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At the end of the day, I was still hired to do a job, and I’d willingly blurred the lines from professional to personal, and that could be interpreted as all kinds of dangerous. Mostly for her. But what I needed her family to know was that I would never let our personal relationship interfere with the job I was there to do. If anything, in my mind, it had solidified my reasons to protect her. Feelings were tricky that way. They made you more vulnerable, but they also made you more willing to lay down your life to protect what you cherished, in a way no paycheck ever could.
“You okay?” she asked as we pulled up in front of her parents’ house.
“I’m good. Are you?” We both understood that once we crossed this invisible line with her family, there was no going back, and after this, nothing was going to be the same. Strangely enough, I didn’t care about that as much as I probably should.
Instead of answering, she leaned over and kissed me. Sweet and gentle with just a touch of heat. She drew back and smiled at me before reaching over to open her door and step out.
I shook my head and smiled before getting out to meet her, doing a quick visual sweep of the perimeter of the property. Nothing but land and trees and the gentle lapping of the lake water on the shore.
The door swung open before we could knock, and her mother stood there smiling at us with Elizabeth perched on her hip. “There you are!” Her twinkling eyes slid down from Olivia’s face to my hand on the small of her back before rising again.
I knew she already thought we were dating, but it was obvious she wasn’t accustomed to Olivia bringing men home, which made me stupidly happy. “Hello,” I said, stepping forward to offer my hand. “It’s so nice to see you again, Mrs. Creed.”
“Nice to see you too, Justin. And please call me Judy.” She stepped aside to let us in as Elizabeth began to wiggle uncontrollably in her arms.
“Man Jusin,” she said as she slid to the ground and rushed us. “No work?”
I grinned down at her. “No, sweetheart. I came to see you.”
Olivia bent down and scooped her up, kissing her cheek and nuzzling her jaw. “I missed you so much, Lizzie Bear. Were you good for Grandma and Grandpa?”
Elizabeth squealed. “Yes!”
“Are you sure?”
“She was the best!” Olivia’s father joined us from the adjoining room where several voices conversed and laughed. He held out his hand. “Glad you could make it.”
“Sir.” We shook and I felt his scrutiny even more so than I had that day at church, probably because I was on his home turf now.
“Daddy, we need to talk to you and Mom alone for a few minutes, if that’s okay,” Olivia cut in. Guess we were ripping off the Band-aid right away. Fine by me.
He shot her a concerned look. “Everything okay?”
“Well...” She glanced over at me before offering him a reassuring smile. “We just wanted to update you on some things.”
“What kind of things?” her mother asked, her voice clearly concerned.
I stepped in, seeing her need to know her daughter and granddaughter were safe. “Nothing for you to be scared about. It’s just a bit sensitive, so we thought it would be better to speak to you and your husband in private before we spoke to the family.”
Her mother and father exchanged confused looks. “Okay.” Then her expression softened as she turned toward Olivia. “I’ll ask Genevieve and Harper to watch Lizzie for us. We can talk in the kitchen.” The twinkle in her eye as she scooped up Elizabeth and walked away told me she thought this talk was about to go in the romantic direction.
I flicked Olivia a quick glance. Oh boy. I hated to disappoint her family with fanciful notions of rainbows and unicorns and wedding bells. Not today.
She shrugged and we followed her father toward the kitchen, where he silently offered me a beer, which I declined. We sat at the table and waited for her mother to return.
Judy was grinning when she took her seat next to her husband. “Okay, so tell us. What’s going on?”
Olivia sat up straight but gripped my hand under the table. “I need to tell you guys the truth.”
Her mother’s face fell a fraction. “The truth? About what?”
Her father sat stoically, saying nothing. It was as if he sensed whatever was coming was serious.
“Everything,” Olivia said on a sigh.
And she did. She started from her time in Italy, tearfully telling them about Christoph and his proposal and the awful things he’d done, leaving her to come home hurt and ashamed when she’d nearly lost her baby. Her mother’s tears began to fall, and even though she knew some of that, she obviously didn’t know everything. Still, her father sat quietly, absorbing her words silently, though I could sense a brewing anger under the surface that someone would treat his daughter that way.
Next, she told them about the recent stalking events and how they’d escalated enough to warrant Camden calling Hollow Point Security and hiring me.