It’s hard to sleep that night, because I keep picturing Sydney in her little red bikini. It’s fucked up, but at least I’m not sleeping in the same bed as her mother. I sneak into the guest room next door late at night and sneak back early the next morning, although it would be easier if we just shared a bed. Julia would be fine with it, but I’m the one that won’t do it.

I don’t want to get too close to Julia. Not when I want her daughter so badly. Although she doesn’t strike me as the type to go past a certain point. She’s a business woman, after all. She can separate business and pleasure, emotions and logic.

The sun is just barely starting to rise as I slip out of bed and go back into Julia’s room. She’s up already and brushing her teeth as I lean up against the bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes and getting myself ready to face the day.

As I stand up to go use the bathroom, Julia’s phone starts ringing. It’s not unusual for her to get calls, but it is a little earlier than usual. She comes out of the bathroom, a slight frown on her face, before answering.

“Hello?” she says. I go to walk past her, but the look on her face draws me up short.

“I don’t know who this is, but you’re making a mistake,” she says. She’s pale, ghostly pale, and she looks like she’s staring at a ghost.

She looks fucking terrified.

“Julia?” I ask.

She doesn’t even look at me.

“Don’t call me again or I’ll call the police,” she says softly and then hangs up the phone.

She looks shaken. I step toward her. “What was that?” I ask.

She glances at me and sighs. “Nothing,” she says.

“Nothing?” I flinch my jaw. “Don’t be that way. Tell me.”

She sits down at the edge of the bed. “I just need to get myself together.”

I lean against the wall, arms crossed, while she takes a few deep breaths. The color comes back to her cheeks and she sighs, looking at me.

“Tell me what that was,” I say.

“A threat,” she answers. “Probably from my brother.”

“Evan? Did you recognize his voice?”

“No,” she says. “The voice was disguised.”

“What did he say?”

“If I don’t publicly admit that I’m a whore and a liar then someone is going to murder my family in their sleep.” She frowns and looks down at the ground.

“Jesus, Julia,” I say. “What else?”

“That’s it.”

“What number did it call from?”

“It was private.”

I shake my head, anger flowing through me. “I’ll look into it,” I say.

“No,” she says quickly. “Please. Let it go.”

“What?” I ask, surprised.

“Just let it go. He’s just trying to scare me.”

“Julia,” I say. “Someone with a disguised voice and on a private line threatened to murder your family. I have to look into it.”

“Don’t,” she says. “Please. Just let it go. I just want to move on.”

I stare at her for a few seconds. She gets herself together and I can practically see her rebuilding all of her usual walls. I know there’s no getting through to her now, although I did see one brief moment of weakness.

“If that’s what you want,” I say.

She nods and forces a smile. “Thank you, Connor.”

I watch her for a second longer then head into the bathroom. I shut the door behind me, start the shower, and start planning how I’m going to investigate this call.

I know a private guy that can look into figuring out where the call came from. I have another friend in the police department that might be able to help. There are a lot of options I can take.

This would be a lot easier if Julia helped, but I can’t force her. If she wants to pretend like this isn’t becoming more dangerous than she bargained for, she can do that. But I’m not going to risk her safety or Sydney’s just because she’s afraid of what I might find.

This is part of my job, part of why she chose me. I protect people in bad positions and I keep them safe. I’m not going to give up on my job just because Julia is afraid. I’ll just have to find an alternate way of doing things.

I hop into the shower and get to planning.

* * *

After a long day at work and a bunch of phone calls, I have a basic plan together.

It’s late, around midnight, and I’m exhausted. Sydney is out with her friend Macy, and although I’d rather she didn’t go anywhere for a while, I can’t really stop her. I can’t tell her what’s happening either, since it would just worry her. Instead, I wait up for her while researching methods to trace blocked calls.

I tense instantly when I hear the front door open. I have my gun slipped into my jeans and I reach for it, ready to respond if I have to. The door shuts and I hear footsteps as the person walks down the hall.

