OVERPROTECTED (29 page)

Colin came away from the door with an unaffected nod.

“Oh, thank you, dear boy.” Mother reached out her free hand to him and he took it. She grasped it like a lifeline had been extended to her. Her eyes misted. “I’m going to go freshen up.” Her voice cracked, and Gavin studied her.

Mother started up the stairs. Gavin excused himself and returned to the kitchen.

“Go.” Colin’s hand pressed with urgency into the small of my back.

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” The phone rang throughout the house, the sound coming from Dad’s office. The kitchen. Upstairs.

“I’ll take care of it,” Colin said. He leaned close and kissed my cheek. His gaze seemed to say,
everything is going to work out
.

I took the stairs up and Colin’s gaze remained fastened to mine with each step. He didn’t move. I stopped outside my bedroom door, peering down at him.

I want you,
I thought.

Be realistic. You need to shower and get dressed. You need to talk to Dad.

My reflection had changed. I didn’t see the princess looking back at me in the mirror. The strong, scrolled frame still encased me, but something different was cast in my eyes now. The innocence I’d seen in myself—and had come to dislike because I had associated the quality with naiveté—wasn’t quite as obvious. Not tarnished by what I’d experienced, rather matured.

Pleased, I left the mirror with a smile on my lips. I showered, dressed in jeans with jeweled back pockets, and a black t-shirt. I peered out my window at the media gathered below.

I took a deep breath. If I spoke to them, maybe they’d leave us alone.

Mother appeared at my door, looking refreshed in her soft plum slacks and charcoal sweater. “Darling.” She gleamed as she crossed to me. Joining me at the window, her gaze shifted to the crowds below. Her smile faltered.

“I’m going to talk to them,” I said.

“You most certainly are not.”

“Yes, Mother, I am.”

“I am not going to have you recounting the horror of what happened just so the world can satisfy its sick need for voyeurism,”

she said.

“I’m not talking to them for the world, I’m talking to them for us, so they’ll leave us alone. I don’t want people hanging around, wondering. Do you? If I say what I want to say, they’ll be pacified.”

Mother took a deep breath. She studied me, smiled. “I suppose you’re right. You’re brilliant my darling.”

My lips curved up. “Brilliance is in my genes.”

Mother and I found Colin in the kitchen with Gavin. Gavin stood over a pot of sauce, the scent of which seasoned the air with garlic and basil. Colin was on the phone. He held a sesame breadstick—

half-eaten—in one hand.

“Yes. Thank you.” He hung up the house phone and disconnected the cord from the wall. “I’ve arranged for a service to take calls for the next few days.” He looked at Mother. “The inbox is full—mostly media asking for interviews. That was the
Today Show
, hoping to get Ashlyn on tomorrow morning.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Piranhas.”

“Not going to happen,” I said. “But I’ll make a statement. I want to be left alone. The only way they’re going to do that is if they hear from me.”

“Maybe the
Today Show
would be the best option.” Mother tapped her chin with her finger. “At least you’d be in a safe, protected venue.”

“No.” I turned, a wave of audacity sweeping through my system, and headed for the front door. I heard movement behind me. “I’m not in danger.”

“Ashlyn.” Colin grabbed my elbow and stopped me. Mother was behind him, Gavin at her heels. “I agree. You’re the one they want to hear from and it’s great that you want to do this. They’re going to ask questions. They’re going to dig. Mercilessly. Are you ready for that?”

Fear tried to shatter my courage but I siphoned strength from the underlying reassurance in his eyes. “Will you be with me?”

His grip on my arm softened. He nodded.

The moment he opened the front door, voices and the clicking of cameras battered me like a swarm of killer bees. Two police officers quieted the crowd. Colin and I stood side-by-side. He had his arms crossed over his chest, sunglasses on, gaze surveying the commotion as if at any moment, if the need arose, he could whisk me into his protective embrace and carry me to safety.

My nerves jumbled. I took a deep breath, waited for silence.

“I’m grateful to be home. I hope you’ll allow my family and me the privacy we need at this time.” Beside me, Colin remained stoic.

“Thank you.”

