“Back Off, She’s With Me!”—Single Dad Ex-SEAL Protected a Stranger Who Was Actually a CEO
Chapter 6
Mason had spent years refusing to look inside that box.
Now he had no choice.
He spread the contents across the kitchen table.
Military photographs.
Awards.
Deployment records.
Old letters.
A sealed envelope.
Claire sat beside him.
“Open it.”
Mason stared at the handwriting.
It belonged to Captain Daniel Hayes.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter dated eight years earlier.
Mason,
If you are reading this, then Atlantic has survived longer than I expected.
Your name was never supposed to be part of it.
Neither was your daughter’s.
Mason’s chest tightened.
He continued.
Richard Bennett believed the project would protect his daughter one day. He was wrong.
Claire covered her mouth.
“My father.”
Mason read further.
There are people inside Bennett Global who believe Claire can be controlled through the trust. They need her to become sole CEO. They also need access to the person listed as the secondary beneficiary.
Mason looked at the next line.
Emma Cole.
His hands began shaking.
Claire whispered,
“Why your daughter?”
Mason kept reading.
Because Emily Cole was not supposed to die.
He froze.
Claire stared.
“What?”
Mason couldn’t breathe.
His wife.
The letter continued.
Emily discovered the transfer network before she died.
Mason closed his eyes.
Claire touched his shoulder.
“I am so sorry.”
He opened them.
“She didn’t die from an illness.”
Claire shook her head.
“What are you saying?”
Mason looked at the letter.
“She was investigating this.”
He remembered.
The weeks before Emily’s death.
Her sudden phone calls.
Her fear.
The way she’d once told him:
If anything happens to me, protect Emma.
He had thought it was anxiety.
Now he wasn’t sure.
The next page contained a photograph.
Emily.
Standing beside Richard Bennett.
Claire’s father.
Claire stared.
“My father knew her.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I didn’t.”
She lowered her voice.
“Then my father hid all this from both of us.”
Mason nodded.
A knock came at the door.
They froze.
Another knock.
Mason reached for the pistol secured in his drawer.
Claire stood.
“Who is it?”
A woman’s voice answered.
“It’s me.”
Mason recognized it.
Dr. Sarah Cole.
Emily’s older sister.
Emma’s aunt.
He opened the door.
Sarah entered.
She looked at Claire.
“You finally found each other.”
Mason stared.
“What do you mean?”
Sarah sighed.
“Your wife wasn’t investigating the company alone.”
Claire stepped forward.
“What did she discover?”
“Atlantic wasn’t a security program.”
“Then what?”
“A private financial network.”
Claire frowned.
“Using Bennett Global?”
“Yes.”
“Who built it?”
Sarah looked at Mason.
“Your former commander.”
Mason’s face hardened.
“Daniel?”
Sarah nodded.
“But he didn’t build it for himself.”
“Then who?”
“Richard Bennett.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“My father.”
“He believed he could create a secret system that would protect the company from hostile takeovers.”
“And it became what?”
“A weapon.”
Sarah opened her bag.
She removed an old key.
“The only way to shut it down is to activate the original trust.”
Mason looked at it.
“How?”
Sarah looked at Claire.
“Through the CEO.”
Then at Emma.
“And the child.”
Claire’s face changed.
“Why Emma?”
“Because your mother and Richard created the trust together.”
Mason stared.
“Emily?”
Sarah nodded.
“They knew someone would eventually try to take control.”
“Who?”
Sarah’s expression darkened.
“Victor Bennett.”
Claire’s uncle.
Her father’s younger brother.
The man who currently served as chairman of Bennett Global.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“My uncle?”
“He has been waiting for you to become sole CEO.”
“Why?”
“Because then Atlantic becomes accessible.”
“And Emma?”
“Because she is the final beneficiary.”
Mason’s voice became cold.
“What happens if Victor gets access?”
Sarah looked at him.
“He owns the company.”
“And?”
“He owns the network.”
“And anyone who controls the network controls every person whose secrets it contains.”
Mason stared at Emma.
He had spent three years protecting her from ordinary dangers.
Now someone powerful had placed her at the center of a war.
He looked at Claire.
“You’re leaving tonight.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“This isn’t your choice.”
“It is.”
“You could die.”
“So could you.”
She stepped closer.
“And I’m not walking away from the man who stood between me and a gun before he even knew my name.”
Mason stared at her.
Something in his chest shifted.
Claire touched his hand.
“I’ve spent my life surrounded by people who wanted something from me.”
Her eyes softened.
“You protected me without knowing what I was worth.”
He looked at her.
“I didn’t care.”
“I know.”
And that was when Mason realized he was no longer protecting a stranger.
He was protecting the woman he had begun to love.
