The Rancher’s Royal Bride (BBW Romance - Billionaire Brothers 4) Read Free

chair. “It’s just been me and Dad my whole life. And Grandma. Uncle Mark worked overseas until recently so I didn’t see him much.” A smile wobbled on her lips.
    “Do you want to call your grandmother? The landline’s over there.” He gestured to a wall phone next to the kitchen counter.
    “She died three years ago.”
    “Hell.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He hesitated. “What happened to your mother?”
    “She died in childbirth. Having me.” Ellie bit her lip. When she was young, she used to ask her father questions all the time about her mother, but after a while, she realized it seemed to upset him, so she gradually gave up asking. All she had of her mother was a faded photo.
    “Oh, geez,” he muttered, looking like he could have kicked himself.
    “It’s okay.” She tried to reassure him. “Grandma was great, and so was Dad. But sometimes he worries about me when doesn’t need to. I thought he was okay about me going to Hawaii with my friends but …”
    “You think he made up the threat to stop you going on vacation?”
    “When you put it like that, it sounds crazy.” She was silent for a moment, thinking the idea through, then shook her head. “No, Dad isn’t like that. If he didn’t want me to go, he would have explained exactly why, not pretend he was okay about it and then make up something like this and send me here.”
    “Then we need to find out why he thinks you’re in danger. And why he asked an ex-SEAL to protect you.”

CHAPTER 2
     
    Ellie stared at him. “You’re a SEAL?”
    “Retired,” he reminded her. He walked over to the phone. “I’ll ring the hospital now and see if I can speak to your father.”
    A couple of minutes later, he hung up the receiver. “I guess you heard most of it.”
    She nodded. “Not allowed visitors yet, in person or on the phone. And when he is, immediate family only.”
    Logan rubbed the back of his neck. “Call every day until you can get through to him. In the meantime, we better take your father’s concern for your safety seriously.”
    “So what should we do now?”
    “Find another way to get the information,” he replied. “What about close friends of your father? Or your uncle?”
    Ellie shook her head. “I already asked Uncle Mark on the flight and he refused to tell me anything. And even if I could get hold of Dad’s friends, they’re either not going to know what I’m talking about, or won’t tell me anything, either.”
    “There’s got to be some way of finding out.” Logan frowned.
    An image of her father’s safe flashed in her mind. She’d been so annoyed at his request to cancel her Hawaiian vacation, and then, last night when she’d received the phone call from the hospital, so concerned about him, that she hadn’t even though that the answer might be in there. But now …
    “There is my father’s safe,” she said slowly.
    His gaze snapped to her face. “That’s a possibility?
    She shrugged. “I can’t think how else I could find out what’s going on.”
    “You mean I could find out.”
    “What?” She stared at him.
    “I’m responsible for your safety. If there’s any investigating going on, I’ll be the one to do it.”
    She suddenly became of how his lean, muscled frame filled out his jeans and shirt. Swallowing, she tried to ignore the fluttering in her belly. She would not let him boss her around.
    “But do you know the combination to the safe?” She arched an eyebrow. “I do.”
    “And that’s why you’re going to give it to me.”
    “Not unless I’m coming with you.” She held her breath.
    “I can’t leave you here on your own.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Hell.”
    A cow mooed, breaking the tense silence. A second cow mooed, then another.
    “I’ve got to finish my chores and feed the livestock. Stay inside until I get back.”
    Resisting the temptation to salute him, Ellie watched him stride out the back door, trying to