force ch 1
She was lying to him.
Jonas Castillo eyed his client, Mira Ashton, carefully. She'd been beaten and abused by her ex-husband for years. She was still cagey around men. But since he was one of the people who'd gotten her away from that asshole, she shouldn't be afraid of him. So why was this whole situation off?
He'd met her at the café just on the edge of the theater district as she'd asked him to. Normally, they would do a site visit at her home but given her history, he didn't think anything was unusual about her asking to meet him here. But now he wasn't sure.
Something wasn't right.
"Mira, you sure you're okay?”
Her gaze snapped to his. "I'm fine. It's just that it's really crowded in here."
"We don't have to stay here. If you would like, I can drive you back to your apartment." She lived about three or four blocks from here.
Her eyes went wide. "No. This is fine."
"Are you sure? Did your husband call? If you're scared or unsure, we can help with that. That’s the purpose behind these check-ins. We do this for all our clients. It's no trouble at all for us to look into another matter for you if someone’s bothering you."
She shook her head. "It's nothing like that. I just—I just hate that I needed you in the first place. That I got myself into the situation. That's not who I am; that's not me. I don't like how everything turned out, but I'm fine. I just have to learn how to deal."
He nodded. "It's going to take some time. Just know that he can't hurt you. We got him out of the house. And you got a restraining order against him. It's not in his best interest to come near you. If he breaks that restraining order, he goes back to jail. He doesn't want that. So you're safe."
She shifted her gaze away from his. "Yeah. Safe."
Jonas's brow furrowed again. "Can I get you another slice of pie? Something else to eat?"
"No. I think I'm just going to head home."
"Okay, let me give you a ride. I parked just across the street."
For a long moment her gaze lifted and met his, holding it. It was as if she wanted to tell him something. Wanted him to hear something. But what the hell was she trying to say?
"No, I think I'm just going to walk."
He wanted to argue with that. But she set her jaw, and he'd seen that look before. It was the I'm-not-fucking-around look. It was the look people got when they set their minds about something and had no intention of changing them. "All right. You have a good night now, okay?"
She scooted out of the booth and stood. "I will. Thank you for everything. You don't know—" She cut herself off and sighed deeply before continuing. "You, all of you at Blake Security, you don't know what you have done for me. Thank you."
Jonas waited exactly thirty seconds before he followed her. He had no idea who the hell Noah had to blow to get special curbside parking access around most of the city, but all of Blake Security’s cars were equipped with special plates and they could park anywhere. Farther down the block, she hopped into a taxi.
It took her the few blocks to her apartment. Jonas figured she might not have wanted to deal with the summertime crowds in the theater district, as it was packed.
When she reached her apartment, she climbed out of the cab and stared up at the building for a moment. Jonas parked across the street and watched her intently. And then he saw what she was looking at. Someone passed in front of the front window. Someone was walking around.
Jonas’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t so much that she had a guest that had him concerned. It was that he recognized the movement of that guest. The guy was mostly in shadow, but Jonas recognized the way he walked and rolled his shoulders. That was her ex-husband. What the fuck was he doing in her house?
Mira's building didn't have a doorman. Luckily, he had a key. He tried to wait patiently until she was up the elevator before following in the service elevator behind her. It was farther down the hall than her apartment, but he'd be able to observe her. Stalker much? Damn it, he just wanted to make sure she was okay.
You need to let this go. She's not Emma.
He shoved away the painful memory of the woman he'd tried to help all those years ago. The one he’d been unable to help. The one that had cost him his career. Probably better if he didn’t think about her right now.
He shook it off. Mira wasn't Emma. For starters, he could help Mira. He watched from the shadows as she stuck the key in the lock, but the door opened on its own and she was dragged inside. Just as he was about to head down the hallway, the door to the stairway opened and someone stepped out, grabbed him, and yanked him into the stairwell.
He dislodged the grip in less than a second and had his hands up, ready to fight. It took him a moment longer to realize he knew the asshole who was trying to pick a fight. "Noah? What the fuck?"
"Jonas, I was in the area and Matthias notified me that your GPS was headed to Mira's house. Did she meet you at the café?"
"Yeah, dumbass, she did." Jonas ran a hand through his hair. "But she was acting cagey and weird. So I wanted to make sure she was okay and got home safe. There’s a guy in her apartment right now."
Noah sighed. "I know."
"What do you mean you know?" Jonas glared at him.
"Look, when Matthias came to check in on her last week, he noticed her ex in the doorway. She hugged him, kissed him. They’re back together."
