“He’s in the shower.” Yep, she was definitely the queen of making things even more awkward.
Her dad looked lost for a moment as he stood there so she stepped forward and gave him a hug. “I’m glad to see you.”
He frowned as he stepped back. “I would’ve come home sooner if I’d known about that mugging.” There was a little chastisement in his voice. “Which sounds like it wasn’t a mugging at all,” he added.
Yeah, she should have told him. But to be fair, she wasn’t used to having family, to having people to check in with. This was all new to her. Even reaching out to Mary Grace the other night had been out of character for her. She was so used to simply handling things on her own. Since she didn’t want to stand around outside Axel’s door she said, “I could really use some coffee right about now.”
Her dad’s expression eased, his handsome face becoming even more so as he smiled. And not for the first time she thought that he and Brooks could have been movie stars. He slung an arm around her shoulders as he headed down the hallway. “I missed you,” he said. “And no matter what, we’re going to do everything we can to figure out who put that contract out on you.” It was subtle, but she heard a hint of anger in his voice now.
“We?”
“Well, Brooks and his guys will do what they do, but I’ll be staying here in the main house and we ramped up security around the ranch as well. So… What’s going on with you and Axel O’Sullivan?”
Gah, what did he want to know exactly? This was new territory for her and she wasn’t sure how to answer so she evaded for the moment. “Do you know him or did Brooks tell you about him?”
“Brooks told me about him and I also read the file your brother gave me on the guy,” he said as they stepped into the expansive kitchen. Her dad immediately went for the Bunn coffee maker so she let him start a pot as she sat at the island. The granite-topped island was a lot bigger and a lot fancier than the small one at her house. It could probably seat up to twelve people comfortably. And the huge table by the window could also seat as many. It was still hard to wrap her mind around the fact that Douglas Alexander was her father. She’d always known he was, but the knowledge had been abstract. Being here, on his ranch, really drove home the differences in their lifestyles.
“Is there anything else you want to say about him?” she asked when he didn’t continue.
Her dad gave her a small smile as he glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll be having a talk with him later.”
That sounded ominous, but she hadn’t had any caffeine and Axel was a grown man who could handle himself so she simply nodded. “Okay.”
“So tell me how you’re doing, really. You were attacked at your school and now someone wants to kidnap you. That’s pretty heavy stuff to deal with.” He slid a now full mug of coffee across the island countertop and sat in front of her. When she started to get up he waved his hand once. “You sit. I’ll get the creamer and sugar. I know what you like.”
She grinned as he did just that. According to Brooks, this was an entirely new side to their dad and she could admit that she was glad she’d only ever seen this side of him. This was the kind of father she’d always imagined having.
“Well honestly, I’m not sure how I’m dealing with it. It feels kind of surreal, like it happened to someone else. I still can’t believe someone wants to kidnap me. It’s too crazy.”
Her dad lifted a shoulder as he set the creamer and sugar in front of her. “It’s not so crazy, considering I’m your father. And not to bother you about this again, but once this mess is over—and it will be over soon—I hope you reconsider letting me get you a place with better security. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but I’d sleep better at night knowing you had more security protocols in place. I want to make sure you’re safe and protected.” His expression was so serious and worried as he stood across the counter, his own coffee cup in hand.
Her instinct was to say no, but considering what was going on she realized that no matter what she wanted, her life circumstances had changed. And just because she wasn’t actually wealthy clearly didn’t mean that anyone who wanted to get to her father would understand that. And she didn’t want to go through this again. “I’ll think about it.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “Well, it’s not a no.”
She grinned. “Nope, it is not. So how did your trip go? And how is Martina?”
Her dad gave a soft smile at the mention of Martina, the woman he was currently dating. Martina was also Nana to Valencia, Olivia’s daughter. Olivia was a security specialist who broke into places and showed the owners their weaknesses. And right now she was on her honeymoon with her new husband, Zac Savage. Hadley had gotten to know all of them over the last couple months and especially adored sweet Valencia. The little girl was full of fire and life.
“With everything going on, I put up Martina and Valencia in one of my condos. They’re right next to the place Darcy is staying in. It’s got great security, and with Olivia and Savage being out of town I wanted to make sure they were in the most secure place possible. It’s unlikely that Martina is a target but since she’s taking care of Valencia, and because I love her, we’re taking extra precautions. They’ve got a couple security guys staying with them as well as the guys who are watching Darcy, so they’re locked down tight.”
“Did you just say you’re in love with Martina?”
Her dad’s cheeks flushed the faintest shade of pink as he lifted a shoulder. “Yeah. For the first time since Brooks’s mom, I’m…in love. It feels weird.”
“How did you know you were in love the first time?” she asked quietly. Because she’d never been in love and she was pretty certain she was edging into that territory with Axel. Whether or not it was smart or sane was a completely different story. Because her heart was all about Axel.
Her dad’s eyes widened and he got a slightly panicked look. “Are you asking for any particular reason?”
Her brother chose that moment to step into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw the two of them, and Hadley was thankful when her dad didn’t say anything else about the question she’d just asked. It was one thing to ask her dad about being in love but another entirely to talk to Brooks about it.
Her brother immediately stepped toward her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her once before he kissed her on the top of her head. “You better have saved some coffee for me.”
“Nope, I drank it all.”
Snickering slightly, he headed toward the coffee maker and poured himself a mug.
“So how’s Darcy doing? And how are you doing being separated from her?” Hadley hated that Darcy wasn’t here, that she was staying at some condo because of all this.
“She’s good.” He snorted once. “She loves the condo, said she could get used to all the perks it’s got.”
“Really? So she’s not mad about…not being in her own home?”
Brooks blinked once. “She’s not mad at all. It’s actually easier for her to stay in the condo now. She just took on a couple new clients she met at the wedding expo and they live downtown—and almost all of her business contacts are downtown. I’ve got security on her and we’re not taking any chances. If I thought she was in danger, she’d be here under lock and key.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah. This threat isn’t about her, or me. It’s about…” He glanced at their dad. “It’s about him. Someone wants to hurt him, and to do that, you’re the smartest option. I think Gage made some progress last night and we have an idea to bait one of the men sent to kidnap you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “One of? I thought there was only one left.”