Page 69 of Serve ’N’ Protect

“Now girls,” her mother admonished. “We agreed never to mention that man’s name ever again.”

“It’s okay, Mom.” She squeezed her mother’s hand. “What happened wasn’t Hugh’s fault, and I don’t blame him for leaving. Taking care of a wife in a wheelchair is a big ask.”

“I still think the guy’s an asshole,” Jimmy spit out.

“James, language!” her mom said. “We should all just be grateful that Cassidy’s okay.”

“Is the dog part of the new security system?” Sean asked. “I thought he would tear us apart.”

“He’s a K-9,” Cassidy said.

“Duh,” Sean said. “I know he’s a dog. I can see that.”

Cassidy shook her head. “No, I mean he’s a police K-9.”

“Is Markus a cop?” Kaitlyn asked.

“He’s a Secret Service officer. He guards the White House.” A series of oohs and hmphs coursed through her family. Oohs from her sisters and mother. Unimpressed hmphs from the men. “He installed the security system for me after that burglar broke in. He’s staying next door at John’s house. He heard me scream, then he and Ghost broke in through the window to save me. I don’t know what would have happened if they hadn’t come.” She swallowed. Talking about that night reminded her of just how close she’d come to being seriously hurt. Or worse.

“For that,” her dad said softly, taking her in a big hug and whispering in her ear, “we’re so grateful.”

“Amen,” her mother said in a choked voice, squeezing Cassidy’s hand again, tighter this time.

Markus and Ghost came back down the stairs. Markus had redonned the black sweatshirt he’d had on last night, along with his boots. “You’ll have to excuse us again,” he said, heading for the door. “Ghost needs to take care of business. Merry Christmas, everyone.”

Her heart sank. He’d already declined her invitation to join them for Christmas, but she’d thought—or rather, hoped—that after last night he would have changed his mind. Guess not.

Then he caught her eye and in that one glance, she knew what was really at the root of things. This wasn’t about her or them as a couple, which they weren’t. Not officially, anyway. This was about him.

Now that she knew he’d essentially grown up without parents and no family structure, it was understandable why the whole family thing was freaking him out. Being around the Morgan clan could be trying at times, even for her. For someone like Markus, it would be overwhelming.

He opened the door.

“Wait.” Her mother stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You saved my little girl. We’d be honored if you’d join us for Christmas.”

There probably wasn’t much, if anything, that Markus was afraid of, but when she looked at his face, his eyes confirmed what she suspected.

Her family scared him to death.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“So how did you two meet exactly?” Cherisse, Sean’s fiancée, asked Markus from across the dining table.

Cassidy sat to his left, looking like a Christmas ornament in a bright red sweater with tiny gold beads. Her younger sister, Kaitlyn, with the flaming head of curls sat to his right. On his lap bounced Jimmy’s four-year-old son, Finn. Though he’d done nothing to earn the honor, for some reason the boy had taken a liking to him and had practically crawled right up his leg.

“I, uh…” Explaining the circumstances was probably not for dinner table conversation.

“He fell off a ladder and knocked himself unconscious,” Cassidy supplied. “Send that bread over here, would ya, Ryan?” she asked Brianna’s husband.

“He what?” Cassidy’s mother, Fiona, paused with a bit of breakfast ham on her fork.

“Sure thing, Cass.” Ryan picked up the basket of Irish soda bread, handing it to Jimmy’s wife, Olivia.

“Were you hurt, dear?” Fiona pressed. “What were you doing on a ladder?”

With the entire Morgan clan, plus Brianna’s and Jimmy’s spouses and kids, as well as Cherisse’s parents and two older brothers, there were over twenty people seated at the table. Markus didn’t know dining tables came this big. He watched the basket of bread get handed off from one person to the next, finally making its way to Cassidy.

“Changing a lightbulb,” Cassidy said as she slathered butter on a slice of bread and winked at him. “He’s clumsy that way.”