Victor snapped to attention before I did. Mainly because I couldn’t do much more than eyeball Kenneth in extreme skepticism. He smiled at me, the tiniest upturn of his mouth, almost as though he liked my wariness.
“What kind of job?” Victor asked.
“Security.” Kenneth didn’t look away from me, not even to take in the small apartment or to glance at the hallway in an attempt to locate his daughter. The daughter who’d been attacked only hours ago. “In the past couple of decades, I’ve put together a strong security team made up of the best in the industry. Former military, intelligence agents, private military professionals, and so on. I handpick them, contract them with full benefits, and pay higher than anyone in the industry.”
“How much do you pay?” Victor piped up, as if anyone was talking to him. “I just finished security training and certification in Job Corps, and average pay for a guard is pretty fucki—damn low. Like thirteen bucks an hour when you start out.”
“Depending on experience, you could earn upward of six figures a year. For someone with less experience, I would still pay double what you just quoted.”
Victor’s eyes bugged out of his head, but I continued to survey Kenneth coolly. It wasn’t unheard of for the mega wealthy to want their own team of private guards—one of my Marine buddies was currently making seventy bucks an hour working for a movie star. And from my own research about the Stone family, research done after Meredith had refused to leave both my daydreams and late-night fantasies, Kenneth Stone was worth about ten billion. He could afford to spend a couple mil on security.
“How big is your team?”
Kenneth’s little smile grew, and for half a second he reminded me of Meredith when she was being knowing and cocky. He liked that I was asking questions. I was performing as he’d expected and wanted.
“I employ ten full-time guards. More during events.”
“What kind of trouble do you anticipate getting into with an army of personal security guards?”
“I don’t anticipate trouble. The purpose of my team is to circumvent it with risk management and threat assessment for me and my executives.” There was a slight pause and finally, Kenneth glanced around as if searching for someone else. “And my family as needed.”
Ah-hah. I wondered how long he’d known about the doxing, if he was familiar with the lawsuit QFindr was currently pursuing against their former IT manager for making private information public, and whether Caleb had turned down Kenneth’s offer for additional protection and gone with Redline instead.
And now I wondered, given the actual attack on Meredith, if the situation had changed. Were they accepting Daddy’s help? I sure as fuck would. The very idea of sending Meredith home without constant surveillance . . .
“If you already employ ten guards, why are you looking for more?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Adding to your stable for a specific reason?”
“I think you know the reason.”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume the threats against QFindr staff,” I said.
“Specifically, against my three children.”
I didn’t know what to make of a man who sounded like he was swallowing something sour while acknowledging his three grown children but was still planning to spend several hundred thousand dollars to protect them. I’d picked up on Mere’s animosity for the guy the night before, just by the way she’d mumbled the word dad, so there was clearly more to this story than a father wanting to protect his spawn.
“What else do you know about me?” I asked. “Did you do a full background check?”
“Not as thorough as I’ll do if you end up accepting my offer.”
“You know I’m queer, then?”
“I know you’ve slept with my daughter in the middle of a photoshoot, if I go by the rumors,” Kenneth said flatly. “I know your social media says you are genderqueer.”
He said genderqueer like Donald Trump said Latino. As if it was a word he’d never heard of and was having trouble pronouncing. My lip ticked up, but I smoothed my expression again.
“And you’re willing to hire a genderqueer Latinx person who has ‘slept’ with your daughter?” I asked, going full asshole with air quotes.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he demanded, an edge working into his tone.
“Because I’m willing to bet the rest of your team is full of white cis hetero bros with military tats. The kind of douchebags who drop racial slurs like it’s a normal part of conversation, and who have zero problems profiling.”
Across the room, Victor smirked as the smugness fled Kenneth’s expression.
“I understand why you’d make such an assumption, but you’re wrong.”
“I guess we’ll see,” I said. “Although I’m still confused as to why you’d come here to talk to me. Just because I whooped some fuckboy’s ass on a surveillance video?”
“And because my daughter, who inherited my tendency to trust no one and make myself vulnerable to even fewer people than that, sought protection from you. And you took care of her.”
Ah-hah. Maybe he’d been talking to Caleb. I had no other ideas as to how Kenneth Stone would know Mere had been with me or that I had “taken care of her.” The phrase dug far beneath my skin. It was fucking infantilizing.
“Meredith can take care of herself,” I said sharply. “If you saw the video, then you know that.”
“I know she can fight, but she isn’t a trained professional.” Kenneth slid his hands into his pockets. “And who knows what else may be coming.”
The words sent a chill running up my spine. He was right. Maybe nothing else would come of this, but it was equally possible that this attack against a well-known queer person would embolden others. All it took was one strike for the masses to team up and lash out, especially if Mere’s attack became a media circus and her would-be robbers were crucified. Which, if I went by the air of vengeance coming off Kenneth, he’d bribe whoever he had to in order to make sure they were. Who knew how many other homophobes and stalkers would crawl out of the woodwork?
