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“Jaime, you should just let it go. Mr. O’Connor wants you to watch me, he doesn’t want you chasing after assholes. Besides, he only grabbed my arm, it’s not like he was overly violent.”
He scowled. “That doesn’t fucking matter. He touched you. He deserves to lose a hand. Don’t worry, I won’t be leaving you alone. I’ll handle it when you are safe at home.”
That didn’t make me feel any better but I didn’t think he’d listen to me if I argued with him. I’d need to figure out something to distract him though because I pissed off a lot of people today and the thought of losing my one tentative ally made me really nervous.
My phone ringing dragged my attention away from Jaime and I picked it up without looking, my eyes still narrowed on him.
“Hello?”
“Rebecca.”
My back went rigid. I haven’t spoken to my father since I left home.
“Father.”
Jaime’s head jerked up and he frowned at me. I felt the same way, it was weird that my father was calling me. Especially since I knew he was aware of who I was working for. I seriously need to establish certain ringtones or something for people so I knew which calls to avoid. Either that or pay more attention to the caller ID.
“Your presence is required at home. Your sister’s wedding is coming up.”
I was well aware of that. She was getting married the week before Christmas. My mom has told me plenty about the theme and the decorations. While I was usually only half listening to her, I knew enough to know that it was beyond cliche and I didn’t want to be there.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. I’m working.”
The ice in his tone made me grimace. “This is non negotiable, Rebecca. Either you come home and be part of this family or I’ll send someone to fetch you.”
Jaime was close enough that he must’ve heard that because he tried to snatch the phone out of my hand. He looked pissed but I wasn’t going to let him engage with my father. It wasn’t worth it. I batted his hand away and continued with the same argument I always had with him whenever my father tried to summon me home.
“I’m sure you’re well aware of the legal ramifications of threatening someone as well as kidnapping. Not only that, I have a client relying on me. I won’t put my career on the line for–”
“Enough, Rebecca. We both know your job is merely for show. O’Connor wants to screw with me so he hires my daughter as his legal counsel. We both know you’re nowhere near qualified for the job.”
Grinding my teeth, I resisted the urge to scream at him. I’m a better lawyer than he gives me credit for and I hated that he never saw me as more than a window ornament. Arguing with him was useless though because he’d never change his mind.
“Continue to argue with me and I’ll make this problem worse than it needs to be. You will come home for your sister’s wedding and you will come with Gavin. His family is looking to make a deal and it’s high time you did your duty.”
“I’m not–”
Jaime took the phone out of my hand. I lunged for it thinking he’d say something to my father but instead he hung up. My jaw dropped and I swung my wide eyed gaze between him and the phone.
“Did you just hang up on him?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I couldn’t talk to you with him listening. Tell him you’ll go.”
I scoffed. “No! I’m not going to be cowed into attending that wedding with my cheating ex just because he demands it!”
Jaime rolled his eyes. “Not with the ex. With me.”
I made a face. “You’re insane. We’re not dating and I’m not going anywhere near that wedding. You may think he was kidding about kidnapping me but I know him. He’d use the wedding as an excuse to grab me and lock me in a room until I caved and married the man he chose for me.”
“Exactly. He’s going to keep coming for you. Running away obviously isn’t working for you. You need to face him head on. So we’re going and you’re going to show him that not only are you seeing someone but you’re also well protected and he’d have to go through me to get to you.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowled at him. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to put you in danger. He’ll back off eventually, he always does.”
My phone started ringing again but Jaime held it over my head.
“Has he ever threatened to kidnap you before?”
Even with my heels, I wasn’t anywhere close to grabbing my phone. I could see my father’s name on the screen and the longer I made him wait, the more angry he was going to get. I needed to talk to him like a lawyer to get him to listen, not start a stupid ruse.
