Security

by Mandy Baggot

  “No, of course not,” Autumn said, her stomach contracting as his words made her smart.

  “Then what’s the problem? What do I have to do to make you realize that none of this is a game? I’m not getting off on making things uncomfortable for you, and believe me, if there was another way, I’d be taking it. Someone, or some group wants to use you, Autumn, for their own gain. I don’t want that to happen. I’ll do anything I can to stop that.”

  She nodded.

  Air came out of his lungs like someone had just popped the valve, and he looked at her, seemingly gathering words together.

  “Listen, I know I can be hard. In the past, Tawanda’s pulled me up on it more times than I want to remember. And believe me, you don’t want to be on the wrong end of a right hook from her.”

  “Who is she?” Autumn asked tentatively.

  “She’s an old friend.”

  A flicker of something crossed his face, perhaps a memory. It stalled him for a second, his thoughts somewhere else.

  “To be honest, I don’t know how things are going to go tonight,” Nathan told her. “I just thought you should have a bit of female company.”

  Autumn sighed. “I’m off girlfriends after Janey.”

  “You can trust Tawanda, as much as you can trust me, okay?”

  “Okay.” Autumn blinked back tears, the wind making her eyes water.

  “So, you’d better tell me—which knife do I use?” Nathan asked, attempting humor.

  “Party etiquette dictates we have canapés.” She adopted a poker faced expression and then broke it, smiling. “Not even the Queen eats canapés with silverware.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tawanda fixed her hair in a French pleat, pinned tightly in place. She wore an emerald green, full-length dress she’d picked out earlier and matching platform heels. She had no jewelry, but strangely, it didn’t concern her. She had butterflies in her stomach, though, for two reasons. First, she was going to a party she could be kidnapped from, and second, she was about to see her cheating boyfriend and her lying personal assistant-cum best friend.

  “Oh, sweet girl, you look lovely,” Tawanda announced as Autumn entered the lounge.

  “I don’t feel lovely.” Autumn pulled self-consciously at the fabric around her stomach. “Do you think this is too tight? There wasn’t really anything else.”

  “Too tight? There’s barely anything of you, child! Now, are you sure these itty bitty nibbles are going to be enough to keep you going the whole night? I could make you something real quick,” Tawanda suggested.

  “Not for me. Tawanda, I’m very sorry about earlier. You know, brandishing the coffee pot at you,” Autumn said, a wash of embarrassment flowing over her.

  “Tsk! It’s no matter! I think Mr. Nathan was actually impressed you try to challenge me.” Her booming laugh rose up from her chest.

  Autumn smiled, then let out a sigh as she sat down in one of the chairs.

  “What’s the matter, child?” Tawanda questioned.

  “I don’t know what to make of him—Mr. Nathan. I mean, Nathan.” Autumn raised her eyes to meet the older woman’s.

  “He’s a good man,” Tawanda said with a nod.

  “Is he? I mean, I can only guess the things he does to people,” Autumn stated.

  “Whatever he does, he does for the right reasons,” Tawanda told her. “Sometimes people have to do bad things for good causes.”

  Autumn moved to the edge of the chair. “I can’t imagine living like he does, doing what he does. Does he have a family?”

  “All you need to know about Mr. Nathan, child, is that he is a good man, and he will make sure you come to no harm.”

  Autumn nodded and began to fiddle with the clasp on her purse.

  One...two...three…four…five.

  “Are you ready?”

  The sound of his voice made Autumn look up. He stood in the doorway of the lounge, dressed to impress. His suit was dark blue, and, from the look of the material and the cut, it was high-quality. Underneath, he wore a cream-colored, round-necked shirt—the latest fashion. His hair was spiked up, he’d shaved again, and on his feet were shoes he definitely hadn’t worn before.

  She got to her feet. “Yes, I’m ready,” she spoke when she’d remembered to.

  “Why, Mr. Nathan! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so stylish,” Tawanda remarked, another booming laugh escaping her mouth.

