I’d slept like a baby the previous night. It had been late after Jake and I had parted ways, but it was also like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to break free from the bonds formed over a lifetime, but I also knew that Jake was right.

I needed to be true to myself and to my morals, and I needed to strike out on my own, get away from my so-called ‘friends’. Life was too short.

The other bodyguard from the agency—Darek I think Jake had said his name was—was waiting at the house when I got back. He was alert and wide-awake, despite the late hour.

“Good evening, Mr. Weber,” he’d greeted me. The dude was built like a tank, and he was definitely not hard on the eyes. He was broad, with blond hair and steely blue eyes - definitely some viking blood in there somewhere.

“Hi, Darek was it?” I’d responded, and he gave a curt nod.

“Nothing to report,” he’d told me. “Quiet night. Your daughter went up to bed a while back.”

“I’m gonna hit the sack too,” I’d said. “I’m beat.”

“Sure thing. I’ll hold the fort.”

I collapsed into bed, mine and Jake’s earlier conversation replaying through my mind. The way he’d held me when I broke down...it had felt so comforting and safe in his arms. I mean...he was just being a friend, right? Nothing more than that, surely?

But I’d seen the look in his eyes when we said our goodbyes. There was something there….something reciprocal. I had no idea where this thing was gonna end up...but I knew I needed to take things slow. I had enough on my plate as it was, without adding more complications into the mix.

Yet still...I fell asleep with images of Jake running through my mind.

The next morning I got a call from him - Darek had taken Dara to school, and Jake wanted a meeting at his office to discuss the case.

“Hi, Andreas. Hope you slept well. Nato’s reached out to me - he has some stuff to share regarding his investigations. Can you meet me at my office in around an hour?”

“Sure,” I replied, feeling a little spark of excitement in my belly. Were we on the way to getting this thing solved? I knew I made the right decision to hire these guys. They were renowned for getting results fast.

I drove the short distance to the office thoughtfully, hoping beyond hope that Nato had a solid lead. I just wanted my life to return to normal...well, a new normal. As long as Dara was safe, I could figure out the rest on my own.

I pulled up in front of the gleaming glass-fronted building that housed the agency, and made my way up. Sierra, the receptionist, smiled at me as I walked in, and ushered me through to Jake’s office.

Jake and Nato were already waiting for me, papers in front of them and serious, focused expressions on their faces. I looked to Jake, to gauge his mood after the heart to heart we’d had the previous night, but right now he was all business.

“Good morning,” Jake greeted me. “Nato wants to follow up with you a little on his investigation.”

Nato smiled at me, and opened his notepad. I could see scrawled names and locations there.

“Andreas, I have profiles of the guys that were involved in the altercation in your restaurant last night. Jake gave me their names. I’ll be tracking their movements - they seem as likely as anyone to have the motive to be making these threats.”

I nodded, tensing. That familiar prickle of resentment threatened to rear its head, but I pushed it back down.

These aren’t your friends anymore. They showed that last night. “Sure,” I replied. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Jake gave me an approving glance out of the corner of my eye, and I felt a little tingle of warmth at that.

“Can you take a look at this list of names,” Nato continued. “I want to make sure that I haven’t missed anyone with a potential connection to this case. If we cast our net wide, it’s likelier we’ll catch the asshole faster.”

I took the pad and read down the list of names. All my old friends, connections, buddies. It made for difficult reading. How could any of these guys want harm to come to my beautiful girl? We all went back years, had grown up together, had ties that bound us.

“No, I can’t think of anyone else,” I said to Nato. “You’ve been pretty damn thorough.”

But then Jake grabbed the pad from me, took his pen, and scribbled Clifton Aeronson at the bottom of the list.

“Clifton?” I asked, surprised.

They both give me a hard side-eye, but I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of Clifton, of all people, making threats against my daughter. Our kids were friends, for God’s sake.

“He’s a white-collar soccer Dad,” I say incredulously. “The guy is mild-mannered and completely harmless. I know you were hostile towards him the other day, Jake, but….really? Clifton?”

Nato leaned back with the look of a man who had had this conversation many times before. “Just being thorough,” he said. “Maybe he’s completely innocent. Never hurts to make sure though.”

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Now,” Nato continued. “Do you know a man named Frank Meyers?”

I grimaced. That was a name I hadn’t thought about for a while.

“Frank? Yeah, he’s still part of the crew but I haven’t really hung with him one on one in years now. Maybe a decade.. I can’t say I’m all that unhappy about it. Big guy, looks like a linebacker gone out to pasture. He’s got a nasty temper, but mostly keeps himself to himself..”

“Hmmm.” Nato added Frank’s name to the list, then stood and thanked me. “I’ll be in touch if I need more info, Andreas. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

“Of course,” I replied gravely. Nato left, and it was just Jake and I in the room. I wanted to talk to him about what happened between us last night, about that hug...but I didn’t know how to broach the topic. It didn’t really feel like the right moment anyway; Jake was in work mode, hard-faced and brusque.

He finished making his own notes, then abruptly stood. “You wanna grab a coffee? There’s a good place just around the corner - they do great pastries too.”