"Son of a bitch."
Jonas tried to yank open the stairwell door, but Noah stopped him. "You need to follow the Disney princess's advice and let it go. Mira made her choice."
No, this wasn't Noah talking. "We got her away from him. He has to have something on her, be scaring her or something."
Noah shook his head. "No. We’ve tailed her for over a week. She's back with him."
"We have to do something. After everything we did to get her away from him, after everything we went through to keep her safe … "
"I know. But this is her choice. You can't want something for her she doesn't want for herself. You have to let it go. We can't intervene unless she asks us to."
Jonas shoved him. He had to help her. Problem was, Noah was just as big as he was. Not to mention the guy was good. Assassin good. But that didn't stop Jonas from fighting with him. He had to get to her.
"Look man, you're one of my best friends. I'm happy to fight with you so you can let off some steam, but this is a fight you can't win. Not with me, or with her. She is making her choice. You can't make it for her."
Noah's last words finally sank in. He couldn't make her choices for her. So just like before, all he could do was stand by and watch as someone he cared about set herself on a path for disaster.
He sagged against the wall and Noah clapped him on the shoulder. "This is bullshit."
"I know. But how about we focus on the people we can actually help? We'll be here when she comes back. But for now, let her go."
Jonas glanced up at him. He knew what Noah was saying. But he had zero intention of letting this go. Sometimes people needed to be saved from themselves.
"All I'm saying is that he's a pain in the ass. I mean, can you believe that he told me I was being a prima donna? Me. A prima donna!" Jessica Jones spun around on her stool as she watched her best friend style a mannequin for an upcoming fashion show. "I'm the least prima donna person I know." A quick glance at the mannequin told her what she needed to style the makeup for the upcoming fashion show. "Actually, maybe go with the orange belt? I can do a really pretty gold shimmer with that."
Lucia Blake raised an eyebrow at her. "JJ, I have no idea why he would call you a prima donna," she said with a smirk.
JJ rolled her eyes. "Okay, I like things a certain way. There's nothing wrong with that."
Lucia giggled. "And I'm not saying that there is. I'm saying I think you and Jonas like to push each other's buttons. Why don’t you just give in and say you like him already?"
"I do not like him. Matter of fact, I hate him." Never mind that half the time she wanted to pick a fight with him just because he got her blood pumping. And also, never mind the fact that her lady parts throbbed every time he gave her one of his annoying smirks.
“I mean just because he thinks he saved my life, it doesn’t mean he can say whatever he wants to me. Bigger men than him have tried.” Except that wasn’t true. Jonas was big, and she actually liked the way he talked to her.
“Honey, he did actually save your life,” Lucia pointed out oh so helpfully.
JJ shuddered when she remembered the fire that had razed her apartment to ash. It had nearly consumed her too. She’d been asleep in her bedroom when the fire had started.
The memory of feeling like she was choking made her stomach turn. She hadn’t been able to wake up at first, almost like she’d taken a sleeping pill or something. Next thing she knew, Jonas was bursting through her bedroom door even as flames licked at him from the living area.
He’d grabbed her blanket, run to her bathroom and doused it with water, then picked her up like she weighed nothing and wrapped them both in it before carrying her out. He’d placed her gently on the sidewalk just as the fire trucks pulled up. What would have happened to her if he hadn’t gotten to her when he did?
Management had said it was an electrical fire. Her building had been renovated about fifteen years prior, but they said something went wrong with the wiring between the trio of apartments on the corner. Her place took the brunt of the damage, so now she was living at Blake Security headquarters. The view at the penthouse was better, but she missed her own space.
“Okay, fine, you have a point. He did save my life, but he’s still a caveman. And a jackass. Saving my life does not preclude that.”
Lucia snorted. “You may have a point.”
The man was just so damned frustrating. She wanted to hit him, and she wanted to jump his bones. She knew that wasn't a healthy response. So she was just going to keep that to herself. Besides, her history with men involved picking exactly the wrong kind of guy. And Jonas was the wrong kind of guy. Besides, he hated her just as much as she hated him.
Which isn't very much at all.
She shoved that thought down. So what if she occasionally busted out her battery-operated boyfriend when she was thinking about him in her bed alone at night. So? Lots of women did that. It didn't mean she was a glutton for punishment or that she was ever going to do anything about it.
Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.
“I mean just because he and his boys are part of some secret government hit squad doesn’t mean he’s so cool.”
