CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NICK

“You’re not going, Alicia,” Warren said, fixing Alicia with a stare that didn’t make me envy not being on the receiving side of it. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but that’s the final answer.”

Alicia, Warren, and I were gathered in his home office, and things were heating up, despite the fact that it was a cool morning outside.

“No, that’s not the final answer,” Alicia argued, her hands on her curvy hips and a manicured brow arched over her blazing eyes. “You seem to be forgetting that I’m an adult. I didn’t come in here asking for your permission. I came as a courtesy to tell you where I would be.”

Also not a look that I wanted to be on the receiving end of. If I ever were, fine. I could handle both of them easily, but since I was only in here because Alicia had insisted, it meant that I was nothing but a silent onlooker to their argument. And that was just fine by me.

“What do you think, Nick?” Warren asked.

Damn. So much for being a silent onlooker. “I don’t think a party is a good idea.”

Alicia turned that look on me. “Why not?”

Because our conference call a couple of days ago with the FBI showed evidence that they weren’t the only ones closing in on their targets, but I couldn’t tell her that. “From a security perspective, a party is dangerous where I haven’t been able to do a thorough assessment of the property beforehand, identify possible weak points, or plan strategic escape routes.”

Alicia scoffed a little, staring at me incredulously. “I’ve known these people since I was a child. None of them are going to kill me.”

She looked back at her father. “You know their parents, for god’s sake.”

“That’s really not the point here, sweetheart. I don’t think Jackson or any of your other friends are going to whip out a gun and come at you.” Warren huffed.

“Think about it this way. If even one person were to take a picture of you and post it to social media, your location would be out there in seconds. That’s all it would take to lure these people right to you.” I was trying to reason with her, but Alicia wasn’t the type of girl you could control, as I’d learned over and over again.

She was naive, yes. And sweet, sure. But she was also unpredictable, and she thought she was invincible. It had only been a month ago when she’d gone after a perceived attacker, armed with only a book.

She might as well just have offered herself up on a damn silver platter to be killed if I hadn’t been the one who’d been out there. She stood as much of a chance of survival by trying to defend herself with that book as she did by not defending herself at all.

“So, then I’ll just text my friends and ask them not to post anything about me. There, see? Done. Easy as pie.” She smiled sweetly, as if she’d made some sort of huge concession to me.

“Not that easy,” Warren said. “You know how these parties go. Everyone would’ve been invited, not just your circle of friends. There’s no way you can control what that amount of people put out there into the world, especially not once alcohol starts flowing.”

The sweet smile dropped from Alicia’s lips. They pressed in a thin line instead, her brows knitting together in a deep scowl. “Then I’ll stick to the corners, or shadows, or whatever and only talk to my friends.”

“Alicia, be reasonable here, honey. You can say you’ll only speak to your friends, you can try to blend in, but you know too many people. You will have to, at the very least, greet half the town, and if you’re just going to hide out, why risk going at all?”

“I am being reasonable. I came in here. I told you where I was going, despite the fact that I’m twenty-four and not fourteen, I’m even willing to promise that I’ll be home by midnight. You two are the ones being completely unreasonable. These are my friends. They’ve rented out the entire beach bar, and like you said, I’ll know most of the people there.”

I grudgingly admired her spunk. I couldn’t fault the woman for standing up for herself. She and Warren were both fuming, both standing their ground firmly. I didn’t see the argument ending with both of them being happy. There didn’t seem to be an acceptable middle ground.

“Do you honestly think that bad things only happen after midnight? The people that are after us don’t exactly work on a schedule. You’re a target twenty-four-seven. There’s nothing that says that they can’t engage in violence at any time of the day. Afternoon beach parties included.” Warren seethed.

“Well, I wouldn’t know, would I?” Alicia snipped back. “Since I still have no idea who they are, or why they’re after me.”

Oh brother. Not this again.

The effect on Warren was immediate. His face grew red, the vein in his temple started throbbing, and he slammed a fist onto his desk. “But I do, and they’re dangerous, Alicia. I’m not arguing with you about any of this anymore. You’re not going, I forbid it.”

Alicia’s eyes grew wide, fury swirling in their depths. She scoffed. “You forbid it? Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, I forbid it. I’m not joking, Alicia. Your safety is no laughing matter.” Warren squared his shoulders and rose to his full height.

“Yeah? Well how about my mental health, then? I’m going crazy, being stuck in this house, and although you both make it seem like I can go out, it’s been a month since I’ve set foot outside of this property. I’m going to that party, whether you approve or not. If you try to stop me, you might as well kill me yourself.”

Finishing off her rant with a furious glare at each of us in turn, she threw her hands out in frustration and marched her fine ass out the door.

Warren blew out a deep breath. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I feel like I keep saying that to you.”

“It’s not necessary,” I told him.

He headed for the side table that held the whiskey and poured himself at least three fingers into a tumbler. “You rule about not drinking on the job still in place, or can I pour you one?”

“No, thank you. The rule stands.”

Warren shrugged, taking a long swig of his whiskey before he turned to face me again. He’d aged in the month since I’d met him. His roots were streaked with gray now, and his face seemed more lined. “Very well. It’s for the best anyway. I want you to accompany Alicia to this party.”

“Of course.” It was what I was there for. “Do you want me to see if I can talk some sense into her on our way there? It might help if she has some time to calm down.”

“By all means, give it a go. Don’t expect to change her mind about it now, though. Maybe before we both blew up, you would’ve stood a chance. I’m aware of the fact that you’re very good at what you do, but I don’t think that chance is still there.” His voice had calmed, it was more matter-of-fact than the spike of emotion it had when Alicia was around.

“I’ll give it my best shot anyway.” I assured him.

“You do that. However, when she gives you hell about you coming, you tell her that you insist on going with her, and you stick close to her at that party. I don’t want you leaving her side for a second, you hear me?” The crease between his eyebrows deepened, the lines on his face more pronounced than ever.

“Loud and clear. I’ll stay on her all day.” That didn’t come out right, but Warren didn’t seem to have noticed my poor choice in words.

“You know what the stakes are,” he said. “You were in that meeting. The chances that they know we’re in the area are high. Whatever you have to do to protect her, you do it. Whatever is necessary.” He met my gaze and held it steadily, waiting for my nod of affirmation.

I gave him a firm nod. “I assure you, I will be on high alert, and she won’t be without me for a second.”

“You should go now. Be prepared for some push back when you tell her you’re going with her. She’s not going to appreciate the chaperone.”

Somehow, I doubted that she was going to push back against me going with her quite as hard as he might think she would. If anything, I was convinced she was going to use it to find another way of torturing me and cause yet another case of blue balls. It didn’t feel like my balls were ever going to be any color other than blue for as long as I was on her detail.

“Oh, and Nick,” Warren said, his voice weary and tired. “Take your SUV. Don’t let her talk you into walking there or some shit. And remember, high alert.”