Jewell (The Kings of Guardian Book 8)

by Kris Michaels

  Sonya smiled and started to speak. She stopped and considered him before she got up and tottered over to him in heels that would trip up a tightrope walker. She sat down across from him and smoothed the hem of her skirt. "I am way out of bounds here, and you can tell me to mind my own business, but I'm going to say it anyway." She took a deep breath and nodded as if affirming her intentions. "Jewell is difficult to get to know. She doesn't have a lot of interest in figuring out what people mean when they play the stupid little games that people tend to play."

  Zane waited. The woman would eventually get to a point—he hoped.

  Sonya pinned him with her stare. "She doesn't deserve what is happening, and it's high time someone took control of what is going on around her. I love her brothers. They are family to my husband and me in so many ways, but they are lug-heads when it comes to that woman. She needs a knight in shining armor. If you can't be that for her, have Jason give you another assignment before you hurt her." Sonya folded her hands primly across her lap and tilted her chin in defiance.

  Zane let a slow smile spread. "I assure you, she is very important to me. I'm not a knight, and if I were, my armor would be rusted and dented. But I care for that woman," Zane glanced at the shut doors to Jason's office and continued, "probably more than is acceptable in certain arenas. I understand what you're saying, and I agree with all of it."

  Sonya didn't blink but lifted her eyebrow. "Then fight for her. Her brothers mean well, but they want to run her life. They don't understand their well-meaning decisions made without her input will do nothing except crush her. Remember that when the shit hits the fan, and it will hit hard and often with them." She nodded her head toward Jason's office.

  "Thank you…" The door she'd just motioned to opened. Nicolas walked out while talking to Jason. Zane's metaphoric chest puffed out. He felt the pride in knowing Jewell would never go out with Nicolas, that she was his, and that they were working on a relationship. Could the man fire him? Absolutely, but Guardian paid men who worked his specialty very well. He didn't need this job. Hell, he didn't need to work another day as long as he lived, but he'd go stir crazy without something to occupy his time.

  A flicker of movement attracted his attention to the office beyond the men gathered at the doorway discussing a case. Fury. The corner of Zane's mouth twitched. He hadn't seen his brother in arms in ages. Word on the street was the man was dead. Hell, that was Zane's truth too. His identity, Bengal, had been 'retired' after he failed not one, but two psych evals. His 'No Go' wasn't a surprise. He'd been aware of his mental battle. His mind had been beating the ever living fuck out of him for at least three missions. He knew it was only a matter of time before he couldn't be used as the last chance weapon anymore. Defending a primary as a PSO wasn't a problem. But, he could no longer track down and kill people, even if his handlers in the organization and his nation had sanctioned the hits. It was time for him to release that life.

  Fury leaned against the door frame. His eyes just as blank as Zane knew his were. They would never acknowledge knowing each other. They'd never admit to the blood they could see on each other's hands. They would never speak of the hell they'd both lived through or the darkness that stained their souls.

  Nicolas walked by with a glance and half-hearted wave. Jason beckoned him in. Fury had disappeared inside the office.

  "Sonya, will you call and find out where Jacob is?"

  She nodded and headed over to her desk at a surprising speed considering the heels she wore. Zane stood and headed toward the office just as Jacob King slammed the double glass doors open. "Hello, honey! I'm home!"

  Sonya pivoted on one razor thin heel and looked at Jason. "I found your brother."

  "Was I lost?" Jacob asked in the same bantering tone. He laughed at his own joke and slapped Zane on the back while heading toward Jason's office.

  Zane shook his head and followed them through the door.

  "Close the door behind you." Jason's request stopped him short. Zane pivoted and shut the doors before he turned. He swallowed once. It was the only tell he'd give. Staring at him was not only Fury, who by deduction of his obvious appearance was a King, but Jason, Jacob and Jared King.

  "You wanted us all together. You've got the floor. What's happened since yesterday when we spoke?" Jason unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down in the conversation group. He motioned toward a chair.

