Trevor Reese: His Protective Love Read online

  “Make sure you keep it at a minimum,” she was saying over the phone. “We will need to hold the press conference ahead of voir dire, and we need him there when we hold it. But don’t get too in front of it. Right. Right.”

  When Carly remembered that somebody had entered her office, and that she had assumed it was Bridgette, she realized Bridgette would have opened her big mouth by now and interrupted her conversation. She therefore looked up.

  When she did, and saw her father standing at her desk, she smiled. “Listen, let me call you back,” she said over the phone, and quickly hung up.

  “Daddy!” she said cheerfully as she got up and hurried around the desk. They hugged vigorously.

  “Well hello there!” Big Daddy said. Her enthusiasm was always contagious.

  When they stopped embracing, he kept his hand around her as he gave her a hard look. “You look tired,” he said, “but you’re still a welcomed sight for sore eyes.”

  Carly displayed her brilliant white smile, looking like a star, as Big Daddy used to affectionately say, and she returned the compliment. “So are you!” she said. “It’s been so hectic around here. You’re always a welcomed sight. Have a seat.”

  She took his hand and ushered him to one of the chairs in front of her desk. She sat in the chair next to him, still holding his hand. “How’s Mommy and everybody?”

  “Mommy and everybody’s good. Everybody’s busy.”

  “What about Tony?” Tony Sinatra was one of Big Daddy’s sons. “He told me Sharon left town and he doesn’t know where she went. What’s that about?”

  “I have no idea. Every time I inquire about her, he says they’re just friends and leave it there. So I leave it there too. Tony doesn’t discuss his personal affairs with me.”

  “Me either,” Carly agreed. “But sometimes he gives a little away. What brings you to Boston? Maine not good enough for you anymore?”

  “Is Maine good enough for anybody?” Big Daddy shot back.

  Carly laughed.

  “Just joking,” he said. “I’ve lived there my entire life and plan to die there. I was heading to New York on business. Just wanted to drop by and see how my kid is faring. My newly married kid.”

  Carly nodded. “I’m good. I think since the wedding, people around here are respecting me more as Trevor’s right-hand person. I’m no longer just some 90-day wonder girl to them. Some are still not quite ready to go that far yet, I’m not going to lie, but for the most part it’s working out better.” Carly was in her upper-twenties. Most of Trevor’s executive-level employees were in their upper-thirties or older – much older.

  Big Daddy squeezed her hand. “Hang in there, darling. You’ve always been the youngest one in the big-decisions room, and it will probably always be that way until you get to be my age. Then you’ll be the oldest one in the room and who the heck will care?”

  “True,” Carly said with a smile. But she could tell something more was on her father’s mind. “I won’t know unless you ask,” she said, reciting a line he often said to her.

  Big Daddy gave a slight smile. Then he folded his legs. “How does it feel to be a married woman?” He asked it, and then looked at her.

  Carly, as usual, didn’t answer quickly. She thought about the question. Then she nodded. “Strange,” she said. “It’s been three weeks, but it feels longer, if that makes any sense.”

  “One of those weeks you were on your honeymoon,” Big Daddy said, “so that week doesn’t count.”

  Carly laughed. “Okay!”

  “Have you moved into his house yet?”

  She nodded. “I did, yes. I finally got everything packed up and the movers moved me completely three days ago.”

  “How’s Trevor handling another human being living with him? He’s lived alone, and lived as a bachelor, for a very long time.”

  “That’s the part I don’t know yet,” Carly admitted. “We haven’t been in the same space enough yet. But time will tell.”

  “So, it’s true?”

  Carly didn’t understand. “What’s true?”

  “Trevor’s out of town again.”

  Carly knew that was a big deal to her father. And she understood why. It was a big deal to her too. But some things couldn’t be helped. “He had to take care of some business out of town, yes,” she admitted.

  “How long has he been gone?”

  “Just a couple days. He’s due back today.”

  Big Daddy exhaled. He didn’t like it.

  “It couldn’t be helped, Daddy.”

