Dangerously Involved

by Sidney Bristol

  Fan-fucking-tastic. Now he was in a piss poor mood and they were going to meet their new client shortly. Awesome.

  The whole point in doing the coffee run was to get some air and let go of some stress. This was not the time to be distracted.

  Nolan stepped onto the elevator along with other people and shut his eyes for a moment. He shouldn’t be this stressed. Dealing with difficult people was his strength. As the communication officer for the team it was his job to remain cool under pressure and relate important details. He couldn’t be distracted. He had to put Kim and his family out of mind.

  The elevator reached his floor, and he got off. Thanks to the cameras their surveillance guy, Vaughn, had installed in the hall the door was open and waiting for him.

  The full Lepta Team was in attendance and dressed to the nines in their suits for this job. No tactical greens here. Hell, they couldn’t even carry weapons due to Japanese gun laws. It made the job just that much more tricky.

  “Good, you’re here.” Melody breezed across the room and accepted her coffee. “Theodore and Douglas Krieger are in a meeting, Yvonne Krieger is on her way up—we should stay out of her way—and luggage just arrived.”

  “Melody or I will handle the family. You four be wallpaper.” Grant glanced around the room.

  “With pleasure.” Nolan clapped Grant on the shoulder and grinned. It was the best news yet.

  Nolan had a suspicion that Melody was going to earn her paycheck this week. Everything about this job was abnormal. Lepta Team didn’t do bodyguard work. Their whole purpose was rescue and retrieval for corporate clients. The only reason things had changed was because their point of contact for their government contract had requested a last minute team for this detail. So here they were.

  “Need a hand?” Nolan paused by the desk where Vaughn had set up their surveillance.

  “I’ve got it all under control,” he said slowly, fingers flying over the keys.

  Nolan glanced at Riley who was focused on his phone. Nolan pitched his voice lower and asked, “Any word about your brother?”

  Vaughn’s mouth screwed up, and he shook his head.

  Damn.

  Nolan had hoped for some good news. He knew what it was like to have a troublesome little brother. At least Vaughn’s was still alive.

  “We’ve got incoming,” he announced and sipped his coffee.

  Nolan grabbed the empty travel trays, chunked them in the garbage then retreated across the room toward the windows. After his little run-in downstairs he wasn’t keen on getting on anyone else’s bad side.

  It was just a week. He could put up with a bunch of self-important corporate clients for that long.

  The door to the suite beeped.

  “Show time,” Nolan muttered and adjusted his tie. From now until Tuesday he was backdrop, better seen and not heard.

  The door opened.

  Kim strode in holding her cup and clutching her purse.

  What the actual fuck?

  Nolan frowned but kept his mouth shut.

  Did she work for the Kriegers?

  The door shut behind her.

  “Yvonne, hello.” Melody crossed to Kim—Yvonne?—and lowered her voice to something Nolan couldn’t hear over the rush of blood past his ears. Realization slammed into him.

  Oh fuck.

  Kim with the best pussy he’d ever fucked wasn’t Kim at all. She was Yvonne. Yvonne Krieger. The client he was responsible for keeping safe.

  He’d stuck his dick in the wrong girl that was for sure.

  Melody turned and gestured to the rest of the room.

  Nolan braced himself as Kim—no, Yvonne—began meeting the gaze of each man.

  And then she looked at him.

  Her lips compressed and her brows lifted, but she gave no other indication she knew recognized him.

  She might have mentioned this downstairs. Or had she known then?

  Talking day jobs and family hadn’t exactly been what either of them were interested in when they met.

  “Vaughn, is Ms. Krieger’s room ready?” Melody asked.

  “Yes, it is,” Vaughn replied.

  “Right, then I’m going to freshen up for tonight. My brothers should be up shortly.” Yvonne glanced around the room. “Pleasure to meet all of you.”

  She didn’t look at Nolan.

  Yvonne breezed out of the main part of the suite and toward the bedrooms, disappearing out of sight.

