Defended & Desired
(Book 2 – Billionaire Bodyguards Series)
By
Kristi Avalon
Dedication
For Mom. You worked so hard and made so many sacrifices to raise me on your own.
You gave me a wonderful life. Thank you.
Chapter 1
Trey Soren believed nothing could ruin his day.
With his finance team’s Congratulations! still ringing in his ears, he strode across the main floor’s pale Travertine tile. His confident footfalls echoed in the expanse.
Today, especially, it pleased him to take in the six-story view from the center of his headquarters. This building housed a future filled with opportunity, and was well worth the investment, sweat equity, and patience. Rich redwood contrasted with chrome. Features like frosted glass and white leather offered a tranquil environment for guests entering the lobby. Trey had the contractors install two-story vertical fountains on opposite ends of the room. A series of drop-lights hung at varying heights from the skylight ceiling, creating an asymmetrical chandelier.
Modern luxury with sleek lines boasting calm strength—impressions Trey expected his company, Soren Security Bodyguards, to give to its high-end clientele.
A commotion in the lobby caught his attention. He spied two camera crews mounting the steps. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Literally saved by the bell, he ducked inside out of habit, though he didn’t have to. The elevator’s tall dimensions accommodated his Nordic ancestry, a benefit of having helped design the building.
He wanted to make his exit before a reporter cornered him. Not that he had any problem with public speaking or putting on the dog-and-pony show. It just didn’t make his Top Ten list. Besides, his brother, Cade, had not only become the face of Soren Security, but with his electric-blue eyes, dusty blonde hair and easy smile, the cameras, not to mention the women, loved him.
“Mr. Soren, wait,” a familiar voice called.
Trey’s hand shot out to stop the elevator doors from closing. Mindy’s straight blonde ponytail swished as she darted in, juggling a stack of binders.
“Thanks.” She craned her neck to look up at him and smiled. “I need to go over talking points one last time before Cade and I meet with the press.”
Trey nodded to the petite PR guru. “Did Cade mention we’re holding off on releasing a statement this morning about our initial public offering?”
“I figured that when CNBC called me to confirm your brother’s flight to New York for the in-studio interview. Congratulations, by the way.” She beamed at him. “The four of you worked really hard for this.”
A proud grin tugged his lips. Their company consisted of a collaboration between him, Cade, and their two cousins, Adam and Liam. “That happens when you have a support team like we do. Everybody did their part. Making Soren Security into a company worth people’s investment is an achievement that belongs to all of us.”
She whipped a pencil from behind her ear and scribbled sideways on a sheet of paper. “Nice quote. I’m using it.”
Trey adjusted his cufflinks. “Have at it.”
Mindy rattled off her talking-points itinerary. Sounds and details faded to the background. Trey fixated on the buttons lighting up overhead as they floated up floor by floor. Intrigued by the latest physical phenomenon, he wondered if his response would happen again–the tingle at the base of his scalp when he approached the fourth floor.
Devon Leigh’s floor.
Instantly, Devon’s you-know-you-want-to-kiss-me red lips came to mind. A hot ember of attraction sparked low in his gut.
Aside from being gorgeous, the woman was Mensa smart, quick with comebacks, and had a dry wit that always made him laugh. Plus, he was pretty sure she could hack the Pentagon’s uber-secure network in less than five minutes. Not that they’d ever need that particular ability, but he liked knowing her impressive skill put her in an elite class, and she worked for him. Though she was serious and hardworking ninety-percent of the time, when she smiled, his world stopped spinning to hold on to the moment.
Trey wanted one thing: more of that smile. He wouldn’t mind tasting it either, feeling the soft texture of her lips against his, the slick curl of her tongue when he slid inside her mouth—
“Mr. Soren?”
Trey snapped his attention to Mindy. “Yes.”
“If you see Cade, will you tell him we need to meet before the press conference? I can’t seem to get a hold of him.”
“Sure. Good luck with the press.”
Mindy scribbled another note on her paper as she exited and the doors closed. Then his phone vibrated in his suit pants pocket. He pulled up a text from Cade.
Problem. Conference room. Now.
Trey frowned. He wasn’t giving up on his perfect day yet, or the chance of seeing Devon. Cade possessed a tendency toward the dramatic. Although, he rarely demanded a meeting without good reason.
The elevator dropped him off on the sixth floor. He strode toward the conference room centrally located between his and Cade’s offices. A wall of windows framed a picturesque view of the Rocky Mountains surrounding the Denver skyline. Opposite the oval conference table, they’d decked out the space with a bar and pool table, things they used to blow off steam during eighteen-hour days. Plus the most comfortable couch in existence and a sixty-inch flat screen TV for times when they had to pull an all-nighter. Trey thought of the stocked bar again, and wondered if he’d need support from it by the end of this conversation.
He pushed through the double-doors and saw his brother’s face. His stomach dropped. Tension pinched Cade’s blue eyes, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.
Without one word exchanged, Trey suspected his perfect day now dangled by a thread. “What happened?”
Cade’s shoulders formed rigid lines beneath his merino wool suit. “We’ve been hacked.”
