Mountain Man's Accidental Surprise - K.C. Crowne Page 0,39

as well. I cleared my throat and regained my composure. “I think I’ll take you up on the offer to rest, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly,” he said, standing up. “And if you’d like me to throw your clothes in the laundry, you can toss them out the door and I’ll take care of it.”

How could these men be so good? There has to be a catch somewhere, I told myself. I smiled. “Thank you, Sam. I appreciate it.”

I followed Sam to Graham’s room and closed the door behind me. Once I was alone in the room, the silence was almost frightening. I was tired, but I couldn’t really sleep. My mind was spinning. I grabbed my phone and took a deep breath before pushing the button to listen to the voicemail.

I was surprised to hear my dad’s voice. I half expected it to be Antonio telling me my father was dead. I could hear the fear in his voice. He’d been crying, I could tell.

“Emilia, I’m so sorry for everything. I know it’s too late now, but I love you. And I’m sorry. I regret everything, and I just want you to be safe, sweetheart. Whatever it takes. I don’t care about my life or my business. I just want you to be safe and I know now that Antonio will not keep you safe. Please, Emilia—”

The line cut off before he could finish what he was saying, but it was enough. Tears welled in my eyes and my hands were shaking. I leaned against the wall and my knees went weak, so I just slid to the floor.

Hearing my dad like that hurt. I could tell he was scared, yet, there was nothing I could do for him. I could go back, but…

What if this was a ploy to get me home? He was playing with my emotions and meant none of that.

But what if he did mean it. He said he loved you, Emilia. He’s your dad, of course he loves you. How could he not?

No, I argued with myself. It’s likely a trick. You can’t believe anything that comes out of that man’s mouth. Not a single word.

I could hardly breathe and was gasping for air when there was a knock on the door.

“Everything okay in there?”

“Yes,” I croaked. “I’m okay.”

“Just call out if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Sam,” I said, almost too softly for him to hear.

Don’t do anything stupid, Emilia. Wait until Graham gets back and you can tell him everything. He can help you sort out your thoughts and figure out what to do next. You just have to wait for Graham.

I calmed myself down enough to breathe, and once I felt strong enough, I pushed myself to my feet. I walked over and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. But my thoughts kept coming and I couldn’t stop them. Memories of my father flashed before my eyes. The urge to call him back was there, but I remembered my baby each time the urge became overwhelming.

My baby was the only thing keeping me away from Vegas, and I knew it. Otherwise, I might have rushed off to help my dad, sacrificing myself in the process, even though he didn’t deserve it.

Unable to lay in bed any longer, I shot up and paced Graham’s room. I moved between the desk to the bed to the dresser then back to the desk again. My eyes fell on his desk. His laptop sat in the center. I could pull up a movie or something. Anything to distract me.

I sat down at his desk and flipped his laptop open. Papers littered the small desk. Graham wasn’t the most organized person, I thought to myself as I pressed the spacebar to turn on the screen.

Sign-in required.

Dammit. What would Graham use as a password?

He was a security expert, so there was no chance of logging into it without knowing the password. It wouldn’t be as simple as the name of his mom or anything like that, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have it written down somewhere.

I was getting antsy, so without even thinking about it, I began stacking and re-stacking the papers on his desk, trying to tidy things up a bit. A slip of paper fell from the stack and onto the floor. I bent down to pick it up and my heart stopped.

It was a page of copies of checks written out to Jack Wiley. The name rang a bell, and that’s what