  Holy hell...

  Nolan dug his phone out of his pocket. He had a bad feeling about this...

  Grant had assigned each of them to a family member.

  Yvonne was the name at the top of Nolan’s schedule.

  Because of course that’s where the Team Leader would put him

  Nolan stifled a groan and turned to stare out of the windows on the city while he mentally worked out this problem.

  This assignment wasn’t going to work. Under normal circumstances he was the one Grant trusted with the female assets. Unlike some of the guys, Nolan didn’t cross the line with women he worked with. But he’d already fucked Yvonne. This wasn’t a typical job.

  How would he explain this to Grant? Did he have to?

  Nolan sipped his coffee.

  It wasn’t unusual for clients like Yvonne to hook up with one of their guys. It also wasn’t against the rules. A lot of women liked the thrill of screwing their bodyguard. But Nolan had never liked mixing business with pleasure.

  He hadn’t done anything wrong, and he could be inviting more problems if he volunteered his past relationship with Yvonne. The downside was that Nolan couldn’t ask to be reassigned without offering some kind of explanation.

  The best thing to do would be to take this up with Yvonne. They could either agree to play nice or he could come up with a reason to get his schedule changed. But he had to do it now.

  He had an idea...

  Nolan turned toward Grant and thumbed down the hall where Yvonne had headed. “Hey, did we ask about where to put the crates?”

  “Shoot, no we didn’t.” Grant scowled.

  “I’ll ask.” Nolan circled the seating area.

  Melody scowled. “I don’t think—”

  “I’ll just take a second.” Nolan darted down the hall before Melody could tell him otherwise.

  The smallest of the three rooms attached to the luxury side of the suite was closed off. Nolan glanced over his shoulder ensuring no one had followed him then knocked.

  A shadow passed under the door.

  He waited, watching the shadow.

  Nolan didn’t play games with women. If he was attracted to a woman, he let them know. If things were over, he didn’t sugar coat it. Right now he wanted answers, but Yvonne was their asset. There were lines he couldn’t cross.

  Finally the bedroom door opened.

  Yvonne had unbuttoned her suit jacket and her shoes were gone. She still didn’t look like his girl, the one with the wild hair and kissable lips.

  “What?” She let go of the door and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Did you know?”

  “Know what?” She sighed and dropped her arms. “I’m very tired and I don’t feel well.”

  He filed those details away for later.

  “Did you know we’d be working together?” he asked.

  “No.” She frowned as though that were the most absurd question she’d ever heard. She peered over his shoulder before leaning closer and whispering, “Nothing about this is normal or okay.”

  “Right.” Nolan wanted to understand her, how the shy, sweet woman he’d seduced had turned into a cold, biting person. “I guess you didn’t want to tell me your real name back then?”

  “What?” Her whisper rose in pitch and her scowl deepened. “I didn’t tell you my name was Kim. You misheard and wouldn’t be corrected. I told you at least five times my name was not Kim but you never heard me, so I let it go.”

  “I—what?” He reached back for those memories, trying to recall such
words. There had been a lot of alcohol that night and he’d been a man on a mission.

  “I never told you my name was Kim.” Unlike downstairs, her reply to him was heated, unvarnished, true. He didn’t doubt a word she said.

  “Shit.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. Now who was the ass? “I’m sorry.”

  He’d called her by the wrong name and pushed her out first thing in the morning. Yeah, he could see how she might be upset at him.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “Yes, actually. I was assigned as your personal security detail. I wanted to know if that was going to be a problem so I could switch.” He’d figure out a reason why later.

  Yvonne grew quiet and stared off behind him for a moment. “Is that going to cause a problem?”

  “They’ll ask why and I’ll have to come up with a good enough reason if you’d prefer I didn’t tell the truth.”

  She opened and closed her mouth, staring past him.

  That was more like the woman he’d met. Touch of shyness, eager, a bit awkward, and all sexy.

