Nobody Touches My Daughter!

Landon's POV

{A Few Weeks Ago...}

{Onyx Reign Military Force. Sector 9, 10 AM}

{Marshal's Private Office...}

"Marshal! Intel just came in. Surveillance confirms enemy agents from Country C have breached our borders,"

"How many?" I asked without looking up.

"Three. Last sighted near the lower central district... a dive bar called Vino's Nest,"

I finally glanced up from the document I'd been reviewing. The lieutenant standing across from me faltered under my gaze.

"Shall I escalate this to the General?"

"No need. I'll handle it personally,"

"Marshal, with all due respect..."

"I said I'll handle it. Prep the logistics. I'm going undercover as an employee at that bar. If we play this smart, we can take them down before word leaks,"

"I understand, Marshal. I'll prepare immediately," The lieutenant saluted before exiting swiftly.

I rose from the leather chair and walked toward the large fish tank at the corner of the office. Slowly, I scattered some fish food into the water, watching the calm ripple.

There was no real reason for me to take on a mission this trivial. But it beat sitting around, signing documents all day.

Besides, it gave me something unexpected: a new identity, Landon Warren, a thirty-year-old, mute and a bartender.

The first week at the bar was uneventful. No sign of the spies. But I did discover a hidden talent: I was good at mixing drinks. Surprisingly good.

The second week passed the same way. Nothing interesting. Just broken men crying into whiskey and women showing up repeatedly... drawn in, no doubt, by the new, godlike bartender.

Me.

Their stares were... bothersome. But being mute worked in my favour. They didn't know sign language, and I wasn't about to write down a conversation.

Then came the third week.

They arrived.

Three men, their accents off just enough to raise suspicion. I served their drinks while discreetly listening in. Bits and pieces of their conversation were proof of their agenda... but I needed more.

Should I drug their drinks? Nah, too risky.

Force a confession? I didn't have my weapon on me. Arresting them on the spot would blow my cover.

"Landon!" A voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

I shot the speaker a sharp glare. He flinched.

Realizing it was my boss, I forced a smile as I approached him. He visibly relaxed.

"Man. That stare of yours is lethal." He said, laughing, his hand resting on his round belly.

I nodded, nonchalant.

"You should take the trash out. Hurry!"

I frowned slightly, glancing back toward the spies. Still talking.

Fine. I'd be quick.

That was the plan, at least... until I stepped out the back door and nearly collided with two men carrying a young girl. They were rushing in my direction.

There was no other exit... only the bar behind me.

And that child?

Ah! Kidnappers!

"Get out of the way, else I'll stab you!" One of them growled, flashing a penknife. He lunged.

Without wasting much time, I grabbed his wrist mid-strike and flipped him over my shoulder. He crashed to the ground with a grunt.

The second man froze. Then he dropped the girl and turned to flee.

One of my men, stationed nearby, intercepted him with a solid kick that sent him flying into the dumpster.

"Are you alright, Marshal?"

"..."

I didn't respond. Instead, I knelt beside the girl. She looked shaken, but unharmed.

I glanced towards the alley where the kidnappers had come from. I could sense more movement.

"Go!" I ordered.

"Yes sir!" My man saluted, then dragged the unconscious bodies off and vaulted over the fence.

I carried the girl inside and untied the ropes binding her hands and mouth.

"I'm fine. Mommy will come for me," she said, calmly.

I hadn't even asked. Why did I save her? I didn't have a history with children. They tend to cry and scream, which annoys me a lot.

But this one... she doesn't seem scared of those kidnappers.

I brushed her hair back and parted my lips to say something when the door, crashed open. I instinctively shielded her, thinking it was the other kidnappers.

A woman stormed in. Her guards raised their weapons... aimed at me.

She thought I was the kidnapper since they found the little girl in my hand.

She even ordered my death without questioning me.

Should I beat them down and run away?

Yes. That doesn't sound like a bad plan.

Then the child's voice cut through everything.

"Don't kill Papa!"

...

Papa?

Who?

Me?

Just like that, I became her Papa because I saved her. Did I make a mistake?

I thought her mother would be furious.

But I was wrong. I hate being wrong.

She brought me to her home, even in my filthy bar uniform, and had me sit on her spotless white couch. She didn't recoil. She didn't question me.

She focused only on her daughter.

Why did that bother me? Why was I disappointed?

Didn't she find me attractive enough? Or... I wasn't her type of man. She's practically different from the women I've met before. She doesn't do anything to gain my attention at all, yet every slight movement from her draws my attention to her.

The women at the bar drooled over me, but she didn't even spare me a glance. When she found out I was mute, she didn't pity me.

'Fuck!'

She was driving me crazy already.

"Come back tomorrow at noon" was what she said before I left the estate.

My estate.

Since she lived here, I could keep an eye on her. A slow smirk crept across my lips as I stepped through the gate.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and slid the green dancing button on my phone before placing it on my left ear.

"Marshal! What do we do with the men we caught earlier?"

"The kidnappers?"

"Yes sir!"

"Kill them!"

"Marshal...?"

"They laid their filthy hands on my daughter," I said, fingers brushing through my hair. "So give them the most gruesome death."