Chapter 4
Dax left the dining room and hurried to his room, where he grabbed the throw blanket off his bed.
He spun and left the room seconds later, telling himself he needed to hurry because he didn’t want to let her out of his sight, and they didn’t have much time to get to know each other.
Liliana would run the gauntlet of voters and reporters the following afternoon.
Truth was, he was in a hurry to get back to her because she drew him like a magnet. He also worried about leaving her alone for too long, afraid whoever was after her would have discovered where she’d gone.
He left the lodge through the lobby door, stepping out onto the wide back porch lined with rocking chairs and porch swings on either end. At first, he thought she might not have come out yet. When a shadowy silhouette detached itself from one of the brace posts, he knew it was her.
Her tall, lean figure and long straight hair were a dead giveaway. Making his way across the porch, he stopped beside her. “Are you sure it’s not too cold for you out here?”
“I’ll be fine with the blanket.” She tipped her head up, the moonlight glinting in her dark eyes. “Rocking chairs or porch swing?”
“Swing,” he said. “We’ll be able to share the blanket.”
She nodded, crossed to one of the porch swings and sat on one side, leaving enough room for Dax to drop down beside her.
“It’s amazing how quickly the temperatures drop after the sun sets,” he said as he spread the blanket over her lap and his.
Staring into the darkness, he frowned. “We might be better off inside.” He started to rise.
Her hand on his thigh kept him seated. “It’s fine. I’m used to the cold air. I grew up not far from here. As children on the rez, we played outside no matter the weather. Besides, the blanket is cozy.”
“Well, that’s a start.” Bracing his foot against the deck, he pushed the swing back a little and raised his foot, letting the chair swing forward. Dax leaned back. “You grew up on the reservation. Mother? Father?”
“My father died in a car accident. He was driving drunk. My mother raised me,” she said.
“That couldn’t have been easy. A single parent, raising a child is hard enough.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine it was any easier on the reservation.”
“It wasn’t. With unemployment rates high and wages low, she had to work two jobs just for us to survive.
” Liliana stared at her hands in her lap.
“I wanted to help. While other kids were out drinking and raising hell, I buckled down in school earning good grades and scholarships. After high school, I went to college on those scholarships and then to grad school.”
“To become a lawyer?” Dax asked.
She nodded. “I worked hard to get where I am today because I wanted to give back to my mother for all her sacrifices.” Liliana grew silent.
“And did you?” Dax prompted quietly.
Liliana gave a brief smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “My mother died the week before I got my results for the bar exam.”
Dax reached for Liliana’s hand. “Car wreck?”
Liliana shook her head. “Pneumonia. One minute she had the sniffles and a sore throat. The next minute, she was gasping for breath. They rushed her to the hospital and put her on a ventilator. That didn’t help.
Her lungs filled with fluid, and she couldn’t fight it anymore.
” A single tear rolled down her cheek. She swiped at the moisture as her cheeks suffused with color. “I didn’t mean to be morbid.”
“Not at all. As your fiancé, I should know these things.”
She wiped away more tears and squared her shoulders. “What about you?” Liliana cocked an eyebrow. “Parents?”
“Just the opposite. Raised by my father. My mother skipped out on us when I was five.”
“Wow.” Liliana squeezed his hand. “That had to be hard on your father.”
“My father could be hard on anyone. He was a Marine, not only at work but at home as well.”
Liliana nodded. “A woman who isn’t used to the lifestyle could find that intimidating.”
Apparently, his mother had been intimidated enough to abandon her husband and young son.
“So, I take it you grew up in a strict environment,” she said.
“I did.”
“Which made it easy for you to go into the military yourself.”
“It did.”
Her lips twitched. “As a Marine?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t want to go through basic where my father had been a drill instructor for so long, and I had some misguided desire to prove myself on my own, in a different branch of the military. I joined the Navy.”
“From what Amanda told me, all the people hired into the Brotherhood Protectors have Special Operations backgrounds. In the Navy, that would mean you became a Navy SEAL?”
He nodded.
“I’m impressed,” she said. “I understand the training is very difficult. Not many who start finish. I bet your father was proud.”
Dax’s hand tightened around hers.
