There was something about being confined to his apartment that made Jayden suddenly want to get out of it, and it made his whole body itch. He started to imagine all the places he could have gone this morning if only he would step outside and ignore Jo-Ann's sensible advice. He could go for a walk in the park! Maybe head out to a farmer's market. Hey, if he went down to Union Square he could pick up some books and hit up the Greenmarket! And after that he could maybe go see a movie.

It was all dumb brain activity and he knew it. The moment any person had a limitation, the moment someone told them "no", was the moment that was exactly what they wanted to do. It began with toddlers and never really went away, though some people were better than others at overriding it once they were adults.

Jayden wasn't the best at ignoring his impulses, that was for sure.

He took his glasses off and wiped them on a cleaning cloth he kept in his pants pocket, then slid them back into place. It probably hadn't made any difference at all, but it was a displacement activity that kept him from heading out the front door for another few minutes.

A bodyguard.

It was so weird. Movie stars had bodyguards. Singers. Famous people. Not unemployed guys who were just fighting to get their job back. He had no idea what to expect. Would the guy be with him all day, every day? Would it be a team? Were they gonna live in each other's pockets and, if so, for how long?

Shit, what if this was his life now? Bodyguards for the rest of his days?

That felt a hell of a lot like prison.

His apartment's phone rang, and he went to it to pick up. "Hullo?"

"Mr. Deus, this is security in the lobby. You have a visitor from Pinnacle Security. Would you like me to allow him up?"

Jayden nodded to himself. Pinnacle was the name of the firm Jo-Ann had given him. "Yes, please. Thank you."

He paced while he waited, texting Jo-Ann to let her know that the guy was on his way up. She hadn't responded by the time his door buzzer sounded.

Jayden hurried over and pulled the door open, mentally kicking himself the moment he started the motion. Shouldn't he check the camera just to make sure the person waiting outside didn't have a gun pointed at him?

No. He was being paranoid.

He wrenched the door wide open and prepared a warm smile that wasn't that false, because it meant he'd be able to blow off his cabin fever soon.

But the man who stood there wasn't smiling.

And he was... achingly familiar, like they'd already met. Taller even than Jayden himself, broad like a linebacker, with smoldering brown eyes and cheekbones chiseled from granite, Jayden had no doubt if he'd met the guy before he totally would have invited them to fuck him.

He searched his memory. It was damn near photographic, but that didn't make it instantaneous, and it took three more seconds for the answer to come to him.

Portland.

The night Dad died.

"Mr. Deus," he said. And there was something scathing to his words, short though they were. Bitter, even, despite his features remaining neutral.

Jayden swallowed tightly. He gave a brief nod. "And you are?"

"Lucas Neal. I've been assigned by Pinnacle Security to be your personal protection agent. Hold still, please." Neal took his cellphone out and raised it to snap off a picture of Jayden, then he tapped for a moment.

"What-"

"Proof of identification. It shows, should it become necessary at a later date, that I have correctly identified and engaged the client." He strode into the room, brushing against Jayden so hard it almost knocked him out of the way. "Close the door."

Jayden considered arguing right then and there. He didn't appreciate being ordered about. Well, not outside certain situations, anyway. But Neal was here to protect him, so Jayden pushed the door shut and then turned on his heel.

"Look," he sighed. "Why don't we-"

"-Sit down and discuss your daily routine so I can come up with a plan to best ensure your safety?" Neal growled. "Good thinking, Mr. Deus. I also have a new-client questionnaire to walk through with you to make sure we don't miss any of the details. Because that's where the death is."

Jayden laughed, but it was nervous, and short. "Isn't that supposed to be devil? The devil's in the details?"

"Same thing as far as you're concerned."

There was definitely something there, and it felt a lot like hate. Jayden was well used to being hated when people found out who he was. Everyone loved a rockstar's kids. Nobody liked a businessman's.

Maybe that's all this was. Neal had found out who Jayden was, and now he hated Jayden's guts. Or maybe he was just pissed off at being assigned to a guy he'd fucked so damn good already.

"Is there a problem here?" Better to ask and get another bodyguard than find out the hard way.

"No problem." Neal bit out the words like there was very much a problem.

Jayden nodded to himself as he pushed his glasses up his nose. All the money in the world couldn't make a pair of glasses stay where they were put, it seemed, but he hated contact lenses. He knew too much about biochemistry to allow things to touch his eyeballs, no matter how clean he thought they were.

It was possible Neal's problem wasn't about Jayden at all, and it was egotistical to think it had to be. The guy's dog could've died last night for all Jayden knew, or his wife had left him. Shit, maybe he was even one of those guys who had a wife and kids back home, but went out hooking up with strangers when she wasn't around. That'd be super awkward.

Maybe he'd just had a lousy morning. People had those. They couldn't be expected to be cheerful all day, every day.

His own ego soothed, Jayden settled into a couch and leaned back as he watched Neal.

Neal prowled the room and assessed the doors and windows, but he didn't go explore the rest of the apartment. After a good few minutes he finally said, "Where's the letter?"

"In my office." Jayden pointed to one of the doors. "On the desk. You can't miss it."

