This was a mistake. It was all a stupid, useless, ridiculous mistake.
* * *
Kelly found herself struggling to pay attention as customers came up to the table for autographs. Dane was standing just off to one side of the table, leisurely conversing with the store manager. The woman was smiling, clearly caught under the spell of his charm. Everyone seemed to fall head over heels for Dane the moment they met him. Being around him was so easy. Ryder, on the other hand, was standing at the front of the room, leaning against the glass wall beside the front doors, watching the room with a dark gaze that seemed to warn anyone who dared make eye contact with him to back off.
Two very different men. Two complicated situations.
Kelly was beginning to think she’d be better off if she moved to a cabin in the woods and stayed miles away from the nearest member of humanity. Less complicated. More pleasant.
Her hand began to cramp, so she set down the pen she’d been holding for over two hours now and flexed her fingers. She really did wish she could hire someone else to handle this stuff. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. Her first series of books had sold millions, and the first in this series was doing twice as well as all that. She thought it would be in her publisher’s best interest to let her stay home and write, but no, they insisted she do this stuff.
If she’d known it would be like this, she might have chosen a different profession.
“What name do you wish this to be written to?”
The man who’d just approached the table was short, heavy set, with hair that hung greasy in his eyes. He had a bright red break out scattered over his cheeks, and his body odor was strong enough that she was getting a good whiff of it just sitting across from him.
“Your name?” she asked again.
“You don’t look like I thought you would.”
He had a slight stutter that caused his “l’s” and “t’s” to be drawn out.
“I suppose a lot of people feel that way.”
“I imagined you looked more like Kira.”
Kelly tilted her head to one side. “Kira is a fictional character based on a combination of different women.”
“Such as?”
She shrugged. “My sister, my mother, a couple of girls I knew in high school. Different people.”
“I thought she’d look like you.”
“I hope you’re not disappointed.”
He studied her face, the redness on his cheeks growing even redder. “No.”
Kelly turned her attention back to the open book in front of her. “Your name?”
He grabbed her wrist before she saw it coming, twisting it painfully away from the book. “Could you look at me? I was talking to you.”
“You’re hurting my wrist.”
“You need to look at me.”
Kelly looked up, tugging her wrist trying to pull it from his grip, but it only made him squeeze harder. She moaned a little, vaguely aware of a murmur beginning around them.
“I waited in line for three hours to get in here. The least you could do is answer my questions!”
“I understand. But there are a lot of people here tonight.”
“But it’s my turn now!” His voice was rising; high pitched and clearly irate. “I waited, and I should be allowed some time—”
Ryder suddenly appeared behind the man and twisted his arm behind his back in a painful hold that caused him to release Kelly’s wrist as he tried to free himself.
“I’m going to walk you out of here, and you’re going to go quietly. Understand?”
The man nodded, his eyes falling wildly on Kelly’s face. “I only wanted to talk to her.”
“You had your chance. Now you’re leaving.”
Ryder turned the man, and the crowd parted to allow them to walk freely to the front door. As Kelly watched, falling into a sort of shock, Dane came up behind her and helped her out of her seat. They went into a break room at the back of the store, a brightly lit room that was silent save for the low hum of a refrigerator.
“You okay?” Dane asked, turning her into him, his hands moving gently over her face. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, her eyes shifting to the door of the room. “One second we’re having a nice conversation and the next—”
“I know. I saw.” His thumb moved lightly over her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I let myself get distracted.”
“That’s what Ryder was there for.”
“Yes. And he did a good job for once.”
“For once?”
“I told you, those private security guys are out for themselves. They don’t necessarily care about the client.”
“It’s different in this case.”
“Everyone thinks that. But it’s not true. He only cares as far as his boss tells him to care.”
“Dane, you don’t understand. Ryder—”
The door opened, and Ryder stormed in, pulling Kelly away from Dane as he lifted her wrist and studied it in the bright light.
“We should get you to a hospital, have that checked.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay! That guy could have broken your wrist!”
“The lady said she was okay.” Dane slid his arm around Kelly’s shoulders and drew her back to his side. “I think you should probably listen to her.”
Ryder’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he gestured toward the back of the building. “We should go just in case that guy wants to make another scene.” His eyes flicked over Dane’s face. “You okay with that?”
Dane looked down at Kelly. “Are you okay with that?”
She nodded. “I’m tired. I just want this night over.”
He brushed his hand over the side of her face. “Let him take you home. Get some sleep.”
Kelly nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you in the morning.”
She nodded again, feeling a little lost all of a sudden. She stepped back, and Ryder was there, his hand on the small of her back as he led her out through the narrow corridor that led to the back door. They drove off in a squeal of tires. Ryder refused to look at her as they made their way across town. She didn’t realize they weren’t going in the direction of her apartment until they were miles in the opposite direction.
“Where are we going?”
