Page 27 of Mile High Baby

My father nodded.

“Did you hear her father ran off? Who does that?"

My father's eyes remained downcast. "We don't really know what goes on in people's homes. Sometimes, people have to make tough decisions that others don't understand."

Thank goodness there wasn't food in my mouth because my jaw dropped. "You think that there could be a good reason that Samantha's father would leave her mother after her being diagnosed with an illness?"

My father's head jerked up and he blinked. It was such a strange reaction. Not just that he would think there was any situation in which a man leaving his deathly ill wife could be justified, but also because since college, when Samantha and I became friends, my father had been very helpful to her. Not only had she done her senior internship in his office, but he'd also helped her get a good paying job when she graduated. I wasn't too thrilled that the job was all the way across the country in Washington state, but still, he'd been very good to her. So why was he acting like this?

Finally, my father pulled it together. "Of course not. But we all know that Carl Layton was an A-1 asshole. Why Gwen married him, I have no clue. But again, that just goes to show you don't know what's going on with people and the decisions they make."

I wasn't sure what to make of my father's response. I was beginning to think I had walked into an alternative world, one in which I gave in to a sexy older man on an airplane, ended up mixed up with a corrupt businessman with a penchant for making people go missing, and my best friend and father were acting weird.

After dinner, I headed back up to my room expecting Alex to be lurking about. I tried to ignore the disappointment when I discovered that he wasn't.

Once in my room, I changed into yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt, then I padded across the hall to what had been my grandfather's room to use as an office.

I'd come to the realization that the situation with George was probably going to last a whole lot longer than the week my father was expecting. I loved my father to bits, but I didn't want to move home permanently. Especially since it was clear that I couldn't go anywhere. Anything I did, I'd have to have Alex in tow, and the man was too infuriating to hang around.

I opened my laptop and began doing searches on George Pitney. I wanted to get a better idea of what my father was dealing with. Interestingly enough, the information that revealed just how serious a danger my father was in came from articles published in his media outlets. No wonder George felt threatened.

I scraped my hands over my face as my worst fears came true. Whatever was going on with George Pitney wasn't going to be resolved in a week. And worse, as things went on, my father was likely going to be in more danger. I wanted to march downstairs and tell him to back off, but I knew he wouldn't. My father had dedicated his life to business, and in particular, the news side with a mission to disseminate truth, no matter how difficult it was. He'd see it as his duty to expose George and help put him away.

I closed my laptop and made my way out of the room.

"I was beginning to think you tried to escape again."

I startled, letting out a small yelp. Then I turned a harsh glare onto Alex. I wanted to say something rude to him, but what was the point?

Instead, I focused on what I felt was really important. I marched up to him, jabbing him in the chest with my forefinger, ignoring the zap of electricity that shot through my hand. "You need to talk my dad out of this thing with George Pitney."

Alex's hand wrapped around mine but didn't push it away. Instead, he held onto it, resting it against his chest. It made my insides go soft.

"I already have. You know your father. He's going to see this thing through.”

Tears welled in my eyes because I knew that my father's mission would likely get him killed. But I didn't want Alex to see them. He’d use them against me. So I did my best to hold them back. "You need to try harder."

"He's more likely to listen to you than to me."

The truth was, my father wouldn’t listen to either of us.

"He's the one who needs your protection,” I said, trying to avoid the lure of sinking into Alex’s strength.

He gave his usual curt nod. "He has extra protection. But that text you received today says you need it too. I can see that you now understand how serious this is."

I don't know if it was because Alex was still holding my hand or because for a moment he seemed to be normal, even sympathetic. Whatever it was, I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his chest. "He's all I have."

Alex's hand cradled my cheek, tilting me to look up at him. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't change."

Our gazes caught, and it reminded me of those military movies when the fighter jets track and then lock onto an object to shoot it down. Our eyes locked just like that. I don't know why, but the moment made me think of our interlude on the airplane. He hadn’t been tender on the flight like he was now. But standing this close, our eyes unyielding as they stared at each other, I felt that similar pull toward him that I’d felt on the plane.

Down the hall, the sound of the elevator arriving at the floor broke the trance.

"Fuck." Alex released my hand and stepped away.

His reaction to the elevator’s arrival brought me embarrassment and pain. "You sure know how to talk to a girl." I turned to head into my room just as the elevator doors opened and Mrs. Tillis made an appearance.

She looked between the two of us. "Is everything all right?"