I relax when Sydney comes into the kitchen. I move my hand from my gun and chide myself internally for being so tense. I knew she was coming home right around this time, and plus, an intruder wouldn’t just walk right in the front door.

She looks over at me and smiles. “You’re still up,” she says.

I nod and hold up my glass of whisky. “Just getting some work done.”

“Looks hard.” She pours herself a glass of water and joins me in the living room.

I shrug a little. “Not particularly.”

“What’s the job tonight?” She nods at my laptop.

I pause for a second. I’m not sure I should tell her everything. I know her mother doesn’t want me to, and for good reason. I don’t want to spook her, freak her out. Besides, it’s still her uncle that’s being aggressive, and it’s not my place to say anything bad about her family.

“Researching how to trace blocked calls for a client,” I say.

“Exciting.” She stretches her legs out and I let my eyes trace up the length of her skin. She’s wearing high waisted Daisy Dukes and a blue top, unbuttoned at the top two buttons, showing just the right amount of her breasts. Her thick hair is piled in a messy bun at the top of her head and I want to pull it out, let it spill down over her shoulders.

“What?” she asks, blushing slightly. I realize that I’ve been staring and look away.

“Nothing,” I say. “Just lost in thought.”

“Right.” I glance back and she bites her lip. “Do you work late often?”

I nod. “Guess so. Hard not to.”

“Why?”

“Well, I feel a lot of responsibility for the people I protect and help. I know my job should end when I’m not there, but I can’t help it.”

She nods, looking at me with a curious expression. “You really care.”

“Of course I do.”

“I thought security guys were just jocks with guns.”

I laugh a little. “Some of us are, that’s true. But I try not to be like that.”

“I can see that. Do you like it?”

I pause for a second. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I never really considered it.”

She smiles at me, head cocked. “You never thought about whether you like what you do?”

“No,” I admit, shrugging. “I’ve just always done it.”

“Are you happy when you’re working?”

“Maybe,” I say, thinking. “It’s not exactly happy. But I feel fulfilled. Like I’m doing a good job.”

“Then you like it,” she says, nodding.

I grin at her. “And how would you know?”

“I just know.”

“Do you find great satisfaction sitting out by the pool?”

She stares at me with an annoyed expression. “No,” she says. “It’s not exactly what I want to be doing.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

She considers me. “I’m not sure yet,” she admits. “But I know I don’t want to go to Harvard just because I can. I want to have direction, purpose. That’s why I know you like what you do, because it gives you purpose. That’s important.”

I’m a little surprised by her speech. It sounds much more mature than a woman her age usually sounds. I knew she was smart, but I didn’t know she was searching so seriously for purpose in her life.

I have a serious respect for that. She could easily just skate by through life, but maybe there’s more to her than that.

Which just makes her dangerous. If she’s more than just a gorgeous body, I’m not sure I can resist her.

“Well,” I say, shutting my laptop lid. “I hope you find purpose too.”

“Thanks.” She watches as I get my stuff together. As I’m about to leave, she speaks up. “Can I ask you something?”

I pause by the door. “Sure. Hit me.”

“What’s my mom’s middle name?”

I watch her, eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. Where did she go to high school?”

“It sounds like you’re interrogating me.”

She smiles. “That’s because I am.”

I smirk at her, excitement coursing through my body. “Good night, Sydney.”

“Good night, Connor.”

I turn and leave the room. I know that she’s onto me, and I could maybe do a better job of bluffing my way through that situation, but I decide not to.

She can believe whatever she wants to believe. I can’t stop her, and really, I don’t want to stop her. She’s fascinating. I’m surprised she’s able to see through this charade, but clearly she’s onto us. And I don’t want to disabuse her of that idea.

I want her to know, I just can’t be the one to tell her.

I don’t bother to pretend like I go into Julia’s room. I go into the guest room and shut the door. She might notice or she might not. I’m too tired to really care at this point.

I go to bed, a smile on my face, wondering how soon before she really sees through it all.