Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Parker
I walked into the house, set my briefcase down, and went upstairs to change for dinner. As beautiful as Paige was, and as much as I enjoyed our one night together, I wanted her out of my house and life. I didn’t do chaos, and that was exactly what Paige was.
As I was walking down the stairs, I stopped when I heard Paige talking to someone on the phone.
“There’s nothing on the phone. He must have had another one somewhere in the house. I will, Gabriel. I’ll be in touch later.”
When she ended the call, I continued walking down the stairs. Reaching the living room, I stopped and stared at her.
“Who’s Gabriel?”
She swallowed hard, her eyes staring into mine.
“Nobody.”
“Yeah, okay, Paige. I want you out of my house tonight.”
“I see what’s going on here. You can’t stand the thought of a woman protecting you. It emasculates you.”
“Emasculated? Is that what you think this is about?” I hissed. “This is about you lying to me, Paige. About you deciding what I get to know and what I don’t.”
She crossed her arms as her jaw tightened. “I’m protecting your life. Elias’s people are everywhere, Parker! They’ve already made two attempts—”
“Two?” I shouted. “You mean one attempt. The attempt in the parking garage at the firm! Stop lying!”
“Fuck.” She slowly shook her head. “Go through the footage of your front door camera from last night around eleven p.m.”
I could feel my blood pressure rising as I pulled out my phone and brought up the camera footage. My heart raced out of my chest as I watched two men fall back on the porch after being shot in the head.
“If I hadn’t been here, they would have killed you,” Paige said. “Elias isn’t some petty thief. He’s precise, calculated, very dangerous, and he won’t stop until all threats to him are buried.”
I was visibly rattled, and all I wanted was for this nightmare to end. Paige took a few steps closer to me.
“Listen. I know this is tough, and all you want is for your life to go back to normal. And it will. Just let me do what I was sent to do. I couldn’t save your client’s life in time, but I can save yours.”
As I stared into her beautiful but cold eyes, the memory of our night together crashed over me.
It wasn’t just the way her body felt against mine, or how perfectly we moved together against the sheets of my bed.
I’d spent my entire adulthood having casual sex—temporary and forgettable.
But that night with her lingered in my mind longer than it should have.
I never planned on seeing her again, but here she was, in my home, protecting me against a man who wanted me dead.
She was complex, complicated, and fearless. That much I could tell. But behind the facade was a little girl who was severely broken. And I would discover the truth about her, whether she wanted me to know or not.
“Let’s go, or we’re going to be late,” I said, grabbing my keys. “I’m driving. End of discussion.” I walked out to the garage and opened the door.
The drive to my mom’s house was silent until she asked me a question.
“So, how are you going to introduce me to your family?”
“You’re a secretary from the firm, and you’re thinking about becoming an author.”
Her brows furrowed as I glanced at her.
“My mother is a children’s book author. When I told you about her, you asked if you could meet her to get some advice on publishing.”
“That’s dumb,” she sighed.
“Okay then. We’ll just walk through the front door, and I’ll introduce you as the assassin I slept with, and now, you’re protecting me from a psychopathic killer. How’s that?”
She rolled her eyes.
We stepped onto the porch. When I opened the front door, I could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. My heart was pounding against my chest, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off.
“Hi, Mom.” I smiled, kissing each of them on the cheek.
“Parker, darling. It’s good to see you.” My mother pinched my cheek. “Who is this beautiful young woman?”
“Mom, I’d like you to meet Paige. She’s a secretary at the firm who is interested in becoming an author. I told her about you, and she was hoping you could answer some questions she has about the process. Paige, these are my mothers, Pippa, Katherine, and Calista.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Paige said.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, darling,” Katherine said.
“Something isn’t right,” Calista said, her eyes staring Paige up and down.
“Because it’s bullshit.” My mother, Pippa, smiled.
I glanced over at Roman and Julian, who stood there with their brows raised.
“Now, Parker. Tell us who Paige really is,” Calista said.
“Don’t forget, sweetheart. We know when you boys lie to us.” My mother, Pippa, smirked.
“You can tell us over dinner. It’s almost ready,” Katherine said.
“Paige, can I pour you a glass of wine?” Pippa asked her.
“Sure. Thank you.”
I poured myself a scotch and walked over to where my brothers stood in the living room, while the women were in the kitchen.
“Fuck. Now what?” I asked.
“You know they always know.” Julian slowly shook his head. “That’s their superpower.”
“Roman?” I stared at him.
“First, I wouldn’t have introduced her as a secretary at the firm. You should have just said she was a friend. Second, did you really think they’d buy the whole she wants to be an author thing?” His brow arched.
“They cannot know that someone is trying to kill me. Got it?”
“We get it, bro. Chill out.” Julian patted my shoulder.
We took our seats at the table. “You drank that fast.” I pointed to Paige’s wine glass. “Can I pour you another?” I grabbed the bottle sitting on the table.
“Yes.”
I’d only known her briefly, but something seemed wrong with her. Her fingers lightly tapped against the tablecloth, and her eyes darted around the room like she was looking for an escape. I almost thought being here made her nervous.
“Are you okay?” I leaned over and whispered. “You seem uncomfortable.”
“It’s just the whole family thing,” she said, picking up her glass and tipping it to her lips.
“Now that we’re enjoying dinner together, tell us who Paige really is, Parker.” My mother, Pippa, stared at me from across the table.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Morgan blurted out. “I set them up.” She shoved a forkful of salad into her mouth. “Parker didn’t want to tell you in case it doesn’t work out.”
“You’re sweet, darling.” Katherine smiled. “But I call bullshit. You two don’t know each other at all.”
“Kather—”
“Whatever is going on with all of you, it’s time to spill it.” Katherine interrupted Morgan.
“You’re all covering for each other for some damn reason. Do you think we’re stupid?” Calista asked.
“Fine,” Julian said, setting his fork down and picking up his drink.
“Bro.” I shot him a dirty look.
“Some guy named Elias thinks that Parker’s dead client told him some information about him, and now he wants Parker dead, and Paige is protecting him. She’s like his bodyguard.”
“Fuck you, bro!” I pointed at him.
“We can’t keep secrets from them. You know that. They won’t stop until the truth comes out. Now that it’s out, we can enjoy this delicious dinner.”
“Parker, is that true?” Calista asked.
“Paige?” Pippa’s brow raised. “Is someone trying to murder my son?”
“Yes. But I’m not going to let anything happen to him,” Paige said.
“I knew the moment I saw you that you were different,” Katherine said.
“You are a far cry from a secretary,” Calista said.
“So, sweetheart, how do I know you’re capable of protecting my son?” Pippa asked.
“She kills people, ma.” Julian bit into a piece of freshly baked bread. “That’s all we know, and she won’t tell us anything more. So, don’t even bother trying to get it out of her.”
My mother narrowed her left eye at Paige, who stared back at her from across the table.
“Maybe it would be best if you left town for a while until this man is caught, Parker,” my mother said.
“I’m not leaving town, Mom. I have a job and clients to take care of.”
“Pippa, Parker didn’t want to tell you about this situation because he didn’t want you to worry. I don’t want you to worry. Parker will be safe as long as I’m here. I can promise you that.”
“What is your background?” Pippa asked her.
“I’d rather not get into it. All you need to know is I can handle any threat toward your son.”