  Zane spoke as he moved across the room. "Last night, per Jewell's request we attended an MMORPG at the Gaming Den."

  Jared looked up from a folder in his lap. "Wait, she did what with who?"

  Jacob laughed and added, "Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

  Zane unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down. He took them step by step through her request to go play in the tournament and the security measures taken to ensure her safety.

  A smirk crossed Jared's face. "You mean to tell me she canceled a date with Nic to go play computer games with you?" His laughter rang out before he clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Oh, the shit that man is going to be fed. By me. With a spoon."

  Jason shook his head and lifted one of his size fourteen boats to nudge his brother. "Shut up and let him tell us why we are here."

  Zane steepled his fingers together. "This morning I received a text message. He withdrew a printout of the text and handed them to Jason. Since no cell phones were authorized in this section of the building he'd printed it out. Jason's eyes snapped to him as he handed the document to Fury.

  "How did he know you were watching her?" Fury's voice brought back a flood of memories. Zane turned his head and looked directly into the ex-assassin's eyes. He saw the same vacant expression every time he looked in the mirror.

  "There are two theories, mine and Jewell's. I think this bastard was at the club and got a hold of our handles. Jewell was able to articulate how she'd use the information to backtrack the handle to the accounting software which would identify the owner of the handle. From there, according to her, it would be simple to hack the telephone company and get telephone numbers registered under the same alias."

  "Alias?" Jared's question chimed across the room.

  "Yes." Zane would go no further.

  Jason cleared his throat as if to say something, but Jacob turned to his brother and interrupted whatever Jason was going to say. "Drop any further comments in regards to aliases, Jared." The growl of the command brooked no objection, especially coming from Jacob King. His lighthearted banter was almost legendary.

  "Ah, fuck me, Jacob you can't be serious." Jared groaned. He scrubbed his face and this time when he looked at Zane his eyes held a judgment. He'd become accustomed to that look from people who knew what he had done for the organization. The look held the recognition that the duties Zane performed weren't civilized. Jared placed the folder from his lap onto the table. "What is Jewell's theory?"

  "She thinks when the hacker was rattling around in Guardian's guts, he found emails or mission ops assigning me to her section. She doesn't believe he was at the club last night and is set firmly against using facial recognition to identify each person in attendance. I told her we needed to do it and then run background checks on everyone. If we could identify him, he'd no longer be a ghost." Zane's eyes darted between the brothers.

  Jason stood up and walked over to the phone on his desk. "Sonya, get with HR and find out where we stand on those new hire applications for C3, please?" He sat the phone back down on the table.

  "I agree with you that we need to identify this guy, and if there is one chance in a million, we'll take it. Jacob, can you spare Tori to help? If she can work with her counterparts in the CIA, we can split the workload. They owe us, and I'll call the Director to personally remind him of that fact."

  "I can let her go if I can pull her six hours before one of my missions goes live. I've briefed you on the op. I need her to run the satellite images in
the area. This one is touch and go, so I need my best people on it before we put boots on the ground."

  "Granted. Jared, I'll need some personnel to go through the backgrounds as soon as they are spit out of C3.

  "You got it," Jared acknowledged.

  "I'm taking her to the ranch," Fury said, freezing everyone.

  "You are not," Zane said distinctly.

  Fury, or Joseph as he'd learned the man's true name was, slowly turned his head to make eye contact with Zane. "Who's going to stop me?"

  Zane used the same cold, distant tone. "I will. She will stay here unless she wants to leave with you."

  "Excuse me, but seriously dude, just who in the hell do you think you are?" Jared stood as he spoke.

  "I am the man who has shadowed your sister twenty-four hours a day for almost a year. I know her better than any of you. If you think for a moment she's going to allow you to ship her away to keep her safe, you're dead wrong." Zane hadn't moved a muscle, but he'd identified every weapon within his reach. He didn't want a physical altercation with her brothers, but he was prepared. Fuck, he was always prepared.

  "For God's sake Jared, sit down," Jason muttered, sending his brother a glare that would blister paint. Jared gripped his hands into fists several times before he sat down.

