CHAPTER TWO

NICK

Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.

My father always said that you could take the man out of the war, but you could never take the war out of the man. For me, that had proven true.

I still threw myself in front of speeding bullets for a living, and I’d been stateside for years. The only difference was that I’d traded my combat uniform for one that consisted of the finest suits money could buy and the godforsaken desert for the luxurious estates of my billionaire clients.

My eyes were still constantly scanning my surroundings from behind my dark aviators. I doubted that would ever change. It was a good thing, too, since I needed eyes in the back of my head when my job description was being a bodyguard to high-value targets.

I hadn’t even been hired for this job yet, and I’d already identified several weaknesses in Graystone International’s security setup.

I pushed through the revolving door of the iconic building downtown. Not the least of said weaknesses was that I could simply push through the door. The security’s first line of defense was all the way on the other end of the cavernous lobby and consisted of two burly guys who wore similar attire to my own.

They were packing some serious heat, too, although you wouldn’t be able to tell if you didn’t know what to look for. Neither of them was your garden variety rent-a-cop that was usually found in office buildings like these.

Interesting.

One of them touched his earpiece as soon as he spotted me. They nodded as I approached, expecting me. It didn’t surprise me. They would’ve vetted me to within an inch of my life before Graystone called to set up this meeting. If they didn’t, they were downright useless. And nothing about them said useless.

Liked what you found, didn’t you boys?

“Mr. Harden,” the taller of the two said. “Mr. Graystone is expecting you. Go right up.” He swiped a card over a control panel next to the elevator that they guarded, and the doors slid wide open.

You aren’t going to search me? “Thank you.”

No more words needed to be said. I stepped into the elevator car and waited as it whisked me to the forty-second floor, the top story of the building that housed one of the largest shipping companies in the world.

The man who owned it was the one I was here to see. Warren Graystone, CEO and founder of Graystone International.

He was a businessman who was known for his merciless ways, and he already had an army of personal bodyguards around him. His security was heavier than I expected, even for a man like him.

Curiouser and curiouser.

An electronic ding sounded, and the doors to the car slid open to reveal that I’d been carried straight into Graystone’s massive office, the glass encased control room from where he ruled his world.

That wasn’t smart, boys. You sent me right into the belly of the beast without so much as patting me down. I didn’t say any of that out loud, however. I seldom did.

Outwardly, I was stoic and quiet. An unwavering professional.

“Mr. Harden,” Graystone himself said, striding up to me with his hand outstretched. I clamped his hand, appreciating his strong grip. “Warren Graystone. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.”

Six hours, to be exact. He’d called late last night to set this up. “The Firm said it was an emergency.”

The same firm who had pulled me off of a foreign dignitary with a price tag on his head worth several million dollars so that I was free to take this meeting and the job. The Firm was made up of only the best of best in our industry, and it functioned like a well-oiled machine. Being pulled from a job wasn’t something that just happened.

Graystone motioned for me to take a seat. “Yes, it’s something of an emergency.”

I followed him across his expansive office, sinking into a hard leather seat at the opposite end of his desk. “What seems to be the problem, sir?”

“It’s my daughter, actually,” the man said, settling his large frame into his winged leather chair. My brief had told me that he was fifty-five, but he was still an imposing man. His short blonde hair didn’t have a hint of gray in it, and he looked out at the world with sharp blue eyes. “She should be around here somewhere. She insisted that she wanted to be part of this process. Alicia, baby, where are you?”

I didn’t know what I was expecting, maybe a gawky teenager or a little girl, but the woman who peeked in from an adjoining office was neither of those things.

One look at her, and I swore my world tilted on its axis.

“Is he here yet?” she asked. Her soft voice was like music to my ears. Her eyes widened when she spotted me, captivating gray orbs that fixed on mine as she mumbled her goodbye to whoever occupied the other office. “I’ll see you later, Gemma. The cavalry has arrived.”

Her movements were fluid as she moved toward me, almost as if she was dancing, not once breaking eye contact with me.

Her golden hair was swept back into a braid that hung all the way to her ass. Wisps of it had escaped and framed her beautiful features. Her face was innocent and open. She had curves that wouldn’t quit, covered by a purple sweater dress that clung to them like a second skin.

There was something almost whimsical about her. Like she was untouched and unspoiled, a fairy princess in a glass jar.

I never thought shit like that. Ever. With her though, it was apparently unavoidable. The thoughts came to me as naturally as a boner in the morning or the need to breathe. But they would never, ever be spoken out loud. Not if she was the one I was here to protect.

“Alicia,” Graystone said.

His booming voice pulled me from my entirely inappropriate observations about his daughter. Thankfully, I’d had years of training when it came to keeping a straight face. My body never betrayed my mind, and it didn’t now.

“Meet Nick Harden,” he said. “Mr. Harden, this is my daughter. She’s the one we’re looking to hire a personal bodyguard for.”

Alicia reached for my hand, and a lightning bolt shot through me at the feel of her soft skin against my palm. She shook my hand firmly, definitely her father’s daughter. “So, you’re supposed to be the superhero, huh? One question. If I get you a cape, will you wear it?”

The corners of her lips curled into a soft smile, but her eyes told me that at least a part of her was serious. She was a ray of sunshine in the sterile, steel and glass environment. Her father and I, we were cut from the same cloth. Stoic and formal.

Alicia was the exact opposite of that.

She was the humor and the creativity. If I was a pencil drawing, Alicia would be the eraser that would soften the hard lines, smudging until I was the very best version of myself.

