Dangerously Involved

by Sidney Bristol

  “It shouldn’t be like this.”

  He wanted to smooth the worry off her face, but that wasn’t his right. “I had a brother like Douglas. They put you through hell.”

  “Had?”

  “Yeah. He picked the wrong car to steal. Some fancy ass car. He drove it straight into a concrete wall. Always did tell him he’d steal the wrong one someday.”

  “I-I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t. He’s been gone...eight years?” Or was it ten now? Long enough it was just history.

  “Sometimes I wonder if that will be Doug. If he’ll...make the wrong friends. Do the wrong thing. He could have died Saturday.”

  “But he didn’t. Focus on that.”

  Yvonne nodded.

  “Come on, let’s get you inside.” He gestured at the house.

  She fell into step with him, her things cradled to her chest. Her coloring was better, and she didn’t seem as travel weary. And why the hell was he noticing?

  “Nolan?”

  “Yeah?” He glanced down at the top of her head.

  She didn’t say another word, and he was too chicken to coax her to talk more.Next paragraph here.

  MONDAY. ITO SECURITY Office, Kyoto, Japan.

  Samuel fought the urge to adjust his tie. Adrenaline skipped through his veins as the elevator rose to the second floor of the building.

  Everyone was waiting on him. There would be no more arguing with Sato. No more haggling to get the resources or permission to do as Samuel wished. He was the boss now. Not a partner. The boss. Everyone answered to him.

  There would be no more constraints on their empire. They could step out of the small pool Sato had insisted they work in. Samuel could take them to the global level.

  The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.

  His brother’s assistant waited for him on the landing. He was a nervous young man Samuel wasn’t fond of, but he knew the business inside and out.

  “Good morning—”

  “Are they waiting?” Samuel strode past the young man and through the receiving area.

  “Yes, sir.” The assistant quick stepped to keep up with him. “Wait—which they?”

  Samuel glanced to his left, at the four men in solid black suits. Every one of them sported a scar or broken nose. These were his people. The ones that made the real money.

  “Come on.” He waved for them to follow him.

  The conference room was a glass fishbowl. A dozen or so of his brother’s people waited for him. Because of the duel nature of their business, most of these people believed Samuel did marketing for the company, schmoozed high end clients. They had no idea what he really did.

  He was looking forward to this meeting. It wouldn’t be a smooth transition. He was aware that many of his employees shared Sato’s opinions about him. It couldn’t be helped, but he was the boss now. If they didn’t fall in line they’d get cut out.

  “Morning.” Samuel breezed into the room. “Everyone please take a seat.”

  “Who are they?” Karuki remained standing, eyeing Samuel’s men. Karuki was one of those Samuel expected to have to get rid of. The former soldier was a shrewd man, and it had been hard to keep him in the dark to date. He also had a strong dislike for Samuel.

  “No one to concern yourself over.” Samuel poured himself a glass of water. “We’re here to discuss how we are moving forward without my brother.”

  “Your brother died two days ago and you want to do this now?” Karuki scowled at Samuel.

  “Business moves on. My brother would understand and do the same thing if I’d been the one killed. I’m merely honoring him by pushing forward.”

  “With what? How do you expect to fill your brother’s shoes?”

  “He and I built this company into what it is. I assure you I know more than my fair share about how it is run and what we’re doing.” Samuel slid a hand into his pocket and clenched his fist.

  If they weren’t in an office, if these weren’t laypeople, he’d have punched the fuck out of Karuki. Samuel didn’t tolerate his men doubting him like this.

  The meeting went on with more of the same. A lot of questions were lobbed at him and it was clear that the staff had no faith in his leadership. Probably something Sato had instilled in them.

  Well, they could either get on board or get off. Samuel was running things now.

  He ended the meeting then spent some time in his brother’s office, combing through his things and the computer. There were a few things he hadn’t known about, mostly leads to follow up on. He was pleasantly surprised.

  Sato might not have liked Samuel, but he had run the company with transparency.

  Once he was satisfied he’d killed enough time he left the office in the capable hands of the staff. Business here would continue on much as it had. That was a crucial part to Samuel’s plans. The above-board side of the business had to continue if the other half wanted to thrive.

  He took the elevator down to the parking garage. A black car idled, waiting for him.

  Samuel got into the back seat. It stank of blood.

  Two of his loyal men sat on either side of Karuki facing Samuel. Blood stained the front of his shirt and one eye was swollen.

  “If you want to keep your job and family safe, you will fall in line.” Samuel didn’t finish the threat. Karuki was a smart man with enough experience to understand what came next.

  “Sato would never let you—”

  “Sato kept things from you. Namely the real structure of this company. You only knew one side of the man. He lied to you. I’ve never pretended to be anything except what I am. The choice is yours.” Samuel stared back at Karuki’s one good eye. “We have an understanding?”

  Karuki didn’t respond.

  Samuel nodded at the door.

  One of his men opened it and shoved Karuki out into the garage.