  "Why?" Jared asked.

  "Why what?" Zane responded.

  "Why won't she go if it is for her own safety?" Jared asked.

  "Because that woman is as selfless as they come. She's worked herself damn near to death with the barrage of requests that are processed through her office on a daily basis. Her operators never complain, but they are stretched so damn thin you can see through them. She picks up all the slack so her people can go home after twelve-hour shifts. She's wearing the responsibility of that computer genius getting into her system like a sweater. Have any of you told her that she wasn't to blame?" Zane felt ice run through his veins. He was shaming four of the most powerful men in the world, and he gave zero fucks about hurting their feelings.

  He saw the looks passed between the brothers. "I'll take the silence to mean no one has. Were you aware that she's taking all the blame for the attacks? Gabriel, Anna, you Jason, Faith, Reece, Jared, Christian, Jasmine, and Chad? She has a list of the dates printed out and posted on her console. It took me awhile to figure out what they were, but once I did, I asked her about it. Of course at the time she wasn't speaking to me because you," he waved his hand at the brothers, "had rammed security down her throat without explaining why it was required or caring that she didn't need to be watched at work in a secure facility like a six-year-old. So she started acting like a child, and that is why the other PSOs didn't last." Zane finally ran out of steam. He'd been quiet too fucking long, and he'd used this meeting to vent. They could fire him if they wanted, but he'd be damned if he'd leave Jewell's side.

  "How long have you been in love with our sister?" Fury's voice floated across the embarrassed silence.

  Zane turned toward his former brother in arms. "Does it matter?"

  Jason stood. "Zane, could you give us some time? Go ahead and go back to C3. I'll call you up after we've had a chance to figure out what we are going to do."

  Zane stood and looked the big guy in the eyes. "You don't get it, do you? She needs to be involved in that discussion. She is way more than your sister." He turned on his heel and left the office. Zane's composure fell over him like a familiar cloak as he closed the door behind him. He smiled and winked at Sonya on his way out.

  "Zane. Hold up." Joseph's voice froze him before he reached the double glass doors that segregated the CEO's office from the rest of the executive wing. He contemplated his one-time counterpart as the man stalked across the room. When Fury nodded toward the conference room to the right, Zane followed his lead.

  Joseph closed the door and hit the button that frosted the windows. "How long have you been out?" He took a seat in one of the massive leather chairs.

  Zane sat opposite the man. "I got a 'No Go' two years ago. Crossed over to PSO duties."

  "Why?"

  Zane knew the question was why he was washed out of the program, not why he moved into Personal Security. "I lost myself." Zane shrugged and added, "I realized I didn't want to live like that any longer, and that would have eventually gotten me killed."

  Fury nodded. "You still go to psych sessions?"

  Zane narrowed his eyes and leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees. "Let's cut through the bullshit."

  A slight tug on the corner of Fury's lip was the only reaction he got, and Zane damn well knew the man let him see it. "Hurt my sister, and I'll kill you."

  "Why would I hurt her when she has four brothers that have a corner on that market? And you could try." Zane's eyebrow rose in challenge. He knew his skills, and he was younger than Fury. It might give him an edge, but he wouldn't bank on it. Hell, both of them had taken inventory of every weapon available to them as soon as they'd entered the conference room.

  "They didn't know." He motioned with his head toward Jason's office indicating his brothers.

  "They do now."

  Joseph's head dipped once. "They're going to pull you."

  "Why? I'm no different than you."

  "I'm a stain on the family's fabric they can't do anything about. You? You they can wash away. They don't understand us even though they say they do. Nobody does. We make them aware of monsters. The brothers protect Button because she's different. They'll reassign you."

  Zane noted the pet name Fury used. He leaned back and locked his stare with the assassin across from him. "They'll try."

  "It isn't easy. Being… normal."

