Protector #6 (A Navy SEAL Military Romance)

PROTECTOR
#6

The
Protector Series Book #6

By
Claire Adams

This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright
© 2015 Claire Adams

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Protector 6

“
Brian
!” I cried as he looked at the
computer screen and then turned away. I was shocked that I’d blurted out how I
really felt about him, but I was more concerned that he didn’t believe me. I
wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to prove my plan, and I cursed myself
for keeping it a secret from him to begin with.

“This
is just…” he trailed off as he set the computer down on the desk, grabbed his
jacket off the back of the chair and headed toward the door.

“Just
what?” I yelled. “It’s nothing! I didn’t mean it! How can I prove to you that I
was trying to help you? I wanted to lure Dominic in so you could trap him and
call the police. You’ve got to believe me!”

“It’s
hard for me to know what to believe, Ava,” he said as he turned and looked at
me. My heart ached at seeing the look on his face, but I knew why he felt
betrayed. I hadn’t been honest with him.

“Brian,
I wasn’t trying to lie to you,” I said softly. “I was honestly trying to help.”

“Ava,
can we just let this go for the moment?” he asked. “I need to go out and get
some air and clear my head. We’ve been cooped up here for so long, I can’t
think clearly anymore.”

I
nodded and looked at the floor. I was ashamed of what I’d done, but I also knew
that I had the best of intentions and that I’d never wanted to hurt him. I felt
confident that if he really thought about it, he’d realize that as well and
that we’d be able to work things out.

“Okay,
I get it,” I said.

“I’ll
be back in a half hour,” he said as he walked to the door. “Please don’t leave
this room, and don’t answer the door. No matter who it is, okay?”

“Fine,
fine,” I agreed. “I’ll just say holed up here like a fugitive while you go out
and paint the town.”

“Ava…”
he replied in a tone that let me know he wasn’t finding any of this funny at
all.

“I’m
kidding,” I said as I held up my hands. “I’ll stay here and do my homework, and
I won’t answer the door. I promise.”

“Please,
just do that,” he said. “For me?”

“I
will,” I said solemnly. “I promise.”

He
nodded as he grabbed his jacket and phone, then turned and headed toward the
door. Just before he opened it, he turned and looked at me once more and I saw
it; the look. He gave me a look that let me know just how much was at stake in
me following directions this time. I nodded slowly and bowed my head.

*****

With
one hand on the doorknob, Brian opened his mouth to say
something just as someone knocked on the door and called, “Room service!”

Brian
looked out the peephole and confirmed that it was the guy who usually brought
up our meals and opened the door. As he turned the handle and the door flew
open, and the room server came flying into the room. He collided with Brian and
knocked him against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him and send
him to his knees. Brian quickly sprung back up as two masked men rushed into
the room. One was short and square and then other was tall and lanky. Brian
swung at the short man landing a punch in his stomach before the second man
attacked.

“What
are you doing!?” I screamed as the two masked men attacked Brian. “Leave him
alone!”

The
tall one rushed Brian, but quickly found himself on the ground as Brian swept
his feet out from under him. The fat one regained his footing and tried to
punch Brian in the face, but Brian ducked and the man missed, throwing him off
balance and giving Brian a chance to land a brutal punch to the man’s kidney
area and making him cry out in pain. The tall man pulled himself off the floor
and landed a punch to Brian’s crotch causing him to crumple to the floor and
giving the tall one a chance to reach under Brian’s hoodie and grab his gun.
Before Brian could fight back, the tall one held the gun to his partner and
said, “Put him out of his misery.”

“Stop
it! Stop it!” I screamed hysterically as I ran toward them and began hitting
the tall man who’d taken Brian’s gun. He turned and shoved me hard against the
wall before spinning around and whipping Brian in the head with the pistol.

I
watched as Brian slumped to the ground and the fat masked man kicked him in the
ribs.

“Don’t
hurt him!” I yelled.

Then
the tall one looked down at the frightened room server on the floor and
threatened, “Stay down there and be quiet or you’re next. Got it?” The boy nodded
and lay still.

When
I realized that they hadn’t come after me yet, I turned and ran toward the
bedroom, but before I could reach the door, the second man quickly covered the
distance between me, wrapped an arm around my waist, and grabbed a fistful of my
hair before he slapped his hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming.

“Shut
the hell up,” he growled in my ear as he pulled my hair so hard I thought he
was trying to yank it out of my scalp. “I don’t want to hear your useless
whining, got it?”

Wide
eyed, I nodded as best as I could without causing
myself
any more pain.
Who are these guys and
what do they want?
I thought as I watched as the first one quickly flipped
Brian over onto his stomach and pulled his arms behind him then wrapped what
looked like a length of rope around his wrists to secure them. There was
something familiar about the way he moved, but I couldn’t place it.

