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“No. I changed my mind. Home, please.”
She shook her head. Everybody was judging me today.
I tried deep breathing. It didn’t help. My heart felt like it wanted to burst out of my chest. How had Black Jacket Guy known to follow me up onto the hill road? Had I just not seen him? Was I paranoid? Fuck no, I’d been scared out of my wits—almost dying tended to do that to you.
As we drove, I thought back to being in the meeting room with Duke. The moment our hands touched... How could such a big man’s touch be so gentle? It brought back memories of summer camp—not that I’d had his hands on me back then. But I did remember the kindness of his smile, the kindness in his eyes. Kindness was a trait that fit him. That’s why I’d written the note. Yes, up until that last day, it had been a good summer.
Duke
I could seethat Lucas was about to lose it. He’d brought Constance and me in to listen to Mr. Zolotarev rant about us “walking away” while his daughter was attacked, and I’d calmly explained my side of the tale. But then just as it seemed like the Russian was winding down, he ramped back up again.
“How can you let this happen?” he exploded through the phone, his accent thicker than usual. “She has cut on face. How can actress work with cut on face?”
“She fired us when I tried to pull her out of a dangerous situation,” I explained again. “She told me to leave, and I did.”
“She not hire you,” Zolotarev yelled. “I hire you. I fire you.”
Now I was getting pissed. He had no right to talk to me that way.
“I’ll put a different man on her,” Lucas offered.
“No.” The word was loud across the phone line.
“Mr. Zolotarev?—”
“I say no. I find others. You filth.”
“Then have a nice day.” Lucas punched the squawk box off. “Fucking asswipe, calling us filth. I should have never taken him on.” He shook his head and turned to Constance.
“She had nothing to do with this,” I explained. “I told her we’d been fired from the account and to come back to the office.”
“Right.” Lucas was back to shaking his head. “Before I forget—about the new girl, a deer?” he asked. “What do you make of that?”
I shrugged. “Too early to know for sure, but I believe her.”
“Seems fishy to me,” Lucas said.
“It does, but if she wanted to lie, wouldn’t she choose something more believable?”
Lucas shrugged. “Probably.”
The desk phone rang.
“Zolotarev again,” Lucas said wearily. He accepted the call and put it on the squawk box. “Hawk here.”
“What you do to punish this man for he not protect my daughter? He needs pay.”
Lucas’s face twisted into a snarl. “How I deal with my employees is my business, not yours.”
“Your man will pay for letting this happen my daughter, and you will pay.”
“Mr. Zolotarev, you are no longer a client of ours. Do not call again.” Lucas punched the phone hard to end the call. “That’s one angry mother.” He looked up at me.
The full weight of his glare landed on me as his scary-motherfucker face took shape. There was a reason the nameLucas Hawkstruck fear in anyone who knew him—or of him. “That is not acceptable. Protection means you protect at all costs, and the last person you let scare you away is the client.You don’t need to like her. You don’t need to respect her. You need to stay and protect her no matter what until I—” He punched the table with a finger. “—say not to. Me and nobody else. Am I clear?”
I nodded. “Yes, sir,” Constance and I said simultaneously.
I prided myself on not being scared of anybody, but right now, my brother was the exception. When his voice took on that tone, the former Delta operator could scare you to death without raising his deadly finger.