  Whatever the man did, Samuel was prepared for. He’d spent months getting to this point.

  “What do you have for me?” he asked.

  “The police have taken the Yakuza in for questioning. There’s no doubt they ordered the hit.”

  “Yes, but have they recovered the drone?” That was the factor that truly concerned him.

  “Not that we know of, sir.”

  “Find out about the drone. I want to know where it is, who made it and how to get it.”

  Because his competitors would know better than to buy a high tech toy like that and use it. Which meant there was someone else in the picture. An unknown. Samuel didn’t like unknowns.

  7.

  Tuesday. Grimaldi Place, Chevy Chase, MD.

  Yvonne tabbed through the spreadsheets.

  Something was wrong. What had Theodore done to her perfectly working spreadsheet to make it return so many errors? She’d given it to him for five minutes and he’d broken four weeks of work bumbling around.

  God, she was going to be here all day trying to undo this mess while her brothers were—what were they doing? Playing pool? Going one on one in a video game?

  They certainly weren’t working. She’d gotten Theodore’s new out of office message. He’d changed it to indicate he was out for an undetermined amount of time.

  Just because they were holed up in Maryland at Mom and Dad’s didn’t mean they couldn’t work. It was just that Theodore was particular. He liked his desk with his computer just so. Getting him to work while on the road was always a trial.

  She closed her eyes and covered her face.

  This wasn’t about Theodore skipping a few days of work. Lord knew they pulled a lot of late nights and hadn’t had a weekend off since before they’d begun the campaign to secure the DoD deal. She was projecting her frustration, and it needed to stop. It wasn’t fair to her brother and redirecting her anxiety helped no one.

  It was easier to focus on little things rather than the big picture of her life. She had no idea what that looked like now, so here she was, burying her head in a spreadsheet instead of dealing with it.
>
  Yvonne might be pregnant.

  When Dad found out he was going to be more than just disappointed in her.

  She wasn’t ready to know the truth yet.

  “Something wrong?” a deep voice asked.

  She snatched her hands away from her face and stared at Nolan standing in the archway leading from the formal dining room into the kitchen. He had his hands braced on either side, stretching his white polo shirt across his chest. And those arms...

  Last night she’d had fantasies about his arms. How he could hold her, the strength, biting down on the bulge.

  “What? No.” She straightened and directed her gaze to her laptop screen and not studying how the fabric strained across his shoulders.

  “Are you working?” He pushed off the wall and ambled through the kitchen toward her.

  “Yes. I can work anywhere.” She hit tab a few more times, still trying to find the offending data point.

  “Didn’t mean to offend. Just saw your brothers watching TV and your dad’s out golfing. I assumed everyone was taking the day off.”

  Yvonne didn’t have an answer for that. She needed something to do that would occupy her mind or else she’d mentally dive into the next, messy chapter of her life. Until this chapter with Douglas was sorted out, she couldn’t focus on herself. The family and the business had to come first.

  Nolan opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, his attention drifting from her.

  Yvonne barely knew him. It wasn’t like they’d had deep, meaningful conversation in Vegas. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was there for her. A shelter in this storm. Would that change if she were carrying his child? How would he react?

  She didn’t know.

  Maybe she should take this chance to get to know him better?

  At the very least she might come to a decision about how to tell him if or when the time came and a feel for whether or not he’d want to be involved in her baby’s life.

  “What are you doing today?’’ She cringed at the question. Wasn’t it obvious what he was doing?

  Nolan wiped water off his lips and screwed the cap back on the bottle. “Well, we spent this morning doing a few drills and testing our perimeter to make sure we don’t have any blind spots. Now we’re taking surveillance in shifts.”

  “When did you do all of that?” She hadn’t noticed them outside at all.

  “Before sunrise.”

  “Oh.” Color her impressed. She hadn’t known what to expect with personal security, but it had far exceeded her assumptions. “Is all of this normal?”

  One side of his mouth screwed up, and he shrugged. “There really isn’t a normal job for us.”

  “Do you enjoy this work?” And how dangerous was it?

  “Sure.” He pulled out a chair across from her at the breakfast nook and sat. He studied her for a moment, a smile curving the corners of his lips. “Any other questions?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “Pry away.” He shrugged.

  Yvonne propped an elbow on the table and studied him. Normally she wouldn’t be so forward to ask about his motivations or personal life, but she wanted to know. Needed to.

  “How did you get into this line of work?” she asked slowly, choosing her line of questioning.

  “Well, you don’t really apply to work at Aegis Group, you’re invited. I’d retired from the Marines and was trying to decide what came next. AG reached out to me through a buddy of mine and here I am.”

  “That’s an awfully opaque story. How did you choose the Marines?”

  “I don’t care for water, so the Navy was out. Didn’t want to fly, so I wasn’t going to bother with the Air Force. Marines fit.” He shrugged.

  That wasn’t all. He wasn’t telling her the real reason and might not ever share it. Why that disappointed her, Yvonne couldn’t say. But it did.

