Chapter 14

When Lucas droveup to Huck"s house twenty minutes later, there was an Escalade parked in the driveway. "Tell me that"s your guy," Maddie said. Were they too late? If her dad got killed because she"d been kissing Lucas?—

"It"s my friend, Declan," he said. "It"s good."

"Thank God." Maddie jumped out of the truck with Violet the second Lucas parked the car. She bolted up the steps, with Lucas right on her heels. The front door opened as she reached it, and a man about Lucas"s age appeared in the doorway. He was wearing jeans and a tee shirt splattered with white paint, and his boots were the same. He even had paint in his dark hair.

His shoulders were broad, and he carried as much muscle as Lucas.

He looked like a complete badass, and she was startled to realize she recognized him. "Aren"t you Piper"s landlord?"

"Piper?" He frowned, looking at her more closely. "That"s right. I"ve seen you over at the carriage house sometimes." Piper lived in a carriage house on Declan"s property. Declan wasn"t the most social guy, but Piper had a charming little cottage with a patio, so it was perfect.

After what she"d been through, Piper deserved a beautiful space, even if her landlord was a little grumpy. Maddie had never noticed how attractive Declan was, though. Maybe Lucas was making her notice men now. She wondered if Piper had noticed how insanely hot her landlord was. Probably not. Piper was fully committed to being single. "I"m Maddie Vale."

Declan nodded at her. "Declan Jones. Your dad"s in his office, preparing for an assault. Apparently, he has a vault in there."

"Yes. His gun vault." She hurried inside as Declan stepped to the side to let her pass, slightly favoring his knee, like her dad was doing. Injury? Surgery? She wondered what had happened to him.

She heard Lucas thank him for helping out, and Declan respond as she strode to the back of the house. She hoped she"d find the fiery dad of her childhood, not the man who had been limping around so dejectedly of late.

She flung the door open, and then grinned when her dad spun around, a gun in his hand. His eyes were clear and focused, and his shoulders were set. He looked capable, just like she"d told herself in her little panic-handling-therapy moment with Lucas.

"Hi, Dad." She felt like dancing. Her dad was back!

Huck glanced behind her as the two men followed her in. "Declan didn"t give me details, but when an ex-cop shows up at my door and tells me that Lucas just called him to be my emergency bodyguard, it makes a guy wonder what the hell his daughter and her new boyfriend aren"t telling him."

Ex-cop? Declan was an ex-cop? And Lucas was her boyfriend? So many things to address in that one statement, but Maddie focused on the most pressing one. It was time to stop protecting her dad. The threat hadn"t weakened him. It had fired him up, so she knew she didn"t have to hold back. "Ivan, the man who sold me to you, has a half-brother named Les. He was in prison for a long time, and he"s looking for me."

Huck stared at her. "How long have you known this?"

"Since yesterday." She nodded at Lucas. "Since he showed up."

Huck shot a hard look at Lucas. "How long have you known?"

"About eight hours longer than Maddie." Lucas sounded cool and focused, almost defensive, making her glance over at him.

His feet were spread, and his hands were on his hips. He looked like a man ready for a fight. With her dad? What did he think her dad was going to do to him? Shoot him? Challenge him to a duel at dawn?

Maddie turned her attention to her dad, trying to get his focus off Lucas. "I was worried that if Les found me, he"d find you, and he might be mad at you for your involvement," Maddie explained to her dad. "He might come after you. That"s why Lucas sent Declan over."

Fire flashed in Huck"s eyes, and he held up his gun. "I would fucking love for Les to come after me."

She blinked. Her dad never swore. Ever. "Um…"

"Tell me everything you know," Huck said, gesturing to the couch. "All of you. I need full information." As he spoke, he walked to the window, nudged the curtain aside with his gun, and peered out.

Maddie had to bite back laughter. Her dad looked like he was in a movie with all his drama. It was fantastic. She hadn"t seen him so lively in a long time. She definitely needed to get stalked more often, apparently. It was great for her dad"s psyche.

"I don"t have a lot of info," Lucas said. "My brother Dylan is the private investigator. He"s working on it. He is trying to find Les before Les finds us. Right now, we"re simply in a holding position of protecting you and Maddie in case he shows up."

Huck looked at Lucas for a long time, then swore. "How good are you?"

"Unstoppable."

Maddie almost laughed again. The men were so dramatic. "Unstoppable? Really?"

He looked over at her. "Yeah. I am."

His absolute confidence made her belly tighten. Why was confidence so freaking attractive in a man?

"All right," Huck strode across the room. "We"ll split shifts. I"ll take the nights. You take the days. Declan, you can jump in for a few hours every morning. Twelve-hour shifts are too long to stay alert."

"No." Lucas leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms casually across his chest. His body language presented him as utterly relaxed, but there was a stubbornness in his jaw that indicated otherwise. "Declan doesn"t do this for a living. He was simply doing me a favor this morning. And I"m 24/7 with Maddie."

Huck drew back his shoulders. "You think I can"t protect her?"

"I think you can. But Jacob asked me to stay with her, so I will. I answer to him, not you." There was just the slightest edge to Lucas"s voice.

At Jacob"s name, her dad visibly winced, but then he lifted his chin. "Maddie and I have done just fine without anyone interfering." He looked at Maddie. "We"re leaving town. Shut down the store for a while?—"

"Shut down the store?" While the men battling for dominance was mildly entertaining, Maddie had long ago stopped being the little girl who was controlled by men.

Huck nodded. "Absolutely. Safety is our priority. We?—"

"I"m not shutting down the store." Maddie lifted her chin. "While you"ve been sitting in your recliner feeling sorry for yourself for the last six months, I"ve been busting my butt with the store. It"s doing well, and I"m not walking away from it. We"ll lose all the momentum. Plus, I have weddings that I"m providing the flowers for. I won"t let the brides down."