“To get your wrist X-rayed.”
“Ryder, I told you, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. Your wrist is swollen to twice its normal size.”
Kelly looked down at her wrist, realizing for the first time that it was swollen and discolored. It wasn’t until that moment that she felt the dull pain that was pulsing through it. She wiggled her fingers, and the pain increased tenfold, shooting up the length of her arm. She gritted her teeth, biting back a groan. The last thing she wanted was to admit to Ryder that he was right.
He came around the SUV and helped her out when they reached the emergency room, but he still managed not to meet her eye. They walked into the chaotic waiting room, and Ryder sat her in a chair while he dealt with the hospital staff. She watched, impressed as she always had been with how authoritarian he could be. He had the nurse paying attention to him in a matter of seconds, annoying some of the people standing at the triage desk around them. And he had her in an exam room ahead of all the people who’d already been sitting in the waiting room when they walked in.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Get people to do what you want?”
He glanced at her. “I told her that you were a high priority client with Mastiff and that it was in everyone’s best interest to get you in and out as quickly as possible.”
“And she jumped just like that?”
“People respond to authority.”
“They respond to you.”
A nurse walked in, performing a cursory examination of her wrist before explaining that they would need an X-ray before they could do anything. She left again, ret
urning a moment later with a wheelchair. It all moved quickly, a doctor coming in after he’d read the X-rays.
“You have a pretty good sprain there, but no fracture.”
Ryder walked over, looking intimidating with his arms crossed over his chest. “How long will it take to heal?”
“We’ll put a brace on it, give it two or three weeks of rest. It should be as good as new within a month.”
Ryder inclined his head. “She’s a writer. Will she be able to type?”
“I don’t see why not. As long as she wears the brace.”
It should have been touching, Ryder’s concern. But it was abrasive and patronizing.
“I can speak for myself.”
Ryder looked at her as if he couldn’t understand what she’d said. “I’m aware.”
“I don’t need you talking to the doctor for me.”
“I was just asking a few questions.”
“You were trying to take charge. I don’t need you to take charge.”
He walked over to the door the doctor had left open when he walked out, pushing it closed. “I wasn’t trying to take charge.”
“Yes, you were. You always do. But it’s not your place anymore.”
“I only wanted to know—”
“You’re my bodyguard, not my husband.”
The tendons in his jaw all stood out at once as he processed what she’d said. His head came slowly up and his green eyes—fiery jewel colored eyes—met hers.
“If we’re laying out the truth here, then the fact of that matter is that I’m still your husband. You never signed the divorce papers.”
“No, I didn’t, did I? But I think I’ll probably call my lawyer and arrange that as soon as this entire mess is over.”
“You do that.”
His tendons popped again, anger clear in his eyes. But he had nothing else to say about the matter.
The doctor returned and placed a brace on Kelly’s wrist, handing her a prescription for pain meds as they signed the paperwork to release them. Ryder drove her home, once again as silent as a brick wall, refusing to even help her in or out of the car. He did, however, insist on walking her up to her door, the weight of his silence almost painful as it rested on her shoulders.
“Chicago is next week?”
“Yes.” She walked over to her desk and found the paper her publisher had sent her with the itinerary written on it. “This is the itinerary my agent sent. There might be a few changes between now and then, but just minor ones. I thought we’d fly up the day before—”
“We should drive. Easier to keep you safe that way.”
“It’s a three-hour drive!”
He looked at her as though saying that was completely unnecessary.
“I’ll show this to the people at Mastiff. They’ll arrange the accommodations.”
“I’ve already booked a hotel—”
“You’ll have to let us do that, for security reasons.”
“But I—”
“That’s the way it has to be, Kelly. That’s what you hired us for.”
She nodded her head slightly. “Okay. Whatever.”
He studied her face for a second, then turned to leave without saying another word.
“Bye!” she said, waving her good arm uselessly. He didn’t even turn at the sound of her voice.
She wanted to scream. She was so frustrated with him.
Was he really that done with her that he had no comment on her relationship with Dane? Was he not jealous? She couldn’t imagine it hadn’t bothered him to see what he had. She would be seething with jealousy if she saw him with another woman. But maybe she was more in love with him than he was with her.
Maybe he really was as over her as he insisted he was the day he walked out on her. Maybe that spark of hope she’d fanned all this time was just her being blind and stupid.
They lost everything. She thought it was his depression speaking. She thought he’d eventually come around. But maybe she was wrong.
Maybe she’d better get used to another man’s kiss.
The thing was, she didn’t think she could. As much as she wanted to fall in love with Dane, she didn’t think it was possible. She loved Ryder. She’d loved Ryder since she was fourteen. She was never going to love anyone else.
And that was the sad thing about it. She’d never have the family she’d dreamed of since she was old enough to care for the baby dolls her grandmother bought her. She’d come so close . . . so close. But close didn’t matter in the end, did it?
