DOMINIC (Dragon Security Book 3)

by Glenna Sinclair

  Chapter 24

  Hayden

  Sam was alone in the kitchen, rinsing wine glasses out in the sink. I came up behind her and tugged at the black blazer she was wearing.

  “Couldn’t find a wedding cardigan to wear?”

  She jerked her shoulders, moving away from me before I could get too close.

  “What do you want, Hayden?”

  “Just thought I’d come and talk to my favorite secretary.”

  “You do realize I’m not a secretary, right? I run that office.”

  “You’re Megan’s flunky. Always moving around in her shadow.”

  I saw the hurt flash across her face. Sometimes I went too far, and I knew it. But I couldn’t help myself with her.

  “Speaking of Megan, were you able to figure out the virus on your computer?”

  The hurt disappeared and was replaced by a deep concern. She had such an expressive face…she didn’t have to speak for me to know what she was thinking.

  “You found something?”

  She carefully placed the wine glasses in the dishwasher before turning to look at me.

  “I haven’t told Megan this yet. But I think…the virus was put on my computer by someone with direct access to it.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I traced it. Most viruses, you can find where it was downloaded onto the computer. Usually it’s an email attachment you shouldn’t have opened or a website you shouldn’t have visited. But this…someone had to have put it onto my computer directly and then activated somehow…I don’t know. It seems crazy.”

  “What?”

  She looked at me for a long minute. “Someone had to have activated it at that exact moment, which means they had to have known what we were looking at. That means that someone who was in the office at the time put that virus in my machine and activated it to stop us from reading Emily’s notes.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, my eyes moving to the crowded living room where people were coming and going for the wedding reception. Dante was standing behind Megan, whispering something near her ear.

  “Dante was there that night.”

  “So were half a dozen monitors, you, me, and Megan.”

  “Dante was using his cellphone when the virus activated. Could that be a way to do it?”

  “Sure. But Dante?”

  “You’ve been investigating him.”

  “How do you know that?”

  I shrugged. “You have.”

  “Megan wanted to know more about him.”

  “Have you found anything?”

  “Not really. No more than what we already knew.”

  “That he was a cop who just decided he’d rather work for a private agency half a country away?”

  Sam nodded, as though agreeing with me. “That seems odd.”

  “There’s something not right about him, and I’m worried what’ll happen to Megan when she learns the truth.”

  “Me too.”

  “Let me help you. Let me help figure out what this guy’s up to.”

  She studied my face again, her beautiful eyes uncovered by her glasses today. I found myself wondering if I lived up to her expectations, if I was the man she thought I was. Or better, maybe. I wanted to be better; I wanted to be everything a girl like Sam deserved. I wanted to get her attention, to sweep her off her feet. But there was something, some fear deep inside of me, that made it impossible for me to even make the first move. I’d never had that problem with other women.

  “Okay. But we keep it out of the office. I can’t lie to Megan, and if she caught us whispering behind her back, I’d have to tell her everything.”

  I smiled, thinking how absolutely naive and sweet that really was.

  “Deal.” I shook her hand. “Now how about a dance?”

  She groaned as I dragged her out into the living room, but she melted against my chest as we began to dance to the slow, steady rhythm of some old pop song.

  I could really get used to this.

  Chapter 25

  Dominic

  “I feel like a kept man,” I said, as the bellboy left the room and I turned to survey the suite Megan had arranged for us at a local hotel. Tomorrow we were boarding a flight early in the morning to Italy, a honeymoon among the ruins of Rome. Amy was so excited about it that she’d hardly been able to keep the surprise to herself.

  “I hope so,” she said, coming up to press herself against my body. “That was the idea.”

  “To make me feel cheap and used?”

  “No. To make you feel pampered.”

  “Oh, well, I guess that is another way to look at it.”

  I lifted her chin and kissed her, drawing her closer against me.

  “You look amazing in this dress.”

  “You don’t look too bad in your suit.”

  “True, true. But I’m ready to get out of it.”

  She giggled, turning and running to the bedroom, her train of her dress draped over one arm. I followed, groaning when the bathroom door slammed before I could reach it.

  “Come on, babe. It’s not like I haven’t see you naked before.”

  “Not on our wedding night!”

  I groaned again, crossing the room to pull the blankets back on the bed. There was a bottle of champagne in a chiller in the living room. I went and got it, popping the top and drinking directly out of the bottle. It was one of the most amazing wines I’d ever tasted.

  I undressed, hanging the suit because I’d insisted on paying for it and was determined to find another venue to wear it to. But I was certainly looking forward to spending the next week in jeans and t-shirts.

  I was sitting on the side of the bed in nothing but my boxer briefs when Amy came out of the bathroom. She was dressed in a white lace baby doll with these delicate little panties peeking out at the bottom. I groaned for a third time, this time because I couldn’t believe how lucky I really was.

  “Come here, wife,” I said, my voice much deeper than usual.

  She came to me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she stared into my eyes.

  “We’re really married, aren’t we?”

  “We are.”

