Fuck me! I have to see whatever Amy saw. He rushed to the keypad and called up the scans of Amy’s comms. Since they were deleted unless he called them up within an hour and he never eavesdropped on them, save in an emergency situation like this one, he hadn’t mentioned to Amy that he could do this. And I won’t. Unless I have to.
The video came in from a cell phone registered to Jason. Her ex-fiancé. It was as graphic as he’d guessed and showed Lucy Ferguson engaged in a torrid affair with the...
Can one call such an unfeeling beast a man? Rietin wasn’t certain about that.
I have to do something about this. I have to protect her.
But how? Routing all her calls through the consulate would be an invasion of her privacy.
What about messages to her cell phone and email communication? That was possible. Such communications were often delayed. She’d already placed blocks on both methods of communication, and Rietin could take on the screening process personally, via his own cell phone.
He didn’t question the wrong or right of it. In moments, he was coding in the necessary information. As an afterthought, he allowed messages and email from her family to pass directly to her without his intervention.
As his final move, he had all the pertinent information about this incident—the audio and video from Amy’s apartment and the video message—saved in a locked and time-stamped file. If Lucy Ferguson escalated this, he would have ample proof to use against her with the human authorities.
If I don’t get to her first.
Chapter Thirteen
Amy made her way down the stairs, her head fuzzy and eyes aching from too little sleep. She had no real reason for going out, but staring at the walls was likely to drive her insane.
She’d done what she could and sent off her resume to a half dozen companies that were hiring. It would be a waiting game until someone replied.
Rietin beat her to the security door by several steps, opened it, did a quick scan for security, and then held it open for her to precede him into the garage. As usual, he offered a tip of his head but didn’t speak to her unless she spoke first.
But this time, his gaze lingered.
I look that bad, don’t I? She didn’t ask it.
Amy made her way to her car and stared at the keys in her hand.
Rietin’s footsteps toward his van slowed, then stopped. There was a heartbeat of silence. “Ms. Davidson? Do you need anything? Are you all right?”
A wry smile pulled up at the edges of her lips. “You know I’m not. Don’t you?”
He didn’t reply for a long moment. “Yes. I do.”
“You know what? I don’t feel like driving today. Would you mind?” Since he’d told her that was his preferred way to protect her, she guessed he wouldn’t balk.
Enough of this. I’ve spent nearly a week looking at all the things the Sakk have cost me. I should take advantage of some of the things they are offering.
“Of course.”
She turned toward him, biting back a laugh at the sight of him rushing to the passenger side of his van to open the door for her. “Are you a professional driver, too?”
“When the situation calls for it, but it’s not my primary function.”
Amy knew well enough what his primary function was. She crossed the garage to his van and slid inside, reaching for the seatbelt with a whispered word of thanks.
Rietin closed the door, went to his side, and got in. Once he’d started the van, he turned to her. “Where do you need to go?”
That was still the question she didn’t have an answer to. “Need to? Nowhere, I guess?” Now I feel like shit. I’m making work for Rietin for no good reason.
“I understand.”
“Do you?” Why she bothered to ask was beyond her.
Rietin went red-faced, and his hands gripped the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles stood out in stark contrast. His jaw was clenched tight. “Maybe a visit to your mother might be in order today?” he suggested carefully.
Realization sank in slowly. “Do you listen to all my calls?” It didn’t have the bite she wanted it to have. Even though she should be furious with him, it was a relief to have someone to talk to.
“No! Of course not!”
“But?” she prompted him.
“I explained the stress sensors.”
Amy nodded. “Something I said or did when the video came in set them off,” she guessed.
“Yes. There is an automatic buffer of an hour to let me see a precipitating event, to be used as evidence, should that become necessary—”
“So you scrolled back.” She didn’t question it.
“Voice only.” He winced. “Do you feel that was wrong of me?”
“Thank you, Rietin. I’m...glad you’re here to protect me.”
His relief was impossible to miss. “Your parents’ home?” he suggested again.
She nodded. “I think my mother should meet you. In fact, if Lucy is this far down the warpath, it might be a good idea if my mother knows how to reach you in an emergency.”
“You haven’t told her about me yet?” He seemed shocked by that concept.
“I wasn’t sure how to.”
He nodded his agreement and put the van in gear.
While they were on a roll, Amy decided that discussing her concerns with him might be a good idea. He was her bodyguard, after all. “I didn’t expect Lucy to use Jason that way.”
Rietin snorted.
“What?”
His cheeks darkened a few more shades. He pulled onto Main Street and headed west, before he answered. “It is not appropriate for me to—”
“I’m not a virgin, Rietin. Whatever you’re thinking, I might have already thought it.” The thoughts circling in her head all night had made her weary.
“If you wish—”
“I do.”
He offered a tense nod. “I was thinking that it looked like Jason was using Ms. Ferguson more than a little.”
That wasn’t one I thought of. Before Amy had a hold on herself, she was laughing.
“Are you all right?”
That made her laugh harder. At last, Amy managed to stop. “I think I needed that.” She sobered a bit. “Now I have to figure out how to keep her from escalating this.”