“I can’t be Meredith’s guard,” I said finally.
“Why?”
Because it was a conflict of interest. I wanted to potentially date her, not fucking work for her. Technically, I’d be working for Kenneth, but it was still too close for my comfort. Not to mention how personally invested I was in her well-being. The next time someone put a hand on her, I was liable to rip their throats out, not just knock them out and wait for an arrest.
“What’s going on?”
Meredith’s voice jolted me. I looked over my shoulder to see her standing in the archway coming from the hall, wearing a pair of my basketball shorts and a ribbed tank top. Her long mass of hair was wet from the shower, and her makeup-less face made her look younger.
I swung my gaze from her to Kenneth, and did not miss the way he zeroed in on the bruises on her neck and arms. There was the briefest flaring of his nostrils before he smoothed his expression once again.
“You need to go to the hospital,” Kenneth said briskly. “Even if your injuries aren’t severe, there needs to be a record—”
“Okay, I already planned on doing that today, but what were you talking to Tonya about?” Meredith walked farther into the room, distrust etched into every line of her lovely face. “And why can’t you call before randomly showing up to someone’s house?”
Kenneth’s cheek clenched. “I apologize if I interrupted.”
Meredith’s jaw dropped.
“I wanted to check in on you. I’ve already spoken to your brother this morning. He’s increasing the security at QFindr, and plans to meet with the rest of the staff about the details we discussed over the phone.”
“Why would he discuss—” A realization dawned, and Meredith huffed out a slow breath. “Let me guess, your security guys will be shadowing us?”
He inclined his head. “Do you take issue with that? You always got along with the team. You would bring them dessert whenever we went out to dinner.”
“That was years ago,” she muttered, still stink-eyeing him. “But no, I actually don’t have a problem with that for now, as long as I don’t have to go back to that enormous mansion alone.”
Huh. Shocker. I’d expected her to scream and stomp her feet about being assigned a guard by the infamous Kenneth Stone. Who she seemed to hate.
“So, why were you talking to Tonya?”
Victor looked from me to Meredith to Kenneth, and he was so into this fucking soap opera. I wanted to kick him out, but I had a feeling he’d push back on my request, and I wasn’t going to argue with him in front of these people.
“He offered me a job with his security team.”
Meredith’s mouth tightened at the sides. “Okay, so you told him you’re not interested, right?”
The pause that stretched out had the capacity to ruin moods, days, and potential future dates. I ran my tongue along the inside of my lip, weighing my words and watching storm clouds gather over her blonde head.
“Right?” she pressed.
“Let’s talk about it later,” I said. “Without an audience.”
For the second time, Meredith’s jaw dropped.
Kenneth slid his hand from his pocket and extended a business card. It was glossy and embossed, most likely bearing all the appropriate contact information for the devil, but I took it. Even with Meredith seething beside me.
“Can I get one of those too?”
Any other time, I would have smacked Victor in his big head. Now? I was a little grateful for the seemingly random request.
“I don’t have a military background like Maldonado,” he said, deep voice louder than necessary in the small room. “But I’m certified.”
“A lot of people are certified,” Kenneth said.
“Yeah, but a lot of people haven’t lived shoulder-to-shoulder with cold-blooded criminals.” Victor raised his eyebrows, unapologetic and showing the brashness I’d come to recognize in his youth. “I have. I know how they think.”
I was fully expecting Kenneth to dead-eye him and walk out the apartment door without a backward glance, but he extended another of his Satan cards. Then he walked out the door.
“Tonya, can we talk? Please.”
Dragging my gaze away from Victor, and wondering whether he’d stuck around because of some sixth sense for cash opportunities, I focused on Meredith and realized she was pissed. Whether her ire was directed at me or her dad, I didn’t know, but I nodded.
“I’m taking off,” Victor said. “I’ll be back tonight.”
“Thanks for the update on your daily agenda.”
He scoffed at me and left, dressed for a day of nothing useful in Nike slides, shorts, and a sleeveless shirt. I wondered what the fuck he even did with his time besides encroach on my conversations with billionaires.
“You’re not really going to work for my dad,” Meredith said as soon as the door shut. “Please tell me you took his card just to be polite.”
I walked around the bar into the kitchen and put the card on the counter. It glared up at me, gleaming under the fluorescent lights. Frowning, I flicked the light off so there was nothing but the bright morning sun streaming into the apartment.
“Tonya.” Meredith’s voice rose the more impatient she got. She stalked me into the kitchen and moved closer until she had me backed against the counter. “Can you please answer?”
“I don’t have an answer for you.”
“How? Why?”
I leaned against the counter, elbows on the edge. “Because this is the industry I want to work in, and what he’s describing sounds like the type of move that would never happen for me at Redline.”
“You don’t know anything about his security team,” she insisted. “You’re considering this after a five minute convo?”
