John (Guardian Defenders Book 3) by Kris Michaels

Author:Kris Michaels [Michaels, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KMRW LLC
Published: 2021-01-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Shae sat on one of the chairs on John’s porch. They’d fed Velvet and she’d spent a long time brushing him. The colt loved the attention and she needed to focus on something outside of herself. Velvet gave her that option. He was growing tall and pranced around the enclosure with his tail held high, making her laugh at his superior attitude. That façade crumbled as soon as she opened the gate to his smaller pen. He’d trot in and nuzzle against her. The utter trust and dependency the colt displayed was refreshing and rejuvenating. She lapped up his attention as much as he enjoyed hers.

John came outside with two glasses of iced tea. “Dinner will be about a half-hour.” He handed one of the drinks to her.

“Thank you. For everything.” Shae moved so she was sitting sideways, looking at him.

“No thanks are necessary.” A light blush of red spread across his cheeks.

She smiled and shook her head. “They may not be necessary, but they are warranted. I felt exposed and vulnerable. My experiences on that mission changed who I am.”

John took a drink of his tea and set it down on the boards that comprised the wrap-around porch. “I can imagine. Do you know why I’m here on the ranch?”

Shae closed one eye and squinted at him. “Frank Marshall was looking for a ranch manager and you were looking for a ranch to manage.”

John threw back his head and laughed, “Damn near word for word what I told you, but no. My sister and I worked for an agency that decided we were liabilities. She was murdered and I ran to the only agency I knew that had integrity and the resources to get me out of D.C. without raising suspicions.”

Shae put her drink down and lifted her feet up into the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees. “Guardian.” He nodded and stared out over the pastures. “Did you have other family?” She had her mother, but they weren’t close. Not any longer.

“My father was killed about four months before my sister was murdered. The police didn’t have any suspects or leads, but my sister told me he was working a con against a connected family, so maybe his luck finally ran out.”

Shae cocked her head at the term. “Connected?”

“Ties to the mafia. Lori said he bragged to her that the con would net him fifteen million dollars.”

“Wait, your father was a conman?”

John grimaced. “There is a lot about my past that I can’t talk about. It’s dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Because it could get you killed.” He turned and stared at her.

She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “I think I’ve proven that I am pretty hard to kill.”

He blinked and then snorted. “Yes, you are one tough cookie.”

“Then tell me.” She shrugged. “Who am I going to tell? You know my darkest secrets and I trust you to keep them. Maybe letting someone you trust in could be cathartic.”

“I couldn’t tell you specifics.”

“Then keep it general. I understand, you know I do.

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