“Sure,” I said, surprised. “That sounds great. Lead the way.” I followed him out of the office and through the reception.

“Sierra, I’m heading out for a little while. You can redirect calls to my cell if needed.”

She nodded, not looking up from her work. “Uh huh. Will do.”

She was pretty, with tightly curled black hair and an open face that was quick to smile, but I sensed a cool hardness to her. I didn’t doubt that she could handle herself in a pinch. Jake caught me looking, and laughed as we took the elevator down to street level.

“Sierra may look like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but she’s always armed, and she knows how to use it.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I tell him.

When we got outside, I made to turn right, but Jake placed a hand on my shoulder and guides me left. The brief contact left me breathless. I didn’t realize how much I yearned for his touch until that moment.

“This way,” he said. “Just around here.”

The coffee shop was just a short distance from his office - a cosy little place. The owner recognized Jake, and greeted him as we walked in. Jake found a little booth in a back corner, discreet and out of the way, and we ordered our drinks.

It didn’t take long for me to realize the purpose of our little ‘date’.

“I need to know you’re fully committed to this investigation,” he said to me, out of the blue as we sipped on our steaming cups.

I looked up in surprise from my latte. “What do you mean?” I asked him. “I thought we went over this last night. I am fully committed.”

He looked skeptical. “What about Clifton? I told you, I caught a bad vibe from him before, at the soccer game. My intuition has never let me down, but you won’t hear a bad word about the guy.”

I shrugged, feeling a little frustrated at his insistence on this Clifton angle. “It’s just that...Clifton is so harmless. I couldn’t even imagine him raising his voice, let alone threatening a teenage girl. It seems ridiculous to me.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “And as I said, it’s often the least likely person who’s guilty. People can be unbelievably deceptive. What better cover than to portray yourself as this mild-mannered soccer Dad who wouldn’t hurt a fly?”

I floundered, feeling at a loss. If Clifton was capable of making those vile threats, then what were other people capable of?

“Sure, I guess that makes some sort of sense,” I eventually replied. “I mean, I don’t think for a minute that Clifton is responsible, but you’re right, at this point we shouldn’t rule anyone out.”

“That’s right,” Jake said. “I get it - it doesn’t feel good to have to be suspicious of people you call your friend...but with your friendship group in particular, there’s a whole lot of motive, and a lot of people gunning for you right now.”

I grimaced. “You got that right. After what happened last night, that’s only gonna get worse. My investors aren’t gonna be happy...even less happy than they were.” I squared my shoulders and sat up straight. “But I’m not gonna let that stop me. I can’t. All that matters to me right now is making sure Dara is safe. Everything else is secondary to that.”

“Good,” Jake said with a little smile. “I’m glad you’re finally coming around to my way of thinking.”

He was silent and thoughtful for a few moments longer, then spoke again. “In any kind of partnership,” he began, giving me a meaningful look, “there are some things that are non-negotiable for me. We can’t have any kind of relationship, professional or otherwise, without complete honesty and trust between us.”

He was looking at me intently, and I felt a shiver run through me. What exactly was he saying? What kind of relationship? Was I reading too much into this?

“Right now,” he pressed on, “I can see that you’re motivated in part by fear. Fear of losing your friends, fear of something happening to Dara. You need to hold fast to your ideals, so we can get through this. You will lose friends, old friends, along the way. But remember that they were never true friends in the first place.”

He took my hand in his gently. “I know loyalty is important to you. But the only loyalty you need to worry about right now is to your little girl, so she can be safe. Everyone else is secondary to that.”

I wanted to go over to his side of the table, and melt into his arms again. I wanted to...well, I wanted to do a lot of things. Things that would get us kicked out of this coffee shop and probably arrested for public indecency.

But I guess I could settle for holding Jake’s hand...for now.

“Thanks, Jake,” I said to him, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. “You’ve really helped me over the past few days, to get a new perspective on things and see my situation in a new light. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” he smiled. “Just doing my job. All I want is for Dara to be safe, just the same as you. We’re on the same team here, even if I know I can be a massive pain in the ass when I need to be. Just know that it’s coming from a good place.”

“I know.” The moment lingered, both of us still holding hands, staring into each other’s eyes. I was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame...I couldn’t help myself.

He coughed and averted his eyes, breaking the spell in an instant. He looked a little uncomfortable for a second, like he lost control for just a moment - that cool, hard exterior of his was showing cracks. But what did that mean for me? For us?

He drained the last of his coffee, and then stood. “We should get going,” he said, businesslike again now. “I got plenty of work to do, and I’m sure you’re needed in one of your restaurants.”

I nodded, standing and putting on my jacket. “You’re not wrong there. Let’s go.”

We walked out together, not hand in hand, but standing close. When we parted, there were lingering looks, and as he walked away I couldn’t help but stare after him as he walked.

I didn’t know where this was going...or what it even was. A few days ago we’d hated each other’s guts; well, he’d hated mine. But everything was changing so fast, and for now I was happy to just be swept along for the ride.