed how cute she looked with a blush. “Too bad, because that girl was fun.”

  She blinked at him. “Really?”

  Too late to call back the words, Justice said, “I mean—”

  “You don’t think I was...pathetic?” So much heat now colored her cheeks, she looked scalded.

  Bracing a forearm on the steering wheel, Justice turned to face her. The vulnerability in her dark eyes nearly broke his heart. Softly, he asked, “Why would you think that?”

  She looked away, hesitated, then changed the subject. “Maybe we could do the art museum then. There’s a special exhibit—”

  He cut her off. “Same problem. I’d need to check it out first.”

  Disappointed, she clutched her hands in her lap. “So then what are we going to do? I’m not anxious to visit another bar.”

  That surprised him. “I thought you had fun.” But maybe her daddy had put the kibosh on drinking.

  “I did,” she admitted. “But then I woke up this morning and remembered that no one had danced with me. Not that I expected guys to rush over or anything, but...not a single one?”

  The smile tugged at his mouth. “You know why, right?”

  Her shoulders sagged. “I assume—”

  Justice took her hand. It was small in his, delicate. Hell, her dad was right—she was fragile.

  Taboo, dude. Knock that shit off.

  He retreated, but explained, “Guys tried, honey. More than a few. My job was to keep them away, so that’s what I did.”

  Comprehension came slowly. “You’re serious?”

  Justice nodded. “Any guy who looked too long, or tried to cozy up, got my best ‘back the ef off’ stare. You were busy dancing—” and turning me on in the process “—so I guess you didn’t notice.”

  She dropped back in her seat. “You actually warned men away?”

  “With a mean stare, yeah.” In his defense, Justice said, “They weren’t your usual refined aristocrats, you know.”

  A slow simmering anger straightened her shoulders, tightened that soft mouth and narrowed her amazing eyes. “I didn’t want to dance with an aristocrat. That’s why I went to a local bar.”

  She said it like she spoke to an idiot. Amused by the show of temper, Justice grinned. “Tell you what, if you have enough free time tonight, how about I take you to Rowdy’s? I’m already familiar with it and I’m betting the guys I know will be around. If you want to dance with them, no sweat.”

  She looked tempted, and still riled. “I don’t want you coercing anyone to do you a favor. I’m not a charity case.”

  “Far from it.” Hell, he’d probably still have to read the riot act to any man—friend or not—who got too close. “So what do you say?” To help convince her, he added, “You can try another beer, but this time just one.”

  She stewed a minute more before finally nodding. “Well...all right. But, Justice, you have to trust me to do my own fending off, okay?”

  Now that he had a destination, he started the car and pulled away. “That’s a no-go. It’s my job to—”

  “You are only to protect me if things get out of hand!”

  Yeah, she had a point. But with a woman like Fallon, that could happen in the blink of an eye.

  * * *

  THEY WEREN’T ON the road long when Justice cleared his throat. Over the next twenty minutes he did it several more times, repeatedly glancing her way, and Fallon assumed he was uneasy about her scolding.

  Because he wore his mirrored sunglasses, she couldn’t see his eyes. Not that she needed to. The tension in his big body, in his broad shoulders and the set of his jaw, told her he was on edge.

  She remained a little irked at his high-handed attitude, but clearly that mood wasn’t conducive to a nice evening so she decided to break the ice. With a slight huff, she faced him. “Something on your mind, Justice?”

  A long exhale left his posture more relaxed. “Whew.” He flashed her a relieved grin. “That silent treatment was getting to me.”

  Fallon hid her smile. For such a big, bulky guy, he’d really let one little disagreement bother him. “Then why don’t we chat?”

  As if he’d been waiting for that invitation, Justice said, “Good idea. Who’s Marcus?”

  Well, shoot. She’d walked right into that one. “Nobody important.” Not anymore.

  “Nah, don’t give me that. He’s somebody, or at least he was. You cut ties on him?”

