Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“Yes, this is Dr. Kelly, Ava’s father. I want you to leave my daughter alone.” I did my best not to laugh over the phone at his ridiculous request.
“Not going to happen, Mr. Kelly.”
“It’s Doctor, and clearly she could do better than someone like you. Besides, she already has a fiancé here. You’ve disgraced her, and you’re lucky that her fiancé has already forgiven that video with the acknowledgment that it’s just a commercial.”
“I’ll give you a polite ‘mind your own fucking business.’ Ava isn’t engaged to anyone else but me, so you can go take that attitude somewhere else. How dare you say she’s been disgraced, you disrespectful son of a bitch. I don’t care if you’re her father or not—you don’t ever say something awful about her. If you’re the reason that she was crying this morning, then doctor or not, you’re going to need to find another way to work with your hands because I’m going to break them. Do you understand me?”
“So you’re a thug?” My fist needed to meet his smug face. How could he raise such an angel?
I pulled the stress ball from my desk that Elizabeth gave me as a gift last year and squeezed it like it was his neck. “No, I’m a man who protects his woman.”
“And I’m a man who would never hurt his children.” The lying sack of shit already proved to be wrong on that point.
“So stay away from my woman and hopefully any children we’re blessed with.” I hung up the phone and called Ava’s detail. “Where is she?”
“She’s at her desk, as far as I know, but we’re not allowed near the building. It has security.”
“Good. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Make sure no one goes near her unless it’s one of her coworkers, and make sure as hell that they don’t touch her or insult her or anything. Make it happen. I don’t care what her boss says. It’s not like she’ll be working there much longer.” The vehement tone in my voice left no way to mistake my message. I was on a warpath, and nothing but her happiness would satisfy me.
“Of course, Mr. Keaton.” I was out of the office and in my vehicle before anyone interrupted my rampage. The door to the passenger side opened up, and there was Elizabeth.
“I’m coming with you so you don’t do something stupid and end up in jail.”
“Smart. That’s why you’re an amazing assistant.”
“I know.” She winked and buckled up as I flew out of the parking spot and out onto the city streets. It didn’t take us long to reach the warehouse office building. There was more security than there should be, and I immediately recognized the LLC before I pulled up to the lot. Motherfucker wasn’t just a tow company. I chuckled to myself because today was Ava’s last day whether she liked it or not, or I’d drop the fucker as a client.
Apparently they hadn’t listened because when I walked in, she and her boss were having a grand old fucking time while he sat on the edge of her desk, both laughing. He was a little too damn close to her. He’d clearly seen the pictures and thought my woman was fair game.
“Excuse the fuck out of you, but what is going on here?”
I didn’t miss the shift, and I understood it more than even Elizabeth did. “You,” he whispered. A predator just found his prey. I believed I just lost my most valuable assistant while I planned to steal his.
“We have a problem, Hernandez.”
“No problem at all. Ava was just getting her shit, right?”
“I thought you said I didn’t have to quit?”
“By the look on Keaton’s face, I’m guessing he says otherwise.”
“Damn right, unless you want our contract terminated,” I told him.
He raised his hands. “Not at all. Go ahead. She’s a good assistant, but sorry, not irreplaceable.” He spoke to me, but his eyes hadn’t left Elizabeth.
“I wondered how you got out,” he growled.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, we should go.”
“Are you coming, Elizabeth?”
“Yes, I’m ready to go.” She left ahead of us.
“That’s okay.” Hernandez nodded and smirked.
I wondered what that was all about, but I had other problems to handle.
“You’re not going to ask me about him?” Elizabeth questioned as she drove away from the warehouse.
“Not unless you feel like sharing.”
“Good. I’d rather not.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest.
“You and I have a lot to talk about, though.” I squeezed Ava’s hand in mine.
“Yes, like how you just forced me to quit my job.”
“A job you didn’t care for,” I reminded her. “Also, I’m pretty sure you want to finish your book.”
“How did you know about that?” she asked, her mouth falling open in shock.
“Sweetheart, it was on your nightstand and all over your kitchen table. Just because I didn’t ask, doesn’t mean I didn’t observe. Now you have the time to write it without interruption.”