"Are you gonna report it to the cops?"

Jayden shrugged and stretched his arms along the back of the couch. "What's the point? They aren't going to prioritize it."

"Agreed." Neal finally sat, facing him across the room, his butt barely on the edge of the couch and his back ramrod straight. "Here's how it works. Every day, we plan your schedule in advance, and we stick to it. If we get into a situation I don't like, I will tell you so, and we will leave. If I tell you to take a particular action or move in a specific way, you will do it and assume that I perceive there to be a threat. I don't like it when people don't do what I say."

Jayden smirked. "Yeah. I remember that clearly."

A faint, angry flush touched the apples of Neal's cheeks, and his eyes hardened.

The problem was Jayden, he noted. Well, maybe he'd entertain himself with figuring out why exactly a dude he'd had sex with a year ago hated his guts now. It'd sure take his mind off the death threat that had brought them back together.

"Then let's get straight on with the questionnaire." Neal whipped his phone out again. He thumbed at it. "Any pre-existing medical conditions?"

"No."

"Are you on any form of medication?"

"No, because I have no pre-existing medical conditions," Jayden drawled.

Neal ignored the barb. "Blood type?"

"AB Negative."

"How much alcohol do you drink each week?"

"None."

Neal eyed him before he tapped his screen. "Do you smoke?"

Jayden couldn't help but grimace. "No. Have you seen what that stuff does to a pair of lungs?"

Neal still didn't engage. "Vape?"

"No."

"All right." Neal's lips pursed. "Are you willing to wear a bulletproof vest?"

Jayden blinked at that. "You think I need one?"

"It's simply a question. I don't want to tell you to put one on in two weeks' time only to have you refuse. Better for me to know up front."

"Huh." Jayden rubbed his jaw, then shrugged. "Sure. You can't cover me from all angles, right?"

"Correct. Also if this situation develops into a dangerous one I will turn it into a full security detail. What that means is that a complete team will be brought in to run your protection around the clock, to secure entire routes for you, and to offer overwatch for your movements. Stand up, please."

"Sure." Jayden eased idly to his feet and stepped away from the couch.

Neal stood and moved to be by his side, close enough to touch should either of them reach out. He faced the same direction as Jayden. "At almost all times I will be this far away from you," he explained. He took a step forward. "I might get ahead of you." Then back. "Or I might fall in behind you. But this will be my operational range. Are you comfortable with that?"

Jayden twisted to look over his shoulder at Neal and crinkled his nose. "It's kinda weird."

"If you still feel that way in two days, talk to me about it. There are other places I can be, but this placement is optimal." He moved back up to Jayden's side. "I'm going to give you four cues for you to learn. Two verbal, two non-verbal. They are for you to indicate to me whether or not you feel uncomfortable or threatened. Ready?"

Jayden took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Neal's persistent professionalism was both immensely reassuring and oddly hurtful. Jayden understood why they might not talk about that night, but ignoring it was like trying to ignore a rampaging rhino.

"Ready."

"Watch." Neal idly brought his hands together, and his right hand picked at the nail of the pinkie on his left.

Jayden watched, but that was all he did, and he blinked. "That's it?"

"You do it. Keep it natural. Try to pretend it's subconscious."

Jayden echoed the motion as lackadaisically as he could.

"Perfect. Use that when you feel uncomfortable and you're not in a position to use words. If a situation makes you a little nervous, if you would feel safer with me closer to you, use that signal. If we're in a situation where a verbal signal is available, say the word amber."

"Amber." Jayden smirked. "Like a safe word."

"Exactly like a safe word." Neal made direct eye contact with him, and Jayden's breath hitched.

"What's the other set of signals?" he croaked.

"Do you put your hands in your pockets other than to get things out of them?"

Jayden thought it over, then shook his head. "No. My..." He drew a breath. "My dad kinda drummed that one out of me when I was a kid."

"Then that's gonna be your signal for me if you're scared, or if you've perceived a direct threat. If you need me to step in fast and take over. Don't be afraid to use it."

"I guess the verbal version of that is red, right?"

"You got it."

Jayden licked his lips as he nodded. "Okay. And what if I don't have time? Like, say someone comes at me swinging?"

"Just do what you would in that situation. Jump back, throw yourself to the ground, scream like you're watching a horror movie. Don't feel you've gotta stand there calm and cool-headed when someone's actually trying to kill you. If your instinct is to get out of the way, then get out of the way. That's enough of a signal that you need help." Neal's eyes showed the faintest gleam of humor at last, if only for a second. "If things got that bad without me stepping in already, we can assume I'm dead."

Jayden's face froze in horror at the idea. "What?!"

"It's always a possibility." Neal said it so calmly, like they were discussing their pizza preferences. "You need to know what to do in the event of my incapacitation."

Jayden sat back down, and it felt like the whole world settled onto his shoulders.

This wasn't a joke or a game. If someone intended to kill him, if they took action to do so, Lucas Neal was there to stop it, and maybe even to get in the way.

He leaned forward and readied himself to pay much closer attention to the rest of Neal's briefing, because it really was life or death information.

Shit, he told himself, had just got real.