Dangerous Promise (The Protector)

by Megan Hart

  “Do you think there’s someone on the inside working against me?” Ewan asked.

  “It seems likely,” she said and hesitated. “I also think there are a lot of people out there who want to terrorize and intimidate you, and many of them are not related to each other. So that’s something to think about. Who really wants to bully you versus who’s trying to outright hurt or kill you? I know you had several real attempts on your life over the past two years. What does your team say about it now?”

  The thought sobered him. He paced, hands on his hips, thinking over the past few years. “I have them monitoring all kinds of threats, culling social media commentary and tying stuff together. But so much of it is idle, especially since I’ve been out of the public eye.”

  “People like to talk big, especially online. Say things they can’t back up. Rich men always have someone who’d like to see them knocked down a notch. And you . . . well, you’ve got yourself all tangled up in some truly controversial and inflammatory business,” Nina told him.

  He turned to look at her. “I didn’t set out for it to be that way, Nina.”

  “I didn’t think you did. But that’s what it’s become, and unfortunately, you have to face the consequences of that.” Her eyebrows rose slightly. Her lips pursed, and she touched the tip of her tongue to the center of her top lip.

  Now he was remembering the taste of her mouth again. The firmness of her curves. The smell of her hair.

  “I can’t win, you know. One way or another, no matter which side I come out on, someone is going to hate me.” Ewan shook his head.

  She nodded. “That’s a hard thing to deal with. Being hated for what you believe in. For who you are.”

  “You know how it feels,” he said in a quiet voice. “To be hated for who you are.”

  “Not for who. For what I am,” Nina corrected gently. “That’s what people believe. That I’m a what, not a who. It’s a little different. But we could toss around semantics all day and night and it wouldn’t make a difference. Right now, we need to figure out a way to make sure all those people who hate you are kept far away.”

  “Did you ever?” he asked, hating that he was even asking but helpless not to know. “Hate me, I mean?”

  Nina looked surprised, as though the concept hadn’t occurred to her. “Because you’re responsible for the Enhancement Repeal Act?”

  “Well, certainly not because I use a fancy jam spoon instead a normal one.”

  This time, she did laugh. Relieved that his humor had hit the target at last, Ewan chuckled with her, his gaze tracing the lines of her smile. Her eyes lit up when she was amused. He’d never considered himself a funny guy, but he wanted to always see that light in her eyes.

  “I hoped that over time you’d change your mind, but . . . no. I didn’t hate you. I can’t, remember?” She shook her head.

  “The laws are in place now. Even if I did change my mind, it’s not so simple to overturn them. It took a lot of work, time, effort, money, to get that law enacted. It would take even more to get it repealed. And with public opinion such as it is, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”

  That was also his doing, though she wouldn’t know that. His behind-the-scenes work using social media to change the public’s perception couldn’t be traced directly back to him any more than his involvement in the origination of the tech. In an age of near-instant coverage of everything online, money still managed to keep secrets, and Ewan had enough to ensure his were kept. Gray Tuesday had helped with that.

  Nina was no fool. “I think we both can agree that you have the following and ability to sway public opinion in the other direction. If you wanted to. I understand that you don’t,” she added, putting both her hands up and making a small pushing gesture. “I get it. And really, it doesn’t matter. As my grandma was fond of saying, you get what you get, and you don’t pitch a fit.”

  “Good advice,” Ewan said.

  “She had a lot of terrific words of wisdom, most of which I did not learn to take until I was much older.”

  He smiled. “And wiser?”

  “Well,” Nina said lightly, “maybe just older.”

  They stared at each other in silence for the span of a breath or two, and Ewan said, “I admire you.”

  “I am admirable.” She grinned, curling her fists toward her shoulders to show off her biceps, one and then the other. She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “But thank you.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Ewan said, enjoying this easy, casual conversation more than a serious one but needing her to understand. “You could have come in here with a chip on your shoulder, but you didn’t.”

  “I don’t need a chip on my shoulder. I have a few in my brain.” She smiled, but her voice had gone a little chilly. “Also, I don’t see the point in trying to antagonize someone I have to spend literally every second of my life with. That’s a very good way to be miserable, isn’t it? Who wants to spend their time being miserable?”

  Ewan shook his head. “I don’t. I’m not as good as you are, though. With the positive attitude.”

  “Maybe I’ll rub off on you,” Nina said, then hooted low laughter and rolled her eyes.

  “We both know you don’t want me rubbing off anything anywhere near you.”

  His attempts at humor had failed more often than hers, but now Nina gave a surprised chuckle. “Is that what you really think?”

  He wanted to kiss her again. No, he wanted to apologize for kissing her. No, Ewan thought again. He wanted to stop wanting her.

  Nina said, “We should talk about what you’re going to do next.”

  Disappointed that she’d turned the conversation but knowing it was for the best, Ewan shook his head. “Siege mode. Nothing comes in, nothing goes out, until we figure out if there is, indeed, an internal leak or my team determines the threat levels have dropped again.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  “They will,” he said confidently. “They always do. If the League of Humanity doesn’t have anything fueling it, eventually they’ll get tired of harassing me. Not that I think they’re the real danger, anyway.”