Jesus. Snap the fuck out of it, Harden.

“I don’t need a cape,” I told her. “I’ve done just fine without one.”

Alicia searched my eyes, then stepped away from me with a small shrug. “Okay, then. I trust you. We’ll work on it.”

“You shouldn’t trust me,” I said. “You don’t know anything about me.”

I spoke the reprimand automatically, but inside, I was reeling. Those three little words made my shoulders snap squarely and leaved me wanting to unfurl the superman cape she wanted me to wear.

I trust you.

It was the single closest I’d ever come to losing my self-control. Her words were so potent that I was suddenly inspired to leap tall buildings in a single bound and rescue kittens from trees. I would do anything to protect her. Whatever she wanted from me, she could have it.

What I wanted from her, though, wasn’t quite as innocent. I wasn’t the guy who got hard on the job, and I’d watched supermodels skinny dip with rock stars, but I was dangerously close to it now. I was fizzing for her like a shaken can of soda, not that anyone would be able to tell just by looking at me.

Graystone nodded approvingly at my answer, though I had all but forgotten he was even there. This wasn’t like me at all.

Get your head in the game, asshole. She’s going to be your client, which means she’s untouchable to you. Totally off limits.

“So, Mr. Harden,” Graystone said. “I’ve seen your resume. Very impressive. Former Navy SEAL, six tours. You’ve been a bodyguard for five years now and never lost a client. What should I know about you that isn’t on there?”

“He doesn’t conform to the rules of Superherodom,” Alicia piped up, earning her a glare from her father. She didn’t look fazed by it in the least.

“I stop at nothing to get the job done,” I told him firmly. “I’m there twenty-four-seven, and I’ll never betray a client’s trust. No matter what the circumstances.”

Graystone nodded, but Alicia narrowed her eyes at me. “In this instance, would I be the client?”

“Yes,” Graystone said.

And I have no doubt that you expect me to report directly to you, nonetheless. I studied him carefully before I clarified. “You both would be. Why are you looking for a personal bodyguard, Alicia?”

“I’m not,” she pouted. “But unfortunately, fighting off ninjas doesn’t fall within my skill set.”

My eyebrows raised. “Ninjas? In New York?”

Graystone sighed. “That’s what I said, but Alicia was attacked in her apartment a couple of nights ago, and she swears the attacked was a ninja.”

“Have you received any credible threats against her? Did the attacker say anything to you?” I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees as I watched them both intently, looking for nonverbal answers as I waited for the verbal ones.

“It would seem that Alicia is a target because of me, but I’m afraid that’s all the detail we’ve got for you,” Graystone said curtly.

And we’re done here.

I rose from my seat. “In that case, it was a pleasure to meet you both.”

“Where are going?” Graystone asked, clearly not used to people walking out on him, if the disbelief in his tone was anything to go by.

“Rule number two, Mr. Graystone,” I said. “Always know what you’re walking into.” I turned to head for the elevator that had carried me up.

“What’s rule number one?” Graystone asked as I punched the call button.

Facing him, I told him my golden rule. “Don’t get personal. Feelings get in the way of the job.”

Graystone chuckled softly. “Sit down, Mr. Harden. I like you. You take your job seriously, just like I do. Alicia, be a dear and give us a minute alone.”

“This is about me,” she said, remaining firmly in her seat. “If he gets to know why I’m a target, I deserve to know, too.”

Her father sighed. “We’ve talked about this, Alicia. It’s for your own good.”

“And I’ve told you, I’m an adult,” she said. “I get to decide what’s good for me.”

After five minutes of heavy arguing, Alicia left the room under heavy protest.

Graystone watched her leave, waiting for her to completely disappear from the room and for the door to click shut behind her before he continued. “I’m sorry about that, but I’d rather Alicia not find out what’s really going on. She’ll never forgive me.”

“No apologies necessary,” I told him earnestly. I needed to know what I was dealing with. I had no interest in the emotions that accompanied this situation, whatever it was.

“Understood,” he answered, looking a little relieved. “Earlier this year, for a period of a couple months, I invested in a weapons supply company. I suspected that it was a somewhat unsavory business, but the return on investment I was promised was substantial, so I had my lawyers do no more than a cursory inspection of the outfit, mostly for the appearance of due diligence. Then I gave them the go-ahead to invest.”

Never the greatest idea, but I didn’t say so. He already knew he’d made a mistake. He didn’t need a lecture from me, and it wasn’t my job to give him one.

“I made my investment back, plus half, in a matter of months,” he said. “That kind of return should’ve taken years. Eventually, I became too curious about how these guys were making that kind of money in that timeframe. So I instructed my lawyers to hire an investigator and perform their proper due diligence.”

Ah, I’ve seen this movie before. I knew exactly where he was headed by this point, but I remained quiet as I waited for him to relay the rest of the story to me.

“When the reports came back, my suspicions were confirmed,” he said. “The arms deals they were making were illegal. I contacted the FBI shortly after I found out, and they put together a sting operation that netted the executives, the dealers, and several members of an organized crime syndicate. I’d known there was some risk of revenge, but I never imagined they would go after Alicia like they have.”

“If you’re working with the authorities, why haven’t they put the two of you in protective custody?” I asked him.

“They offered,” he admitted, then his tone turned to steel. “But I told them I would handle our safety myself. You have your rules, Mr. Harden. I have mine. And my number one rule is to trust no one.