  "I know." Zane had mastered the even keel and quiet appearance, but what was inside his façade would never disappear. He was an assassin, an expert in death. He'd spent his adult life severing the cancerous scum of the earth from the healthy flesh of humanity. The legions of demons he'd killed wouldn't compare to the mayhem he'd reign down on the world to keep Jewell safe. If Guardian tried to pull him away from her when there was a threat against her… A quiet, deadly rage that he hadn't felt in almost two years bubbled under his skin.

  Fury stood and extended his hand. Zane copied his actions and gripped the ex-assassin's hand. "She deserves better."

  "Fuck you. I know she does." Zane did know that, but he wouldn't step aside. He couldn't, not after he'd watched over her for months. He'd seen her at her worst and watched her at her best when she did the impossible. Those impossible feats, in turn, brought new and harder demands upon her. He'd held her in his arms, and he'd be damned if he'd leave now. The only way he'd walk away was if Jewell asked him to leave.

  Fury's lip twitched before he nodded and left the room. Zane followed him out. The exchange reinforced his already granite-hard resolve. Worst case scenario, he'd be fired. He didn't give a flying fuck. He'd watch over her from the shadows or in plain sight. He'd kill the hacker if the bastard made a move on his woman.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jewell glanced up from her monitors to catch a sight she didn't often see. Four of her brothers filtered through the doors to her section and started up the stairs toward her office. Jewell checked the time and swept her eyes to Zane's empty seat. He'd popped back after his meeting with Jason. He'd left about five minutes ago to wait for their lunch delivery at the security area of the building. She had no doubt it would be something healthy.

  She could have opened her office door with the buzzer she had under her workstation, but she wasn't feeling too inclined to be receptive to the bundles of testosterone heading her way. Something was up, and whatever it was, she had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

  Jason worked the cipher lock and opened the door. Jewell sat back and crossed her arms over her chest as her brothers filtered in.

  "To what do I owe this pleasure?" She looked at her oldest brother, Joseph. "Hi. Whe
n did you get in?"

  "Hey, Button. This morning." Joseph leaned against the back wall and crossed his arms over his chest before he looked at Jason.

  "Okaaay… why are y'all here?" She figured it was something big if they were all here presenting a united front… although she didn't think they had Joseph's buy-in from his body language.

  "We've discussed the situation about this Vista character." Jason unbuttoned his jacket and sat in Zane's chair, which irritated her.

  "Really? Good to hear it." Jewell turned toward her monitors and took a quick assessment of the missions and programs running. She grabbed her mouse and sent an IM to the operators of the mission in Debriefing Room One. The satellite they were using was precariously close to losing coverage. She watched the camera view switch to another orbiting satellite and turned back to whatever was happening behind her.

  "We think it is best if you go home with Joseph until we find him and take him out."

  Jewell took three huge mental steps backward. Instinctively she knew this wasn't all they were here to say. She lifted an eyebrow and met each of her sibling's gazes before she directed her eyes toward Jason.

  "And if you are at the ranch, you won't need Zane to be your PSO. He'll be reassigned."Ahh… alright. Her brothers were playing God… again.

  Jason opened his mouth to continue, but Jewell held up a finger and turned toward her computer console. She clicked on a word document and hit print. The laser printer under her station spit out the letter. She stood, grabbed a pen out of the cup holder, dated and signed it.

  In one motion she opened her drawer, grabbed her purse and handed the letter to her 'boss'. "Later, dudes." Jewell headed straight for her door.

  "What the fuck is this?" Jason's question was the spark that lit her fuse, and it was one short motherfucker.

  Jewell spun and glared at her brothers. "That is my resignation. Effective immediately. It would appear I'm not competent enough to make decisions for myself, my section or this organization. According to the Alpha Male brain trust currently dictating what they feel is the correct course of action, I'm too damn delicate to handle my section while the big bad Bravata hacker is out there tormenting me with threats,and absolutely nothing else. Well, fuck y'all very much. Evidently, I'm not the person you need running this Top Secret, international, multi-million dollar section! I'm sure you'll find someone else who will work twenty hours a day, seven days a week with absolutely no input or say in anything, but it will no longer be me."