Liliana glanced toward him. “No?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s while I was in BUD/S training. It progressed quickly and he’s been in a veteran’s nursing home ever since.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, leaning her shoulder against his.
“He can’t remember that I’m a grown man, but he remembers a lot of his younger years and enjoys sitting around the break room with other veterans talking about their glory days.”
“How often do you see him?” Liliana asked.
“When I’m in South Carolina for any length of time, I visit often.
Otherwise, twice a year.” His father’s failing health had forced Dax to come to terms with how his father had raised him.
Seeing a man who had been so strong, now so weak, mentally and physically, had made Dax realize how quickly life could change.
“Did you ever hear from your mother?” Liliana asked.
The question made his chest tighten. “For years, my father told me she’d died. Her death had been easier for me to understand, especially when I was younger. When he finally told me she’d walked out on us…” He shook his head. “No. I never tried to find her.”
Liliana clasped his hands with both of hers and held them for a few silent moments. “Didn’t you ever want to hear her side of the story?”
“I couldn’t get past her leaving me at five years old with my father.” His hand tightened on hers. “The man didn’t have a warm bone in his body.”
“She might’ve been so miserable she had to get away or lose herself.”
“She left a five-year-old boy with a man who couldn’t tell the difference between a boy and a Marine recruit,” he bit out, his fists tightening.
“Okay. I get it. You still harbor a lot of resentment toward a woman you don’t know.” She leaned into him again. “Can you lighten up? You’re hurting me.”
Immediately, he released her hand and pushed to his feet. “I’m sorry.”
Liliana shook her hand as if to get blood flowing back into her fingers.
“It’s okay.” She patted the seat beside her.
“We’ve only just begun. Shall we bring our discussion back to less contentious topics like our favorite sports teams and who we voted for in the last election? ” She smiled up at him.
He stared down at her, his brow furrowing.
“I promise not to bring up your family again.” She patted the seat again. “Please. We have to make this charade appear like the real deal, or I’ll get slaughtered at the polls.”
Her smile made him want to apologize for being so touchy about his mother and father. He wished he hadn’t bared his soul. He could have told her they were both dead and left it at that.
What was it about this woman that had made him open up about his upbringing? He’d never told another woman about his childhood or the mother who’d abandoned him. This was an undercover operation. He could have told her anything as long as they stuck to the story.
Dax shook his head. “I’m done for the night.
I want to get an early start tomorrow. We have over two hours on the road.
That should give us enough time to get our stories straight.
” And a night’s rest would give him time to get his shit together.
He was on an assignment to protect this woman from danger.
“Okay. I need to figure out where I’m sleeping tonight.”
He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. “You need to be in the room next to mine.”
“I’ll get with Mr. Jacobs. Hopefully, that one’s available.” She walked beside Dax, their shoulders touching as they entered the lobby through the double doors.
“Oh, there you two are.” John Jacobs hurried toward them. “I have the key to your room.” He held out a key card. “It’s next to Dax’s.”
“You were reading our minds,” Liliana said with a smile, taking the key from the older man’s hand. “Thank you for dinner and the room. I’m sorry to be a bother and on such short notice.”
“You’re not a bother,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I just wish you weren’t being harassed. It’s hard enough running for an office without being targeted.”
Liliana nodded. “Tell me about it. It’s my first time running.”
“And I’d venture to guess it’s your first time in an explosion.” John touched her arm. “You’re in good hands with Dax. My boy only works with the best of the best.”
Dax’s heart warmed. This was the kind of love and affection he’d wished his father had shown him growing up.
Then again, he wouldn’t be the man he was had his father not been the uptight asshole he’d been.
Yeah, and he might not have been so distrusting of all women if his mother hadn’t bailed on them when he was so young.
His glance swept over Liliana Lightfeather.
She had a way of making people trust her.
Her open smile and genuine concern for others could make a man forget the vow he’d made to himself over a decade ago.
Never let a woman steal your heart. They couldn’t be trusted.
If a mother could abandon her husband and son, any woman could do the same. Why set himself up for heartache?
Hell, he’d watched so many of his SEAL teammates marry and divorce. His own father had learned his lesson after his wife had walked out on him. He’d never married again.