  “Like hell, it couldn’t!” Big Daddy shot back. “I told Trevor before he married you that I wasn’t going to put up with his shit.”

  Carly frowned. “What shit? There’s no shit. He looks out for me.”

  “How long have you been married?”

  “You know how long.”

  “Don’t you get smart with me, little girl! Answer my question.”

  Carly remembered that her father always had fire beneath his cool exterior. That was one reason the entire town of Jericho, Maine, their home turf, called him Big Daddy Sinatra. It didn’t start out as an affectionate term, but because they feared him. Because the townspeople felt he owned too much of their town. And for the most part, it still wasn’t affectionate. He was a ruthless, tough sonafabitch, they felt, with a temper that could make a grown man shudder. But that fire was especially hot if Carly or her siblings even attempted to give him back talk. “We’ve been married for three weeks,” she said.

  “Minus the week for your honeymoon, how many days in those two remaining weeks has Trevor been out of town?”

  “Dad--”

  “Answer my question. How many of those days has Trevor been out of town?”

  “Six of them,” Carly admitted.

  And the fact that she knew the number of days off the top of her head told Big Daddy all he needed to know. Trevor’s legendary absences were bothering her too. “Six out of fourteen days he’s been away from his brand new wife is unacceptable. And you ask me what shit I told him I wasn’t going to tolerate? That shit!”

  “It’s been a tough few weeks for him,” Carly said. “But he says it’ll slow down.”

  “He’s been saying that ever since you’ve been with him,” Big Daddy reminded her.

  “When they call, and you know who they are, he has to go. He’s their best guy.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second, Carly. He’s everybody’s best guy. That’s why your Uncle Mick wanted him to come work for him in his syndicate. That’s why everybody wants Trevor on their side. I’ve seen what he can do. He’s a skilled man. When somebody’s in trouble, he’s the man to call. I get that they would want to use him as much as they possibly can. But Trevor can leverage that fact. He can set parameters to how many times they can call on him. But he doesn’t. They call, he goes. Somebody needs to be stopped before they harm America, or if somebody’s in trouble, he goes. But if you get in trouble, which is my number one concern, he’s never around. You deserve better than this, Carlita.”

  Carly just sat there quietly holding her father’s hand. She knew, like Big Daddy knew, there was no justifying Trevor’s excessive absences.

  Big Daddy looked at her. “It’s early in your marriage, and I hate that it would come to this, but you need to give him an ultimatum, baby.”

  Carly’s big eyes looked suddenly haunted to Big Daddy. But instead of agreeing with him the way she had always done in the past, she shook her head. “No,” she said.

  Big Daddy was surprised by her comeback. None of his children, and least of which Carly, ever defied him. “What do you mean no?”

  “I’m not giving my husband any ultimatums.” She looked at her father. “I knew who I was marrying when I married him. He had to handle assignments for the government and I knew that wasn’t going to change. He goes out there risking his very life for his country. He doesn’t need me imperiling him too. He needs me to be his safe landing. I knew who I was getting when I marri
ed him, and I’m not about to make demands for him to change now. I walked into this marriage with my eyes wide open.”

  Big Daddy appreciated her devotion and loyalty to Trevor, but he wasn’t convinced. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re okay with all of his trips? You like that?”

  Carly was shaking her head. “Of course I don’t like it, Daddy. I hate when he gets called out. It pisses me off. But what is he supposed to do? Tell me that. If he refuses, they can take him out. You know that. So it’s . . .”

  Big Daddy could see the frustration in her large, pretty eyes.

  “Maybe someday it’ll get better,” she said, although her eyes wasn’t revealing that hope. “But . . . obviously not this day. But I pray for his safe return every time he goes, and I make his bed soft when he gets home. That’s what I can do.”

  “And that’s the kind of marriage you want?” Big Daddy asked her.

  “That’s the kind of marriage I have. That’s the kind of marriage I knew I was going to have if I married Trevor Reese. And I’m not about to leave him or give him ultimatums when he gave me exactly what he said I was going to get.”

