Defying Asher (Knight Security 1)

by Carole Mortimer

  “And omission.” Lissa still clearly remembered the hurt of realizing she hadn’t been included in her mother’s so-called list of acceptable visitors. Not that she should have been surprised. Claudia had never involved Lissa in her life, so why should this time be any different? “Most of my mother’s life is smoke and mirrors,” she added with an edge of bitterness. “The confident CEO. The beautiful and gracious hostess. The loyal friend. Not many people realize she attained all of them by choosing not to become a wife or by not being a mother.”

  Ash’s conversation last night with Claudia Reynolds had been enlightening, to say the least. She had obviously sacrificed a life as a wife and mother to become the most powerful woman in the fashion industry. Ash had no idea how Jack Forsythe felt about that, apart from the fact he had been married four times, unsuccessfully, but it was obvious Lissa had suffered as a result of her mother’s choices and neglect.

  That she was maybe even more cynical than he was in regard to relationships.

  She gave a defeated sigh. “I can see you’re determined to speak to me, so you had better come in. Close the door behind you.” She turned and walked off down the hallway without waiting to see if he followed her.

  Ash’s gaze was fixed unashamedly on the slight sway of Lissa’s bottom as he followed her down the hallway. Curvaceous but firm. Ash’s cock instantly perked its head up in interest. So much interest, it was engorged within seconds and pressing against the unforgiving teeth of the zipper on his jeans.

  Oh, very professional.

  Gabe would take him off this assignment so fast, Ash would probably suffer whiplash if his brother knew just how unprofessional his feelings were toward Lissa.

  “Can I get you a tea or coffee?” Lissa turned to face Asher once the two of them reached the sitting room of her apartment. Instantly, she felt warmth enter her cheeks as she saw his gaze had been fixed on her bottom. “Or something?” Her stance became challenging as she met his gaze and crossed her arms beneath her breasts.

  “What else is on offer?”

  She should have known Ash would accept her challenge. “Orange juice or water.”

  “In that case, coffee would be fine, thanks.” He bared his teeth in a mocking smile. “Black, no sugar.”

  Lissa moved through to the adjoining kitchen and poured two coffees, having made a fresh pot a couple of minutes ago. She placed one of the mugs down on the coffee table before curling her legs up beneath her in a chair as she took a sip of her own sugared brew.

  Asher winced slightly as he sat on the sofa and almost succeeded in castrating himself, his balls and cock were so engorged beneath the unforgiving material of his jeans. But at least the hardness of his cock was less visible now he was sitting. “I— What the hell…?” He gave a start before turning to look at the multicolored cat that had just jumped onto the back of the sofa behind him. “I don’t remember you having this a year ago.”

  “He,” Lissa corrected. “The apartment seemed a bit empty after Stazzi moved out. I found Sherlock in an animal center and brought him home.”

  “Sherlock?” he mused.

  “Only because I love the sexy actor who plays the role on television.”

  “I rarely have time to watch television.” Ash kept a wary eye on the crouching animal. Its narrowed golden eyes were almost the same color as Lissa’s, and they stared at him with the same cool assessment.

  Ash had grown up in the country with an assortment of pets—rabbits, hamsters, dogs—and he was sure there must have been a cat in there somewhere. Yeah, he seemed to remember his sister had one once. But it was years since he’d been this close to one. The scars on Sherlock’s face, plus a half-chewed ear, seemed to indicate he was more than capable of defending himself. And anyone else he cared about.

  “I don’t think he likes me,” he murmured as the cat showed his displeasure by hissing at him before jumping down off the sofa and stalking through to the kitchen, swishing tail held high.

  “Maybe you would have had more luck if he’d been female,” Lissa taunted.

  His eyes narrowed. “What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

  “Never mind.” She snorted. “Why are you here, Asher?”

  “What exactly did Miss Reynolds tell you on the phone last night?” he prompted cautiously.

  “I already told you, that there had been some sort of breach in her security.” She studied him through narrowed lids. “What didn’t she tell me?”

