Page 42 of Ryder’s Storm

“What the—”

“I was doing my job, sir, protecting your daughter. Had I not interfered, he would have raped Scarlet! Right here, in this room.”

Stunned, King stared at him. “That’s… that can’t be. Claudia told me herself that Derek and Scarlet went on a date and that my daughter flirted with him.”

“Oh, yeah? And in which book does it say it’s okay to rape a woman if she flirted with the guy before?” Furious now, Ryder took a step toward King.

“There must have been a misunderstanding,” King claimed.

“Scarlet said no. I don’t know how you interpret that word, Mr. King, but in my book, no is no. It’s immaterial if your daughter flirted or not. He put his hands on her despite her protests. I heard her scream from my post outside.” While this wasn’t technically true, because he’d entered the house for another reason, it was the gist of it.

King ran a hand through his hair clearly trying to digest the news. “You don’t know my daughter the way I do.”

Ryder doubted that, but he didn’t interrupt.

“She’s not stable…”

“What do you mean?” Ryder asked, surprised at the statement.

“Scarlet has episodes during which she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Maybe that should have been made clear to you before you got this assignment.”

“Are you saying she’s schizophrenic?” Ryder shook his head in disbelief. There was no way Scarlet wasn’t of sound mind. There was nothing wrong with her, absolutely nothing. She was perfect in every way. “Scarlet is as sane as you and I.”

“I’m afraid she isn’t. The doctors have never been able to diagnose her, but just because there’s no label for it, doesn’t mean that she’s not sick. She is.” King looked to the picture of a woman on the mantlepiece, then back to Ryder. “Just like her mother. She too had these episodes where she would get violent and unpredictable. So, Mr. Giles, perhaps you saw what you saw, Derek putting his hands on her, but he may have simply tried to defend himself during one of her episodes. It’s not the first time that she’s acted hysterical. And my wife assures me that Derek is a gentle young man who would never—”

“You believe your wife and her nephew rather than your daughter?” Ryder was outraged. “Your daughter needs our protection. Derek made threats toward her. I was there. I saw what he did. Your wife wasn’t even in the house! She gave me the night off, making me believe she would be staying here in the house to watch over Scarlet.”

King let out a harsh breath. “How dare you speak about my wife like that! She cares for my daughter. She’s been by Scarlet’s side for the last six years, helping her through these episodes, despite Scarlet’s emotional outbreaks. Mr. Giles, my daughter is sick and at risk of hurting herself and others. Her episodes are getting worse every month, and it was a mistake to even let her live on her own here. That’s gonna change. Immediately! Scarlet’s mental health is clearly taking a turn for the worse. She needs professional help, and not a bodyguard who feeds into her delusions.”

“Delusions?”

Ryder spun around to see Scarlet at the door to the living room, staring at her father. Her hair was in a strict ponytail again, and she wore a pair of jeans and a casual shirt. Disappointment and rage were brimming in her eyes.

“How could you, Dad? How could you tell him?” Scarlet’s voice cracked.

Ryder would have loved nothing more than to put his arms around Scarlet and console her. But he couldn’t, not in front of her father.

“Mr. Giles, leave us. And while you’re at it, pack your things and leave my house. We won’t need your services anymore. Scarlet will return to Palo Alto with me.”

Without a word, Ryder walked toward the door, where Scarlet still stood frozen. He met her eyes, wanting to convey a silent promise that he wouldn’t give up on her. But there was so much pain and anger in her eyes that he wasn’t sure she even saw him.

Walking past her, Ryder whispered low only for Scarlet to hear, “I won’t leave you.” Slowly he turned to the stairs and walked up to the second floor.

21

Scarlet had listened to the voices coming from downstairs and recognized her father’s. And by the sound of it, neither Claudia nor Derek were with him. She was surprised that he was here, since Claudia had told her that he had an important business meeting in Phoenix this morning. It was the reason Claudia had had to return to Palo Alto the previous night to get him a document he needed. Curious why her father was suddenly showing up in San Francisco, Scarlet had quietly made her way downstairs.

She hadn’t had any intention of listening in on her father’s conversation with Ryder, but when she’d heard her father tell Ryder that she was mentally ill, she’d frozen in shock. Every word out of her father’s mouth had been another slap in the face. He was making her sound like a lunatic. And not only that. He wanted to take her back to Palo Alto to live with him and Claudia, robbing her of her freedom. And of Ryder, whom he’d fired unceremoniously.

“I’m not mentally ill!” she cried out, glaring at her father. Her hands balled into fists. “How could you lie to Ryder like that? How could you embarrass me like that?”

“Scarlet, honey, it’s for your own good. You need help.”

Her father made a few steps toward her, and she noticed that he favored his right leg, a bandage peeking out from underneath his pants. His sprained ankle had still not healed, but she was too angry to ask about his wellbeing right now.

Scarlet moved her gaze back to his face. “What I need is to be allowed to live my life without interference.”

“We’ve tried that, Scarlet,” her father said. “But it’s obviously not working. Your behavior toward Derek is inexcusable. And as a result, your bodyguard hurt him. Is that really what you want?”