house? At the company?'
'Some, yes, but mostly for you,' Rusty said.
'At the M.A.C. day-care center, right? And bodyguards to watch my house and follow me wherever I go?' She did hate the thought of losing her privacy and a good deal of her freedom, but she wasn't stupid. She knew when her father did something out of overprotectiveness and when it really was for her own good. 'I don't like it, but I realize that it's necessary until the authorities discover whoever's behind this kidnap scheme.'
'You're being very sensible about this,' Dina said. 'Rusty was so sure you'd rebel.'
Addy thought that her future stepmother sounded disappointed that she wasn't fighting her father. 'As long as Daddy understands that I'm not going to leave my home or give up my job, then he can hire a dozen bodyguards for all I care.'
'He hasn't hired a dozen bodyguards for you,' Brett said, his dazzling smile still in place. 'Just one.'
'I don't understand.' Addy turned to her father. 'One man can't stay awake twenty-four hours a day.'
'He won't need to if he's sleeping at the foot of your bed.' Brett glanced across the table, giving Nick a hard look.
'What?' Shoving her chair backward, Addy jumped to her feet.
Rusty slammed his big fist down on the table, the jar bouncing the china, crystal and silverware, creating sharp tinkling sounds. Creamed coffee sloshed out of Brett's cup. The centerpiece vase of roses teetered, but didn't topple over.
'Sam Dundee is sending some men for around-the-clock surveillance, at your house and at work, but I want someone right by your side, twenty-four hours a day, keeping you safe. Somebody with experience as a fighter, a warrior. A man who can kill to protect you if it comes to that.'
'You've asked Sam Dundee to send a man to stay with me twenty-four hours a day?' Hot, spitting indignation filled her. She could not accept this decree. 'No, absolutely not! I'm willing to agree to almost anything else, but not a live-in caretaker.'
'I'm sorry, Addy, but I can't give you a choice in the matter.' Rusty stood up and reached out for his daughter, then dropped his arms when she moved away from him.
'What if … if I agree to move back here?' Did her father have any idea what that offer had cost her? She was willing to take a step back into her sheltered past, if only he'd be reasonable.
'Wherever you stay and whatever you do, Nick is going to be with you. Do you understand that from now until the kidnapper is caught, Nick Romero is going to be your shadow?' Rusty tried again to touch his daughter. Again she retreated.
'Nick Romero?' Addy exclaimed.
'Sam Dundee agreed that he was the best man for the job,' Rusty said. 'I thought so myself, but had a few doubts because of Nick's … er … well, his bum leg. But Sam assured me that he doesn't have a man as capable as Nick. Sam said Nick Romero was the best.'
'I tried to convince your father that Nick wasn't fully recovered, that his being crippled would prevent him from being able to do the best job of protecting you.' Dina clutched the white linen napkin in her small hands, twisting it around and around, her sharp pink nails biting into the material.
'His being crippled certainly didn't prevent him from rescuing me last night,' Addy said, then realized, too late, that she'd just defended the last man on earth she wanted protecting her.
'Romero always has been the physical type,' Brett said, surveying Nick's big body with a touch of superiority and a great deal of disdain. 'Brawn over brains, so to speak.'
'A Navy SEAL and a top DEA agent has to have plenty of smarts,' Rusty said, eyeing Brett with contempt. 'And he's the only man I know, besides myself, that I'd trust to take care of my little girl.'
Addy didn't like the look her father gave Nick. It said they shared some special secret. Why did her father trust Nick so completely, especially with her life?
Dina voiced Addy's thoughts. 'You certainly took an instant liking to Nick, didn't you?'
'Sure did,' Rusty said.
'Of course, I've known Nick almost all my life and I trust him, but—well … Addy's life will be quite safe with him, but I'm not sure about her virtue.' Dina's smile radiated a frosty warning.
Addy glared at the older woman. Brett appeared shocked. Nick smiled. Rusty bellowed with laughter.
'Addy can protect her own virtue if she wants to,' Rusty said, still chuckling. 'I'm well aware of your brother- in-law's reputation with the ladies. I've got one myself. Nothing wrong with a man liking women!'
'Are you saying that you don't mind if Addy has to fight Nick off every night?' Dina ran her gaze over Addy's slender body encased in the simple gray dress, spotted with dirt and ripped on one sleeve. 'Even though Addy's hardly his type, sooner or later, she's bound to appeal to him if the two of them are together constantly.'
'Addy's not his type, huh?' Rusty reached out, pulling his daughter close to his side. She didn't resist. 'Likes 'em shorter and fuller and sexier, huh?'
'I think Addy is lovely,' Brett said. 'She has a real cameo beauty, and such elegance.'
'Thank you, Brett.' Addy jabbed her father in the ribs with her elbow.
'If the time comes when Addy starts looking good to Nick, then I think she'll know how to handle him,' Rusty said. 'Addy not only looks like me, she's smart like me. She'll know exactly what to do with a man like Nick.'
There was a conspiracy afoot. Addy was certain. Her father and Nick Romero knew something that no one else in this room knew. Something about her and Nick.
'I'm totally opposed to Nick getting involved in all this.' Dina dropped her twisted napkin on the table. 'He isn't physically sound. His last operation was only six weeks ago.'
'I know how fond you are of Nick,' Rusty said. 'But he's quite fit. Sam Dundee told me himself that he'd offered Nick a job with him as soon as he'd finished his visit to El Paso.'
'Well, Addy, what are we going to do with these men?' Dina asked, but she didn't look at the younger woman.
'You can do whatever you want,' Addy said. 'I'm going home.'
'Not without Nick,' Rusty said, giving her a tight hug.
Addy pulled out of her father's embrace, turned to Nick and smiled. 'We can go in your car. Mine's at home since Daddy sent the limo for me last night.'
Nick stood, retrieving his cane from its resting place against the side of the table. Walking toward Addy, he offered her his arm. She glanced from his smiling face to his big arm, then looked over at Dina, who was watching them intently, a frown marring her perfect features. Addy slipped her arm through Nick's. 'I wouldn't dream of making you sleep at the foot of my bed,' Addy said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
'I could take that as an invitation to share your bed.'
'It is an invitation—for you to sleep in my guest bedroom.'
'That won't do,' Nick said. 'I'll be too far away.'
'It's the room next to mine.'
'I should be in the room with you.'
Addy realized that three pairs of eyes watched them and three sets of ears listened to every word they said. When they reached the door leading into the foyer, she paused, glancing around the room. Her father seemed a little too pleased with himself. Brett was still smiling, but that odd look hadn't left his eyes. Dina was positively seething with jealousy. Addy wondered if her father was too blind to see it.
'We'll work something out,' Addy said, then lowered her voice to a whisper as she and Nick stepped out into the foyer. 'You are not staying in my room. I—I'm not going to fight Daddy about this. He's scared. Anything could happen with his high blood pressure and bad heart. I may have to endure your presence twenty-four hours a day, but I will not have you invading my bedroom.'
'I never enter a lady's bedroom uninvited.'
'Good. That settles it, then.'
'Does it?' Nick asked, his smile widening at the look of surprise on Addy's face.
Huntsville traffic, especially on a Saturday morning, was maddening, but no better or worse than in any bustling city its size. Nick maneuvered his '68 silver Jag out of slow moving lanes and into more rapid ones, deftly avoiding the areas under construction as much as possible. The drive from the McConnell estate to the Twickenham district took almost twenty minutes. During the entire drive, Addy had been subdued. He'd wondered if she was