“What?”
Cade responded with a dismal nod. “Our routers are down. If the press try to access Wi-Fi in the building and can’t connect, they may suspect a problem.”
Trey’s heart pounded. “What about Devon?”
“I just talked with her. Apparently this infiltration is eroding our main systems and shutting us down floor by floor. All of our sixth floor computers have already crashed.”
The lights flickered and dimmed. Trey glanced up in horror. “What the hell?”
“Everything from our lights to our security cameras to our laptops is under siege.”
“Has Devon found the source?”
Cade shrugged. “I assume she would’ve told me if she had.”
“If anyone can fix this it’s her.”
“This has to be mitigated before it reaches the second floor. After all we’ve gone through in the past year getting this company cogent, it’ll be career suicide if I have to explain to the press why our security company can’t secure its own computer network.”
Trey rubbed the back of his neck where ropes of tension knotted. “If any of our bodyguards’ locations or clients’ information leaks, we’ll have more than the press and shareholders jumping down our throats. The litigation would bury us in days.”
“I’m well aware.” Cade’s grim expression hit Trey hard.
Trey was the one who’d convinced his brother and two cousins to ditch the dangerous underworld as bounty hunters, including back-alley brawls, dodging bullets, and dragging in criminals. They’d sold their lucrative but life-threatening Las Vegas business for this posh, tame, corner-office gig. The transition hadn’t been smooth, especially for Adam and Liam. He could take the boys out of the brawl, but couldn’t take the brawl out of the boys. Trey needed his company to thrive, so there were no reasons or excuses for any of them to return to tha
t old life. His brother sighed. “My immediate concern is keeping the lights on during the press conference I have to give in five minutes.”
“Go,” Trey said. “I’ll handle this.”
“I can cancel.”
“That’ll look more suspicious. The press corps is here, and Mindy’s waiting for you. Devon and I will figure this out.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get in Devon’s way, or she’ll flatten you. That woman is fierce.”
One of the many attributes that made her so valuable to him. “I’ll handle her, too.”
With a curious look, Cade gave him a two-finger salute. He straightened his tie, smoothed a hand down the front of his well-tailored suit, and left to face the press.
Trey went in search of Devon.
As he neared her fourth floor office, his steps slowed. The prickle at the base of his scalp returned. He found her door shut, but heard the constant click-clack speed-typing within. He raised two knuckles and knocked.
The click-clacking didn’t pause a beat. “Go away. I’m fending off Armageddon.”
“Good. That’s why I hired you,” Trey said as he entered despite her instruction.
Devon stopped typing and flicked him a glance. “I can’t believe the bastard slipped past my firewalls.”
Her frustration mirrored his. “You couldn’t have predicted this.”
“Do you know how many years of education and trial and error it took me to be able to construct the impenetrable?”
From everything he’d seen while working with her the past year, he knew she possessed a rare talent in her field. “Enlighten me.”
“Thirteen. This guy is good. Damn good. I have to figure out where he’s coming from. Why he’s doing this.”
“How do you know it’s a he?”
Devon spread her arms. “I’m a woman in a man’s field, Trey, I’ve been outnumbered from day one. Trust me, it’s a guy. One who has something to prove, considering I haven’t cracked his code yet. It’s like he’s expecting applause for beating me at my own game.”
“The lights are out on the sixth floor.”
“Are you serious?” She huffed. “Now he’s really pissing me off.” She stepped out from behind her desk carrying a pile of sticky notes covered with short nonsensical phrases couched between parentheses. “Hold these.”
She dumped the stack on him and went to her wall of whiteboards. He was Devon’s CEO and one of the owners of a billion dollar company. Apparently, his status didn’t matter to her. She’d reduced him to her glorified assistant. Fortunately for her, she was the only person in the building who could counteract the looming disaster that threatened to shut his company’s doors. He’d shine her shoes if she asked. She probably knew it, too.
“He obviously scoped out my barricades in advance,” she said, using an eraser to wipe a section of the whiteboard clean. “This doesn’t have the feel of a corporate hacker fishing for intel. What is he after?”
Trey didn’t respond. He didn’t have the answer and he figured she just needed a sounding board to think out loud. She did that often with him. Often enough to make him wonder if maybe he wasn’t imagining this connection between them. The ember in his gut burned hotter.
While she made hieroglyphic marks on the whiteboard, he took the unguarded opportunity to let his gaze roam over her body, from her sleek dark hair that fell to her shoulders to her slim waist and down to her gorgeous legs.
Thank God for skirt suits. That’s all she wore to the office, usually in bland colors like black, brown or beige, nothing to detract from those bright red lips. The lace fringe of a white camisole usually peeked out from the V of her lapels. Probably not an attention-grabber for most, but that hint of lace taunted Trey like a while flag of surrender just out of reach. Damn but he wanted to play capture the flag with her.
The knot of lust pulled tighter. He gave his head a quick shake and blew out a controlled breath. His company was in serious trouble and he needed to remain focused on that, not Devon’s sexy mouth and body.