  “Yes.” Or more like Marcus had cut ties—with his reaction.

  He frowned. “Hung up on him still?”

  Emphatic, she said, “Noooo.”

  “No?” he clarified.

  “Not even a little.” Marcus had bruised her pride, wounded her spirit and dashed her hopes, but she knew she’d never really loved him. “He was...convenient.” She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Very mercenary. The thing is, he works for my dad and my parents liked him. He was familiar with the family.” And all her secrets. “It seemed easy to fall into a pattern with him.” Easy, and oh, so stupid.

  “Well, for what it’s worth,” Justice said, “I don’t like him.”

  He sounded so sincere, she couldn’t help but point out the obvious. “You don’t even know him.”

  “Sure I do. See, fighters learn how to size people up real quick. You get in the cage with a guy and you have to know if he’s quiet because he’s afraid, or because he’s that confident. Does he talk smack to counter insecurities, or because he knows he can back it up? I can read body language and Marcus is a putz.”

  Fallon laughed. “Sorry to disappoint you, but he really isn’t. He’s successful and engaging and people love him.”

  “Not me.” Justice squeezed the steering wheel. “Not you.”

  Good point. “We’re the exceptions, then.”

  “Nope. Your dad wasn’t too keen on him either, let me tell you.” Justice glanced in the rearview mirror, frowned, and then took an exit. “So what happened? What’d he do?”

  She couldn’t believe his audacity. “That’s private, Justice.”

  He chewed his upper lip, rolled one shoulder, and said with complete seriousness, “I have to know these things. I mean, what if he shows up and tries to start trouble?”

  Fallon laughed. “He won’t. In all ways, Marcus is proper.”

  “Asshole wasn’t all that proper today. Proper is letting a lady go when she asks.”

  “Justice!” It took all her control not to laugh. He did have a way of saying things.

  Jaw working, Justice grumbled, “I wanted to cream him.”

  It was ridiculous, but his vehemence warmed Fallon’s heart. She touched his rigid shoulder and said, “I’d prefer that you didn’t.”

  “Okay, so help me out here—what’s his crime? If I know, then maybe, maybe, I wo
n’t feel the need to stomp on him.”

  For the first time since the breakup, Fallon felt like talking about it. Oh, she wouldn’t give him every detail. She’d learned her lesson on sharing too much. But given Justice’s defense, and the fact he didn’t know all her secrets, he might be the perfect person to listen.

  “I’m on the edge of my seat here,” he said. “Imagining all kinds of crazy stuff.”

  Belatedly, she withdrew her hand, but her palm continued to tingle. She curled her fingers into a fist, holding on to the sensation.

  Justice’s shoulder was boulder hard and so warm that she couldn’t help but think about touching him again, wrong as she knew it would be.

  “Honestly, it wasn’t all that much.” The hazy setting sun glared through the windshield, giving her a good excuse to hide behind her own sunglasses. Now where to begin? “Marcus and I started out as just friends. I...haven’t done much dating.”

  What an understatement.

  Not wanting him to ask about that, she quickly continued. “There are some occasions where you’d really like a date. Weddings, company parties, things like that,” she explained. “I knew Marcus through the company, he was nice, others admired him...”

  “And you bought into that shit?”

  She bit back a smile. “My dad was really pleased when Marcus asked me to a company gathering.”

  “So what? Your dad didn’t have to date him.”

  That time the laugh broke free. “For some reason you’re biased.”

  “I told you, I’m a good judge of character.”

  Curiosity got the best of her. “So what do you think of me?”

  Becoming uneasy again, Justice said, “Finish your story first.”

  Fallon thought about it, then decided he was right. Better to get it over with. “We did the whole friend thing for a while until finally, maybe a month later, Marcus wanted more than that, but my parents have been really overprotective.”

  “Noticed.”

  Of course he had. Not like he could have missed that. “I didn’t have much experience with guys, and Marcus was...patient.”