  “Miss Reynolds—”

  “For goodness’ sake, call her Claudia when it’s just the two of us talking.”

  “Okay.” He nodded. “Claudia has been receiving death threats in the form of text messages and e-mails.”

  She shrugged. “My mother has made a lot of enemies over the years.”

  “Including you?”

  Lissa gave him a steely look. “We may not get on, but she’s still my mother. Besides, aren’t death threats something that happen all the time to people as powerful and visible as my mother?” she said dismissively. “She’s annoyed a lot of people in the fashion industry.”

  “This is a little more than that.”

  “How so?”

  “Claudia was shot at in New York two days ago.”

  “What?” Lissa sat forward tensely, her heart beating loudly. “There was nothing on the news or in the newspapers about it.”

  “Because she wanted it kept quiet. The police are investigating, however, and she contacted Knight Security to take over her security here before flying to England yesterday.”

  Lissa had no idea why she should be surprised her mother hadn’t even bothered to let her know she’d been shot at. Not when it happened, or since. “She isn’t hurt, is she?”

  “One of the bullets grazed the top of her arm, but otherwise, she’s fine.”

  “One of the bullets? How many shots were fired?”

  “Four.”

  Lissa breathed deeply in an effort to calm the nauseating roll of her stomach. Claudia receiving death threats and actually being shot at were two distinctly different things. E-mails and text messages were impersonal, but actually shooting at someone—with the intention of killing them?—was very up close and personal.

  “Was anyone else hurt?”

  “That’s the reason Mi—Claudia hired Knight Security to take over her security while she’s here.”

  “Where’s Harvey?” Lissa prompted sharply.

  “You knew Claudia’s personal bodyguard?”

  Only one word in that question held any relevance to Lissa. “Past tense?”

  Ash nodded. “I’m afraid Harvey Stein was shot and killed in New York two days ago while protecting your mother.”

  Oh dear God…

  Chapter 3

  “Arrangements have been put in place for you to have your own security detail—”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Asher scowled his displeasure with Lissa’s answer. “Did you listen to what I just said?”

  “About Harvey being shot and killed?” Lissa paced her sitting room, feeling far too agitated to remain seated after Asher had made his announcement. “Of course I listened.”

  She just couldn’t believe Harvey was actually dead. She had known him most of her life. He had been a widower for the past twenty years, but Lissa had met his two children and his three grandchildren. Oh God, if she was deeply shocked and numbed by his death, how must Harvey’s family be feeling? Devastated, she was sure.

  “But that doesn’t mean I have to accept your suggestion concerning my own security,” she continued. “As you’ve already realized, I’m not now, nor have I ever been, a central part of Claudia’s life.”

  “It wasn’t a suggestion, Lissa.” Ash surged restlessly to his feet. “We’ve spoken to Claudia, and she agrees. Until this situation is resolved, you will have your own bodyguard, whether you like it or not.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Well, isn’t that a surprise.”

  “Who is ‘we’?�
�� Lissa challenged.

  “My older brother, Gabriel, and me.”

  “How many brothers do you have?”

  “What the hell does it matter— Three,” he relented as Lissa lifted her brows at his raised voice. “Gabriel’s older by a year, the twins, Caleb and Ethan, are one year younger. We also have a younger sister.”

  “And how would she feel about having a bodyguard foisted on her?” She raised her chin in challenge.

  “Pissed,” he conceded. “And I speak from experience, because that’s exactly what happened a year ago when she had a stalker. She only forgave us because she fell in love with and married the guy we asked to keep her safe,” he added ruefully.

  “You wouldn’t rather have protected her yourself?”

  “Not an option.” He grimaced. “Our relationship with our sister is…complicated.”

  “It’s very romantic about her and the bodyguard, though.”

  “Oh, it gets even more so. They’re now expecting a baby.”

  “Uncle Asher,” Lissa mocked before sobering. “Well, no matter what the three of you have decided, I didn’t agree to have a bodyguard.”

