Guardian Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance (Cedar Hill Lions Book 2) Read online

  Guardian Lion

  By Zoe Chant

  Copyright Zoe Chant 2016

  All Rights Reserved

  Author’s Note

  This book stands alone. However, it’s the second in a series about the lion shifters of the Cedar Hill Ranch pride. If you’d like to read the series in order, the first book is Lawman Lion.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Daphne

  Chapter Two: Heath

  Chapter Three: Daphne

  Chapter Four: Heath

  Chapter Five: Daphne

  Chapter Six: Heath

  Chapter Seven: Daphne

  Chapter Eight: Heath

  Chapter Nine: Daphne

  Chapter Ten: Daphne

  Chapter Eleven: Heath

  Chapter Twelve: Daphne

  Chapter Thirteen: Heath

  Chapter Fourteen: Daphne

  A note from Zoe Chant

  Sneak Preview: Lawman Lion

  Chapter One

  Daphne

  Daphne Pearce glanced up from her computer screen, frowning.

  They were back again – the two men who had come to see her boss, Terry Morgan, every week on a Thursday afternoon for the last month and a half. They were wearing the same expensive suits as most of the clients of Terry’s imports business wore, but there was something… different about these men.

  Daphne couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe it was the slight swagger in their step, as if they felt like they owned the place, or maybe it was the tattoos that were visible just above the collars of their crisp white shirts and below their cuffs.

  Or maybe you’re just paranoid, Daphne thought to herself as she looked quickly back down at her computer before the men could notice her stare. Tattoos didn’t mean anything – half her college friends had had tats, and it was plain silly to think they meant anything.

  So it wasn’t the tattoos.

  Maybe, Daphne thought, watching them from beneath her eyelashes, it was the cold, hard way they stared around the office, as if memorizing the faces of the staff and storing them away for later use. Or maybe it was the way the younger one was now cracking his knuckles as he walked, slowly and methodically. That was definitely supposed to be menacing. The older one, who had a hint of gray in his dark hair, didn’t do anything, but his mouth was set in a grim line that Daphne definitely didn’t like the look of.

  As they walked past her, she caught a powerful whiff of expensive cologne, and she resisted the urge to sneeze. Knuckle-Cracker crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall as Gray Hair went into Terry’s office, without even knocking – another thing she’d noticed them doing before. It only added to her sense of unease. What kind of guest, or even client, felt they could just wander into an office without at least checking if the person inside was ready to see them?

  Daphne glanced across the room at Sally, the receptionist, but Sally simply shrugged, shaking her head, as if to say she had no idea what was going on either.

  Swallowing, Daphne turned her head to look at her computer screen again. She realized she was being silly, and it was wrong to judge a book by its shady-looking cover. She was, more than likely, simply being a snob.

  The best thing she could do was just concentrate on her work. She’d only been working here at Morgan Imports for six months – before that, Terry had done all his bookkeeping himself, and had made a complete mess of it.

  There were always a few things about Terry’s books that had never quite balanced – part of the reason he’d hired her was because he was so disorganized and terrible at doing them himself. Daphne was still disentangling the mess from before she’d arrived. Whenever she’d found something that didn’t make sense, Terry had hmmmm-ed and haawww-ed before telling her that the documents she needed must be in a box in his garage, and he’d get them for her next time he had a chance to sort through things.

  It had always made her a little uneasy, but Terry was a great boss, and a nice guy – the kind of old-time business owner who still took the time to chat with his staff, know little details about their lives, and send their kids cards on their birthdays. It was just the kind of place she’d always dreamed of working at. Especially after… well.

  Growing up in her family hadn’t exactly been easy.

  Grimacing, Daphne shook her head. That sounded wrong, even when she just thought it to herself. Compared with most people, she’d had a hugely privileged upbringing.

  But when your mother was a movie star and your father was one of the state’s longest-serving senators, things tended to get a little hectic sometimes.

  She’d never known privacy, and had grown up with her own private bodyguard watching her at all times. For years, millions had watched every move she’d made. Everything about her had been pulled apart and dissected – her clothes, her looks, her choice of schools, her future. All by the time she was thirteen. Sometimes, it had seemed to Daphne like people she’d never met knew her better than she knew herself.

  By the time she’d hit sixteen, she’d had enough.

  She’d slipped out of the spotlight – as much as she could, anyway. She’d defied all the speculation and shunned the publicity her parents courted. She’d studied, never partied, never even dated, really. Eventually, even the paps had decided she was too boring to waste their time following around. Aside from a few tepid relationships that had quickly fizzled, she’d never even really had a love life.

  Nonetheless, Daphne had taken other precautions, too – started using her grandmother’s maiden name, dyed her hair from mousy brown to black, changed her style of clothes, started doing her makeup a little differently – as in, wearing any at all – and switched from glasses to contacts. She didn’t think people who’d known her when she was young would even recognize her now.

  Maybe they’d be shocked at just how boring and normal her life was. But after her upbringing, that was exactly what she’d wanted.