  She ran her hand over the side of my face, her fingers lingering on my jaw. And then she touched the tattoo that marked a date important enough that I wanted it always on my skin.

  “When did you do this?”

  “On leave just after Paris.”

  “After we broke up?”

  I shrugged. “I’d intended to get it done for a long time.”

  “But after we broke up. You got the date of our first meeting tattooed to your chest after we broke up?”

  “I didn’t believe it as the end. And it wasn’t.”

  “But two years is a long time, Dom.”

  “I know. But I would have waited twenty for you.”

  “Just twenty?” She laughed, but there were tears in her eyes. “Not thirty or fifty?”

  “I would have waited a lifetime.”

  She climbed into my lap, and we kissed, soft, gentle kisses that were almost painful. I wrapped my arms around her and tugged her hips tight against mine. She moved and…was it possible to want someone so much more every time you touched?

  I lifted the baby doll and pulled it off of her, buried my mouth against her throat.

  “I love you,” I whispered. “I never stopped loving you.”

  She ran her fingers through my hair, then lifted my chin so she could see my face.

  “Ditto,” she whispered.

  ~END of DOMINIC~

  Epilogue

  Megan

  Back to business. I sat at my desk early Monday morning, staring at a screen filled with emails. Business emails related to the running of the company. Client emails, some from our basic security clients, some from those requesting information on bodyguard services or undercover investigative services. It was like swimming through a sea of Jell-O, weeding out the bullshit and mining out the diamonds.
/>   I’d spoken to a man twice over the weekend who wanted to hire a bodyguard for his surrogate mother-to-be. She’d been assaulted in a public parking lot, and he was worried that someone knew she was his surrogate and was trying to either extort money or cause a miscarriage. I guess that was one danger of a celebrity trying to have a kid with some stranger.

  I filled out a client form and got up, sticking my head out into the bullpen to find someone to assign the case to. Dominic was on his honeymoon. Cole was wrapped up in his own wedding plans—and he really wasn’t an official asset for Dragon, anyway—and Vincent was on leave for personal issues. Dante was sitting at a desk, working on paperwork that never seemed to get done. And Hayden wasn’t in yet. That just left Marcus.

  Marcus was new. I’d only hired him a month or so ago. Like Vincent, I’d teamed him up with the others several times, but never sent him off on a case of his own.

  Maybe it was time.

  “Marcus?”

  Marcus Hanson. He was a Marine, the same branch of the military I’d served with. He’d seen some action in Afghanistan, two tours. He was honorably discharged six months ago. He was born and raised in Illinois, but moved to Texas for reasons we hadn’t yet discussed. I liked to know all I could about the people who worked for me, but I tried not to pry. Like Vincent, Marcus was a quiet guy who kept mostly to himself. That would have to change if either of them planned to stick with Dragon for long.

  He followed me into my office.

  “I have a case. But before I give it to you, I want your assurances that you’re prepared to handle a case on your own.”

  “Of course, ma’am.”

  My eyebrows rose. “I need to know that you’ll follow our protocols and you’ll restrain yourself from becoming involved with the young target.”

  “I’m highly professional, ma’am.”

  “I’m sure you are. But this case involves highly sensitive information. Our clients trust that we won’t betray their privacy.”

  “I would never do that.”

  I studied his face for a long minute, wondering if I should put Dante on this one. But the idea of sending Dante off to protect a pretty young girl simply didn’t set well with me. Another reason why I shouldn’t become involved with an employee.

  This was my business. And my business was built on trust. I had to trust him.

  “Okay. Have you ever heard of Blake Zimmerman?”

  “The football player?”

  “Yes.

  Marcus’ eyes lit up in a way I’d never seen before. Again I questioned my choice, but realized I had little choice.

  I had to trust him.

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  GRAY WOLF SECURITY SERIES

  Prologue

  Kate

  The bank was locked up for the night. I curled up in my office chair, my shoes kicked off, and went over the last few applications of the day. It never failed to fascinate me, the millions of reasons why people wanted a loan. Some of the applications told a better story than the bestselling novels piled up on my bedside table waiting to be read. Like this one from an older man whose wife died six months ago. I guess he was feeling a new sense of freedom because now he wanted a small business loan to start a small social club for “the social-security-aged youth” of his community. It made me chuckle, some of the colorful ways in which he made his case.

  Finally done, I shut down my computer and straightened the surface of my desk. Mrs. Talbot, my manager, was a hard ass about the way our desks looked.

  A bank is not the place to leave your panties hanging off the back of a chair.

  That was her favorite mantra. Made me wonder what her house looked like. Probably so sterile she could eat off the floor. Either that, or she was a hoarder like on that television show. Boxes and papers and paintings and clothing stacked all over the place.

  I slid my shoes back on and grabbed my bag, tugging it over my shoulder. Joe, the security guard—they were all named Joe, weren’t they?—pushed open the door.

  “Have a good night, Miss Thompson.”

  “You, too, Joe.”

