Chapter 1
Briella
“Son of a bitch.”
“Do you have eyes on him?” Skylar questions.
I’m so annoyed. Everything was perfectly in place until this douchebag got in my way.
“I did until this behemoth jumped in front of the camera. How the hell am I supposed to see if this scumbag’s cheating on his wife if the cameras blocked.”
“I’m pretty confident he has no idea he’s in front of your camera. Or that he’s ruining our covert op for that matter. Scooch over, let me see.”
Sky sits next to me in the back of the van and stares at the computer screen. We’re on a stake out and all was going according to plan up until two minutes ago. We’re parked across the street from the restaurant our target’s currently getting drinks at. Our jobs to see if he’s being a good little boy or if he’s fucking around on his wife.
It may seem strange, spying on a married man, but it’s all in a day’s work. You see, me and my three best friends run an all-female security company, F.T. Private Investigations. Me, Sky, Sidney and Fliss have always been thrill seekers. This seemed like a logical business venture and we’re damn good at what we do. We don’t really do bodyguard protection, although we’re qualified to do so. We specialize in surveillance and we kick ass at it. Sure, we get a lot of cheating husband jobs, like I said, we’re good at what we do. If he’s cheating you bet your ass we’ll find out and get the proof.
Then this hulking man stepped right in front of my camera when it looked like a woman was approaching the target.
“We need to get him out of there. Who the fuck just stands in the middle of a street like an asshole?” I question before looking over to ensure the tapes still rolling.
“Everyone.” Sky laughs.
“I’ve got this covered. You won’t even know I’m gone.” With a little device in my ear so she can tell me when we’re all clear, I push open the door of the van. “Talk to me if there’s any issues.”
“I miss you already princess.” She salutes me before I step into the warm night air rolling my eyes. I can’t help but welcome the heat on my skin, I live for this weather.
We’re right across the street so I carefully dodge cars until getting to the other side of the road. When I’m a few feet away I stop to look at the bane of my existence… right now. He’s probably an okay guy, he’s just presently screwing up my surveillance. He doesn’t seem as big as it shows on the computer screen. Probably because all I could see was his back directly in front of the camera. I suppose that would make anyone look like a giant. As I get to him my hand taps his large hulking shoulder causing him to turn around. My eyes immediately narrow.
“You.”
“Hello Bri.” He flashes a smile my way which makes my blood boil even more.
“Colby.”
“What have you been up to? It’s been a while.” He puts his hands in his pockets all while still staring at me.
“You know you’re standing in front of my camera and that I’m working for that matter. Go away.”
“Is that anyway to talk to your-” I cut him off.
“My nothing.”
“We need to talk.”
“Colby, just go.” I turn around and head back for the van. He’s really starting to get on my nerves.
I’m not lucky enough to just go on with my night. No, he follows me back to the van. At least he’s not blocking the camera anymore.
“You should be careful where you place your equipment. I knew you were around here.”
“Of course you did. Listen.” I whirl around and nail him with my best fuckoff glare. “I have shit to do. I don’t screw around with your business.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Alright, I get the hint. Just one thing before I go.”
I’m mid eye roll when he wraps his arms around my shoulders eliciting a grunt from me. “I’ve missed you.” He whispers in my ear.
Sky must think I’m in danger because the next thing I know I’m lying on the sidewalk and Colby’s out cold on top of me. Fantastic.
“Stun gun?” I question.
“Yup.” She pops the p sounding bored.
“A little help here?”
She moves and we manage to roll him off me. Damn he’s heavy. I know I said he wasn’t as big as I first thought, but he’s solid. Just over six feet and not an ounce of fat on his body. I would know, I’ve seen it intimately.
“What do we do now?”
“Help me get him in the van. We can’t leave him here and we need to finish this up. Plus, we don’t need someone to call the cops. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile.” We drag him the best we can and flop him onto the floor in the back away from our equipment.
We take our seats in front of the computer and proceed watching our target as if nothing happened. Colby’s gonna be bullshit when he wakes up, but I’ll deal with him when it happens. We’ve been at this for two hours and I refuse to call this night a wash.
“Shit, where’d barbie go? If Colby jacked up this job I’ll stun him again.” Sky mumbles.
“Yes! There’s the bimbo. You owe me twenty bucks Sky.” I laugh. On the computer screen is a voluptuous blonde in a slinky dress who approaches our mark before sitting in his lap and sucking his face off.
“How are you always so sure about these things? You’re never wrong.” She passes the money my way.
“When you grow up with a cheating asshole for a father and get screwed over by most of your exes, we’ll talk.”
“And that’s why I’m a lesbian.” We both laugh.
I quickly take the pictures we need to present in the morning. We’re meeting with this scumbag’s wife and we’ve got some proof to show her. I hate when we can’t find anything but I know in my gut the guys fucking some floozy on the side.