  “I’ll take the compliment. Come on, we need to get to the boat,” Nathan said to Autumn.

  “Boat? You didn’t say anything about a boat!” she exclaimed.

  “How else did you think we were getting off the island?”

  She looked beautiful tonight. When he’d entered the lounge earlier, he hadn’t made his appearance known straight away. He’d watched her. She was having a conversation with Tawanda. Not a shouting match, not ordering anyone about, an ordinary conversation. And then she’d asked about him. She didn’t know what to make of him. Did he have a family? He knew Tawanda would never tell her, but hearing the question had weakened him for just a second, brought back painful memories, touched a compartment of his brain he tried hard to keep closed off.

  The green dress complemented the red of her hair. He’d never seen anyone quite so stunning.

  When their taxi pulled up outside The Ricardo, the world’s press was waiting. Autumn had played with her purse the whole journey from the small port, wondering what to say to her guests, wondering what to do, trying to remember the lyrics to the song she had spent the afternoon altering so they weren’t a reflection of the hatred she felt for Juan.

  “Don’t get out,” Nathan said as he took hold of her hand.

  “I wasn’t. The driver should come and open the door. That’s more professional etiquette for you,” she said, moving her hand from his.

  Nathan took her hand again and held on. His touch was firm, but nothing like the horrendous crushing grip he had subjected her to before. She looked up at him and saw an emotion in his eyes she didn’t recognize.

  He brought her slim hand up to his mouth and touched his lips against her skin. She swallowed, not drawing her eyes from his, as her stomach plummeted down into the depths of her bowels. She was tingling. From the hand he had kissed, up her arm and into her chest and lower, past her stomach, somewhere she shouldn’t be feeling anything about someone like him.

  “When we get out of the car, I’m going to kiss you—for them,” Nathan said, indicating the roar of the press pack outside.

  Autumn nodded, transfixed.

  “It’s necessary but…I don’t want you to hate it.” He let go of her hand.

  Before she could respond, the driver had opened the back door, and cameras were clicking to life, and there were enthusiastic shouts for her to leave the car. She looked to Nathan.

  He urged her forward with his expression. “I’m right behind you.”

  She took a breath and stepped out of the vehicle to yells and screams from the surrounding crowds. She fixed on her trademark pout, looked down the camera lenses trained on her and turned her body this way and that to give the reporters the best chance to capture their front page shot.

  Then his arm was around her waist, and the cameras seemed to click even quicker as this unknown person stepped into the limelight. Nathan turned her toward him, and, before she had a chance to prepare herself, he lowered his mouth to hers. The crowd screamed in a frenzy, but all Autumn could hear in her head was her own heart beating a frantic rhythm. His mouth was moist. She’d opened hers to accept his, and now her hands were laced together behind the back of his neck, pulling him into her. His tongue entwined with hers, and she didn’t want the kiss to stop. In this fake scenario they were creating, he was so real. It was like nothing she had experienced before.

  It took all the inner strength he had to disengage her. What was happening here? This was supposed to be for show, to make the world believe he was the new man in her life. But he felt her respond to him in a way he had
n’t expected. She kissed him back, pulled him closer, urged his mouth to open wider, pressed her body against his. He almost forgot the press pack, almost lost his focus on the task at hand, because this beautiful, successful singer was kissing him like he’d never been kissed before. It was all he could do not to push her back inside the car and lock the doors, but then a vision of Marie flashed through his mind, and he put an end to it. Feeling anything like that was betrayal.

  She looked up at him, gray eyes wide, mouth open, breathless, trying to understand what had just occurred. It was like a switch had flicked inside her the second his lips met hers. It was just a sexual thing. It had to be. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex, and obviously she was missing it a whole lot more than she’d realized. Juan worked until the early hours of the morning, and her schedule was so hectic, they were barely ever alone together. Feeling someone so close, wanting her, if only in a pretense, ignited a spark of desire inside her she hardly remembered she had. She enjoyed it. She wanted him. Really wanted him.