  “Not even if one of them is Liam from last night?” he taunted.

  The tall blond who couldn’t help but overhear her conversation with Ash, add two and two together, and realize they had a past history together. Or try to control his smile when she stomped on Ash’s instep with the stiletto heel of her boot.

  “No, not even him,” she said firmly.

  “Why the hell are you being so difficult?” Ash ran an impatient hand through the dark thickness of his hair. “A man is already dead. I fully intend to catch this bastard before the body count gets any higher.”

  “My mother and Harvey were shot at in New York. There is absolutely no reason to suppose the killer followed her to London.”

  “There’s no reason to suppose he didn’t either.”

  “Or that he will come after me,” Lissa added.

  “Again, we have no reason to suppose he won’t. Prevention is better than having another dead body. Yours,” he added pointedly.

  “This is just bullshit.” Lissa began pacing again. “I don’t have time for this. I have a business to run. You should be concentrating on narrowing down the possibilities of who’s responsible, find them, and put an end to this situation.”

  He scowled. “You think I don’t know that?”

  “I’m sure you do. You just haven’t done so yet.”

  “We’ve only been looking into this for a couple of days. Your mother is…not the easiest of people to work for or with.”

  “Tell me about it!”

  “Never doubt we will get this guy,” Ash assured her.

  “Or her.”

  “Or her,” he conceded.

  “In the meantime, what I need to do is make arrangements for someone to take over the travel agency while I attend Harvey’s funeral. Then I need to book my flight—”

  “No.”

  She stilled. “No…?”

  Ash shook his head. “To my knowledge, the funeral hasn’t been arranged yet, but if it takes place before we catch his killer, I can’t allow you to go to the funeral. It would make you a sitting target.”

  “You can’t allow me to go?” Lissa repeated with deceptive calm. “Last time I checked, I didn’t need your permission to do anything, least of all attend the funeral of a friend.” This was Harvey’s funeral they were talking about.

  A man who had played with her for hours when she was a child, on the occasions her mother was too busy to leave whatever it was she was doing in order to spend time with her. Which had been many.

  Her shoulders slumped as her initial shock began to fade, to be replaced by the stark reality and pain of Harvey’s really being dead. It was… She couldn’t…

  A sob caught at the back of her throat as she tried to stop the tears and failed.

  “Oh hell!” Ash, like most men, had no idea how to deal with a woman’s tears. Even more so when it was the tough and feisty Lissa crying them.

  Lissa buried her face in her hands as deep sobs now racked her body.

  Shit.

  What was he supposed to do now?

  Comfort her, idiot, came the immediate answer.

  Except comforting Lissa would involve taking her in his arms. Not only was that unwise in his current state of arousal, but putting his arms about Lissa would be a little like trying to cuddle a killer shark. One intent upon separating him from one or more of his body parts. And if Lissa didn’t get him, there was always the possibility the cat would.

  Wuss.

  Maybe. He just happened to be fond of all his body parts, thank you very much.

  Oh, to hell with it, he couldn’t just stand here allowing Lissa to sob as if her heart was breaking. “It’s going to be okay.” He put his arms about her cautiously, just in case she decided now was the time to attack.

  She rested her forehead against his shoulder. “How can it be? Harvey is dead because he tried to protect my mother. You didn’t know Harvey, but he was a good man. Kind. He always had time for me when I visited my mother in New York.” She began to sob harder.

  Now that Ash knew of the estrangement between Lissa and her mother, he could all too easily imagine the scenario of a young Lissa being left in the care of Claudia Reynolds’s bodyguard while the older woman pursued her career.

  His own parents had both died in a plane crash thirteen years ago, but not before Ash had enjoyed an amazing childhood with them and all his siblings. They had lived in the country then, their house always full and noisy, presided over by a mother who preferred to stay at home and look after her kids, and a father who spent every evening and weekend with his family. Ash couldn’t even begin to imagine being an only child, let alone one whose parents showed no interest in him. Well…one parent, at least; he had no idea what Jack Forsythe’s relationship was with his daughter.