Trey’s phone buzzed. Grateful for the distraction, he retrieved it from his pocket. A text message flashed from Isaac Atlas, Director of International Sales, a long-time family friend and newest recruit from their hometown of Vegas. He skimmed the text.
Fifth floor computers down. Losing power. Something I should know about?
Trey shoved Devon’s sticky notes into his suit coat pocket so he could use both thumbs to reply quickly. Keep your people calm. Tell them routine maintenance. Will fill you in asap.
He received Issac’s swift reply. Cool. Time for another round of Office Olympics. Gotta keep my chair race high score. Ignore thumps and crashes.
Done, Trey texted back. What he’d told Mindy in the elevator was true . Guys like Isaac, who’d brought his sales experience here after selling his motorcycle dealership in Vegas, reinforced how fortunate the four of them were. He and Cade and their cousins couldn’t have stepped into his new, safer, cleaner world of corporate America without these people. Trey owed them all a huge debt of gratitude and the promise that their jobs and careers were locked in stone. Some obnoxious hacker was not going to destroy his achievement with the click of a mouse.
Slipping the cell phone into his pocket, he said, “Devon, we’ve lost the fifth floor.”
She whirled around, her eyes wide. “It’s picking up momentum, moving through the network faster.”
“If this thing compromises the third floor, I’m pulling the plug.”
“Only as a last resort.” Her eyes pleaded with him.
“This needs to stop before it reaches the second floor. We go dark during the press conference, and we can kiss our flawless reputation goodbye.”
“I won’t let that happen,” she vowed, her determination as unwavering as his. “But if all the servers go down, it’ll take me at least a week to restore data from the past few days to everyone in-house. It’s bad enough all work from today has been wiped.”
“Isn’t there some kind of back-up device?”
She bristled. “You think I’m a rookie?”
“I know you run a tight ship, but I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of IT protocol.”
“Hang around with the nerds for a few days and I’ll give you the whole geek-ified tour.” Her tone implied he hadn’t invested time or resources in her department. They may not have passed the budget proposal she submitted months ago, but he’d sat in several times when she gave presentations to her team, which always impressed him. Then again, he should be more informed to give her better assistance in a situation like the one they faced. Nothing like hindsight, he thought scowling. “Never mind, we’ll be swamped for days,” she added with a touch of misery. “You can get your geek on after I handle this meltdown.”
He planned to take her up on that offer, but right now he needed firm assurance. “So there is a backup.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, we have an off-site server housed a few blocks from here. But it’s a huge pain to reset everything when our servers go down.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. He gave Devon a lot of leeway because he trusted and believed in her. But if she rolled her eyes at him again, they were going to have words. This was his business and his family’s future on the line. His voice came out harsh. “I don’t care what you have to do. Just make it work.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing—before you barged in here and pestered me to death.”
He crossed his arms, more amused than irritated. “Within an inch of your life, I see.”
She exhaled. “I tend to exaggerate when I’m stressed.”
“Where are your minions?” Typically they flocked around her, hanging on her every word, following her around like enamored puppies.
“In their cubicles working their fingers to nubs helping me locate the source code for this beast.”
“Hacking the hacker?”
She sent him a saucy grin. “That’s how we roll.”
The tingle at his scalp zi
pped down his spine and intensified below his belt. Despite the urgency surrounding them, he wanted to tilt her head up and seal his mouth over those gorgeous red lips.
Another buzz on his phone interrupted his unprofessional thoughts. The text came via his marketing director—on the third floor. My computer ’s blank. Can’t get my screen up. Tried IT. No answer.
Trey launched into action. He stole the dry-erase marker out of Devon’s hand, pitched it toward her desk and grabbed her waist. “We’re shutting this down.”
“Wait—”
“Now.” He scooped her up and out the door before she protested further. She moved toward the elevator. He veered her in the opposite direction. “We’re taking the stairs. I’m not gambling the operational status of the elevator with the fate of our company.”
Her demeanor became resolute. “Got it.”
Kicking off her heels, she picked them up and flew down the steps ahead of him. Hastening his strides, he caught up to her. Resting his hand solidly on her back, he flung open the basement door followed by the door to the server room, and ushered her inside with him.
The first thing he noticed about this unfamiliar room was the loud drone of equipment fans. Air-conditioning pumped constantly, cooling the temperature—the vibration hum of static electricity and the stale chill scent of free-on cooling the space at a constant set temperature.
The sounds quickly became white noise. Then he noticed rainbow splashes of color running like rivers from the server cables. Blue, purple and green. Then yellow, orange and red.
He scanned the loud, crowded space, completely out of his element, though he berated himself for not paying more attention to all the things that functioned under his watch. “Where do we start?”
“Third floor. This row.” She dropped her shoes and trailed her fingertips along the metal mesh backs of the server racks. “We have to contain the virus here before it creeps through and attains second-floor access.”
With a quick, thorough scan, he took in the room and its components stacked floor-to-ceiling. On the way, he noticed a section of the wall where plugs fused with huge sockets meant to handle massive flows of electricity. “Is that the ultimate off switch?”
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