  “How long are you willing to hunker down?” she asked him. “I mean, it sounds romantic and all, surviving off the land and all that. You certainly have the setup for it. And I mean ‘romantic’ in an old-fashioned sense, not, you know. Romantic.”

  She gestured, curving her fingers into the shape of a heart and bumping it against her chest.

  “For as long as it takes. Why? Do you have someplace to be?” Again, what was meant as a joke fell a little flat.

  Nina tilted her head to look at him. “Not particularly. I did sign an open-ended contract. If that’s what you think is the best option . . .”

  “You don’t?” When she shrugged, he took another step closer to her, making sure to look her in the eyes. “You have a better idea?”

  “I’m not a strategist, Ewan. I’m a soldier. It’s not up to me to decide how you resolve these threats. I’m here to—”

  “Protect me. I know. But you have thoughts on it. I know you do. I’d like to hear them.”

  Nina frowned at first, then stood straight and tall, her shoulders squared. “I do have an idea, but it’s going to be dangerous. Do you trust me?”

  * * *

  “Absolutely,” Ewan said at once. No hesitation. His gaze never left hers.

  Nina nodded, her mind working fast. She was usually not one for pacing, preferring to keep her physicality controlled, to use her energy wisely, but now she mimicked his habit by striding back and forth in a few short paces, her hands on her hips as she worked it over in her brain. She shot a glance over her shoulder at him.

  “What would it take,” she said, “to make sure that nobody was even looking for you?”

  Ewan’s brow furrowed. “Not following.”

  “Your team’s been putting together reports on all the threats against you, correct?”

  “Yes,” he said.


  “Perfect,” Nina said, pacing again. “I assume you have analysts, yes? Determining the strength of the threats in order of danger. Advising you about whether or not it’s okay to attend an event, stuff like that?”

  His soft laugh turned her to face him. “Yes. Of course.”

  “But the last two events you attended, you were attacked. And people have managed to breach your security several times since I’ve been here. So you think maybe there’s also someone on the inside. Someone on your team isn’t loyal.”

  “Could be. What are you getting at?”

  She turned again. Back and forth in front of him. Thinking, thinking hard. Trying to put the pieces into place.

  “If you made it clear that you’d be particularly vulnerable at a certain time, and someone really was working against you, it would seem likely they’d make sure something happened then. Right?”

  Ewan shrugged. “Possibly.”

  Nina faced him. “So, we make it clear that you’re vulnerable. You’re sending the staff away, going into siege mode. You’re paranoid. Pissed off that the guards weren’t doing enough. Something. You clear the house and make sure your team knows you’ll be alone. Well, except for me, of course.”

  “And then what?” He sounded curious, but open, his gaze frank and assessing.

  “We see if something happens.”

  Ewan laughed briefly. “So . . . what, as a way to prove that I have a leak?”

  “More than that. If they’re coming after you to scare and bully you, that’s one thing. If they’re really going to try to hurt you, even kill you, the time for them to do it would be when you’re not as well protected as you should be.” Nina clenched and unclenched her fists, putting together a plan. “You would be, obviously, since I’d still be here. But it might prompt whoever’s been coming after you to up their game.”

  “And the benefit of that is . . . ?”

  She grinned. “If they think you’re dead, they’ll stop coming after you. At least for a while. You’ll see who steps forward to take credit. You could figure out who really is behind all of this and stop them for good.”

  “They’ll all step up and take credit,” Ewan pointed out. “Any of the groups that want me gone would be happy to say it was them.”

  “Sure, of course. But you know it would only be a matter of time before you could get someone to figure out the truth. So, first off, you’d know for sure you had an internal source leaking your information and could work from there.” She ticked the list off on her fingers. “You could get a handle on which group is really behind the big guns and not just the scare tactics.”

  She spun in a slow circle, tapping her finger against her lower lip, then caught sight of him looking over with a bemused grin. “The key is, you make them think they got you. Then you can handle all the rest.”

  “You’re telling me to fake my own death? That would . . .” He shook his head. Paused. Then again. “That would be crazy. Do you know what that would do to my business, if I suddenly up and died? It would be chaos.”

  “Surely you have instructions in place in case that happened,” Nina said. “I mean, the fact is, your life’s been threatened over and over again for years.”

  “Yeah, but . . . I’m not actually going to be dead!”

  She laughed at his expression. “No. Not if I have anything to do with it. Is there one person, at least one, who you can trust with everything you have?”

  Ewan’s smile faded as he looked at her. “You, Nina.”

  “I’m not in charge of your business.” Heat inside her flared at his words, though, and at the look in his hazel eyes. “I meant someone who’d be able to handle everything for you while you were in hiding. You wouldn’t have to fake your death. In fact, you’d have that person deny that you were dead, despite all the signs pointing to you being totally offed. Make them guess. It will be pandemonium, but surely there are measures in place to handle things.”

  “I have a phalanx of lawyers, sure. And Rodriguez has instructions, he’d be able to handle everything for a while. Nothing would happen for months, especially if they couldn’t prove I was dead.”