Questions rang in the air. “How long had Mr. Reed worked as your bodyguard?”

“Is it true your father had a heart attack after you were abducted?”

“Does your father know you’re safe?”

“What are your plans now?”

“If necessary, will you testify against Mr. Reed?”

“Have there been any more threats on your life?”

Colin stepped forward. “Miss Adair is finished. Thank you.” He stepped in front of me, his body creating a barrier between me and the media. The questions continued to fire into the air like bullets.

I let out a shaky breath once we were inside and the door shut.

Colin pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number stepped away from me. He spoke quietly into the mouthpiece, I couldn’t hear what was being said.

Mother and Gavin hurried out of the living room where they’d apparently watched me give my statement from behind the opened, shuttered windows.

“Are you all right?” she asked, brows furrowed.

“Yes.” My hands were clammy, and the shaking in my limbs hadn’t subsided. “We should go see Dad now.”

Mother’s tufted expression turned taut. “Colin can take you. I’m not going to see your father.”

Gavin’s mouth opened.

Silence in the air was broken only by the scraggly chatter on the other side of the front door. I held Mother’s cool gaze in disbelief.

Their marriage really was over.

“I respect your decision, but I don’t agree with it,” I said.

“So much like your father.” She kissed my cheek and worked a smile onto her lips. “You’re the only one he wants to see anyhow.”

Her eyes remained cold—not a trace of emotion in their depths.

It seemed oddly natural that Mother wasn’t at the hospital and even more necessary that I talk to Dad alone. I had a lot to say and questions that demanded answers.

Colin and I rode up in the elevator, standing across from each other. “Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded, amazed at how light I felt. I should have had knots in my stomach, anticipating seeing Dad, but I didn’t. I was ready to face him.

The elevator doors slid open and a draft of medicinal air hit my face. The scent tore me back to last night, being wheeled in, surrounded, stared at, questioned. A chill screeched over my skin.

Colin put his hand on my shoulder.

A nurse escorted us to Dad’s room. He was still in the cardiac wing, having been moved from ICU sometime after I’d left last night. I took that as a good sign.

Dad lay under a white blanket. The sight of his weak arms—once so strong and vibrant—hooked to IVs and various monitors stopped my breath. I slowed once inside the room. Would he sense me like he always did? The war-worn exhaustion on his face shocked me.

Had I not heard the heart monitor beeping, I would have thought he was dead.

He turned his head, opened his eyes. His bloodshot gaze was rimmed in red, like he’d battled an emotional infection, too.

I crossed and stopped at his bedside.

Dad’s shaking hands reached out. He wanted me to hug him.

I leaned over and carefully embraced him. The first buckle of his chest sent panic through me. Should he allow himself to get upset in his condition? His sobs gushed, loud, heavy—a broken reservoir. I whispered that I was okay, but the sound of my voice sent another surge of sobs wrenching from his throat.

Hands quaking, he eased me back, took my face between his hands, his feverish, frightened, horrified eyes soaking me up with an insatiable appetite.

Finally, he released me, his hands falling to his sides on the bed, head back, eyes closed as he gasped for breath. My heart jumped.

Colin moved closer, clearly as alarmed as I.

“Dad?”

“Tissue,” he rasped. “Please.”

Colin searched, found, and plucked a tissue from a utilitarian box sitting near the sink. He handed it to me, and I tucked it in Dad’s fingers. Dad lifted his head and brought the tissue to his eyes and nose.

When he was finished, I took the tissue and threw it into the trash.

His teary eyes locked on me. “You said he didn’t hurt you. Is that the truth?”

I swallowed. My eyes shifted to Colin for a second. “Yes.”

“I want to know what really happened.”

“I don’t want you upsetting yourself.”

His hands knotted around the blanket and sheets. “Tell me.”

I took Dad through each moment and detail knowing he would never forgive me if he found out later that I had left one thing out.

He was riveted. His eyes widened, teared. His chest lifted, fell.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the tracking device?” I asked when I finished. A cold silence filled the room. His heart monitor raced. He closed his eyes, breathed deep. His fists opened and closed around the bed coverings. The monitor finally slowed.

“I did what I had to, to protect you.”

