Page 35 of Taylor’s Warrior

Bloody stubborn woman.

“We’re not,” he countered gently. “We’re talking about you and your safety. We don’t know exactly what’s going on with him, and until we do, you’re staying well out of the way.”

“Wolf and his team don’t know my father,” Taylor argued back. “He doesn’t know them. What if he reacts badly? What if they misread the situation? It could all go horribly wrong.”

She might have a point. “Is he likely to be armed? Your father?”

She went very still, her lips pressed tightly together. “I don’t know. Before this, I would have said no, but now… who knows?”

From her devastated reaction, the very idea had never even crossed her mind. Rhys mentally filed the information away for future reference, hoping at the same time it was still the case. If Markham had changed enough to arm himself, there was a high probability he’d be dangerously inexperienced in the use of firearms.

Unless… the Markham Taylor had known was a fiction created to cover up his true nature, and the man she called Pops was, in fact, as ruthless and dangerous as they came. Remote though it sounded, Rhys couldn’t rule out the possibility.

Either way, Rhys’ opinion of Charles Markham wasn’t likely to improve any time soon.

Tracking the man down in Vegas was a risky enterprise, no matter who undertook it. Besides, reluctant though he was to admit it, Taylor had a point—she was the only one who knew her father.

“Rhys, I have to go to him. He’s the only blood relation I had for years—the only one I have left. He was in danger when this started. I need to know if that’s true, either then or now. This is a chance for me to find out.”

She was trying hard not to show how much it bothered her. Rhys sighed—a heavy sigh that acknowledged impending defeat. If he wasn’t going to win the argument against her going to Las Vegas, the best thing he could do was make sure she came to no harm in pursuit of the answers she needed. It wasn’t as if they’d be on their own, either—there wasn’t a situation on the planet a former SAS trooper and a SEAL team couldn’t handle.

“In that case, there’s only one thing I can say. We’d better get ready to go to Vegas.”

Her face lit up with a smile that hit him like a thunderbolt. Her words swept the world from beneath his feet.

“Great. And while we’re there, we can get married, too.”

>>><<<

Taylor slapped a hand over her mouth. As stunned as Rhys appeared to be by what she’d just blurted out, it was nothing compared to how mortified she was herself. What in the name of all that was chocolate was her stupid brain thinking, and why was her mouth going along for the ride?

Slowly, she lowered her hand. “It was a joke. Can we forget what I just said? Please?”

“People say a lot of things they don’t mean when they’re under stress,” he allowed generously. “Don’t worry about it.”

Easier said than done. Despite his reassurance to the contrary, she was absolutely carrying that worry with her to the grave. For the sake of outward appearances, though, she’d style it out. “So… we’re going to Las Vegas.”

Rhys nodded. “If you’re sure you want to go?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I need to know if he’s still Pops, or if he’s turned into a stranger.”

The idea that he could have changed so much was beyond belief. He was her father, for heaven’s sake. Still, the treacherous whisper of doubt remained.

“Then we’re going to Las Vegas. But I have one condition,” Rhys added.

His stern tone told her that, whatever the condition was, it wasn’t up for negotiation. “Which is?” she asked warily.

“You do exactly as we say, when we say it—no questions. We don’t know the circumstances or conditions of your father’s situation, and we might have to make a rapid exit. If that happens, I need you to promise you’ll follow orders without question, whether they come from me, Wolf, or any of his team. Will you give me your word, Tay?”

Her initial knee-jerk reaction had been to object, but as Rhys laid down the rules, she could appreciate the sense they made. After all, every one of these men had years of training, years of experience from being deployed in hostile territory, years of dealing with far worse situations.

They’d know what to do if her father wasn’t alone.

Before her mind could go down that particular rabbit hole, she lifted her chin. “You have my word. What you say, when you say it. No questions.”

Rhys nodded. “Thank you for that. Let me call Wolf, and we’ll organize something.”

“You really think they’d come with us?” She couldn’t quite grasp that the SEALs would do that for near-strangers.