Chapter 29
Raj was already irritated after waking up with Helen gone from his bed. But when he looked up and found her standing near the table, looking cool and in control, he wanted to snap at her. He wanted to say something, anything, to break through that cool demeanor and find the passionate woman that he’d made love with last night.
“Are you okay?” he asked, but his tone was harder than he’d intended.
“I’m fine,” she replied and turned to Angela, barely glancing at him. “Where is Emily this morning?” she asked. “I need to speak with your daddy for a moment.”
Angela grinned and spun around so that her boots would light up again. “She’s sick. Today, I get to play with Mindy.” She spun around again. “She brought lots of games! We’re going to have fun!”
Raj glanced at Nazir, both of them tensing in alarm. Immediately, Nazir started whispering into the hidden microphone on his wrist. The man disappeared into the next room, where the security team had set up their temporary headquarters.
Helen didn’t notice the sudden tension, noting that her eyes seemed to be darting around the room, pointedly not looking at him.
Was she angry? What she had to be angry about, he hadn’t a clue, but he let his own temper simmer. Why the hell had she left this morning? What would have been the harm in waking up in his arms? Had last night been just a fling? What game was she playing?
Raj was completely baffled right now, and that wasn’t a state he enjoyed. He was always in control, always prepared for whatever came his way. Hell, most of the time, he maneuvered the world so he obtained the results he wanted.
But Helen, and Angela, had been a curve ball. He hadn’t been thinking clearly from the moment he’d seen Helen walking down the street. And when she’d walked into that conference room, his mind had been blown! All the memories of their past affair had blurred his ability to think. And a daughter! He looked at Angela who was happily doing a little dance with her stuffed elephant. She was adorable, shrieking in delight every time those ugly boots lit up.
He remembered reading an article about parents who hated a gift that someone had given to their child. At the time, he’d thought that the parent should just take the damn thing away. Especially if the toy made obnoxious noises.
Now, seeing the joy and fascination in Angela’s adorable features, he understood the dilemma. As much as he wanted to take those ugly, pink boots from her and chuck them into the incinerator, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t hurt Angela’s feelings.
Glancing at Helen, he could tell from the disgust in her eyes that she didn’t like the boots either.
Was she feeling just as overwhelmed and out of control as he was? For a moment, Raj couldn’t think. He was staggered by the possibility that Helen might be feeling lost. He hated the sensation, but she probably did as well. When she looked up, their gazes collided. That’s when he looked at her, really looked at her. Underneath the heavy layer of makeup, her eyes were puffy. He narrowed his gaze and…had she been crying?
Helen rubbed her hands down her denim covered thighs…thighs that had been wrapped around his waist last night as she’d begged him to move faster, harder. His body tightened at the memories and he nearly groaned as lust and need threatened to choke him.
If they’d been alone right now, he would have stood up, tossed her over his shoulder, and hauled her right back into bed.
Lights distracted him and he glanced at those awful boots again. Why the hell had someone designed a pair of boots to light up with every step or movement? Who was that insane?
And why had Helen been crying?
Rubbing the back of his neck, he tried to think it through. Raj had been out of control for the past two days. It was time to regain control of his world!
And it was time to get his family home!
With that in mind, he considered ignoring the mystery of whatever the hell Paul and Nathan were up to. Or perhaps he could hand the issue off to his security team and have them look into the problem. Hell, Evelyn and Harry probably wanted, and deserved, to know what had happened to them two days ago.
Damn, he suddenly realized that he hadn’t checked in with them yet. He hadn’t called to make sure they were okay, nor had he followed up to get their thoughts on the meeting.
Mentally sighing, he sat up straighter in his chair, determined to get back on track. He’d let Helen and Angela derail his processes and that wasn’t a good thing.
Or maybe it was, he thought as he watched Angela dance around in her boots. As ugly as those boots were, his sweet, energetic daughter looked adorable as she moved around, trying to get the lights on the boots to flash.
Nazir came back into the room with a small item in his hand. He was silent for a long moment, but there was an alarmed look in his eyes.