  “Like, if your body was missing,” she said.

  Ewan’s brows rose. “Yeah, like if my body was missing. I’m a little worried that you’ve thought this far ahead, Nina.”

  “I’m really just brainstorming,” she told him. “I told you, I’m not a strategist. I’m just trying to figure out a way for you to get out of here and into someplace really safe without anyone figuring it out, and a way to get them off your back.”

  She snapped her fingers, realizing none of this was going to work. At his expression, a mixture of confusion, amusement, and something else she couldn’t name, Nina shrugged. She could go hand-to-hand with a half dozen people trying to take him down, but she was making a mess of all of this.

  “You’d need a place to go,” she said. “Someplace nobody knows about, where you can stay for as long as you have to. I mean, you can scarcely say ah-choo without the media speculating on what caused the sneeze. You need a—”

  “A safe house,” he said. “Of course.”

  “And as it happens,” Nina began, with Ewan once more finishing her thought for her.

  “I have one.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The plan had come together surprisingly well, once he’d gotten it into his head that this was the right thing to do. Nina had been right, she was no strategist, but her vivid imagination had been what started it all off, and Ewan had to admit—it was crazy. But it was going to work.

  If he survived it, anyway.

  “You’re sure you’re comfortable?” Nina asked.

  “Absolutely,” he assured her. “So long as they don’t aim for my head.”

  She frowned before realizing he was teasing her. Then she ran her hands over his chest, feeling for the lightweight, shockproof vest he’d donned beneath his T-shirt. They’d decided it wouldn’t be suspicious for him to be wearing it, not after all the recent threatening activity.

  “It fits you well.” Her palms rested on his chest as she looked up at him.

  He couldn’t feel her touch through the layers of material, and yet a flash of heat flooded him. His memory of the kiss had joined his repeated reimaginings of the other things he kept thinking about. His gaze skated over her mouth. If she noticed his look, she ignored it.

  They’d talked about various ways this could go down, but in the end had decided it was best if he was attacked as far away from the house as possible. He could have dismissed the household staff to help protect them, but since someone would have to be maintaining the estate while he was gone, and he didn’t want any of them to miss out on their pay while things were in upheaval, he and Nina had figured they would have to tempt the attack somewhere on the grounds.

  So, they were going running.

  Over the past week, Ewan had carefully seeded all the information he thought necessary to the staff responsible for monitoring the threat levels. He’d scheduled the security staff to have deliberate gaps in the coverage, along with arranging for service calls to the perimeter fencing and security systems that would provide a very narrow but extremely accessible time frame for anyone to gain entrance to the property. It had been a long time since he’d done any actual programming on his own, but he’d made sure to encode any of the correspondence with an individual identifier so that if any of his staff did indeed forward what was meant to be confidential information or share it in any way, he’d be able to figure out who it was.

  Now, all they had to do was wait.

  “I feel like a worm on a hook,” he said under his breath as he stretched, watching Nina do the same.

  As always, she wore her black leggings and long-sleeved shirt, both made of that strong material that wouldn’t stop a bullet but that could blunt a knife. Her harness, crisscrossing over her shoulders and around her belly, along with the thigh straps, had been fully fitted with all of her gear. Compared to her, Ewan was
nearly naked, wearing only a pair of running shorts and the singlet with the shockproof vest beneath.

  The scary part was not that his team had come up with reports about any threat levels rising, but that they had not. The same circulating criticisms and calling out by the various groups, including the League of Humanity, and nothing new. If anything, the threats had dropped off in the wake of a new surge of social outrage over something else that had nothing to do with him. It hadn’t left Ewan feeling any safer; if anything, it made him even more suspicious of someone on his team falsifying reports. It had also convinced both him and Nina that there were some definite threats on the horizon that were being kept from him deliberately.

  “You don’t look like a worm.” Her eyes gleamed as she looked him over, up and down, then tilted her head and went around the back to give him an inspection he doubted was completely necessary but left him fighting a grin.

  “Yeah? What do I look like?”

  She’d circled around to the front of him again, this time to rest her hands on his shoulders. “You look strong. Like a good runner.”

  Their feet crunched on the gravel as he took a step closer to her to lower his voice. Even though she’d had them both fitted with sound-blocking devices, now would not be the time for anything regarding this plan to be overheard by anyone monitoring them. He leaned close to speak directly into her ear, but in doing so caught a whiff of her fresh scent. It distracted him for a moment as he breathed it in.

  Nina turned her face toward his, their cheeks brushing. “If anyone is watching us, they’re going to assume we have something going on.”

  “That would only fuel the scandal and the rumors, wouldn’t it?” His hands settled on her hips, fingers tightening briefly before he stepped away from her with a grin he was pleased to see looked as though it had caught her off guard.

  “You’re playing with danger,” she told him with a wag of her finger.

  Ewan grinned, jogging a few steps backward. “How so?”

  “Distracting me,” Nina told him as she started after him. “If you wanted to make out with me, you should have asked me yesterday.”