“Back Off, She’s With Me!”—Single Dad Ex-SEAL Protected a Stranger Who Was Actually a CEO
Chapter 2
Claire didn’t sleep that night.
She stayed at the small motel two miles from the diner, sitting on the edge of the bed with her laptop open.
On the screen was a report she had read twenty times.
Three major contracts had been canceled.
Two investors had withdrawn.
A private acquisition deal had been leaked.
And someone had gained access to internal strategy documents that only four executives possessed.
Claire had spent six months searching for the leak.
Then, two weeks earlier, she received an anonymous message.
Stop looking inside the company.
She ignored it.
A second message followed.
Look at the people protecting you.
Then someone tried to force her car off the road.
Claire had taken the message seriously after that.
She left Boston.
Changed vehicles.
Stopped using company security.
And came to Greyhaven under the name Claire Bennett, presenting herself as a consultant.
She needed to know which member of her executive team was betraying her.
The two men from the diner were part of the problem.
She didn’t know exactly who sent them.
But she knew they weren’t supposed to find her.
That scared her.
The next morning, she returned to the diner.
Mason was there.
Emma sat beside him, eating scrambled eggs.
“You came back,” he said.
Claire smiled.
“I like the pancakes.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I was serious.”
Emma looked at her.
“Daddy likes you.”
Mason nearly choked on his coffee.
“Emma.”
“What?”
“You can’t say things like that.”
“Why?”
Claire laughed.
Mason gave his daughter a look.
She ignored it.
Claire sat across from them.
“I wanted to thank you properly.”
“You did.”
“You protected me.”
“You needed help.”
“You didn’t ask who I was.”
Mason shrugged.
“Didn’t matter.”
Claire looked at him carefully.
“Most people want to know.”
“I’m not most people.”
She smiled.
“I noticed.”
Mason’s expression softened.
He didn’t know why this woman interested him.
Maybe because she didn’t act like someone who wanted attention.
Maybe because she was clearly hiding something.
He recognized that.
He had hidden pieces of himself for years.
“You’re not from Greyhaven,” he said.
“No.”
“Running from something?”
Claire’s smile faded.
“Maybe.”
“Someone?”
“Yes.”
Mason didn’t ask more.
That surprised her.
“You’re not curious?”
“I am.”
“But you’re not asking.”
“Because when someone looks like they need silence, questions aren’t always helpful.”
Claire looked down.
Nobody had said anything like that to her before.
Emma suddenly grabbed a napkin and wrote something.
She pushed it across the table.
Claire read it.
Daddy doesn’t like people who lie.
Mason sighed.
“She gets that from her mother.”
Claire looked at him.
“Is her mother here?”
“No.”
The softness disappeared from his face.
“She died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Claire glanced at Emma.
“How long have you been raising her alone?”
“Three years.”
“That must be hard.”
“It is.”
“But you seem okay.”
Mason smiled.
“Some days.”
Claire understood the answer more than she wanted to.
Her phone buzzed.
She checked it.
A message from her assistant.
We found the car used to follow you.
Then another.
It belongs to Bennett Global Security.
Claire’s blood ran cold.
Her own company had been tracking her.
She looked up.
Mason noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
He studied her.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then the diner door opened.
A tall man entered.
Claire recognized him.
Marcus Shaw.
Her company’s head of corporate security.
He smiled when he saw her.
“Claire.”
Mason looked at her.
“Friend?”
“No.”
Marcus approached.
“You’ve made this difficult.”
Claire stood.
“Leave.”
“You’re coming back with me.”
“No.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Mason moved beside her.
“She said no.”
Marcus looked him over.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“It does now.”
Marcus laughed.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Mason’s eyes hardened.
“Neither do you.”
Emma watched from the booth.
Marcus took a step closer.
Mason stepped between them.
“Back off.”
Marcus looked at Claire.
“Who is this man?”
Claire hesitated.
Then smiled faintly.
“Someone I trust.”
Marcus’s face changed.
That answer mattered more than Mason realized.
He looked at Claire.
She whispered,
“Please.”
“Okay.”
Marcus left.
Mason watched him go.
Then looked at her.
“Who is he?”
Claire’s voice was quiet.
“My company’s security chief.”
Mason frowned.
“Why is he following you?”
“Because I think someone inside my company is trying to hurt me.”
Mason stared.
“You’re in more trouble than you said.”
“Yes.”
He nodded slowly.
“What do you need?”
Claire looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
Mason glanced toward the rain.
“Then figure it out.”
He stood.
Claire caught his arm.
“Can I see you again?”
He looked at her hand on his sleeve.
Then her eyes.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
For the first time in months, Claire felt safe.
And she had no idea how dangerous that feeling was going to become.
