Damaged Billionaire Protector

Damaged Billionaire Protector Lexi Landon Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Lexi Landon All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Contents 1. Chapter One AMBER 2. Chapter Two CHASE 3. Chapter Three AMBER 4. Chapter Four CHASE 5. Chapter Five AMBER 6. Chapter Six CHASE 7. Chapter Seven AMBER 8. Chapter Eight CHASE 9. Chapter Nine AMBER 10. Chapter Ten CHASE 11. Chapter Eleven AMBER 12. Chapter Twelve CHASE 13. Chapter Thirteen AMBER 14. Chapter Fourteen CHASE 15. Chapter Fifteen AMBER 16. Chapter Sixteen CHASE 17. Chapter Seventeen AMBER 18. Chapter Eighteen CHASE 19. Chapter Nineteen AMBER 20. Chapter Twenty CHASE 21. Chapter Twenty-One AMBER 22. Epilogue AMBER Chapter One AMBER I think what I remember most about my dad is his silhouette. He was a tall man, but lean, and almost every shirt he owned was faded plaid. He didn’t bother to iron his pants. He was not the imposing type or the kind of father you’d ever be afraid of. In fact, I was never scared of him, more like in awe. I would catch glimpses of him hunched over his desk in that musty closet he called a study, tapping away at his keyboard and muttering to himself. Books with yellowing pages lined the shelves, but there was one shelf that held all his awards. When the sun came through the window just right, it would shine prisms of light across the walls. And my dad would light up too, looking like a big statue. A rock that would never move. I wanted him to stay that way forever, or at least until I could make him proud. The phone call that brought me home was the kind nobody wants to receive. I had just settled back into my dorm after spending winter break with my dad, and my advisor called me to their office. When I saw a counselor there, my heart sank. In the most sympathetic way they could, they told me my dad had passed away. It felt like a sledgehammer hit me in the chest, followed by a baseball bat to the head. I crumpled to the ground. My dad had been my entire world, the reason I had chosen my major, the person that mattered more to me than anyone else. And now he was gone. Standing in the house I grew up in was tough. The first few nights I camped in the living room because I couldn’t bear to walk down the hall and pass his room. I knew he wouldn’t be there, but it wasn't the same as house-sitting or wishing he would go out of town when I was a teenager. It felt like standing in that doorway and looking at that empty bed would somehow make it real. Like truly real. I kept hoping to wake up on the sofa with him sitting next to me, watching TV on mute, or to feel him drape an extra blanket over me in the middle of the night. I missed the way he hugged me and told me everything would be okay. I wanted him to come back and care about me again. I missed being loved. I was so incredibly close to finishing my degree. My dad had at least three framed ones on the wall, and I always teased him that he probably had a filing cabinet full of more somewhere else. I wanted to walk across that stage at least once, and know he was in the audience, proud of me, and cheering me on. He was never one to raise his voice, but I thought I could make him stand up and yell if his little girl became a journalist just like he was. "What's the point of finishing now?" I asked myself, feeling defeated. "He's never going to know." After two weeks at home, it became clear I needed more time before returning to school. My sleep was poor, and I even stopped eating for a while. It would be impossible to focus on studying while I was essentially a walking zombie. I called my advisor and let them know I was taking a gap year, or whatever they wanted to call it. I thought that would give me enough time to get my father’s affairs in order and decide if I would continue pursuing my degree or not. A part of me hoped I would magically have the answer at the end of the year, that there would be some sort of sign, because I didn’t want to think about it. Thinking about it was getting me nowhere. By week three, I was together enough to be able to see people again. The first person to show up at my place was my best friend, Madison. We’d been friends since elementary school, and she was always there when I needed her. As soon as I was able to talk about what happened, she booked a flight to come and see me. “I have arrived!” Madison took off her shades as she walked through the front door. She had always been dramatic in a fun sort of way. Her family was wealthy when we were in school together, but her father’s business really took off as we got older. At one point we were going to separate schools but still stayed close. I was grateful that even after Madison became wealthy, she still wanted to be my friend. “Hi, Madison.” I’d been cleaning the house, so my hair was a mess. I also wasn’t exactly dressed to receive company. My sweatpants had a hole in them big enough to put a tangerine through. I could tell Madison was shocked at how I looked. “Oh, sweetie...” Madison put her purse down and hugged me. “I’m so sorry. This must be really hard on you.” “I’ve definitely had better days.” “Well, I’m here for as