"We'll sort that part out." Pulling her against my shoulder, I wrap my arms around her. "Baby, you could've been hurt."
"Wow," she whispers, looking up at me with a dazed expression. "I can't believe that you're more upset about my safety than those guys."
"Believe it." Staring into her lovely melted chocolate eyes, I remember something important. "Bridget, when you saw the men Lloyd was speaking with just outside of our property, you ducked down, terrified."
She nods, her arm reaching around to run through the back of my hair. "Yeah."
"Was it the same guys?"
Her lips press into a flat line. "I'm pretty sure it was the same car. I didn't get a good look at the guys. All I saw was…cheap gray suits."
"Baby," I breathe softly, almost not wanting to know the answer, "what is it about gray suits that upsets you?" I watch as many emotions flicker through her eyes, especially fear. "Are you ready to tell me?"
"Um, yeah." Her breath is shaky as she leans back, straightening up. Her hands drop to hold mine, staring down at our clasped fingers. "I should probably tell you."
As she hesitates, I gently caress her hands with my thumbs. "Take your time."
A tiny smile. "If you need to leave me after this, I totally understand." A slow, shaky pause. "Actually, the smartest thing you could ever do is to leave me."
Oh my God. She's serious.
My stomach slowly turns over. Does she not understand that we're truly together? I can't imagine a single thing she could say that would change the way I feel about her. "It's going to be fine. Just tell me, baby."
"Okay." Bridget takes a deep breath. "My dad wasn't around much when I was born. When I was about six, he was there when it was convenient for him. Apparently pretending to be a family man was a good cover for whatever shady deals he was working on at the time. He disappeared from the picture when I was eleven, and I found out later it was because Mom moved us away from him. When I was sixteen, Dad found us, and he was immediately arrested." She sighs. "As a bonus, some other lowlifes were following us in the hopes it would lead them to him."
My poor sweet baby. I wait silently, nodding for her to continue.
"Fraud. Tax evasion. All kinds of stuff. Apparently one scheme led to a couple of exporters being killed. Mom never found out the details. Dad went to prison, we moved away again and changed our last name. We have no idea when he's getting out, but Mom assumes that he'll come looking for us." She looks up at me sheepishly. "Anyway, long answer, whenever we ran into dad's associates, they were always guys in cheap gray suits."
"Okay. Thank you for telling me."
Her head cocks to the side. "Anyway, now you can see that your illustrious family cannot be associated with mine in the slightest."
"You're a new person now, baby. No baggage. Nothing your father did is in any way your fault."
Leaning forward, my lips brush against her forehead. "Bridget, my feelings for you are already permanent. I don't give a damn who your father is. If there's ever any hint that he's coming to town, you have instant backup." My smirk makes her smile. "You've seen my brothers, baby. Put the four of us together, we're pretty intimidating."
"Yeah." She bravely tips up her chin. "But this isn't your problem. I'll completely understand if you'd like to go back to being the cute guy at the café that I tease for not liking fries."
"It's not that I don'tlikethem, it's that they are incorrect at breakfast."
Pulling out my phone, I start a note. "Give me your Dad's name, what prison he's in, and last known home address." Bridget seems surprised, but quickly types in the info.
"Corbin's in security, as you know," I say. "I'll have him check his contacts, get as much info as possible. I'm pretty sure that they can put an alert out. If there's any change in his location or parole status, we'll be notified."
"You'd do that for me?"
It hurts my heart that my sweet baby is so dazzled that someone cares for her. "Yes. But I've changed my mind about your home security system."
Winding my fingers through hers, I smile. "I was thinking at first about just a basic alarm for the doors to make you both feel better. Now I'm going to bring Corbin over, and we'll do the whole house. Window and door locks, cameras, the whole nine yards."
"That sounds like a lot of work," she whispers nervously. "I can't ask that of you."
"Remember how I just said I'll never tell you what to do, but you're forbidden from lurking in back alleys? I'm not asking, baby. I'm rudely demanding that you let me do this."
Bridget grins, my stern tone ruined by my huge smile. "Thank you." She hesitates. "Are you going to tell your brothers what I heard?"
"You know it, Detective Bridget." Grabbing my phone, I send a text.
