shrink back as Addy’s dad force-fed me some bullshit about how I wasn’t good enough for his daughter because I’d enjoyed the field while it was available to me. We both knew he had better things at his disposal to use against me than how many women I’d taken to my bed. The mere fact I’d fucked up so badly on my last mission was reason enough—yet he and Jason had honed in on my sex life.
Total shit.
Once I rounded the corner of the shoot house, I stopped and turned.
Jasper halted and we stood facing each other. Silence ensued and I took the opportunity to tamp down my temper. I also used it to study the other man. Tall. Fit. Even pushing sixty, Jasper still took care of himself. He was an imposing figure. But that wasn’t what I focused on.
Jasper didn’t look pissed, he looked reflective, and if I didn’t know better I’d add beaten down. But that was not Jasper Walker—the warrior I knew didn’t let anything best him.
That meant in front of me stood Jasper Walker the father. I was still gauging his intent when he started, and when he did, I was unprepared for what would happen next.
“Fucked up. Saw it, didn’t push, but I saw it. Knew something happened but I gave her space to work it out, and in doing so I let that fester.”
I had no clue what Jasper was talking about, like I’d been asleep for the first part of the conversation and when I’d woken up we were somewhere in the middle.
“That,” he seethed. “I let that shit grow in my girl. Dark. Bad shit.”
“Jas—”
“You called it straight back there—don’t give her space.”
I clamped my mouth shut. Pain and worry etched deep. A father’s anguish exposed in a moment of honesty.
“I’ve been blessed. There hasn’t been a morning since Em has come into my life I haven’t opened my eyes and not known with soul-deep certainty I have everything a man could want. The problem with that; a man who has it all has everything to lose. This is something you cannot understand until you have it. And you might think you have everything when you look at my Adalynn, but I assure you, you’re wrong.”
I was torn between easing his worry and unleashing my fury at his jab. However, my indecision ended when Jasper took a step closer and started again.
“She is only the beginning. The beam that will light everything. You will not know that warmth until she hands you the world and when she does, then you’ll feel the weight. The crippling fear a man feels when he knows he has every-fucking-thing and he is truly powerless to protect those he loves.”
Reading the situation incorrectly I stated, “Belview’s not gonna get close enough to hurt her.”
“Not worried about that idiot. Again, you called it so you know someone already has hurt her, and he did it in a way that she’s hidden for years, keeping it locked inside of her. Twice I’ve seen it come out and both times it gnawed at my insides. You dig that out, make her face it, fix what’s broken, you’ll have my eternal gratitude.”
His words weren’t a ringing endorsement that Jasper approved of me being with Addy. It was more a father who saw the wisdom in a man taking his daughter’s back when he’d just been reminded she was vulnerable. Though not what I wanted, I would take it.
“No offense, I’ll be digging that out but I won’t be doing it for your gratitude.”
“You’ll have it all the same.”
I reckoned I would.
“You need to be worried about Belview,” I circled back. “I watched the footage from the café. I was there, but until he raised his voice I was giving them space thinking Addy was on a date. Seems I missed the start of their exchange. Something she said to him made him shut down and from what she told me, I’d guess it was right about the time she mentioned you.”
“Me?” A muscle in his cheek jumped. “What about me?”
“Addy wasn’t letting him get away with his bullshit about breaking up with her because he was leaving on deployment. Further, she wasn’t buying the excuse he did it because he wasn’t in the regular Army. She reminded him she was aware of what deployment would be like and he didn’t like the reminder. Told her he remembered who you were and that you were a hard act to follow.”
The muscle