Page 1 of Daddy's Little Doubter (Daddy 28)

Chapter One

Nate got out of his car and looked around at the nice neighborhood. The houses were small but clean and well-kept.

He’d been on the road for a few hours and wanted to get into the nearest hotel and crash, but first, he needed to check on Tessa. She was the sister of his teammate, Jerry, and Jade, Cole’s woman, seemed to think she was in trouble. Since Jerry had died in action, it was the rest of the team’s job to look after them.

He knocked on the front door, and a moment later, a small woman came and opened it.

She was surprisingly pretty. He vaguely remembered seeing her at her brother’s funeral, but the whole day had sucked, so he really didn’t pay attention to anything other than getting through the day.

“Hi, my name is Nate. I’m your brother’s teammate and friend.”

Tessa nodded. “Hello. Yes, I remember you. What can I do for you?”

“May I come in?”

She looked behind her and then back and nodded. “Sure.”

When he stepped into the house, he saw the fear she wastrying to hide. “Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

She looked shocked. “What, no.”

Nate heard murmuring from another room.

“Is that your mother?”

Tessa nodded. “She’s not doing well at all.”

“May I see her? I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”

“Sure.”

Nate followed her down a hallway and into a back bedroom. The first thing he noticed was Jerry’s mother propped up a bit and a man leaning over her with a paper and pen.

“Here, Rosalyn. Just sign this, and I promise I’ll take care of Tessa.”

Tessa gasped. “What are you doing, Gary?”

The man spun around and then turned white when he saw Nate.

“Nothing.”

The man was five-nine and maybe a hundred and forty pounds, and Nate didn’t like him on the spot.

“Gary. My mother can’t sign anything. She’s too ill.”

“You know she’d want me to take care of you. You need to get her to sign this.”

Nate walked toward him and snatched the paper out of the guy’s hands.

Gary gasped and tried to grab it from him, but Nate just put his hand around his neck and squeezed, making him try to get him to release his neck. He read through the paper in disbelief. A lawyer’s office stated that if Tessa’s mom signed the paper, everything she owned and her daughter would become his.

“What the fuck is this?” Nate asked.

Tessa came alongside him to see. Nate got pissed when tears came to her eyes. “Gary, I want you out of here, and never come back. I can’t believe you tried to trick my mother.”

Gary pushed himself away from Nate, fell to the floor, and stood, touching his neck. “Tessa, you know that’s what your mother would want.”

“That’s a lie. She knows how I feel about you. She’d never consent to this.”