“Helen, would you take Angela back to…” He stopped when Nazir stepped closer to Angela and shot him a pointed look. The tool in his hand lit up. Helen had realized something was wrong as well. He bent closer and the lights on the tool flashed faster.
Raj knew what that meant and he put a finger to his lips. He could see that Helen was initially confused, then alarm suffused her face. Raj shook his head when she opened her mouth to speak.
“How about those pancakes?” he suggested, giving her a look that he prayed she would understand.
Helen opened her mouth again and he wondered if she was going to argue with him. But Raj looked pointedly at her, then at Nazir. Or more specifically, at the tool in the man’s hand. It was blinking wildly now and Angela watched curiously, her tiny fingers reaching for the lights.
Raj looked around, nodding with approval as the other guards quickly understood. They moved into position, surrounding them. Not even the hotel butler was in the room at the moment. It was just Helen, Raj, Angela, and his bodyguards.
Angela seemed to realize that something was going on, but she clearly had no idea what. Nazir looked up at Raj, not sure how to handle the situation. After giving Helen another warning glance, Raj walked over to her, took Angela’s tiny hand in his and leaned in.
“We’re playing the silent game, honey,” he whispered in her ear. “Can you be very, very quiet?” Raj pulled back and looked into her eyes. She grinned and nodded. Only slightly relieved, Raj smiled at her, then leaned closer again. “You have to take off your boots so that you can be even more quiet. Think you can do that?”
She looked alarmed now, but Raj leaned closer. “See the thing in Nazir’s hand? It shows how quiet you are.”
Angela nodded, still not speaking. She rested a hand on her daddy’s shoulder, one hand over her mouth to keep herself from making a noise.
Raj nodded his approval. “We’re going to tiptoe into the other room, okay? We’re going to be as quiet as possible, but your boots will make noise. So, I’m going to lift you up and Nazir is going to help take your boots off. Okay?”
She grinned and nodded again, then lifted her arms, eager to be picked up.
Raj breathed a sigh of relief, then lifted Angela into his arms. At the same time, Nazir pulled the gaudy, pink boots off. Raj moved towards the back of the hotel, waving Helen to his side.
Raj carried Angela and led Helen towards the bedrooms, his guards surrounding them until they were behind closed doors. When they were alone, he carried Angela over to the dresser, setting her down on top so they were eye to eye.
“Sweetie, will you tell me exactly what happened this morning? Who gave you those boots?”
Angela stared at the closed doorway, then at her daddy’s serious expression. Her features slowly began to crumble into what he suspected might become a sob.
“I didn’t do it!” she cried out, her tiny hands fisted and curled up against her chest. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Are you going to leave me Daddy? Don’t leave me, Daddy!”
By the time she’d finished, she was in an all-out break down, her tiny body shaking with sobs.
Helen immediately stepped forward, but Raj was already there, lifting Angela into his arms and cradling her against his chest. “I’m not leaving you, love!” he assured her, rubbing a hand over her back. “I’ll never leave you! You’re my little princess and I’ll always be here for you!”
He turned, not sure what to say to ease his daughter’s pain. So he looked to Helen, silently asking her for help.
Helen’s eyes had filled as well, which always happened when her little girl cried. It didn’t matter the issue, Helen couldn’t handle Angela’s tears.
“Honey,” Helen said, stepping forward. She brushed Angela’s hair away from her red face and tried to get through to her. “Sweetie, you didn’t do anything wrong. And even if you had, your daddy would never leave you. That’s not how your daddy acts. He loves you! He’s loved you from the very moment he met you. He loves everything about you!”
The words slowly got through to Angela and her sobs started to ease, but her features were still crumpled in sadness, her mouth twisted into a frown.
“Really? He won’t leave?”
Helen shook her head. “Not a chance,” she said, reaching up to tuck a wisp of hair behind her ear. “He loves you and he wants to be close to you.”
“But…why did we have to play a silent game?”
Raj wasn’t sure how to answer this question. He rubbed Angela’s back as he sat down on the bed, Angela on his lap. “I know you’re not going to fully understand this yet, but sometimes, people try to-” He stopped, not sure how to explain.
