Protected_A Second Chance Baby Daddy Romance

by Kelli Walker

  “I’m not going to even attempt to answer that question,” I said. “But thank you for not voicing the judgment I can feel vibrating through the phone.”

  “Not judgment. Worry. You’re running from an abusive ex-husband and right into the arms of some high school punk you dated.”

  “He wasn’t a punk,” I said.

  “How did things end between you two? Did you end up with a broken heart?”

  I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as I shook my head.

  “Then he was a punk,” Becca said.

  “Anyway, the talk we had after we slept together was distant. I wanted to know what he’d been up to after high school and I figured out he was a Navy SEAL. But he was pretty tight-lipped about anything else having to do with it. He actually knows my lawyer, Becca. Him and my lawyer served together on the same damn SEAL team.”

  “You know nothing you say at this point’s gonna make me worry about you any less, right?” she asked.

  “I know,” I said breathlessly.

  “Unless of course you announced you were going to sleep with your bodyguard and your lawyer at the same time.”

  “I hate you. I really do.”

  “You love every ounce of me, and you know I love you, too. And even though I’m worried about you, I am glad you were able to open yourself up again to another guy. You remember when this all happened a year ago? How you were disgusted at the idea of ever being alone with a man, much less naked with him?”

  “The thought made me sick,” I said.

  “You’ve come a long way. If nothing else, let that be proof.”

  “What should I do about Ryder being so distant?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s been tense between us. Ever since we slept together. Ever since we went back to my apartment and found that picture. What should I do?”

  “Alicia, now’s not the time to be asking for advice on how to woo your damn bodyguard. What you need to be focused on is anything you can recall that could help track down where Langley is. So you can resume a normal life.”

  “My life hasn’t been normal for the past thirteen plus years, Becca.”

  “Then we can strive for something like that. Together. But we have to get you through this nightmare first.”

  “I feel like I’ve doven off the deep end into the eighth ring of Hell.”

  “Was there an eighth ring?” she asked.

  “No. But if there was, this entire fucked up scenario would be it.”

  “I love you, Alicia. And if you want me to come over, then tell your damn bodyguard to step aside. And if you want to come here, then bring the damn walking piece of granite with you. What I don’t want you to do is stop your life again. You did that your entire marriage. It’s time you at least sat down and made some sort of a plan for the type of future you want for yourself.”

  “Sometimes I can’t see past tomorrow,” I said.

  “Which is why you make the plan now.”

  I looked over at my bag. Still on the floor and still unpacked. I was living out of it. Keeping my clothes in one space so as to not destroy the room I was borrowing. How had things gotten so bad? How had I gone on the run again? My apartment was destroyed almost a week ago, but it seemed like a year ago.

  “I love you, Becca.”

  “I love you too, Alicia. So here’s what I want you to do. Get off the phone, take a nice long shower or something, and get some rest. I’m calling you tomorrow.”

  “Even if you have to work overtime again?” I asked.

  “I swear to fuck, if my boss doesn’t give me the break I deserve through my double shift I’m quitting.”

  “No you won’t. You want to bang your boss too much.”

  “I want to sit on his damn face and make him shut up, that’s what I want to do.”

  I giggled and shook my head as I stood up from my bed.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then,” I said.

  “I’ll talk to you then. And can you do one more thing for me?” Becca asked.

  “What’s up?”

  “Can you sneak me a picture of your bodyguard? Just one. Just to see what he-”

  I hung up the phone and stifled my laughter as I tossed my phone onto the bedside table. A shower didn’t sound too appetizing, but a bubble bath sounded decadent. I stripped my clothes from my body and walked into my bathroom, then started the water running. As hot as I could get it with as many bubbles as I could stand. I piled my hair on top of my head and brushed my teeth, then toed myself into the water just as the jets kicked on.

  Then I closed my eyes, laid my head back, and allowed myself to drift off to another world.

  A world where my destiny was controlled by me and the possibilities for my happiness were endless.

  Ryder

  “Why did you say you were calling, Mr. Smith?”

  “The Better Business Bureau. We’ve had a few complaints lodged in the past couple of days about the owner of your business. Langley Atkinson. Our first step in resolving the complaints is to do a short investigation into his temperament at work as well as his reputation with his employees,” I said.

  “Right. Well, Mr. Atkinson doesn’t come into this store much anymore, if at all. We have a General Manager that reports to him a couple of times a month, but he spends most of his time at his newest franchise. Are you sure the complaints didn’t originate from there?”

  “This is the address they put, but anything you can do to help me with my investigation will go a long way in repairing the complaints put into us in such a short amount of time,” I said.

  “On the other side of the city. Near Rockefeller Center. He scored the place for a dirt cheap rental price for that area because of the maintenance the building needs.”

  “Do you know the address?”

  “I don’t, sir.”

  “That’s fine. When was the last time you saw him there?” I asked.

  “I haven’t.”

  “Then how do you know that’s where he’s been?”

  “He sends out company-wide updates on the place to keep us in touch with how renovations are going. He’s giving employees who already work with him a chance to interview and be moved so we can work there. It’s a great opportunity. I’m looking into it myself.”