Lucia’s eyes bugged, and JJ stared at her. Her best friend was no good at lying or keeping secrets usually. She would never blurt it out, but ask her a direct question and she was toast … every time.
“Holy shit, are you kidding me right now?”
Lucia flushed. “Given everything you’ve seen in the last year, you know you need to keep that to yourself right?”
Lucia didn’t have to tell her twice. “I’m not an idiot. Usually the people coming after us have very big guns. So fine. He is part of a secret government hit squad. I mean talk about #squadgoals.”
A laugh burst out of her best friend. “You’re ridiculous.”
JJ grinned. “Take that Taylor Swift. My squad is hotter than your squad.”
Their boss Adriana poked her head into the styling room. "There you are."
JJ and Lucia both glanced up to look at her. Adriana had that kind of former-model's body that any stylist would be thrilled to dress. Long lean lines, with high cheekbones and a beautifully sculpted face. She was fifty and looked like she was thirty-five. JJ had no idea how she did that. She figured she must use some seriously expensive European creams.
She grinned up at her. "What's up boss lady? Lucia is just finishing the styling, and I'll have the final makeup color palette for you, probably this afternoon."
Lucia nodded. "JJ suggested using the orange belt. I like that one. Or maybe this one that's a little more salmon. JJ, that'll work for you right?"
JJ nodded. “Yeah, that works too. I have a really pretty peach shimmer I can use that will still work."
Adriana agreed. “Use Lucia as a test model. She has that gorgeous olive skin and we can see how it all works together. But that's not why I'm here, actually."
"What do you need?" JJ asked.
“This year we’re working with a new charity, Hope Springs. It's for domestic violence survivors. I'd love for you to be instrumental in this. I want you to sit down with the board and help map out the campaign. There are a lot of women who have just managed to leave their situations. A lot of them still bear scars and need some help to get back on their feet. But it's sort of impossible to even try to go back to work when you're covered in bruises and scars.
“We wanted to do a benefit makeup campaign; raise funds, raise awareness, and then train makeup artists on how to help these women put on a brave face. A survivor's face. And every woman knows that you always feel a little better with makeup. The best part about this is we're pairing with some lower-cost makeup lines, so we want to do some simple looks that will work to get these women back in the workforce. Some of the work that you did with that homeless teenagers’ charity last year was amazing. Some quick, simple, and cheap solutions. I think you're just the person."
As Adriana spoke, JJ's gut curled in on itself. All she could hear were Adriana's words clanging around her head. Abused women. Domestic violence. She couldn't do this. There was no way. She cleared her throat before she spoke. "I mean, sure, that sounds like a great cause, but is there any reason I need to sit with the board and help them? They can just repurpose what I used for the homeless teenagers. It would be a lot of the same work."
Adriana raised a brow and Lucia slid her a glance. JJ wished she could explain to her best friend, but she just couldn't. This was not something she could talk about. And it was certainly not anything she could be involved with. It hit too close to home.
Even though Adriana had her brow raised, she carried on. " You're the best makeup stylist I have. And doing pro bono charity work is really important to the organization. I'll tell them to expect a call from you this afternoon."
Adriana left without another word. And she could do that because, well, she owned the joint. All she had to do was put down an edict, and she should expect for her word to become bond. The problem was this was the last thing on earth JJ wanted to do. She didn't want to go back to that time in her life. A time when she'd had to cover her physical and emotional bruises. She didn't want to think about the girl she'd been.
You can do this. This is your job. This is your dream job. Make it happen. One way or another.
When Adriana left, Lucia studied the two belts, the orange and salmon ones, holding them up to the mannequin. She didn't look over at her, but her tone said it all. "You okay, JJ?"
JJ forced a smile into her voice. "Of course I am." I have to be.
"You don't have to do that with me. But it's not like you to turn down a job Adriana gives you, especially since this is the kind of thing that you love to do. And secondly, why would you say no to something like this? It's a really great cause." Lucia turned to face her. "What's up?"
"I told you. Nothing. And it is a great cause. You're right. And of course I am going to do it. It just seems like I’d be repeating work I’ve already done, ya know?" The lie sounded clunky to her ears. She had to get out of there before Lucia saw through the lie for the excuse it was. That was the problem when you worked with your childhood best friend. She could see through anything.
JJ wished she could tell her. She really did. But there were some things better left in the past. And the things she'd been through were some of them. "See you later, okay?" she muttered as she escaped the styling room before Lucia could respond.
Now she'd just have to figure out how the hell she was going to get out of this project.