  I stepped out onto the front steps of the bank and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath of the cool, salty air. Santa Monica in January. There was a little chill to the air tonight. Nothing that would have my teeth chattering before I could get to my car though.

  I made my way to the sidewalk, my thoughts still on that old man who wanted funding to open what would essentially be a brothel for older gentlemen, again chuckling under my breath. Then I turned the corner and the chuckles died.

  What was going on? Something wasn’t right.

  I hesitated before stepping into the dark alley where the employee parking lot sat. There was just something not right here. I thought about going back, asking Joe to walk me to my car. He’d offered often enough that I knew he’d be more than happy to walk me. And then there was movement, deep in the back of the lot, near where my car was, and…

  I ran.

  Chapter 1

  At the Compound

  The office for Gray Wolf Security was actually at the home compound of Ashford Grayson. He bought the property with the company in mind after spending nearly a year wandering the county aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do with himself after he left the military—the Green Berets to be exact. He loved being a soldier. Adjusting to civilian life again was…difficult.

  The security firm was born out of not only a need to find a purpose for himself, but to find a purpose for a few soldiers—like him—who also needed a direction. A purpose. Therefore, it was his business plan to hire men and women like himself, retired soldiers looking for something stateside that would have some of the adrenaline of the military without so many of the risks. A few risks. Sometimes more than even he could anticipate. But nowhere near what they’d risked in their day-to-day lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and Korea and wherever else they served.

  The main house, a rambling cabin-like structure, served as the office space for the company—with Ash’s living space upstairs. The living room, kitchen, and dining room were advertised as “open-concept living.” Now they held a half dozen desks where Ash’s main operatives were expected to keep up with the paperwork that came along with a job of this kind. That included David, his brother, who spent most of his time working on the bank of computers arrayed in one corner of the room as their tech guy. The dining room housed a large conference table where clients were often given the dog-and-pony speeches over why they should hire Gray Wolf, or the explanation of what was done for them and why they should pay their bill that was often in the thousands.

  Twenty-four-hour security was not cheap.

  The kitchen was still just a kitchen. Ash had been known to make four-course meals there for his people after a particularly tough case was completed. Kirkland Parish, one of Gray Wolf’s operatives, also liked to cook, but you couldn’t always call what he made edible.

  Ash had good people working for him. Each was handpicked for reasons that went beyond their ability to do the job asked of them.

  Donovan Pritchard was a member of Ash’s own Green Beret unit. They worked closely together during Ash’s last deployment to Afghanistan. They saw things together that other people couldn’t even imagine, let alone see in their nightmares. Donovan was an expert at explosives. He could work with any material, blow up anything, and predict accurately how it would fall. He could take out a dozen insurgents but avoid the civilians right next door.

  Kirkland Parish was also a Green Beret. Although he was with a different unit during Ash’s days with the Army, Ash had heard stories about him. He was something of a character, outgoing and something of a lady’s man. If there was a woman within a fifty-mile radius, Kirkland could find her a
nd get her in his bed in a matter of minutes. Charm didn’t even begin to describe Kirkland. There was just something about him that instantly set people at ease. It was a skill that often came in handy with the kind of frightened, wired clients Gray Wolf served.

  Joselyn Grant Hernandez, Joss, was a tiny but fierce soldier who stood up to and conquered every obstacle thrown at her during basic training. And then she served two tours of duty, leaving the Army only because she fell in love and wanted to experience a normal life. She was on Ash’s radar when he began building his company, but she was happy living with her schoolteacher husband and being a stay-at-home mom to her six-year-old daughter. But when her husband and child were killed in a car accident, Ash and his Gray Wolf team stepped in, made sure the driver of the other car received his just punishment, and gave her a place to turn to when she was ready to get back to work. She took it and she was good at her job. The fact that she wouldn’t speak didn’t seem to bother anyone.

  And then there was David.

  Ash and David grew up in Austin, Texas where their father was a longtime member of the Texas legislature. They were a close-knit family, one of those that politicians often parade out in public with big smiles on their faces. The only difference was, it was true in their case. When Ash graduated college with a degree in political science and decided to join the Army, his parents couldn’t have been more thrilled. The dream was that he would one day follow in his father’s footsteps. David, too, was serving his country. After college, he joined the FBI.

  And then things changed.

  Their father was elected to Congress. There was a celebration that ran late into the night on Election Day. Ash couldn’t be there because he was deployed, but he managed to speak to his parents for a few minutes via satellite phone. If he had known it would be the last time…

  David was driving the car. Dad was too tired, and he’d had a few too many to drink. And Mom, well, she just didn’t drive. The car hit a patch of black ice. It was Austin. In November. Not a common occurrence, but it was known to happen. The car flipped. Mom was declared dead on the scene. Dad lingered a few days, the press thick outside the hospital, waiting with baited breath. And David crushed his lower spine. Bone fragments were removed and his potential recovery was optimistic. However, they missed a few, and the inflammation caused paralysis from his upper thighs down. The doctors thought they could restore movement, maybe allow him ninety percent mobility,but he refused to undergo the procedure. He said the risk wasn’t worth it.