  Her gaze snapped to his, composed once more. “I would prefer if that were kept private, please. If the best way to make that happen is to continue to work together, well, we can put up with each other for a few days.”

  How did he begin to marry the image of the woman he’d first met with this one? How were they the same person?

  Nolan doubted she was going to share that information. It was too bad. They really had been good together.

  “Okay. Good to know.” He braced his hand on the doorframe.

  “Anything else?”

  “Yeah, I was supposed to ask you where the crates should go?”

  “Oh.” Yvonne’s nose wrinkled as though she smelled something distasteful. “Put it in Douglas’ room. That’s his pet project.”

  He had the silly urge to reach out and tweak that very nose. He’d made her laugh before and right now he wanted to wipe that permanent frown off her face.

  “Okay. That’ll be all, Ms. Krieger.” Nolan pushed off the door and took two steps away. “Have a nice afternoon.”

  “Same to you.” The words rolled off her tongue as though they were second nature.

  She wasn’t the party girl. Never had been. But he’d known that. She’d clearly been out of her element that night. This was Yvonne’s true form. The woman he’d met was an aberration and one he shouldn’t have allowed himself to get attached to.

  Nolan returned to the main room of the suite. Everyone had gathered around the dining table. A few tablets were shared out and both Melody and Grant stood at one end of the table, ready to address them.

  “Okay, I know everyone got the info email before, but just to reiterate why we’re here.” Grant glanced at Melody.

  Were they finally getting along?

  Hallelujah.

  “We all know the Krieger family, the company jingle, right?” Melody glanced around the table.

  “Who doesn’t?” Vaughn laughed then snapped out the catchy jingle.

  “Alright, alright.” Grant held up his hands.

  Melody picked up and kept going. “The Krieger company has expanded into more sophisticated forms of IT security under a different branch. All of your company issued devices use their software. Two weeks ago the US government signed a deal that now makes the Krieger’s the sole provider of security for every government issued computer, phone, tablet, and a lot of other devices. Since that deal was made public the Kriegers have received a number of threats from terror groups, criminals, you name it, they’re interested in the Krieger family.”

  Nolan had heard about Krieger Inc. Everyone had. Back in the nineties with each free disc for AOL service you got a trial of Krieger protection. Hell, he remembered uninstalling one disc to use another. Most computers came with Krieger pre-installed.

  He’d never known it was a family owned company.

  What would it be like to grow up attached to such a major corporation?

  The puzzle that made up Yvonne just got more complicated.

  “We aren’t expecting a threat here, but since this is the first event after the deal was made and all of these threats came in, we need to keep an eye on our clients.” Melody glanced around the table. “Now, hotel security is escorting Theodore and Douglas Krieger up to us after they finish their meet and greet. From here on out they don’t go anywhere alone. Got it?”

  This was going to be one hell of a long week.

  FRIDAY. TECH CONFERENCE, Kyoto, Japan.

  Lee presented his badge to the uniformed attendant at the door to the afternoon session. It was the only public opportunity to get eyes on all three Krieger heirs in one spot. As far as he could tell, all of them were being kept busy and out of the public eye. Hard to do given that their company was what everyone wanted to talk about right now.

  Tonight the brother-sister duo were presenting a keynote covering how the company had gone from a household service provider to the go-to name in government IT security. He doubted the message would contain anything of true value. Probably some inspirational messages on high quality backgrounds along with a few fortune cookie bits of advice.

  Lee cared about none of that.

  What he needed was the opportunity to observe the three Kriegers. He needed to know them. Understand them. Only then would he have the tools to break them.

  His mission was simple, watch and wait until the right time. Then he could grab them and squeeze them for every drop of intel for his client. It was a standard enough job that should go according to plan.

  2.

  Friday. Tech Conference, Kyoto, Japan.

  Yvonne sat on the floor of her friend’s bathroom, her face pressed up against the tile wall to cool her heated skin.

