Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(65)

She’d stepped into it, but the look on Phoebe’s face nearly caused her to cry, too. “I don’t think it’s quite as serious as you think it is. I think he’s having fun.”

“He’s not,” Phoebe insisted. “He’s in deep with you but he doesn’t know how to express that. He’s utterly lost. No one taught him how to love. No one really taught him what it means to be loved. He can’t trust it and I’m worried if you walk away from him, he might never find someone like you again.”

Erin stood abruptly. “I’m going to hit the head. I’ll be back.”

Faith got the feeling she’d said something wrong to Erin. And to Phoebe. “I don’t think he feels that way about me. He wants me. He likes me. I don’t think he’s in love with me. We haven’t known each other long enough.”

“Sometimes it doesn’t take long when the right person comes around. Sometimes it’s fate,” Phoebe said. “I was married to Ten’s brother, Jamie. Ten calls me his sister, but I was really his sister-in-law. Jamie died on assignment in the Middle East. Jamie was the only person in the world who really got Ten.”

“And he died.” This was the brother Taggart had talked about. Ten hadn’t said a thing about him.

Phoebe nodded. “Ten doesn’t trust any of this. You think he’s merely having fun, but Ten doesn’t have fun. Even when you go back to your clinic, maybe you could still talk to him. He might tell you it isn’t necessary, but he’ll miss you. He’ll never say it, but you’ll be one more person he lost. Think about it.”

Faith’s cell trilled as Jesse Murdoch came over to talk to his wife. Faith looked down. It was her dad. Because she needed that right now.

“I’ve got to take this, but I will think about what you said.” She stood and started for the front of the restaurant. The conversation with Erin and Phoebe had made her restless.

She wanted him. More than she would like to admit. Thinking about the old man in Ghana made her long for something she wasn’t sure she would get, and it was obvious she’d upset Erin. She was tempted to tell Erin to pull up her big girl panties and deal with the fact that an amazing man was in love with her, but no one ever really knew what was going on under another person’s surface. She had no real idea of what pain was bubbling up in Erin.

Damn, she shouldn’t have had two margaritas.

“Hello,” she said after dragging her finger across the screen. Now she had to deal with her dad and she was already emotional.

“Hey there, baby girl. How are you doing?” Her father’s voice boomed over the cell.

Sometimes it wasn’t easy having a larger than life father. “I’m good, Dad. How’s DC?”

“I’m in London for a conference this week. Paris the week after that for some meetings, and then I’m coming to see my girls.”

She had to smile. Her father had always had a busy schedule. The truth was after her mother had been killed, she’d been raised by nannies and her older sister. Her father felt like a kindly distant relative most of the time. “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“Good. Because you can tell me who the hell this man is you’re bringing with you. Where did you meet him? Because it damn sure wasn’t in Africa. He’s been in the States for years. According to the report I got on him he hasn’t been outside the country since he left the service. And he’s not a doctor. He doesn’t even have a damn degree, Faith.”

Snobs. She sighed. “I met him through mutual friends, Dad. He’s a good guy. I thought you would be thrilled I was dating someone who served in the military. A good Southern boy.”

“I don’t like his background,” her father said, stubbornness clear in his voice. “He’s looking for money like all the rest. What happened with that nice Roger fella?”

“He dumped me for a more convenient woman.” She walked out of the lobby, in front of the restaurant. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to entertain everyone with. The air was hot, the sun right overhead. Definitely shouldn’t have had those margaritas. She was ready for a nap. A nice nap cuddled up against her guy. “He’s a good guy. I like him. If you don’t approve, I can stay here in Dallas.”

“Now don’t get all bent out of shape. You know no man’s good enough for my baby girl.”

“I’m sure you put him through a variety of intrusive background checks. Is there anything you want to tell me?” She’d expected this call, though later in the process.

“He was arrested for drunk and disorderly in New Orleans.”

Sanctum had sent her its own report on Master T back before she’d accepted him. “Yes and he was twenty-two at the time and on leave. Drunk and disorderly is practically a souvenir from New Orleans.”

Her father’s voice went low, his sympathetic “man of the people” voice. “He was raised in foster care, honey. Men like that have serious psychological issues.”

This was her father’s world. Everything was stated in absolutes. In her father’s world, every person raised in foster care was obviously damaged—until he needed them to not be in order to move his current campaign forward. She had news for her dad. Everyone was damaged in one way or another. “I like him a lot. You’re not going to convince me to dump him. If you don’t want him around you, I understand.”