  Big Daddy still seemed unconvinced. He squeezed her hand. “A man would give a girl like you the world, Carly. He’ll worship the ground you walk on. He’ll be the one worrying about you, not the other way around. That’s what I always wanted for my baby. That kind of man. But your smart ass had to fall in love with Trevor Reese, a fucking government assassin!”

  Carly attempted to smile it off. But Big Daddy wasn’t feeling the levity. He was feeling the gravity. He squeezed her hand again. “And now you’re the one worrying about his safe return. You’re the one alone too many damn nights. Trevor promised me he was going to slow that shit down. He’s their best man and he can assert that authority if he wanted to. But nooo. His philosophy is all about him. If he doesn’t do it, it won’t get done. So he has to handle every case.”

  Then he looked at Carly. “How can you be so understanding, darling?”

  “Because I understand Trevor better than I’ve ever understood any man before,” Carly said. “And that includes you, too, Daddy,” she added, with a smile.

  “What do you understand about him?” Big Daddy asked.

  “That Trevor is a very lonely man with a lot of pain in his life who would use women and work as a way to forget that pain. But the pain always came back. Now that I’m his wife, I feel it’s my duty to keep that pain from coming back. That’s my job as his wife. And I take it seriously. I’m his ride or die, Dad,” Carly added. “Come hell or high water, I’m sinking or swimming with Trevor. I understand him. We understand each other.”

  Big Daddy let out a long exhale. He wasn’t at all sure if Carly understood a complicated man like Trevor Reese as perfectly as she thought she did.

  Or, he thought as he watched his precious little girl, maybe he just still wasn’t ready to let her go, no matter who the man was.

  But before he could respond to anything she had said, her office door was kicked in, causing her and Big Daddy to jump to their feet.

  Abe Edison, one of the supervisors in the Research Department, came hurrying in. A flustered Bridgette came hurrying behind him. “I told him you were in a meeting, Mrs. Reese,” she said as she hurried. “I told him not to disturb you!”

  “It’s okay,” Carly said to Bridgette, and held up her hand, letting her know it was okay. Big Daddy, however, held onto that part of his body where he always kept a loaded pistol. Carly might have been married to a Reese, but she was still and would always be a Sinatra, which meant she could never be too careful. Especially not with a maniac hurrying toward her.

  Big Daddy stood slightly ahead of her should this character get out of line.

  But Carly stood there, folded her arms, and remained calm. The man was twice her age and at least twice her size, but she stood her ground. “What do you want, Abe?” she asked him.

  “My services are no longer needed?” he asked this with shock in his voice. “I get a gotdamn pink slip? You’re firing me?”

  “That’s what a pink slip usually means.”

  “But what the fuck am I being fired for?” he yelled.

  “Your work product is sloppy,” Carly recited. “You missed thirteen days in three weeks. You’re late every single day when you do bother to show up. You’re insubordinate to your direct supervisor and others in upper management, except for Mr. Reese. You refuse to get along with your own staff.”

  “Why should I get along with my staff? I’m the supervisor of that division. They have to get along with me!”

  “Another reason why I fired you,” Carly said.

  But what he considered to be her smart respond only angered Abe more. “Who do you think you are?” he asked her. “I worked public relations before your black ass was even born, and you’re firing me? I’ll show you who’s fired,” he said, and attempted to grab Carly.

  But he didn’t realize who was beside Carly. Because as soon as his hands grabbed for her, Big Daddy grabbed him, flipped the bigger man onto his back, and then placed his knee into the bigger man’s chest with his massive hand on the front of Abe’s thick neck.

  Although Carly wasn’t surprised by her father’s agility, Brigette was smiling from ear to ear. About time somebody handled that idiot, she thought. She was enormously impressed.

  “You’re going to show who what?” Big Daddy asked Abe, tightening his hand around Abe’s neck. “You’re going to show my daughter what?”

  “Nothing,” Abe, still stunned by his takedown, quickly said. “I wasn’t going to show anybody anything. Just let me go, please! Just let me go!”