“Let’s roll.”
“What about Colby?” Sky questions.
“We’ll stop by his place on the way back to the office. I know where he hides his key.”
“I’m sure you do.” She chuckles.
“What?” ‘
She doesn’t respond, just gives me a you know what look.
Just thinking about my time with him gets me hot and I hate it. I especially hate how when the night was over he threw me out like a common hooker. Colby called me a fucking Uber, slipped me a twenty and sent me on my way. I was nothing but a notch in his bed post, just another conquest. I really hate that it didn’t mean anything to him because it meant everything to me.
It may surprise you, but I’ve been best friends with Colby since I was eight and he was ten. He moved into the house next to mine and we hit it off. We were inseparable. Until we crossed a line no friends should and he acted like I repulsed him. I’m not gonna be a whiny bitch pining after someone that doesn’t want me the same way back. I’ve been crossed by one too many guys that screwed me over and I’m sick of it. And he was the worst by a landslide. He’s my best friend. Was… he was my best friend up until a few months ago.
“You should suck up your pride and ask him if they can consult on the Miller Case.”
“No freaking way Sky. If I ask him… no, just no.”
“That’s their area of expertise, they could be really helpful.”
“Just drive. We do just fine on surveillance by ourselves.”
You see, Colby also runs a security company. They deal with similar clients but also do the bodyguard gig. They have some seriously intimidating dudes over there. They’ve been hired by some of the biggest celebrities when they come to town, the wealthy are always looking for some muscle, even if they don’t actually need it. Everyone likes to think they need to be protected.
Like I said before, we’re all trained in self-defense and could take some of the biggest guys down. But we learned the hard way nobody wants to hire a group of girls to protect them and we’ve come to terms with that. Now we mostly do the cheating bastards thing.
We’re five minutes from Colby’s house when he starts to groan.
“Shit, I was hoping he’d stay out until we dropped him on his doorstep.”
“I can stun him again?”
She’s dead freaking serious and that’s why I love this girl. “No way, with my luck he’ll end up with brain damage or a permanent eye twitch. At least he’ll be able to walk in by himself. I don’t know how we’d even manage carrying him in unnoticed.”
By the time we pull up in front of his exclusive condo building, he’s starting to move around.
“Sky, did you stun me?” He questions as he pops up between our seats rubbing his eyes.
“I thought you were mauling my girl, I had to protect her.” She smiles.
“Maybe I was mauling her.” He waggles his brows. “It’s great to see you.” He gets a faraway look in his eye and I don’t have time to think about it right now.
“Out.”
“My best girl isn’t gonna walk me to my door?”
“Colby-”
“What if I fall down Briella? My legs are all sorts of shaky.” He grins at me knowing he’s got me.
“Let’s go. Get your ass out Maitland.”
When he gets out of the van he slings his arm around my shoulders and puts most of his weight on me. He’s lucky I work out regularly or else I’d be on the ground right now. He must weigh over 200 pounds and compared to my small frame he’s the hulk.
“How is this even helping you? I’m clearly not tall enough to be your crutch.”
“You’re tiny. It’s always been one of my favorite things about you Bri. I can carry you around in my pocket.”
I sigh and keep him moving needing to get away from him. He always jokes about my size and it’s reminding me too much of what we were before lines were crossed. Why did we have to screw everything up?
When we get to the front of his building the attendant opens the door. I fully plan on leaving him to his own devices so I say a few words to the guy making sure he gets him up to his condo, then turn to leave.
“Won’t you walk me to my door?”
“This isn’t a fucking date. Plus, this is your door. See you later Colby.” I turn around to leave but he grabs my elbow.
“Briella, why won’t you talk to me. You won’t answer my texts or calls, I’ve even sent you emails with no reply. Did I do something to upset you?” He questions.
“Are you serious right now? You know what, I don’t have time for this game you’re playing. I’ll see you around.” I turn and stomp back to the van. Once I jump in Sky lets out a low whistle.
“Hello tension. Maybe you should just talk to him? There’s clearly unresolved issues.”
“Unresolved issues? If you think him calling me my sisters name while he made love to me then kicking me out like I was just some chick he picked up in a bar needs to be discussed, you’re an asshole.”
“He was drunk. Come on, you know he didn’t mean it.”
“It doesn’t matter. How can you be on his side? You’ve known how I’ve felt about him since we were 12. Do you know how it feels to finally get the man of your dreams and have that happen? You don’t so your opinion isn’t needed. Drive.”
“Aye Aye Captain.”
As we pull away, I look back and see him still in the doorway watching me. He can watch all he wants, that’s all he’ll ever get from me.
© Karen Raines & Brittany Crowley 2017