“You are a special person, Angela,” Helen interjected, worried that Raj was about to tell a four year old that sometimes people try to hurt him. That wasn’t something that Angela would understand yet and it would haunt her. “And sometimes, people will give you gifts that aren’t really gifts. There are ways to…?” she stopped, then turned back to Raj, needing help.
He stepped up immediately. “They’ll want to…?”
“Put me in a tower?” Angela suggested in a tiny voice.
Helen realized that she was reaching back to all the stories about princesses that she’d been told.
“Yeah,” she finished. “Something like that.”
“But I could be like Princess Fiona, right?” Angela offered, her eyes lighting up with hope, her cheeks still wet with tears. “I could learn to chop up anyone who tries to put me into a tower!” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to be like the princess who falls asleep.” She sighed, shaking her head. “That was just dumb. She should have been stronger. Like Fiona.”
Helen chuckled, nodding her head. “Yeah, I like Fiona better too. Even after she turned green.”
That cleared up the last of Angela’s worries. “But when she’s green, she gets to fart in the swamp!”
Helen gave a startled laughed, nodding again. She turned to look at Raj. He clearly had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. “A green princess who chops people and…” he paused, clearly baffled, “farts in swamps?”
Angela waited for him to understand, but he looked completely clueless.
“It’s a movie,” Helen explained, giving him a reprieve.
That seemed to clear up his confusion and he nodded slowly. “Yes. You should definitely be more like Fiona.”
Angela’s gaze turned serious and, not for the first time, Helen was stunned by how similar her daughter’s expressions were to Raj’s.
“Do you know how to chop people, Daddy?”
Raj again turned to Helen for a translation. “Karate or some form of martial arts. I have no clue what type of martial arts Fiona used in the movie.”
“Ah!” Raj replied, nodding in understanding. Then he looked to Angela. “Yes. I know several different ways to…uh…chop people.”
Angela’s eyes widened. “Really?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. And I will teach you if you’d like to learn.”
Her mouth opened, forming a perfect “O” before she asked, “Will you teach me to be just like Fiona?”
Raj pursed his lips as if considering. Then he said, “You’ll have to show me the movie. I can’t tell you definitely if I can teach you to be just like Fiona until I know who Fiona is.” He shrugged. “What if Fiona is not all that intelligent? You’ve already proven you’re very smart.”
Angela’s eyes widened at the affirmation. For the next few minutes, Helen watched with amazement as Raj and Angela talked about intelligence and understanding various languages and concepts.
Before this moment, Helen had admired Raj. She’d been sexually attracted to him and liked him as a person. But as she watched him bond with their daughter, Helen realized that she…loved him. Absolutely adored him! Hearing him tell their daughter how special, smart, and important she was, her heart melted. All of the barriers she’d built around her heart, crumbled to dust as she listened.
Helen knew that, if anyone tried to hurt her baby girl, she would go all Momma Bear on that person. She would have crushed them and defended her adorable cub to the death. But she hadn’t realized how vulnerable she was when it came to someone who adored her daughter, as Raj was demonstrating right now.
Taking in a slow, deep breath, she tried to control her emotions. Helen didn’t want Raj to see how vulnerable she felt. Her life had literally been turned upside down, and now wasn’t the time to start an emotional relationship with a man who had walked out on her five years ago.
No, she needed to be strong. Strong for herself as well as for Angela. She was her daughter’s role model and Helen couldn’t let her daughter see how easily she’d fallen for Raj.
“When can I get my boots back?” Angela asked, her voice sounding normal again.
Raj sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think your boots are safe, honey.”
“Safe?”
Helen knew where this was going. “Why don’t we get those pancakes?” she offered, changing the subject. At this age, it was better to distract Angela than to offer her scary explanations. A four year old didn’t need to know that someone might try to hurt her daddy by going through her.
“Pancakes!” Angela gasped, clapping her hands in excitement. Then she turned and looked at Raj, putting a pudgy hand on each of his cheeks. “Only two pancakes, Daddy. Otherwise, we’ll be grouchy all day long.” She eyed him seriously, then demanded, “Do you understand?”
Helen put a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her amusement at her daughter’s warning.