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Adorable. Really?
If Chaos could get ahold of his thoughts right now, he’d never stop laughing. And then Zeke could pummel him. Chaos always put up a good fight. That’d be fun. A lot more fun than the discomfort of this moment.
Zeke only raised his eyebrows. She’d probably think he was a mute, but he didn’t really care what she thought. He didn’t care what anyone thought. Caring what people thought only brought either pride or pain.
Both could disable a man. Both could get him killed.
“He is big and tough,” Holly said. “And more importantly, he’s experienced in all kinds of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and defense. Zeke will keep you safe.”
“Safe sounds … lovely,” Mia said, but her voice quavered, and her big brown eyes looked … terrified. “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Safe from who?” Zeke demanded, ripping his gaze from her to pin it on Holly. Auntie? They’d get into the relationship later. He needed to know who would dare endanger an innocent beauty like the one within a hand’s reach. Honestly, it wouldn’t take much effort at all just to reach out and touch her again. Just to see if it had truly been pleasant or if her appealing looks and smile had influenced him into thinking it was pleasant. He absolutely needed to do the research. Then he recoiled inside. Had he just wanted to … touch someone?
Joseph stepped up and put an arm around Mia’s shoulders. She looked even smaller next to the tall, well-built Delta man, and it thankfully distracted Zeke from thinking about the unthinkable, willingly touching someone. Research or not, it was a stupid idea.
“Cap …” Joseph said. “We asked you here hoping you could protect Mia from a vicious stalker. He’s recently set his sights on Mia and promised to kidnap her and sell her to the highest bidder on the dark web. The terrifying thing is, we believe he’s done the same thing to nine other women now.”
If Joseph was hoping to coerce him into being invested, he’d done it. Sell this sparkling sweetheart on the dark web? Not on Zeke’s watch.
He nodded to Joseph. “Thank you for the opportunity. What details and information do you have for me? The past cases. The notes, threats, and contact the man has had with Mia, or anything else that will help. Do you want to text or email me? That might be more ideal so I can have the notes to refer to and not waste time talking about it right now. I’ll hunt him down and have him to the authorities soon.” He looked at Mia and nodded. Yes, he’d capture the refuse of humanity who’d kidnapped and enslaved other women and dared make this woman his next target. Zeke would make sure she was safe, and he’d avenge the other women. Turning the spineless scum over to the authorities would be the hard part. Vigilante justice sounded just right in situations like this. “Don’t worry, Mia,” he said. “You’ll be safe.”
He turned to go.
“Zeke!” Holly called to him.
“Cap!” Joseph joined her.
“What?” He turned back.
“The National Crime Agency in the UK and the FBI here are working together to track the guy down,” Joseph explained. “There are two suspects, but they’ve both completely disappeared. We don’t have enough information to send you off hunting for either of them, or whoever it might be, and that’s not what we’re asking of you. We’d like you to stay here with Mia. Actually, at Papa’s house where her two security guards are staying. They, and the rest of our family, will keep eyes on the cameras, sensors, and monitor the property. The man has found and taken each of the other women he’s targeted no matter what protection the police have provided or the victims have hired on their own. We can’t have that happen to Mia. We want you to protect her, stick to her like glue, until the man is captured. Or until your leave is up, at which point we’ll have to reevaluate the situation.”
Zeke stared at Joseph, then he looked at Holly and finally, his gaze swiveled to Mia. For Joseph and Holly’s parts, they looked absolutely serious. Mia was biting nervously at her lower lip. Why was she doing that? He liked to understand why people had nervous ticks. Demo ran his hand through his hair, Chaos thumped his fist against his leg, and Zeke’s own was rubbing at his neck. He was surrounded by men most of the time and no man he knew bit at his lower lip like that. It was highly distracting. It made her look … appealing.
A protectiveness filled him that he had no choice but to act on. He had to keep Mia safe, but he could do that best by tracking the guy down. He couldn’t … hole up in a beautiful house in a beautiful valley with a beautiful woman. He had to look at this mission objectively and unselfishly, but he’d go absolutely insane not acting and not moving and … being trapped with a woman as enticing as this one.
“You want me …” he began slowly, still focused on Mia. For some reason, those three words made her dark eyes light up in the most beguiling way he’d ever seen.
She wanted him.
Unfamiliar sensations of light, joy, and warmth seemed to crash into each other inside his chest.Shewantedhim? He’d met a lot of women who wanted him physically. Because of his hatred of human touch, he’d never been tempted to reciprocate. Rachel had broken down his walls, somewhat, but it had taken her years, and then she’d decided she absolutely didn’t want him. But Mia seemed to want him, all of him.
He blinked to clear his vision and realized how ludicrous his thoughts were at the moment. He cleared his throat and pivoted to Joseph. “You want me to stay here and protect her like a glorified bodyguard?”
Joseph nodded. “I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more.”
“But she already has security with her. And what about all your with-it and qualified nephews, niece, daughters, and son?”
Joseph barely knew him. Sure, they’d worked extremely well together those few weeks in September, but if this man had any idea how messed-up Zeke was on the inside, he’d never want him alone in a house with his niece.
“Remember what you asked me to do with Zander and Jessie?” Joseph fired back. Kind of hitting below the belt, honestly. Zeke knew exactly what he’d asked of this overprotective father, and he didn’t want to have to reciprocate the trust Joseph had granted Zander. “Despite how hard it was as a father to allow any man to be so close to my daughter, we both knew that Zander was the ideal choice to protect Jessie because he would stay by her side around the clock and he had a vested interest in her. Holly and I felt this situation could be just as … ideal.”
Ideal for who?
“But … but …” Zeke gritted his teeth. He hated stammering. He used to do it as a child because he’d been afraid. As an adult, he acted like everything was radio communication, which meant thinking through his words before opening his mouth. Either that, or he didn’t speak. Stammering was for wimps. He rubbed at the back of his neck. He was feeling backed into a corner.
Hehadasked Joseph to allow his friend and Chief Petty Officer, Zander Povey, Master EOD “Demo” to be Jessie’s bodyguard because Jessie was the Secret Keeper, in extreme danger, and Demo had been head over heels for her.
“Demo liked Jessie,” he tried to explain. “I don’t like …” His eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said. He spun back to Mia and held his hands up. “Apologies, ma’am. It’s not that I don’t like you, but I don’t like anybody. Please don’t take it personally.”