  “Wonderful. Well, his reputation is off to a great start so far, thanks to you,” I said.

  “That’s good to hear. From my interactions with Mr. Atkinson, he seems like a wonderful man. Always smiling. Full of life. Always joking around with someone.”

  “Uh huh,” I said. “I’ll make note of that. What is your name again, sir?”

  “My name’s Johnny Rampart.”

  “I’ll make sure to make a note of your comments. Thank you for your time.”

  I hung up my cell phone and tossed it onto the kitchen table. Every fucking place I turned, someone had some positive attitude or compliment to pay Langley. It was sickening. He had the entire fucking city fooled. But with that phone call, I got another avenue my guys and I could research.

  Because what we had was turning up nothing.

  We couldn’t track down where the hell Roberto Martella was. It was like he dropped off the face of the damn planet. The license plate of the car Langley had been driving the night I spotted him from the window was in an accident and towed off to a fucking junkyard. Martella’s rental shop hadn’t opened for business for three damn days and my guys were still trying to fucking track down Langley’s bank accounts.

  If he still had any.

  The more they searched, the more I figured Langley cashed out his accounts and was wheeling and dealing with dollar bills. But that meant him draining more than five hundred thousand dollars from his domestic accounts.

  And that was a lot of cash that needed a place to be stowed.

  “Tell me you got something, Smith.”

  “Wilde, you with Abram and Yoake?”

  “We’re all here,” Abram said.

  “I’ve
got something, but it’s not much. One of Langley’s employees told me Langley’s recently rented out a dirt cheap place on the other side of the city. Near Rockefeller Center.”

  “You got an address?” Yoake asked.

  “I don’t. But how many dirt cheap places are around that area? Wilde, pull up Rockefeller Center, put a bull’s eye on it, and expand the perimeter search by four miles. Pull up any and all recently rented and sold properties in the area. We can ride around. Go door to door. By the sounds of it, the place is still being renovated. The guy I talked to, Johnny Rampart, said the place was cheap because it needed a lot of work.”

  “I’ll run that name through the system,” Abram said.

  “And I’ll pull up that search,” Wilde said.

  “And once we have some places to visit, I’ll get on the road,” Yoake said.

  “Wilde, I want you to go with Yoake. No one does anything alone until we can get this guy. I don’t like the way he’s snaking around. Every day that goes by without us knowing where he is convinces me he’s much more intelligent than we thought.”

  “We hear you, boss,” Wilde said. “We’re on it.”

  “Thanks.”

  I hung up the call and leaned back into my chair. Raking my hands down my face, I sighed. It felt like I’d hit a brick wall. Out of all the fucking dusting and combing and searching we did in Alicia’s demolished apartment, we only came up with three partial prints. All the same, but not enough to pull up a match any greater than sixty percent. It was fucking Langley, but it wasn’t enough of Langley to hold up in a damn court. Brendan wanted this asshole arrested for failing to obey a court-order for alimony, but I wanted this asshole off the damn street for good. I wanted a restraining order against him and I wanted his ass tossed in jail for harassment, vandalism, intimidation, and a host of other fucking plights.

  But I’d get none of that with a damn sixty percent match on three partial prints.

  This building was our only lead, and I was hoping it would push us somewhere. In a direction that was progressive. Because otherwise, we were sitting on our asses watching computer screens until either Langley or Martella fucking popped up.

  And that wasn’t the type of productivity I enjoyed.

  I heard the water running above my head and I grinned. Every time I heard Alicia kick that damn tub on, all I could think about was her naked body. Soaped with suds and her hair piled high on her head. Her glistening tan skin dripping with water, falling between the valleys of her breasts. Her toned stomach catching loose droplets of water falling from her fingertips as she smoothed the bubbles up her arms. Down her legs.

  Between her thighs.

  I shook the thought from my head and cleared my throat. The veins in my groin were pulsing and the last thing I needed was to feel the urge to slip in with her. To knock on the bathroom door and ask her if she wanted company. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about how tangled up we had become. How wonderful her toes felt drifting up the backs of my thighs and how lovely her sighs sounded falling from her pouty lips.

  But emotionally compromising myself anymore during this job would put Alicia at risk. If we knew where Langley was-- if he was making obvious moves-- maybe I’d make a different decision. That wasn’t what was going on, though. Things were more serious than I was letting on to Alicia.

  And the last thing I needed was to be distracted by the scent of her pussy.

  The water stopped flowing and I could hear the water sloshing around. I could hear the jets rumbling the water as my cock grew to life. Tenting my pants and pulling a deep-seated ache from the bottom of my balls all the way up to the tip of my cock.

  This woman was going to be the fucking end of me.

  I could feel it.

  Alicia

  The sun felt good beating down against my skin. I hadn’t seen Ryder all day and it felt freeing. Not that I didn’t enjoy his presence, but knowing he was lingering kept me stifled. I laid back in one of the lounge chairs around Ryder’s hot tub and spread my legs out. I didn’t have a swimsuit, but I did have one matching set of bra and panties. Nothing spectacular. A pale pink set that was on sale while I was shopping for underwear. It was basic. Made of a good material. And that was practically what a bathing suit was, anyway.

