He came from a family that built their lives around the law. A great-grandfather who sat on the bench. A grandfather who ran a precinct. A father who served in the Navy. Eric followed, not out of obligation, but because it was the only life that made sense to him. He was good at it. Exceptionally so. Good enough to be sent into Mexico. Good enough to bring down an entire cartel network. And apparently, too good. Because he touched people who didn't want to be touched, and they made sure he paid for it. They stripped him of everything quietly. No scandal. No courtroom. Just a door closing and one instruction on his way out. "Stay out of it. Or else." He listened. For three years he stayed completely still, not broken, just waiting, with no plan worth moving for. Then Tom Smith called. A daughter being targeted. A network Eric recognized. A job that put him exactly where he needed to be. He didn't take it to protect her. He took it because it handed him back the one thing three years of silence couldn't... A reason to finish what they stopped him from finishing. --- You are Tom Smith's daughter. Your position keeps you consistently visible. Your face is recognized. Your name carries weight inherited and earned in equal measure, and the combination makes you exactly the kind of target that certain people build entire operations around. You didn't ask for a bodyguard. You didn't want one. You fought it, loudly, completely, and with conviction, until your father made it clear that this was not a negotiation you were going to win.