“I’m not . . . I can’t . . .” Just the idea of moving back in here had panic filling her. “I can’t move back in here.”
Her father frowned. “There will be a police presence here at all times to protect Kathryn and me when I’m here. Although I can protect myself. But I can’t send someone to watch you all the time. So you have to stay here. Really, Maya, it’s not too much to ask. Is it?”
It was everything. It would be the end of her entire world.
Then she reminded herself that she was an adult. And no one could make her do anything she didn’t want to do.
One deep breath.
Then another.
“I’m not moving in here.”
“Maya—” her father started to say sharply.
“I’m. Not. Moving in here,” she said. “I have my house. I have a life. I have my babies. I’m pretty sure that Kathryn doesn’twant several dogs, a cat, and a pig running through the house. And my hamster has a farting issue. It’s not pretty.”
She said a silent apology to Marshmallow. Sure, he farted. Who didn’t? But it wasn’t a problem.
Now, sometimes Tank got a bit nervous and could clear a room with one of his farts . . . shoot that was the example she should have used. It would have been far more believable than a farting hamster.
“Oh my God,” Kathryn said in disgust.
“I can’t leave them or move them in here,” she stated firmly. “I have a Staffy who has extreme anxiety. He won’t do well with being moved.”
“Who cares about a few dumb animals?” Vince muttered.
She glared at him.
Shit.
She probably shouldn’t have put it out there how much she cared about her pets. She didn’t want to give Vince ammunition to use against her.
“I could try to find them foster homes, I guess. But it could take a while.” She shrugged, pretending a nonchalance she didn’t feel.
She wasn’t sure that anyone actually believed her act, either.
“Maya, this is important,” her father told her. “It isn’t some game.”
“Sorry if I gave the impression I thought it was,” she said quietly. “But I cannot uproot my life.”
Her father gave her a frustrated look. “Right. We thought you might feel like this, so I do have an alternative. Reeves suggested that I hire you a bodyguard.”
Hire a bodyguard?
Wait. What?
“The owner of the company and the man who would be your bodyguard should be arriving soon.”
What was happening right now?
There was a knock on the door and Kathryn moved away to answer it.
“Dad, I don’t need a bodyguard,” she said urgently.
“These are very real threats, Maya. You need to take them seriously,” her father replied.
“But . . . but . . . won’t that be really expensive! I mean, who knows how long it’s going to take to find the person making these threats? I can’t have a bodyguard forever.”