“If you wouldn’t be very angry—”
“If it’s an answer to it, I’m all ears.”
“My job is to protect you,” he reminded her.
“That goes without saying, but you’re saying it.”
He shot her a sideward glance before he continued. “I have already taken...measures to protect you from Ms. Ferguson.”
Her stomach twisted a bit. “Like?”
He sighed. “Phone messages and email from your family will route directly to you. All other messages... With your permission, I will see them before you do. If they are not an attempt to harm you like...last night was, I will allow them to come to you.”
Answering that was hard. “But you’ve already done it, so you did it without my permission.”
He winced again. “I will undo it, if it distresses you. I have no wish to—”
“No. It’s a good solution.” A smile pulled up at her lips again.
His eyes narrowed at the sight of it. “Yes?” It wasn’t quite a challenge.
“I don’t suppose you’d just delete spam messages while you’re doing it.” Amy expected Rietin to refuse. After all, he was her bodyguard, not her secretary.
He shrugged. “It would not be overly difficult.”
****
Rietin shifted uncomfortably. “I should wait in the van,” he suggested. He turned to make his way back to it.
Amy grasped him by the arm and pulled him to a halt. “No you don’t. I want my mother to meet you.”
Right on cue, the door opened, and Diane appeared. Rietin hastened to turn to her, thankful that Amy released his arm before her mother could see it and raise a protest of some sort.
The older woman smiled w
idely, though the creases in her forehead made it clear she was confused. “Well, this is a surprise. Come in.” Diane cleared the way and waved her welcome.
Rietin let Amy go first, guarding her back. He tipped his head respectfully to Diane as he passed her. “Thank you for your welcome, Mrs. Davidson.”
The idea of walking into her home when her husband wasn’t there put his nerves on edge, even more so than entering Amy’s apartment had, since Diane was a mated woman. On Sakk, this simply wouldn’t occur.
They weren’t born on Sakk. Their sensibilities are more American than Sakk. But he’d rarely dealt with Earth-born Sakk-descended who didn’t have a Sakk-born male hovering over them. Though he’d had no problem treating human women as their own men would—respectfully so, it was a very different thing to treat a Sakk-descended woman as he would a human. Certain mores were ingrained into him, and they were hard to shed.
Diane launched right in. “Would you like anything? Coffee? Lemonade? Iced tea?”
“I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”
Amy sighed. “Rietin likes coffee, though he’s too polite to say it. I know there’s always a pot on.”
Her mother turned smartly and made her way to the kitchen, Amy in her wake. Rietin hesitated, then followed them.
“Rietin. That’s an interesting name,” his hostess commented.
“A Sakk name,” Amy informed her.
Diane took a slow inventory of him. “Earth-born?”
“No, ma’am,” Rietin replied. “I’m afraid not.”
She made a non-descript sound.
“I should wait in the van,” he repeated.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Diane ordered. She turned and placed a mug of coffee in his hand. “The sugar is on the table and the half and half is in the fridge.”
He hesitated, uncertain whether he was welcome or not.
“I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, young man. Move.” She raised one brow in challenge.
“Yes, ma’am.” A smile flirted with his lips.
Mother and daughter shared pleasantries while they prepared their own drinks. As a group, they moved to the living room; Diane and Amy settled to the sofa together, and Rietin took a chair.
Diane looked at her daughter over her coffee mug. “As I said earlier, this is quite the surprise.” She took a sip, patiently waiting for an answer to the unasked question, Rietin was sure.
“It’s not what you think,” Amy replied. “Sakkra assigned Rietin as my bodyguard.”
Her mother nodded. “He’s intelligent then. That’s good. Since their misstep got Lucy on the warpath, the least he can do is protect you from her.”
Amy didn’t hesitate. “I wanted you to meet Rietin, just in case Lucy causes problems for you.”
Rietin fished out one of his business cards and leaned across, offering it to Diane. She took it and examined it closely.
“If you have any problems, I can assign men to you. For that matter, I can assign one to you now, if you feel so strongly about the danger Ms. Ferguson poses.” Sakkra might question that, but considering Diane’s reaction, he felt certain the prince would err on the side of caution.
She waved him off. “Lucy tends to fixate on a target. I would be surprised if she decided to focus on me when Amy is so visible a target.”
I’ve heard that before. Usually before the worst happens. “I would appreciate it if you would put my number in your phones. In case of emergency, I can have a squad of warriors to your position in between five and ten minutes. Unlike the human authorities, you will be a priority for us.”
Diane nodded. “I’ll do that. Thank Sakkra for us.”
He tipped his head. “I will certainly do that.” When I tell him I’ve made this offer. I hope he isn’t too angry about it.
The discussion moved to other topics: Amy’s search for employment, a discussion of Jason that Amy begged off on, and the fact that several of her cousins had already arranged time to be tested by the Sakk.
Rietin sent up a prayer to Sakkan that at least one of them would test positive. It would take away the sting of Amy refusing them. Perhaps if one of her cousins tests positive, Amy will agree to choose a mate and go to Sakk.
