Page 7 of The Billionaire's Distraction

They stood side by side in taut silence, waiting.Tony didn’t need words to know Naomi sensed it too.

Then it came, the older one, Jacob, revealed a sly grin that cut across his face like a signal flare.

“No!”Naomi’s voice cracked the air, sharp and urgent.She’d recognized the cue at the same moment he had.

Tony’s mouth tightened, his jaw hardening into a grim line.“Let me handle this,” he muttered, low and lethal.His anger wasn’t loud, didn’t need to be.He hated bullies.Always had.Especially ones being molded into little replicas of their pathetic excuse for a father.

He strode forward with lethal calm, every step radiating authority.Naomi’s breath caught at the sheer power in his movements.The boys froze as his shadow fell over them, their earlier bravado evaporating.

Tony planted his feet at the base of the tall play structure, glaring up at the older boy.“We need to talk,” he said.His gaze cut to the younger.“You too.”Then he jerked his chin toward the left side of the playground.“Now.”

The boys hesitated for only a second.But one look into Tony’s dark eyes, sharp and merciless, and they knew better.They glanced at Naomi, hoping for rescue, but her expression—an odd mix of encouragement and warning—offered no reprieve.Shoulders slumped, they climbed down and trudged toward the designated spot.

“March!”Tony ordered when Mark leaned a little into Jacob, clearly attempting some whispered rebellion.

His command cracked across the playground, sharp and absolute.The boys froze mid-step, their bravado collapsing in an instant.They knew better than to test him, even if they couldn’t explain why.Slowly, sullenly, they obeyed, trudging forward in silence.

Tony’s eyes stayed on them, but his awareness stretched sideways, to the woman standing several feet away.He didn’t have to look at her to know she’d gone still, could feel the tremor in the air between them.She wasn’t afraid of him—not in the way most people were.What she felt was something else, sharper, charged.He’d caught the tiny hitch of her breath, the faint shift of her weight, like her body couldn’t decide whether to step closer or back away.

Damn woman.She didn’t belong anywhere near him, yet he could sense her inching toward the danger, even as she recognized it.That awareness sparked through his own veins, a hum of heat he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He forced his gaze back to the boys, jaw tight.Better to focus on the devils he could correct than the woman who made his blood stir in ways it shouldn’t.

Chapter 6

Naomiwatchedinshockas her charges obediently trudged off to the swing set.Mark sat while Jacob dutifully pushed him, neither raising their voices nor bothering the other kids.The behavior change was so abrupt, so foreign, it made her heart ache with longing.They could be sweet.They really could.Why couldn’t their father see it?

A moment later, the big man returned, folding his massive arms across his chest as he observed the boys.

“What did you say to them?”she whispered under her breath, unable to contain her curiosity.

He didn’t look down at her right away, just kept his dark gaze on the swings.“I gave them a few truths.”

“Truths?”Naomi’s voice pitched in disbelief.“Did you…threatenthem?”

He turned his head then, those sharp eyes locking on her.“Don’t you deny them dessert when they misbehave?”

She blinked.“Of course, but…?”

“Then you threaten them too.”His gaze shifted back to the boys.They glanced over at him, and he gave the barest nod of approval.The boys returned to their play.

Naomi opened her mouth, then closed it, frustrated by his logic.“Whoareyou?”she asked finally, the question slipping out before she could stop it.

He glanced down at her, his face giving nothing away.“Tony.”

That was it.One word.No last name.No explanation.

Naomi stared up at him, trying to read him, and got absolutely nothing.“What do you do, Tony?”she pressed, partly because she wanted to know and partly because she just wanted him to keep talking, to stay with her a little longer.

He held her gaze for a long moment, his silence stretching until she thought he wasn’t going to respond.Then, finally, he said, “I’m in security.”

Naomi almost laughed.That was so vague it could mean anything from installing alarms to guarding diplomats.“Security?For who?Are you a bodyguard for someone in the neighborhood?”

The corner of his mouth twitched, a shadow of amusement flickering across his face.“Yeah,” he agreed.“You could say that.”

She frowned, huffing out a sigh, shifting her weight from one foot to the other impatiently.“That’s not much of an answer.”

“But, I did give you an answer,” he pointed out, not unkindly, but with a finality that made it clear she wouldn’t get more.