  “She fired you,” Big Daddy said. “You’re fired. There’s no more discussing it. You get away from my daughter and stay away from her. And if you come back, or try in any way to retaliate against her, I’ll retaliate against you. Guess who’ll win that fight?”

  Then Big Daddy released his hold on Abe’s neck, and stood up.

  Abe stood up too. But then he quickly hurried out of the office as if being fired by the woman he still called Carly Sinatra was far preferable to being manhandled by Big Daddy Sinatra. He didn’t so much as bothered to look back.

  “I’m glad he’s gone,” Bridgette said. “He’s been a terror around here long before Carly even came to TRM.”

  TRM (Trevor Reese Marketing) was recently changed from RM (Reese Marketing) as a result of a top to bottom reorganization that shuffled personnel and gave Carly a partnership, and a titled promotion in the firm. But she knew nothing about Abe’s misconduct. His staffers were scared to report him to Trevor, and upper management were scared to write him up. Why they were scared was a mystery to Carly. But they were.

  But as soon as Carly got wind of what was going on, she didn’t hesitate. And Bridgette was appreciative. “You were the only one with the guts to call him out on his stuff. You did all of us a favor. But I know, I know,” she said with a grin when Carly looked at her that certain way. “I need to take my talking butt back to work.” And she headed out of the office.

  Carly looked at her father. “Thanks, Pop,” she said.

  “You’re okay?” Big Daddy asked her.

  She nodded, although she was still a little shaken.

  And she was thinking, just like Big Daddy was thinking, that Trevor should have been the one there to protect her. That was no longer something Big Daddy should have to do.

  That was Trevor’s job now.

  CHAPTER SIX

  He took the last train to Memphis and slumped down in the seat against the window. The handful of passengers onboard were mainly sleeping, or quietly reading, or just looking out of the window as Arkansas faded and Tennessee came into view. But the silence gave him solace. Because he was still shaken. Another ass-backwards assignment. Another miscalculation and near-miss. Another pile of dead bodies stacking up on his resume like his own indictment.

  When was this shit going to end?

  He pulled out his c
ell phone. He was supposed to alert his advance team hours ago, to let them know he boarded the train. But he didn’t trust those assholes either. And with his brother mainly out of the loop, doing his own black ops shit, he didn’t have the kind of contacts he used to have. He was on his own.

  Happy days, he texted to the team. It was code that he had gotten out alive. The team was then supposed to have their people give misdirection clues to the police by way of the cops they had on retainer in every jurisdiction in America. It was all bullshit on top of bullshit. And all supposedly for the sake of preserving our liberties and Democracy while those clowns in Washington kept doing all they could to undermine it all. Which meant, Trevor knew, that his job was bullshit too.

  He looked out at the world passing by him as the train lumbered along. And then it past another train, which made Trevor flinch at how close the trains went pass each other. The precision it took for those locomotives not to collide into each other was startling. Everything felt like a game of inches to Trevor. Like a crapshoot. Including, he hated to admit, his brand new marriage.

  Carly, as usual, was on his mind.

  He felt guilty as hell marrying her. Her father, the man she also called her best friend, wasn’t at all crazy about him marrying his precious baby. Her uncle, the notorious mob boss of bosses Mick Sinatra, sure as hell wasn’t either. But his smart ass did it anyway. He claimed her as his anyway. Not that Trevor didn’t know what he was doing. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew, by marrying Carly, that all those fuckers who wanted her, too, had to leave her the hell alone. She belonged to Trevor Reese now. The government assassin. That Trevor Reese. And that fact alone, that a wonderful lady like her now belonged to a terrible man like him, was the shame of it.

  His phone vibrated in his hand, which meant a phone call was coming in. He frowned. The team in the field knew better than to phone him while the heat was still on. What was their problem? But when he saw that it was a call, not from the guys in the field, but from the very woman he had just been thinking about, a part of him smiled. She was the only brightness he had in his dark world. But a part of him felt alarmed too. He’d just successfully reported that he took out three people. Now he had to report that he was just fine and on his way home.