  What he did know was Harvey Stein had obviously been important to Lissa. “Okay, okay, I’ll make arrangements to accompany you to Mr. Stein’s funeral in New York when it happens. On one condition,” he added firmly as she raised her head. “You have to agree to have a security detail in the interim.”

  Ash had no doubt Gabriel was going to want to kill him when he learned of the offer he had just made to Lissa. But what the hell else could he do? With or without him, he had a feeling Lissa was going to insist on attending Harvey Stein’s funeral. And they needed her to accept their protection now.

  She looked at him through tear-wet lashes. “You would do that?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her eyes glowed like topaz as she lifted up on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips. “I have to go to the funeral. I hope you understand that. But I hate the thought of going alone, so thank you.” She kissed him again.

  So not a good idea when Ash’s cock had instantly sprung back to throbbing, erect life the moment he took Lissa in his arms. Feeling the softness of her mouth pressing against his, tasting her on his lips, was too much for even his iron self-control.

  His arms tightened about her as he molded her softer curves against the hardness of his body. He deepened the kiss as he swept his tongue along her lips and then between them, taking possession of her mouth.

  Lissa had realized her mistake the moment she kissed Asher a second time and found herself crushed in his arms before his lips and tongue began to ravish her mouth.

  But oh, how she had longed to be this close to Asher again, to give in to the mindless pleasure only he had ever given her.

  Her arms moved up over his shoulders, allowing her to bury her fingers in the thick dark hair at his nape. Her breasts ached, nipples becoming engorged as she pressed against the muscular hardness of Asher’s chest.

  Lissa gave a low groan as Asher’s hands cupped the cheeks of her bottom and he pulled her in tight against the long hard length of his fully erect cock. Heat instantly consumed her core, and she could feel her nether lips swelling, moiste
ning in welcome of Asher’s full possession.

  What am I doing?

  Lissa wrenched her mouth from his at the same time as she pushed against the hardness of his chest, needing to put some space between the two of them. Ash had never made any secret of what and who he was, a man who liked sex but had no intention of falling in love with any of the women he went to bed with. Lissa found she wasn’t so in control of her own emotions.

  It had taken her months, not days or weeks, to get over Asher the last time she gave in to her desire for this man. She might not get over him at all if she allowed herself to fall for him a second time.

  She was breathing hard as she pulled out of Asher’s arms completely, her cheeks burning fiery hot as she avoided meeting his narrowed eyes. “That shouldn’t have happened,” she said stiffly, pushing the heavy weight of her hair back over her shoulders. “I… Hearing about Harvey’s death was a shock,” she said as an excuse. “This… What happened just now was one of those moments that seem to occur when emotions run high after you learn of a sudden death. A reaffirmation of life,” she added dismissively.

  Well, that put him in his place, Ash acknowledged self-derisively. He was just someone from the past, an old fuck buddy helping Lissa to forget, if only for a few minutes, that one of her friends had just died.

  A cock deflator if ever he’d heard one.

  Holding Lissa in his arms, kissing her, had brought back in vivid detail the night they had spent together. An incredible night of unrestrained passion and lust.

  The same inappropriate lust that consumed him now, when Lissa had turned to him for comfort, not passion.

  “I think your cat likes me after all,” he murmured as he looked down at the feline slinking in and out between his ankles.

  “Or he’s just lulling you into a false sense of security before he attacks,” she mocked.

  “I— Ouch!” Ash glared down at the cat as he proved Lissa correct by digging his claws into Ash’s shin.

  “Naughty boy.” Lissa chuckled as she bent to pick the cat up and cradle him in her arms. “You’ll protect me, won’t you, Sherlock?” She tickled the cat under its chin.

  Was that a look of triumph Ash could see in the feline’s eyes as it stretched its neck into the caress? A who is she holding in her arms now, buddy look?