  There were worse things than being boring, after all.

  Scribbling notes on the pad by her keyboard as she waded through columns of figures, Daphne had almost succeeded in losing herself in her work again, just as she felt a hot prickle on the side of her face. Glancing up, confused, her eyes went straight to Knuckle-Cracker where he was still lounging by the door.

  Only now, he was staring at her. Hard.

  Daphne blinked, and resisted the urge to dip her head or look away. That might seem suspicious – or like she had something to hide.

  I’m just a normal, everyday bookkeeper, she thought to herself. Nothing to see here.

  “Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?”

  Oh, crap.

  Daphne blinked, trying to look blank. “Aside from every week when you come in here? I don't think so.”

  Knuckle-Cracker didn’t answer her, but he didn’t stop staring, either. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “You just look… really familiar to me.”

  Daphne swallowed, shrugging. “Sorry. I don’t know what to tell you.”

  She kept her tone sweet as honey, but she knew her eyes were hard enough to cut glass. That was how she’d always dealt with unwanted male attention in the past – and until now, it had always worked for her.

  But Knuckle-Cracker just kept on staring, until his colleague, Gray Hair, finally emerged from Terry’s office. He jerked his head to indicate they were leaving, and Knuckle-Cracker fell in behind him as they walked back toward the door – though not before he’d sent one last, long look in her direction.

  Feeling an ache in her chest, Daphne
realized she’d forgotten to breathe as he stared at her. She let out a long exhalation now, clenching her fists to stop her hands from shaking. She didn’t know why, but she felt more unnerved than she had in a long time.

  So what if the knuckle-cracking man had recognized her? He hadn’t been rude to her or done anything about it. And it was her parents who were the celebrities, not her – despite everything, she was still just a bookkeeper, and not anyone special.

  But for some reason, Daphne still couldn’t quite shake off her fear.

  No matter how many times she told herself she was being ridiculous, it didn’t seem to help, and after her third stumble adding up a simple column of figures, she realized she needed to take herself in hand.

  “Sally, if anyone needs me, I’m just going to be talking to Terry,” she said, standing. “I won’t be long. Just let them know to leave a Post-it note and I’ll get back to them.”

  Sally nodded. “Sure.” To be honest, Sally looked a little unnerved too – or at least, she wasn’t her usual chattery self. Daphne wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not – on the one hand, it told her that maybe her bad feeling about the two visitors wasn’t just in her head.

  On the other… well, maybe it would have been better if it was just all her imagination after all.

  Going to Terry’s office door, she knocked. There was no answer.

  “Terry?”

  Terry Morgan was the kind of boss who encouraged his staff to call him by his first name. He was always smiling and winking, acting like he was everyone’s favorite uncle. Daphne knew he had no family of his own, and perhaps that was why he was so invested in his business and staff. They were a close-knit team, and always looked out for each other.

  It had been such a change from the cut-throat industries she’d grown up around. Politics and show business were harsh, and people tended to be your friends for only as long as you were useful to them, and leave you out in the cold the second you weren’t. People you thought you could trust turned out to be snakes in the grass.

  Working at Morgan Imports wasn’t like that. They were friends here – family, even.

  If it had been any other situation, Daphne wouldn’t have opened the door to her boss’ office when she got no answer. But her concern was too much to just let it lie.

  “Terry?” she said again as she entered – and then stopped short.

  Terry was sitting at his desk, head in his hands, a glass of whiskey next to his elbow. Daphne couldn’t stop herself from gasping at the sight. Terry was usually such an upbeat guy – it was a shock to see him like he was now, as if he was eaten alive by despair. He was so lost in his own thoughts he apparently hadn’t heard her knock, or even come into the room.

  “Terry?” she asked again, knowing she sounded a little breathless. “Terry, what’s wrong – is there something I can – ”

  Her boss finally raised his head. “Daphne? Oh, I’m sorry – I was distracted. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Terry blinked quickly, but not before Daphne saw the faint traces of tears shining in his eyes. She could feel her heart turn over in her chest. She’d never seen Terry like this before – she couldn’t have imagined it was possible.

  “Terry?” she asked, her voice small. “Is this something to do with those two men who were here earlier?”

  Terry leaned back in his chair, exhaling and staring at the ceiling. For a long moment, he didn’t move. Daphne watched as he swallowed, before he lowered his head again and gestured for her to sit down.

  “Maybe you’d better take a seat. I suppose… I suppose I owe you an explanation. God knows I can’t keep this to myself any more.”

  Feeling her legs shaking, Daphne somehow found her way across the room and into a chair. Terry looked shattered. Despite feeling her blood boiling with fear and curiosity to know what was going on, Daphne didn’t try to hurry him – she let Terry take his time to collect his thoughts.

  When he finally did begin speaking, it was in a low monotone that Daphne found she had to learn forward in order to hear.

