Protector #5 (A Navy SEAL Military Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

as it was that I’d been answering this same question for most of my life.
    I explained to him that everyone at boarding
school and then at college talked about weekly obligatory phone calls or having
to check in with their parents or having to ask for money from their parents,
and so kids were always asking me why I never had to do anything of these
things. No check-ins and no calling to ask for money, instead once a month I
wrote a summary of my activities, printed it out and mailed it to my father.
The money was automatically deposited in my account on the first and fifteenth
day of the month, and I was given such a generous allowance that I usually
ended up depositing what was left over in a separate savings account I’d
started at the boarding school.
    “I’m not sure if my father was being savvy
and teaching me business skills or if he simply didn’t want me to bother him
and my mother,” I admitted. I couldn’t condemn my father, after all, he’d never
been cruel to me, just indifferent. My mother was a whole other matter, and one
that I didn’t really feel like sharing over dinner.
    “But how can they not check in and see how
you’re doing?” he asked.
    “Easy, they just don’t,” I said
matter-of-factly. “It’s not a crisis, it’s just the way my family operates. I
think my grandfather raised my father the exact same way, so what do you
expect? We do what our parents teach us to do.”
    “But if that’s the case, then how did you
get involved with Dominic?” he asked as he shoved another loaded fork into his
mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he waited for my answer.
    “I already explained that,” I said. “I was
duped by his personality and the money.”
    “That makes no sense to me,” he mused. “You
have money, and Dominic is a sociopath! He doesn’t care about anything except
his reputation and his stuff.”
    “Like I said,” I replied as I stared at my
meat while I carefully carved a bite-sized piece from the juicy filet. “We do
what our parents teach us to do.”
    Brian watched me closely as he continued to
chew. Suddenly the light bulb went on and he leaned across the table. “Are you
telling me— ”
    “Just let it go, Brian,” I said pointedly.
“Just let it go.”
    He looked at me thoughtfully for a few
moments and then cut another piece of meat and popped it into his mouth.  
    “But what about your grandmother? You said
she loved you,” he said.
    “That was a whole other matter,” I said
quietly.
    “Tell me about it,” he urged as he looked
into my eyes. “I want to know you — all of you.”
    “ My grandmother was the center of my universe,” I began. “I told you about our last
trip together and what happened afterwards.”
    Brian nodded and continued picking at his
food. I picked up a piece of asparagus with my fingers, bit off the tip, and
chewed as I thought about how to explain my grandmother to him.
    “My grandmother was the epitome of high
society,” I said as I thought about how she’d always dressed for dinner and
insisted that I do the same when I was visiting her. “She had impeccable taste
and valued courtesy and manners above all else. She used to say that without
manners we were no better than a tray of ice cubes.”
    Brian laughed out loud as I giggled
remembering how every time she’d said this, I’d laughed because it was so
ridiculous. I told him about how she’d once spent my entire spring break
teaching me how to curtsey and pour the perfect cup of tea just in case I was
ever invited to meet the Queen of England. Then I told him about how she’d made
a habit of sending me books by Miss Manners and Leticia Baldridge in order to drive the lessons home. I was expected to read and memorize certain
portions of the books so that I could recite them to my grandmother on command.
It was nerve wracking because she was demanding and did not suffer fools, but
she always stepped in and helped me fill in the blanks when I couldn’t