Or perhaps they will both refuse to leave Earth, which will force Sakkra to take action on Amy’s ideas for matches living at the consulate or another secured location.
He pushed to his feet, excusing himself to refill his coffee mug. Halfway across the room, motion from the direction of his van stopped him cold.
Rietin parted the drapes a bit and looked out, his heart thundering in warning at the sight of Lucy Ferguson lurking around his vehicle. He thought quickly, dredging up a reason to go out there without alerting Amy or her mother to the situation.
Inspiration struck, and he set his mug on the small table. “I’ll be right back in. I left my phone in the van.” It wasn’t precisely a lie. Rietin carried one phone, but there was always a spare in the vehicle in case the one he carried was damaged or lost.
A faint word of agreement came back his direction. As he’d hoped, it seemed Amy and Diane were deeply engrossed in their discussion.
He didn’t waste time. Rietin left the house and made his way directly to the interloper.
Lucy didn’t try to hide herself. She turned and leaned against the van, smiling as Rietin approached her.
“Any reason you’re messing around with my van?” he inquired.
“Didn’t touch a thing,” she replied, her hands up as if to appease him.
Rietin crossed his arms over his chest, issuing a silent challenge.
“You’re a friend of Amy’s?”
“I wouldn’t say friend.” The presumption of claiming such a thing would never occur to him.
Her smile faded, and her expression went hard. “Well, she moves quickly, doesn’t she?”
“Excuse me?” She couldn’t be insinuating what he thought she was. Even if she was, considering her assignation with Jason the night before, Lucy had no moral high ground to speak from.
“None of my business,” she conceded.
No. It’s not. Rietin waited to hear what her game was.
“Just so you know, Amy isn’t what you think she is.”
“And just what is she?”
Lucy smirked and sauntered away. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Rietin watched her get in her car and drive away. He made a note of her vehicle and license plate number. Then he pulled out his phone and dialed the comm center at the consulate.
It took only a few moments for the patch to Koebi. Rietin greeted him with a grumbled “This is priority.”
The other tracker didn’t question it. “Go.”
“I require three men. Now. The first will locate and follow Lucy Ferguson. She is driving a black Mustang convertible with personalized plate S-X-Y-G-R-L.”
“Has she accosted the young match? Uh...Ms. Davidson?”
“Not today, but she has been harassing Ms. Davidson in stealth.”
“You want to know where she goes and what she does.”
“I want to be sure she is nowhere near Ms. Davidson or her family.”
“Done.”
“The second man will watch Ms. Davidson’s mother.”
“For what reason?”
“Ferguson was lurking about Mrs. Davidson’s home.” Since he wasn’t certain what Lucy’s aim was in being there, it was better to be safe. “Though Mrs. Davidson believes Lucy means only to cause Amy harm, her concern is reason enough to protect her, and her mate is not in the home to protect her.”
“I agree. And the final man?”
“I want the van I’m driving replaced. Now. Full diagnostics run on the vehicle.”
There was a moment of tense silence.
“She was lurking around my van. Considering what I know of the female, I would not put sabotage past her.”
“Done. The vehicle will be replaced within half an hour. Should I report this to Sakkra?”
He hesitated a moment. “Yes. Please do. I do not trust this woman, and the more I hear about her, the more I believe preemptive measures are best.”
“Done. And...Rietin?”
“Yes?”
“Be safe.” He disconnected.
Rietin took one last look the direction Lucy had gone and started back for the house. A tone from his cell phone brought him up short on the edge of the curb, and he punched up the message. It was a text message on hold in his queue for Amy. And it was from an unknown cell number.
He opened it, his blood boiling at the contents.
Nice new boyfriend. I’ll be fucking him next. Enjoy while you can.
Luce
So that was the way she wanted to play it? Rietin bit back the urge to answer her challenge. Instead, he saved the message as he had the earlier attack on Amy.
He went back into the house, trying to school his expression, though he raged silently. Whether it would harm Amy or not, Lucy Ferguson had no chance of bedding him. Rietin had never been lonely enough or horny enough to bed a viper like her.
Amy looked up from the coffee machine, her smile fading. “Problem?”
He closed the cell phone and pushed it back into his pocket. “Just erasing spam.” When did I start lying to my charges?
“I was joking about that,” she responded, but she laughed.
It was good to hear her laugh.
Chapter Fourteen
Amy trudged up the stairs toward her apartment, exhausted. It would be all she could do to get a meal down before falling into bed. It was strange, but they never seemed to eat much when Sakkra invited her to the consulate for a business dinner.
Tonight was the third meeting she’d had with Sakkra about the proposed changes in as many weeks. He’d even hinted at the idea of giving her a job as their Earth-born representative...complete with world-wide travel to every country with a Sakk consulate and additional day trips to countries with proposed agreements.
Amy wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She was sure the money would be more than adequate, but working in close quarters with Sakkra was guaranteed to drive her crazy. She hadn’t come to terms with being Sakk-descended herself, let alone the idea of mating for life with a Sakk-born man, so the idea of entering into any relationship—business or pleasure—with a Sakk prince she was undeniably attracted to was too much for her mind to handle right now.
Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) Page 14