Anger flurried through my system. “And look where it got me.”

He looked straight ahead at nothing and said nothing.

“Colin,” he finally spoke, voice gravelly.

“Yes, Charles?”

“Leave us for a few minutes please.”

Colin flicked a look at me, as if making sure I was all right. I gave a small nod. He left.

Dad turned his head and looked at me. “I don’t blame anyone but myself for this.”

“Good.”

His bloodshot eyes widened. “I won’t apologize for protecting you, Ashlyn.”

I was speechless that he still clung to this ridiculous notion that I was in danger. “Even after the people you hired to protect me were the ones who tried to hurt me?”

“Has Colin tried to hurt you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I saw the way you looked at him. I know how difficult it’s been for you to put his cruelties behind you.”

Dad. Knew. “Isn’t that why you hired him?”

The beep from the heart monitor notched up. He took a deep breath. “I hired him because he was qualified for the job.”

“Qualified because I hated him, and you knew I hated him. Like I hated Stuart. So there was never any chance I’d be attracted to either one of them.”

“Is that too much to ask? That my daughter not find the
help
attractive?”

“You don’t want me finding anyone attractive, Dad. You want me to stay with you and never leave.”

The beeping ramped at a full run. I glanced at the monitor, watched the green line jag up and down. Dad’s control was remarkable. He didn’t blink or react in any way to the truth. He didn’t speak. Didn’t defend himself. Only the beeping monitor betrayed him.

“I want what’s best for you,” he finally said.

My patience waned. “Define ‘what’s best?’”

“Your safety comes first.” His eyes darkened, but the intended threat had lost its impact. He was attached to tubes and wires, his heart had nearly failed him, and his relationship with his daughter and wife was about to change radically because of his choices.

“The only harm that has ever come to me has been by people you’ve employed,” I said.

A long moment passed, our heated gazes fastened to each other.

“An unfortunate irony I admit,” he stated. “Nevertheless, I’m not prepared to give any on the subject, Ashlyn. You’re far too…too…”

My blood sizzled. I leaned close to make my point. “What are you afraid of?”

For the first time since the other night at dinner, I saw honest urgency in his eyes. “It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s the stranger I don’t trust.”

Dad really did think he had to spend the rest of his life protecting me. What would it take for him to see his position was wrong? I hoped it wouldn’t come down to living my life without him in it.

I gazed at his hand, clasped tight around mine. “I’m going to live with Mother,” I said quietly.

He pulled his hand free. His eyes flamed. “You will live with me.

There will be no more discussion about it.”

I stood, stared down at him. He was trapped. In bed. There was nothing he could do at this moment, or any moment in the near future until he gained back his strength.

“Goodbye, Dad. I hope you feel better.”

Colin took one look at my face as I exited Dad’s room and brushed past me, pushing the door open. He disappeared inside.

Muffled voices rose in a sparring match on the other side of the closed door. I bit my lip.

“I’ll stay until you’re home,” I heard Colin’s raised voice. “But consider this my official resignation.”

Seconds later, he emerged, jaw knotted. He glanced around, eyes like a hawk. Hand at my back, he guided me to the elevator.

“You resigned?” My heart shivered.

“Had to.” Colin’s gaze swept the area continuously until the elevator doors slid open and he escorted me inside. A sliver of uncertainty dug under my skin. “I can’t be a part of something I don’t agree with. What he’s doing to you is wrong. I told him so. I’m sorry Ash.” His eyes leveled me. “I told him the truth.”

I swallowed. “Truth?”

“That I love you.”

Every nerve in my body fluttered with thrill. I brought myself to his chest, smiled up into his eyes. “I hope you told him that I love you, too.”

Colin snorted, shook his head. “No. You can tell him that when he’s out of here.” He touched my cheek. A sharp beat jagged between us. “He told me there’s been another threat on your life.”

“What?” My stomach hollowed.

“He’s lying.”

“How do you know?”

“I’d bet the job on it.”

The moving motion of the car left my suddenly unsteady legs even weaker. “He doesn’t want me to leave him,” I murmured. “Ever.”

I knew what had to be done. “You can’t be there when he gets back,” I said.