  He took her hand, and they made their way toward the hotel entrance. The very first person she saw was Janey.

  Chapter Sixteen

  There she was. Her personal assistant, her friend, someone she had shared an apartment with for the last year-and-a-half. Janey smiled at her, dressed head-to-foot in Versace, her Versace. Autumn gripped Nathan’s hand tighter as the blonde-haired woman approached them.

  “There you are! I was getting worried. You said eight and—” Janey began.

  “The car was late. I apologize. It’s my fault.” He beamed a smile and held out his hand. “You must be Janey. Nathan Regan.”

  The shock was written all over Janey’s face as he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, just as he had done to Autumn’s. A shiver ran over Autumn, and she gritted her teeth, looking for something in the hotel lobby to count.

  “So, you’re Autumn’s new boy…man friend.” Janey looked Nathan up and down in appraisal.

  “That’s right.” He put an arm around Autumn’s waist and pulled her close.

  “Well, when Autumn called, I was a little surprised but…well, it’s very nice to meet you.”

  “You, too. So, who’s here? Who should we talk to first, Autumn?” Nathan asked.

  She looked at Janey—Janey in her dress, acting like nothing was different. Behaving just as normal, lying through her surgically whitened teeth. Nathan nudged her arm, bringing her back to awareness.

  “Well, everyone who’s anyone is here,” Janey stated. “Most people rearranged their whole schedules to make it. Blu-Daddy’s here, all the press you asked for, plus some you didn’t. Jason Statham and his wife. JLo said she would try to attend. The function room is full, and canapés and champagne are going around.”

  “Great!” Nathan took hold of Autumn’s hand. “Well, let’s go. Introduce me to your friends.”

  “Where’s Juan?” Autumn’s voice wavered as she spoke his name.

  “He’s in the function room. Last time I saw him, he was talking to Blu-Daddy about remixing and making some special editions of your songs,” Janey informed with a smile.

  “Let’s get you a drink. Nice to meet you, Janey,” Nathan said, directing Autumn toward the function room.

  When they were out of Janey’s earshot Nathan spoke.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, absolutely fine, apart from wanting to grab hold of her mangy neck and squeeze.” Autumn toyed with the clasp on her purse. “And what do I say to Juan? He’s cheated on me, and he’s just in there, discussing my music career with my record producer.”

  Nathan tipped her face up to meet his. “Listen, tonight isn’t about that dipshit. He’s not important in the grand scheme of things. He’s just some loser who treated you like crap.”

  Autumn stiffened. “I know that.”

  “Then let’s go in there. I’ll work the room and see what I can find out, and you can tell him exactly what you think of him.”

  “I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know if I can even face him,” she said, her body trembling.

  “Come with me.” With Autumn trailing behind, he strode off toward the door.

  “Nathan, please,” Autumn begged. She tried to balance on her too-high shoes as he moved at pace.

  They entered the function room, and he hurried her toward the grand piano on stage, through the crowd of people sipping Cristal and eating finger food. There was a four-piece jazz band providing the entertainment. Nathan urged them to stop playing.

  Ordinarily used to the limelight, Autumn stood on the stage feeling like a plain-clothed person at a fancy dress party. As soon as the band ceased, all attention was on her. The eyes were friendly though. The faces had broken out in smiles, and their adoration of her was plain to see.

  “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. I won’t talk for long,” Nathan said. “Now, I know this event was a little rushed in being put together, but I think you’ll agree, what Autumn has to showcase for you tonight will be worth the alteration to your plans. In preparation for her appearance at the IMAs, she’s giving you all an exclusive. This is the very first performance of her new song ‘Broken Pieces’.”

  He began vigorously clapping his hands, and the crowd of guests joined in as Autumn sat down on the piano stool and willed life into her fingers.