  Hell, some swimsuits were even more revealing.

  I drew in a deep breath and let the sun caress my skin. It had been months since I’d felt comfortable lying out in it. I spread my arms out and turned them upwards, allowing them to drink their fill of Vitamin D while my body relaxed. I could feel the heat of the hot tub beating against my skin and it called to me.

  Maybe I would take a little dip after reading one of my books.

  “Thirsty?”

  I jerked up at Ryder’s voice and saw him standing at the stairs. His eyes were dancing along my body. Drinking in the curve of my legs and lingering on the swell of my breasts. A bit of sweat was dripping down the side of my face and I grabbed a towel, wiping myself off before covering up my body.

  The look in his eye sparked electricity in my toes that was quickly working its way between my legs.

  “I didn’t realize you were here,” I said.

  “If I’m here, you’re here,” he said. “Would you like a drink?”

  “Um, yeah. Sure. What do you have?”

  “Same as always. Though I think I’ve got some orange juice now.”

  “That sounds great. Thanks.”

  “Be back in a sec,” he said.

  Ryder’s eyes connected with mine before he turned around and headed into the house. I shivered at the look in his eyes. The darkened stare that mesmerized me the first night I was at his house. I closed my eyes and could feel the ghost of his lips against my skin. The phantom feeling of his hands pressed into the small of my back. I inched the towel off my body and gave myself back over to the sun, hoping maybe Ryder would linger a little while after dropping off my drink.

  Maybe I could even get him to sit down with me.

  I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. The sun was so comforting and the bubbling hot tub was soothing to my ears. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this relaxed, and memories of better times ran through my head. Becca and I giggling at parties and pulling late-night study sessions where we cramped in papers at the last minute. I saw images of high school. Of Ryder stalking across the parking lot and wrapping me up in his arms. I remembered the first time he kissed me. After our first fight. I wanted to go see a movie and he wanted to walk around and it was the most pathetic fight of my life. But at the time, it felt like the entire world was seated on my shoulders, and Ryder’s kiss took my breath away.

  Relieved my shoulders of their heavy burden for a sixteen-year old with a crush.

  My eyes fluttered open before a loud crash hit my ears. It jerked me awake and I threw my legs over the lounge chair. My heart was thundering in my chest and my blood was rushing loudly through my ears, and when I looked over at the table at my side I saw my orange juice sitting there.

  Sweating with the heat of the sun like I had been.

  Something that sounded like murmuring came rushing from the house and I stood to my feet. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around me before I reached for my phone. I dialed Ryder’s number to see if he was there.

  But instead of picking up, it rang until it shot me to his voicemail.

  The backyard was eerily silent. The sun was beating down against my shoulders and I was beginning to feel the first stages of sunburn. Holding my phone tightly in my hand, I walked up the concrete steps. One at a time as my eyes darted around the house. There wasn’t a sound. Not a peep of anything to be heard.

  I convinced myself I was just hearing things. That it had been part of my dream.

  Until I walked down the hallway and saw the front door wide open.

  My eyes widened when I saw a car sitting in the driveway. I recognized that car. It was the car Langley had purchased for me just before he wen
t on that business trip. Before I decided to pack up my things.

  Before I left him.

  Holy fuck. Langley was at the house.

  “Ryder?” I asked. “Are you here?”

  The silence wasn’t so comforting any longer and my hands were beginning to tremble. I heard something crash in the kitchen and I blasted up the steps. Taking them two-by-two as I dialed Ryder’s number again. It shot me to his voicemail as I ran down the hallway, opening doors as I went down to try and disorient whoever the hell was in the house.

  But I knew who it was.

  Even if I didn’t want to admit it.

  I slammed into the room at the back of the house and lock the door behind me. I raced to the closet as I dialed Ryder’s number again, silently begging for him to pick up. Tears were welling in my eyes as footsteps came up the stairs.

  Slow.

  Steady.

  Mindful.

  “Come on, Ryder. Please. Pick up,” I whispered.

  “Come out, come out. Wherever you are.”

  Langley’s voice made me whimper as tears flooded my cheeks. I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried to stifle my crying. I could hear him banging his fist on the walls coming down the hallway as he approached the room I was in.

  I dialed Ryder again, but this time it shot me straight to voicemail.

  So I dialed 9-1-1 and tossed my phone into the corner.

  My body trembled and my lip quivered. I searched around for something in the closet to defend myself, but all that was there were some shoes and wooden hangers. I reached up and grabbed one, hoping it was sturdy enough in case I decided to beat the shit out of that fucker.

  But the closer his footsteps got the more paralyzed with fear I became.

  I didn’t know where Ryder was and I didn’t know if he was okay. I had no way of alerting his team and I wasn’t sure if emergency responders would get here in time. Where was Ryder? What had happened to him? Was he okay? Had Langley done something to him?

  The door to the room burst open and I began to shriek. I clamored to the side of the closet, hoping it would stall Langley in being able to reach me. But instead of hearing his footsteps along the carpeted floor, all I could hear was silence.