Bodyguard: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (Snake Eyes Book 1) by Tabatha Kiss

hold out a hand to stop her.
    “I just need to pick up a few things,” I explain. “Wait here. I’ll only be a few minutes. Put the deadbolt on until I get back.”
    I don’t wait for a response. I close the door and lock it behind me, pausing for a few moments until I hear the metal clacking of the deadbolt sliding into place. It’s not much — and won’t slow Snake Eyes down more than a few seconds — but it’s all I have right now.
    Dani’s a problem, in more ways than one. I have to get her out of the city. This is Los Angeles. Hollywood. Every person down to the street vendors knows who she is. If I were to check online right now, I’m sure I’d see someone’s post about Roxie Roberts entering a motel room with a mysterious man. If I plan on getting her out undetected, then I’ll have to improvise… and she isn’t going to like it.
    But first…
    I pull out my burner phone and quickly scan through Dani’s phone for his number while I head down the street towards the pharmacy a few blocks down. It rings for longer than necessary and I grit my teeth with impatience.
    “Hello?” There’s a shake to his tone, like a man expecting a ransom call.
    “Bennett, she’s fine.”
    “You little piece of shit,” he seethes, raising his voice. “I knew you were behind this.”
    “I’m not behind anything. Like I told you earlier, Snake Eyes attacked her. I saved her life tonight.”
    “Well, isn’t that convenient for you? You get to swoop in and be the hero. You know what I think, kid? I think you made up a bogeyman to blame it on. How do I know you’re not the one that killed Lamb in the first place, eh? Buy any black masks lately?”
    “It’s a good theory but you’d be wrong.”
    “How much you want to bet the second Smith recovers, your name is the first thing to come out of his mouth?”
    I pause. I shouldn’t implicate myself anymore. Hiding from Mercer is its own game completely. I don’t want to deal with the entirety of the L.A.P.D. tracking us down, too. “All you have to know is that she’s fine, she’s safe, and she will be as long as she stays with me.”
    “And all you have to know is that if you so much as lay a finger on my daughter, I will kill you with my bare hands.”
    As far as threats go, it’s about as menacing to me as a newborn baby wielding a plastic spork but I understand where he’s coming from. He’s her father. She’s his daughter. I’m the punk kid that kissed her. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say it and actually mean it.
    “I’ll keep in touch.” I end the call and toss both phones into the nearest trash can.
    I enter the pharmacy and buy a pair of scissors, a comb, and a box of black hair dye.
     
    ***
     
    I turn the paper bag over and everything spills out on the bed beside her.
    Dani stares at them for a moment with curiosity before her eyes go wide. “Oh, hell no…”
    “Dani…”
    “I am not chopping my hair off!”
    Firm, defiant. It takes everything in me not to lean over and kiss her right now. Just looking at her wearing my shirt is hard enough as it is. “Yes, you are.”
    “No, I’m not.”
    “Since we can’t go anywhere without someone recognizing you, we’re going to have to drastically change your appearance.”
    “I’ll wear a hat then.” She kicks the box of dye away with her toes. “Do you have any idea how long it took for me to grow my hair out like this?”
    “Dani.” I take a deep breath to stay calm. After all these years, I’d forgotten how stubborn she can be. It still doesn’t stop my dick from throbbing. “You can either have long, pretty hair, or you can be dead.”
    “I choose death.”
    “If you don’t do it yourself, I will .”
    She stares up at me, believing every word. “I thought the army was supposed to teach you patience.”
    “I’m not in the army anymore. I was discharged.”
    “Honorably?”
    “For the most part.”
    She crinkles her nose. “What does that even