  “Those men… you’re right. I don’t know how to begin to explain, but I’ll try to start from the beginning. About a year before you started working here, I needed some cash. Quickly. It was just while I was waiting for some big clients to pay up – they were tardy while they quibbled about something or other, but I had bills coming due.”

  Daphne swallowed. She thought back to the men who’d been here, their sharp, expensive suits and tattoos, and the menacing way they’d prowled through the office. She thought she could already see where this was going.

  “You know what kind of state my books were in when you got here – I knew I’d never be able to get a bank to give me a loan, and I was getting desperate. So… I contacted some lenders I knew I could get the money from quickly. It was that or stop salaries, and I couldn’t do that – it was around Christmas, just when people need it the most. Once the clients paid me, I paid off the loan, principle and interest, even though of course it was sky high.”

  Daphne bit her lip. “Then… why are they still coming around here? If you paid them, then –”

  Terry cut her off with a sad shake of his head. “I was naïve – I really thought that would be the end of it too, and I could just put it behind me. But these men… they’re not the types to just let things be. They know they could cause trouble for me if they chose to. They’re not exactly… well, their business is what you’d call ‘extra-legal’, I suppose.” Terry gave her a wry smile. “It was arrogance on my part, I suppose – I thought I’d outsmarted them when I paid everything back. But once they’ve got you… well, now they want me to take out another loan. For a much larger amount, and at greater interest.”

  Daphne blinked. “But… can they do that? If you’ve no reason to borrow the money…” She cut herself off, realizing how hopelessly naïve she sounded. Her brain caught up to her words: of course Terry didn’t need the money. This was about trying to get him to sign for more than he could pay back. And then, when he defaulted on the loan, the sharks would be ready to take everything he owned – including the business.

  Morgan Imports had been in Terry’s family since his grandfather’s time. They’d built it up from almost nothing, and now the business had passed to Terry. And on top of that, this was where she had found her home. Being an only child with two parents who were too caught up in their careers to spend much time with her had been lonely. And Daphne had had it drummed into her from an early age: anyone who wanted to be her friend was probably just using her because of who her parents were.

  This was the first time and the first place she’d ever felt valued for who she was.

  And now, it was under threat.

  “I put them off for a while,” Terry continued. “But then they started coming to my house – I don’t know how they got my address. I didn’t put it on the papers I signed. I could handle that. But now, today…” He trailed off, blinking rapidly.

  Daphne held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

  “They’ve started threatening me,” Terry said, voice quiet. “And not just me… my staff as well. If anything happened to any of you because of something I did…”

  “You have to go to the police,” Daphne blurted. “We’ll drive there right now. We can tell them what happened. They’ll have to do something.”

  Terry shook his head. “Don’t you think I’ve tried that, after I saw them at my place? They didn’t do a thing. And worse than that, these guys somehow found out. They said if I did it again, I’d be sorrier than I could ever imagine. I just can’t take that risk. Not with my staff. I’ll just have to find a way through this.”

  Daphne pulled in a deep breath. Clearly, these loan sharks weren’t any benign little reef sharks – these were great whites, always on the hunt for prey.

  And Terry was firmly in their sights.

  Daphne bit her lip as she remembered Knuckle-Cracker’s words. Don’t I know you from somewhere?

&n
bsp; Quickly, she pushed the thought out of her head. He didn’t know her. How could he? She looked completely different from the days when paparazzi had stalked her everywhere she went. It was just a coincidence.

  Daphne was jerked out of her thoughts as Terry suddenly burst into tears.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and rubbing it over his eyes. “It’s just… I don’t know what to do…”

  “It’s okay,” Daphne found herself murmuring, reaching across the table to pat her boss’ hand. “Please… don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. I promise.”

  As she said the words, she knew it was her only choice. Terry was clearly strung out and at the end of his rope. If she wanted a solution, she’d have to come up with it herself.

  But just what exactly she would do… well, Daphne had no idea.

  ***

  Looking down into her drink, Daphne swallowed.

  She didn’t usually go out in the middle of the week – she had far too many things to do at work to risk going in with a hangover – but today, she felt she deserved it. After everything that had happened, she thought most people would agree with her, too.

  Dammit, everyone had told her that accounting was about the most boring thing she could possibly do with her life. How could she have been caught up in such a mess?

  She’d spent the rest of the workday in a state of shocked numbness. She’d reassured Terry as best she could, before going back to her computer. But she hadn’t been able to concentrate on a single thing – there was no way she was going to be able to get her work done.

  So instead, she’d set her mind to work on how to fix their problem. They needed protection, first and foremost. The police weren’t an option, for the moment at least. But that didn’t mean they were helpless.

  She’d grown up around bodyguards. They’d been a necessity – with her family’s wealth and prominence, she’d always been warned she was a high-risk target for kidnapping. But she’d sworn she’d never go back to having to live like that if she could help it. Being able to move freely, without fear of who might be lurking around every corner, was one of the main reasons she’d broken away from that life. She might not like it, but there was no way around it: they’d need more security at Terry’s place.