Kelly threw herself on her bed and gave in to the tears she’d been fighting back all night. It was time to accept that she was going to spend the rest of her life alone.
How sad was that?
Chapter 10
Springfield, Illinois
Mastiff Security Headquarters
“Lost another one,” Durango said as he passed his assistant’s desk and found it empty. Axel laughed as he followed, a clipboard under his arm. “I don’t know what I do. I thought this one would last a while longer.”
“It was a record. She stuck around, what, two weeks? Three?”
“Almost.” They went into the office, and Durango threw himself into his office chair, sighing. “Interviewing potential employees is not my favorite thing in the world, and after spending the last three days looking for new operatives, I think I’ll just sit out the next round of interviews for my next assistant. Maybe I can sweet talk Gracie into doing it. She seems to find the better ones, anyway.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Axel was perched on one of the chairs in front of the desk, and he was studying the clipboard he’d been carrying. “Pretesting shouldn’t take long on these guys. And gal.”
“I really like that one girl. What was her name?”
“Zola.”
“Exotic.”
Axel shrugged. “I’m not allowed to comment. Abigail would have my head.”
“Not your head, I don’t think.”
Axel laughed. “No, probably not my head.”
Zola Defoe was a former Marine who looked like she should be gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated’s famed swimsuit issue. But beauty hid her true assets. She was formally trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat, she was a trained sniper, and she was honored with the Silver Star after her unit was pinned down in some particularly rough fighting in a province of Afghanistan.
She was a fucking bad ass, and Durango knew they were damn lucky that she’d applied to work for them. He was only afraid she would find private security boring after what she’d done in the Marines.
“They’ll all be ready to go to work by the end of the month?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. Despite all the bad press I’ve been getting, Mastiff seems to be exploding. I’ve been fielding dozens of calls from potential clients all week.”
“Word of mouth, I suppose.”
“And good management.”
Axel tilted his head. “Calder’s been a hell of a help, too.”
Durango nodded. “I’m sure he has.”
“I was wondering if we might make his role more permanent. Give it a name and everything.”
“Sure.” Durango thought about it for a second. “We could call him head of operations and make you chief operating officer.”
Axel’s eyes widened. “Oh, I wasn’t fishing for a promotion!”
“I know. But you’ve taken over everything that Kyle was doing, but we didn’t formally give you her title. I think we should.”
“Durango—”
“Besides, this thing with the strangler is not going away.” As much as Durango hated to admit it, he knew it was time to address the situation with Axel. “They want to charge me with rape in Detective Hyde’s case. My lawyer has been fighting with the assistant district attorney over the whole thing, but it looks like they might actually try to bring charges. And my alibi in that case is a little weak since it’s just my father’s word against the evidence.”
“You think they’ll keep coming after you?”
“I do. Unless I can figure out who’s doing this . . .”
Axel leaned forward, his expression unreadable as he stared down at the floor. He didn’t say anything for so long that Durango was beginning to worry about what would come out of his mouth next.
“I’m not going to ask if you did it,” he finally said. “I don’t want to know. But you understand that I have to think about the future of this firm now.”
“I understand.”
“I think it would be beneficial to us all if you let a couple of us look at the evidence you have locked away in Kyle’s old office.”
That wasn’t what Durango had expected him to say. He sat back and considered the request, wondering what it would hurt. Or what the benefits would be.
“Why?” he asked.
“Some of us are experienced investigators, Durango.”
“You’re talking about Calder.”
“He was a homicide detective before he came to us.”
“For Decatur. How many murders could they have had in a year’s time? Three?”
“But he has experience. He might be able to help.”
“And if he decides I’m guilty?”
Axel shook his head. “Then we’ll deal with that when the issue comes up.”
Durango sighed. “Let me think it over.”
Axel stood and turned toward the door. He hesitated halfway there, turning to look at Durango.
“Should the worst happen—”
“I’ve already had paperwork drawn up. If the worst happens, if I’m arrested and it looks like a conviction is inevitable, I’ll sign over my rights to the company to you and Kyle’s father, Nathan.”
Axel nodded. “Okay.”
“Mastiff will continue no matter what. I’ll make sure of that.” He smiled weakly. “Your job is secure.”
“I appreciate that.”
Durango watched Axel leave, his thoughts moving into much darker territory. Mastiff had begun as a lifeline, a purpose, after Sarah’s death and the circus of the trial. Durango had needed a new start, something new to focus on, a reason to get out of bed every morning. But then it had become a legacy to Sarah, the profession she’d recommended, the name she’d inspired. Durango poured his soul into the business because he didn’t want to let her down, he didn’t want to let Kyle down. He lost sight of that for a short time when Kyle died, but Gracie had forced him to refocus. And now he knew exactly what had to happen.
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