“I’ll consider it more seriously after I do some research. And you said yourself—the guys he has on the team aren’t bad. Coming from you, that’s glowing praise.”
Her face flushed red, nostrils flaring the way his had a few moments ago. “He’s a dick,” she gritted out. “And has spent most of his life ignoring my existence. I do not want him in my business.”
“That makes him a bad father. Not a bad boss.”
I’d known it would be the coldest take even before she gave me the most appalled and betrayed look she could muster. I made to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged me off and took a big step backward.
“Meredith—”
“I’m gonna go.”
She abruptly turned, wet hair nearly slapping me in the face, and stalked back toward my bedroom. I followed close behind, irritation sweeping me as I watched indignation gather in her shoulders.
“I thought you were staying for the weekend.”
“I was, but now I’m not.”
“Thanks, Meredith, but that was obvious,” I said flatly. “Where are you going?”
“To Caleb’s or Aiden’s houses. Or Ashton.”
“That’s fine, but are you only going because of the tantrum you’re having, or did something come up while you were getting dressed?”
Meredith froze with her back to me, then she sucked in a breath so deep it was almost like she’d just been under water. She turned, eyes blue slits and finger jabbing at my chest.
“Don’t talk down to me. I’m not having a tantrum. I’m upset.”
“You stomped out of the room because you didn’t like what I had to say.” I pushed her finger away. “That’s a tantrum.”
“I walked away because I had nothing positive to say to you in that moment, and I’d rather remove myself from the situation than tell you off.” Mere ran her hand through her damp hair, squeezing. “What you said was—”
“It was true.”
“No, it was fucked up. And heartless. My parents suck. I was invisible. I still am unless my mom needs a drinking buddy and can’t cougar her way into a suitable date. And my dad? Forget it. He only acknowledges me on a holiday. Until I apparently get hurt. You have no clue what I’ve dealt with when it comes to my parents.”
“And you have no clue what I went through with mine,” I replied, keeping my voice even despite my desire to snap at her. “Because we’ve only been on speaking terms for about fifteen hours, and there was no reason for me to start dropping bombs about my homophobic mother who encouraged me to move out at sixteen so she wouldn’t have to deal with the shame of having a dyke daughter, or the way my father would challenge me to fights since I wanted to ‘act like a man.’”
Meredith blanched. Her hand came up to her throat before shooting back down to her side. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you to be sorry. My point is that we don’t know a thing about each other. We’ve fucked a few times, but we’ve never been out together. For all I know, we won’t know each other in a few months.” There it was, that harshness. I could feel every sharp edge of the words taking shape in my mouth, but I couldn’t soften them. Because they were true. “Look, ma, I like you, I do, but—”
Meredith put up both hands this time. “Just stop.”
I grabbed her forearm and pulled her closer to me. “Let me talk, okay? I’m not writing you off, but I am trying to be real.” Apprehension colored every inch of her face. Or maybe that was the heat already steaming up my room as the fan ineffectually swished above us. “Unless you tell me that he abused you and your brothers, or your mother, or that he is corrupt and a fucking monster, why should I not even consider an opportunity to double my current salary with decent benefits? He’d be paying me to look after you or your brothers. Or Chris, who might also be on the shit list since he took the white supremacist dude’s spot. And he doesn’t have a billionaire family to have his back.”
Meredith closed her eyes and took a long deep breath, then another. By the time she looked at me again, I was starting to wonder if she was having a fucking asthma attack.
“You’re right,” she said. “You should consider it. We barely know each other.”
It sounded shittier coming from her. They were my words, but I hadn’t meant them the way they now sounded. “Is this a deal breaker for us getting to know each other better?”
“I don’t know.” Meredith knelt to gather her belongings from last night, cringing at the dress and heels. “Would it matter if I said it was?”
“Wow, can you not do this?”
“It’s a reasonable question.” She stood up, dress bunched in her arms. “There’s no point in me answering you if it wouldn’t make a difference. Your mind is set, and I don’t know whether mine is as well.”
Holy shit, this was driving me up the wall. I brought my hands to my face, rubbing my palms over my eyes to prevent myself from saying something else harsh. This was why I was single. Why I infrequently slept with people a few times, maybe went on a couple of dates, and started from scratch all over again. I didn’t know how to deal with someone else’s expectations of me when I was still unsure of what I wanted from myself. How could I make my choices based on a person who might not even be around next week?
The room got very still around us until I could hear nothing but my creaky ceiling fan and music playing somewhere down the block. Meredith wet her lips, shifting from bare foot to bare foot. Her nerves were setting in again, and she was practically twitching under my serious stare.
“Do you need me to call you a Lyft?” I asked.
She looked down. “I can do it, but it’d be nice if you lent me some shoes.”
“I can do that.”
Meredith turned away, mumbling about finding her phone, and I stared at her back, wondering whether this was really our first and last morning in my bedroom.