  “And working for the Aegis Group, that fits, too?” She shut the laptop and sat back, content to follow this conversation where it led.

  “It provides me a comfortable life doing something I’m good at. I get to travel and see the world. Not a bad gig.”

  “What does your family think about it?”

  Nolan glanced away from her then. There was the tiniest of winces.

  Family wasn’t a good topic. She could relate.

  He didn’t refuse to answer. He did stare past her to the patio and pool beyond as he spoke. “They don’t like it, but they have their own problems to deal with that are bigger than my career path.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t be.” His gaze slid to hers. “They’re adults. They made their choices.”

  Yvonne nodded. On that point she could agree.

  “What’s the history of this place?” He gestured to the house. “There’s a lot of really old pictures?”

  “It’s been in my mother’s family for generations. Her ancestors, the Grimaldis, came over with quite a bit of money, established themselves here as merchants and moved into industry then politics. Over time they lost the Grimaldi name due to several generations of daughters, which is why we call it Grimaldi Place now. Mom inherited it a few years ago when her parents died.” Yvonne blew out a breath and shuddered.

  “Didn’t like them much?”

  “My grandparents? They were nice people. It’s the drama that happened after their death. My aunt and uncle didn’t want to believe their parents left the house to my family. Mom was considered the black sheep for marrying someone not of her class. They’re...a bit stuck up, if you ask me. They both married people from their circle of friends who came from old money families. Mom fell in love with Dad just as his company was hitting it big. They all think she married down.” And that Yvonne and her brothers were somehow not as deserving of success because of their self-made father.

  “What a bunch of assholes,” Nolan said without missing a beat.

  Yvonne sputtered a laugh before she got herself under control.

  “Am I wrong?” He spread his hands. “I’ve seen the pictures around here.”

  She glanced down at her hands. Regardless of her extended family’s views, they were still her family. But that didn’t mean they were always right or good.

  Nolan crossed his arms over his chest.

  He wasn’t wrong, and this was the same family who would eventually pass judgment on him, her and their child.

  Did she want that for her baby?

  “Enough about family. Screw ‘em.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. He glanced at her now closed laptop. “You feeling better?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She’d made careful food choices, and the candied ginger was helping.

  Her mind shied away from there that topic led. She wasn’t ready to go there with him yet, but she also didn’t want this conversation to end.

  “You said you travel a lot for work?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Rarely destinations you want to go to, let’s be clear.” His smile widened. “Japan was a welcome change. You probably see much nicer places than I do.”

  “Not really. I mean, we have done some vacations, but nothing exotic. Growing up Dad was attached to work and Mom didn’t want to take us far without him.” She shrugged. “I can’t complain. I’d like to do more travel for the fun of it.”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  She opened her mouth, but what answer could she give him that would make sense to someone else?

  “I guess because I’m married to my work,” she said slowly.

  “Do you enjoy it?” He was turning her question around on her and she didn’t like it.

  “Yes.”

  “That sounded dragged out of you. What do you like about it?”

  “I like being part of something. I like building the family legacy. My father created a product that is still a household name. That’s the part that’s exciting.” She smiled. Too bad the daily grind didn’t give her this buzz. “The day to day work is much more boring, I’m a
fraid.”

  “And it couldn’t survive for a few days while you took a vacation?”

  Yvonne stared at the marble table top.

  Her job would survive without her. That was the problem. If she wasn’t there to do her part, there was a good chance no one would notice until something broke. She felt invisible next to her brother. Disposable. It wasn’t true. She did an immense amount of work. She was good at it. But she also could afford to take time away.

  Except Dad never did, and he was the model by which she tried to live her life.

  “Hey?” Nolan reached across the table toward her, hand outstretched.

  She blinked away that line of thought and looked at his hand instead.

  There was a scar at the base of his thumb. She’d traced it while lying in bed. There were other scars on him. Some were small. Others were large.

  She placed her hand in his. The warmth of him chased the chill away as he wrapped his fingers around her hand. He had this way of touching. It was as though he weren’t just caressing her skin, he was reaching deeper, stirring nerve endings that might have been dormant. She’d thought it was the alcohol, but now, watching his fingers stroke the back of her hand, she couldn’t deny that it was him.

  The click-thump of heels punched through the bubble, bringing her back to reality.

  Yvonne snatched her hand from his a moment before her mother strode into the kitchen from the front of the house.

  “There you are.” Mom sighed and her gaze flicked to Nolan. She didn’t frown, that would invite wrinkles, but she wasn’t pleased. “What are you doing in here fooling around?”

  Yvonne opened her mouth. Her cheeks flamed hot at the implication, but she never got the chance to say anything else.

  “Your father needs a set of reports before he finishes this morning. The particulars should be in your email.” Mom waved her hands. “I know you do not mean to work in the kitchen. Go to the library like a civilized person. I’d say go to the study, but...”

  “I’ll handle it.” Yvonne wasn’t going to invite further discussion about her decision to set the Aegis team up in the office. She’d had her ass chewed out last night for that decision.