  “You play that song. They’ll love it. You’ll get your confidence back. Then I’ll let you go and slap the slaphead,” Nathan whispered.

  Autumn looked at him, nodded, then cleared her throat.

  “Thank you for coming, everyone,” she announced. “I really appreciate it. This is ‘Broken Pieces’.”

  As Autumn began to play the first bars of the song she had composed the night before, Nathan scanned the room. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for, but he would know it when he saw it. He spotted Juan and Blu-Daddy as soon as they had entered the hall. Both wore gold chains that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a mayor or Mr. T. Oblivious to anything else, their eyes were fixed on Autumn as she performed on stage.

  Someone who wasn’t looking at the stage was Janey. She’d come into the function room after them and stood at the back of the hall on her mobile phone. Her eyes were everywhere but the stage. She’d been a privileged confidante of the singer for quite some time. She would have the means to pass on information if she were involved. But was she clever enough for that? And if she was, what was motivating her? Money? A political agenda? Juan? He didn’t look capable of motivating a monkey, let alone an attractive, adept personal assistant. But then love, or even lust, was sometimes blind.

  Nathan turned his attention back to Autumn. She was in her element now. Hammering at the piano keys, losing herself in the music. This was the professional. This was the entertainer he had watched on his laptop.

  What she didn’t know was that Jazz, Teo, and a team of their men had all the exits covered and would be looking out for anything remotely suspicious. He wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t believe the story he was getting from the powers in London, and no one was going to make him a scapegoat in a botched operation. He knew how it worked, and he wasn’t about to offer up his neck for the block.

  She felt tears brimming in her eyes, but she held them in as she concluded the song with a crescendo then a final solo low note with her left hand. As Nathan predicted, the entire room erupted into applause, cheers, and stamps of appreciation. She stood up. Nathan took hold of her arm and led her into the center of the stage to greet her audience.

  It was then, while smiling at her appreciative crowd, that she saw him. Juan was just yards away. He pumped his hands together and smiled up at her. His gold tooth and sunglasses glinted in unison.

  Looking at him, she was filled with rage. He had used her to further his career. He was discussing records with Blu-Daddy, no doubt trying to convince him her songs needed a rap section plus extra drum and bass.

  She took hold of the micro
phone and prepared to speak. But before she opened her mouth, she looked at Nathan and reached for his hand. The photographers invited into the room took this as their cue to start snapping.

  “Um, my new song isn’t the only reason you’ve been invited here. Tonight we are celebrating. I’d like to introduce you to the new man in my life, Mr. Nathan Regan,” she began.

  She paused to allow the crowd to take in her news. They did so in a combination of shock, surprise, and ‘ooos’. The cameras went into overdrive.

  She looked to Juan and saw mixed emotion cross his face. To begin with, he seemed confused, then as people turned in his direction and looked at him for some sort of explanation, his look changed. His eyes darkened, his mouth hardened, and Autumn had to make herself look away.

  “I’ve never been happier in my life before. So I’d like you all to raise your glasses and drink to this man who has made me so happy. To Nathan Regan,” Autumn instructed.

  “Nathan Regan,” the gathering repeated, lifting their champagne flutes into the air.

  With the toast complete, Autumn held up her floor-length gown and almost vaulted from the stage. She strode toward Juan and Blu-Daddy, anger in her eyes and a stomach full of pent up frustration.

  Juan’s bald head looked freshly oiled, and he wore a cream-colored designer suit and beige loafers. Blu-Daddy, in contrast, was dressed in his trademark baggy jeans, a t-shirt printed with a picture of the band De La Soul, and whiter-than-white Adidas sneakers.

  “Autumn, babe, what was all that about?” Juan asked, taking hold of her hands.

  She shook his hands off. “Don’t touch me!” Autumn hissed.

  “Hey, Autumn, how you doin’, girl?” Blu-Daddy asked.

  Autumn drew her arm back, closed her eyes, and threw a punch at Juan’s face. She missed completely and hit him on the shoulder.