A lesser one, but not me.
Leisurely, I followed her as she crashed into furniture, patting her nightstands and linens desperately. She was sobbing too hard to speak.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” I held her phone in my palm, raising it in the air. The little color on her face had drained completely. She looked so genuinely scared, I was beginning to actively hate the situation we were both in.
“Next time don’t leave your phone on the first floor. Now that I’ve got your attention, let me be clear—I am not going to touch you, not going to harass you, and I’m sure as hell not going to rape you. Put something on and meet me downstairs, Miss Thorne. We are going to have a little chat.Fully clothed.”
With that, I exited the room and went downstairs to roam her kitchen. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Nothing seemed to be remotely edible. It was all clean juices, pre-packed salads, and organic bars that could moonlight as horse feed.
Hallie joined me in the kitchen twenty minutes later. She was dressed in some kind of crocheted dress and was wide-eyed and shaking. Her nose was pink. She’d cried a lot before coming down here.
What was her angle with the histrionics? Had this alone been enough to make weaker guards run from the job?
I took a sip of my Nespresso, the one good thing about this house thus far.
“Sit down,” I ordered, leaning against her dark green granite island.
She did, her eyes hard on mine, like it was a hostage situation instead of an adult conversation.
“I just want you to know…” She took a ragged breath as she closed her eyes.
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not a complete sentence, Miss Thorne. Think you can put me out of my misery and finish it?”
It was critical to ensure that I had the upper hand in our dynamic, albeit despite my unorthodox strategies.
She was going to give me trouble and put me through bullshit to see how far she could take it before she outlasted me. I’d seen this movie many times before. Better to establish clearly now, that my patience was not to be tested.
Or in existence, for that matter.
Anthony Thorne himself had given me the green light to use tough love and set clear boundaries to force her back on the straight and narrow when we spoke on the phone. Worked for me—I don’t do kiddie gloves.
“Look, Lockwood, I know why they call you The Robot. They said you’re pragmatic. Get the job done with minimal mistakes, never let your emotions rule you. I need her to learn to be more like you. My daughter, bless her heart, is a good kid. But she’s reckless, and I don’t want her next mistake to cost her more than just her dignity.”
Reckless Princess over here was now glaring at me, eyes red with fury, not acceptance.
“I want you to know that I used my laptop upstairs before coming down here.” Her voice quivered. “I messaged the police. They’re on their way. And my dad’s security detail—they know, too. I don’t know how you found your way in, but this is your last chance to run away and never come back.”
My phone started blowing up in my pocket, signaling that she indeed called for help. And I noticed when she came downstairs that she had a Swiss Army knife tucked into her waistband.
Then it hit me. All at once.
The one thing I hadn’t even considered.
She’d had no idea.
Shehadno idea.
No idea I was her new protector.
She thought I broke into her house.
President Thorne, you flaming bag of sh—
“Everyone knows. Time’s out. Just leave,” she pierced my thoughts.
He hadn’t bothered to tell her. My guess was because he was scared of her. Parenthood was a debilitating affliction. The man had led the free world for eight years, and couldn’t get his daughter to keep her tits in her tops.
Smiling cordially, I said, “I’m glad to hear that you did the smart thing.”