  She could not be sick.

  The keynote address was in an hour. She’d fought tooth and nail with Theodore about allowing her take part in it. Right now she was one third of the family equation with Theodore and Dad behind the company. She would not be cut out of this opportunity.

  Heels clicked on the tile. Her best friend Tabby Grissler came to a stop across the spacious bathroom, face creased in concern. She was a beautiful woman, far more socially poised than Yvonne. They’d been thrown together at a young age since their families were peers, not competitors. The Grissler companies were all about things that flew, planes, guidance systems. With the lack of competition between them, Tabby had grown to be one of the few women Yvonne could be completely open with. They might be utterly dissimilar—Tabby partied, Yvonne didn’t; Tabby was extroverted and social, Yvonne was introverted and quiet—but they’d become best of friends.

  “You don’t look so good,” she said.

  “I feel worse.” Yvonne pressed her hands to her face. “Every time I eat my stomach gets angry with me. Last night all I could keep down were crackers. I cannot be sick.”

  “Well, unless you want to be pregnant, I think sick is your only option.”

  “Pregnant.” Yvonne snorted. When would she have the time? “No, this is just a stomach thing. Too much traveling, not enough rest. I’ll be fine.”

  Yvonne’s memory flashed a hot image in her mind of Nolan. The man would make beautiful children with eyes that green.

  There was no possible way she was pregnant though. There’d always been protection. She was certain of that.

  “Your arm candy outside was asking where you were a few minutes ago.” Tabby’s gaze raked down Yvonne’s body.

  “He is not my arm candy. He’s a bodyguard.” Yvonne knew the cold and hot waves had nothing to do with her stomach bug and everything to do with the knowledge that at some point Tabby would recognize Nolan. Or at least Yvonne assumed she would.

  “You like them blond and big. Why not have some fun?” Tabby grinned.

  “No.” Yvonne shook her head so hard her stomach clenched. She hadn’t realized that when Nolan said he was following her everywhere—he meant it. He’d even insisted on doing a walk-through of Tabby’s roo
m before agreeing to remain outside the hotel room.

  “I thought Vegas was progress.” Tabby snickered and offered Yvonne a hand.

  “Vegas was a disaster.” Yvonne took the hand and pushed up off the floor.

  “Was it really?” Tabby held up her other hand. “Okay, so the morning after was kind of a wreck, but you were having fun.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Yvonne turned her attention to the mirror.

  “Okay. Fine. Let’s get these curlers out of your hair and touch up your face. You need to get going already.”

  Tabby began fussing over Yvonne’s hair, helping her normally lank, lifeless locks into something with shape and curl. The feel of Tabby’s fingers against her scalp soothed her further until the knots forming in her shoulders eased.

  “God, your hair is so thick. You really should do something with it more often. I could show you how to use a curling iron, you know?”

  Yvonne smiled, but didn’t agree to those lessons. Her time was already eaten up with work. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone. Adding one more thing to her day for the sake of being pretty to look at didn’t rate high on her list. Besides, the last time she’d tried to look nice was the night she met Nolan and that hadn’t turned out so well for her after all.

  Given what she knew about Nolan now versus then, she could imagine his work call was a lot more important than she’d understood it to be. It didn’t mean he had to shove her out the door. Still there’d been a lot of hours between meeting him and leaving the room, none of those had been bad.

  If she ignored the morning after, she might have been tempted to track Nolan down. She’d briefly fantasized about an arrangement a few weeks ago, something that wouldn’t tie her down with any further responsibility or commitment. But it was a pipe dream. A man who looked like Nolan didn’t need her. He’d no doubt moved on ages ago. She was just a memory. One woman in a line of many.

  “Earth to Vee?” Tabby bent, placing her head next to Yvonne’s in the mirror.

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s all good. I was just saying that Douglas is doing surprisingly well.”

  “Is he?” Yvonne didn’t want to get her hopes up.