“Blindfold
the kid,” the one tugging on my hair said to the
 
as he dragged me over to the dining table and
shoved me onto a chair before letting go of my hair, roughly yanking my arms
behind me and securing my wrists with a length of rope. “Stupid bitch, you
think you can get away from me?”

I
inhaled sharply as I recognized Dominic’s voice, then exhaled slowly hoping
that he didn’t know that I’d recognized him.

“You
know it’s me,” he laughed as he pulled off the mask and stepped in front of me.
“Don’t try to hide it, Ava. I know you better than you think.”

I
let out a terrified scream and began to cry.

*****

Dominic
watched me through narrowed eyes as if trying to decide what to do with me
next.

“Shut
up,” he ordered as he grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked down hard. I sat
stock still as he pulled back on my hair forcing me to look up at him. He threw
the mask aside and then leaned down so that his lips were inches from my ear
and whispered, “Did you miss me, baby?”

I
swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat and tried to nod without
speaking.

“No,
tell me
you missed me,” he demanded
quietly. My stomach rolled as he spoke. “Tell me, beautiful Ava. Tell me how
much you love me and how much you’ve missed me.”

“I…I…love
you, Dominic,” I sputtered. The words felt like poison in my mouth, and for a
moment I was glad that Brian was unconscious so he wouldn’t have to hear me
lie. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I
don’t believe you,” he snapped as he let go of my hair and slapped me across
the face. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, and when I didn’t look back up
at him quickly enough he reached under my chin and forced my head up forcing me
to look at him. His eyes were cold and angry as he ordered, “Tell me you love
me, and mean it.”

“I
love you! I love you! I love you, Dominic,” I tearfully chanted. “I’ve missed you
so much. I made a mistake and I want to come back. Please?”

“That’s
better,” he smiled cruelly as he slowly scanned my body from top to bottom. I
swallowed and fought to hide my true feelings so that I wouldn’t vomit. But
when he ran his fingers down my cheek, I shrank from his touch. He ignored my
response and murmured, “See? Isn’t it better when you admit the truth and tell
me how you feel?”

“
Mmm
hmm,” I nodded as I felt the nausea rising again. I
fought to keep myself from looking away as I held his gaze. In my peripheral
vision I could see Dominic’s accomplice removing his mask and my stomach sank
when I realized that it was Cheese. The two of them together were my worst
nightmare.
 

“You
know my friend, Christopher, don’t you, darling?” Dominic said as he watched
me. “I believe the two of you became acquainted during an unfortunate incident
at the Fiji house, didn’t you?”

I
closed my eyes and tried to simply breathe, but Dominic was having none of it
and he yanked my hair so hard that I cried out.

“Do
not fucking ignore me, Ava!” he yelled. “I will not have you ignoring me when I
ask you a question!”

“Yes,
we met,” I replied. My scalp burned and I wondered if he’d actually pulled out
my hair.

“Good
girl,” he murmured. “When you answer me, I don’t have to resort to hurting you
to get a response. Now, you wanted to talk with me about getting back together,
did you? Tell me about what you want to do with me.”

“I
want…want us to…to get back together,” I stammered as I tried to respond
quickly. My head hurt from the tight grip he had on my hair and I was afraid
that if I said the wrong thing, he’d order his henchman to hurt Brian.

“Really?”
he said in a skeptical tone that let me know he wasn’t buying what I was
desperately trying to sell. “Somehow I don’t believe you, Ava. Why is that?”

“Because
I’m…I’m scared?” I whispered.

“It
could be,” he said. “But it could also be because you’re lying to me. Are you
lying to me, Ava?”

“No!
No, Dominic I’m not lying! I love you and I want to get back together with you,”
I cried. “I want us to be a family again!”

“Really?
Now that’s quite a change of tune, Ava,” he said in a slimy tone that made my
skin crawl. “A week ago, you were telling me that you never wanted to see me
again. What’s changed in the seven short days between that conversation and
now? Hmmm?”

“I
realized my mistake,” I said as I lowered my eyes to try and show him my shame.
“I was wrong. I’ve spent the week with the body guard my father hired, and I
realized how wrong I was, Dominic.”

“You
hear that, Cheese?” he laughed. “She’s telling me she’s
sorry
and that she wants to come back. What do you think about
that?”

“I
think is total bullshit,” Cheese replied dryly. “She’s a cock tease and she has
no idea what she wants.”

“I
think you might be right, my friend,” Dominic replied as he turned to me with a
cold look in his eyes. “But first, I want to hear what the little lady has to
say for herself. So, speak, Ava.”