Her dad narrowed his eyes. "Madison?—"

"No, Dad." Somehow, the fact that her dad was up and functioning the minute that there was a threat was starting to bother her. "For all this time, I"ve been taking care of you, and worrying about you, and protecting you, and now, the minute some man comes in and tells you there"s danger, you"re fine? Does that mean that all along you"ve been fine? I"ve been so scared of losing you, but the only thing that"s wrong is that you"ve been feeling sorry for yourself?"

"I"m not fine! My leg still hurts?—"

"That"s a bunch of crap, Dad! So what if your leg hurts? That doesn"t mean you have to lie around in that stupid recliner all day giving up on life!" Violet whimpered and leaned against Maddie"s leg, but Maddie didn"t want to be comforted.

She wanted to be angry.

"Did you know I have anxiety? Panic attacks? Because of my past, and because I couldn"t talk about it with you, because every time I brought it up, you changed the subject! I couldn't talk about it with anyone because you told me my past was a secret, because someone might find me."

Her dad"s eyes widened. "You have panic attacks?"

"Why do you think I have a dog that wears a therapy dog vest?" She was so frustrated. "You know, Dad, I"m sorry that you feel guilty that you left Jacob there, but guess what? You didn"t leave me there. You had me, and I needed your help to process my past. That"s why you never talked about it, right? Because you were feeling so guilty about some boy that you met a handful of times?"

"I"m aware I had you." Her dad narrowed his eyes. "I gave up everything for you, Maddie."

"I know. I know that. Trust me, I know that. You gave up the career you loved, and I"ve spent my life trying to be good enough to make you glad you made that choice. Trying not to be a burden. Trying to be a bright shining light. Trying to deserve the gift you gave me."

The words were pouring out, words that she"d never articulated before, but suddenly were tumbling out of her as if they were coming to life on their own.

Huck stared at her. "I love you, Maddie."

"I know! And I love you, too! But I"m so angry at you for being a victim for so long when you"re actually fine, and you"re just broken because you don"t run around and catch bad guys anymore! Flowers, Dad! You do flowers, and you hate it! This gun-wielding badass is who you are! This is the dad I wanted!"

He snorted. "You wanted me to go back to work and maybe get shot and killed?"

The question made her pause. "What? No?—"

Her dad walked over to her. "I chose my life, Maddie. You don"t need to be or do anything to be worthy of it. I"m your dad. You"re my daughter. I would choose to walk away from my career for you a thousand times over. Again and again and again. And it"s not your job to feel guilty about it or to earn it. It simply isn't."

Tears filled her eyes. "I needed help, Dad. I needed to talk about the danger. My past. Us. The boy."

Huck nodded. "I know. But I couldn"t talk about it. I saw his face every time I went to sleep. My soul ached with grief for the fact I couldn't get him out of there. I knew the kinds of things that could happen to a teenage boy trapped in that life. I knew it. And I replayed that scenario a thousand times, the night I got you. What could I have done to free him, too? I planned to get both of you that night, but he wasn"t there, so I decided to get you out and come back for him. And then it was too late. He was gone, and Ivan wouldn't tell me where he was."

She watched the guilt on her dad"s face, and her heart sank. Despite what she"d just told him, he still couldn't let go of his guilt over Jacob. It was still about the one he"d left behind, not the daughter he had.

She wasn"t enough for him.

Suddenly, she felt exhausted.

"I"m going home," she said.

"What? No." Her dad grabbed her arm. "You"re staying right here, Maddie, where I can keep you safe."

She twisted free, needing her space. "Safe from what? From a guy who is looking for me and might never find me?" She shook her head. "I"ve lived under your umbrella of fear and guilt my whole life. I can"t do it anymore. I love you, but I need to go home right now." She"d been so stupid to rush home to protect her dad. He might have chosen to make himself small, but he wasn"t. He was a freaking FBI agent who came alive at the idea of fear and danger. He could protect himself a lot better than she could protect him.

She held out her hand to Lucas. "Keys, please."

He didn"t hand them over. "I"ll drive you."

"I don"t want to talk to anyone."

"I won"t talk. I"ll just drive."

She was too tired to argue. "Fine. Come on, Violet."

"Maddie, wait—" Huck reached for her, but this time, she stepped aside, out of his reach.

"Dad," she said softly. "I love you, but I need space right now."

"I"ll keep her safe," Lucas said to her dad. "You watch your own back."

"I can stay," Declan said quickly.

She looked at Declan. "Thanks."

Then she turned and walked out, leaving the men behind. If Lucas didn"t catch up to her by the time she got to his truck, then she was going to keep walking.

He caught up to her just as she reached the passenger door. He pulled the door open, and she and her dog got in.

The minute she was in, Maddie leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, refusing to look and see if her dad came after her. Her heart ached, and she didn"t want to get dragged back into a discussion with him. If she saw him, she wouldn't be able to leave, and she needed to.

Lucas started the truck. "Home?"

"No. The store."

"I thought it was closed today."

"It is, but sitting home idle isn"t going to help me. I need to work."

"Got it."

Lucas didn"t say anything else. He simply shifted into gear and started driving.

She waited for him to start talking. To try to make her feel better. To do that man thing of trying to interfere and make everything better.

But he didn"t.

True to his word, he said nothing.

But he was there beside her. With her. Asking for nothing.

He began to sing under his breath as he drove, and she recognized the tune as that of Tatum Crosby, a famous pop star who was married to his brother Brody.

Lucas had a wonderful voice, and it was funny to hear him singing the pop tune that millions of teenage girls had in their playlists.

Tatum Crosby was his family now, and apparently Lucas was going to sing her songs.

It made Maddie smile.