Page 68 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

I’ll burn it and send the ashes to Marino to cry over.

Stella belongs to me.

“Let’s get this over with. I will tell you what I’ve told Declan,” Stella begins. “I can’t say a single thing unless you sign the NDA I have in my office. All of you.”

Josh sits in an armchair and lifts his ankle onto his knee. He glances at me, then back at Stella slowly. It’s a tactic. Not to delay, but to intimidate.

People hate tension and silence.

It unnerves them.

Stella surprises us by shaking her head and grinning. “Nice try. You won’t intimidate me. Have you met my father?”

I smirk and glance away, kind of proud of her. This sassy woman; she fucking owns my heart. I think I just fell a little more in love with her.

Ryder clears his throat.

Josh relaxes his body, drops his leg and leans forward, steepling his hands between his legs. “Then let me be clear: no one in this room is signing your contract, and if you want to stay alive and protect whoever is being threatened, you need to tell us exactly what is going on.”

“No.”

I stand and pace the room.

It’s going to be a long fucking night.

“It’s her father.” I stop at the wall to ceiling windows that look out over the balcony to Central Park, my back to the room. “The way he was with Marino last week screams of him either owing money or the guy has something illegal over him.”

“You don’t—”

“Why? Was Marino looking for a wife and decided Stella would be prime breeding stock?” Ryder asks, and I turn to find him tilting his head at her. “Yeah, I can see how that would go.”

“Excuse m—”

“Could be.” I take a few steps back toward everyone. “Wouldn’t be hard to set up a guy like Voss.”

“That’s n—”

“She’s the right age, that’s for sure,” Josh adds, nodding. “Fertile. Pliable.”

Stella leaps to her feet.

“That is NOT what happened. I’d never met him when Dad...”

We wait.

She licks her lips.

My heart pounds so fucking loudly I wait for someone to tell me to shut the hell up. Yes, we baited her, and yeah, we knew what we were doing. Zero apologies if—when—it saves her life.

“Keep talking.” Josh’s voice is low.

Stella plonks down and stares at her feet, cursing quietly.

Ryder glances at me, and I shrug one shoulder, shaking my head.

That’s when I hear her phone vibrating on the kitchen counter. I walk over and see her father’s name on the screen.

I carry it over to her.