Her Protector

by Rianna Campbell

  “You didn’t have to tell me.” Connor smiled. “It’s obvious she’s your ‘darling daughter.’ She called you ‘old man’ and you didn’t bat an eye and she has the look of you when she smiles.”

  Connor turned his attention back to her and she nodded curtly, confirming his assumption. His smile broadened and for a moment she was taken aback by how much it changed his face. He was gorgeous anyway with his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones, but that smile made him scorchingly hot. Panty-dropping hot. The guys who modeled overpriced underwear and expensive cologne with ridiculous names had nothing on him. She turned away as soon as she felt the blush creeping its way up her neck.

  “What do you propose we do?” She asked. Her father took a deep breath and she could tell she was not going to like what came next.

  “Protection. The threat is to your safety even if it’s meant to get something from me. You’ll have a protection detail any time you leave the office or your apartment until further notice.”

  “No.” She shook her head.

  “Alexandra--”

  “No, I’m not going to live with a squad of chaperones shadowing my every move.” She said firmly. “I rarely go anywhere aside from work, home and the gym. All three buildings have security. I’ll be fine.”

  “Coming and going from those three places is how they got those photos in the first place. He, or she, knows where you spend your time.” Connor pointed out calmly.

  “Fine, I’ll stop walking to the gym and drive.” She countered smoothly.

  “Unless your gym has a valet, it still presents an opportunity.” Connor mumbled.

  “Alexandra, this is not up for debate.” Her father said. His tone was forceful though he didn’t raise his voice. He never raised his voice.

  “The police-”

  “Have nothing to go on.” Her father shook his head. “We’ve put Archie on it, but, miracle worker that he is, it will take time.”

  Archie was in fact a miracle worker, which was a very good thing because with her father’s love of mystery novels, he would have likely gotten the job with no qualifications at all. At the time, she’d asked him if that made him Nero Wolfe and he’d laughed, patted his still trim waistline and replied that he liked to think of himself more as Nathaniel Parker. Not New York’s best detective, but the lawyer New York’s best detective calls when he needs one.

  She pursed her lips and considered the situation for a moment.

  “Not to sound petulant, and I say this with all due respect, but you can’t make me.” She replied. Connor MacLachlan had the audacity to snort with laughter before trying to cover it with a cough.

  “I can, and I will.” Her father replied. He reached for a folder on his desk and handed it to her. She opened it and looked it over. It was the contract she’d signed six years ago when she joined the firm.

  “And what does this prove?” She asked.

  “Read paragraph six, subsection D.” He instructed. She found the correct page and read it. Twice. Damn him again.

  Connor MacLachlan studied her with a raised eyebrow and she sighed.

  “My contract outlines quite clearly how seriously the firm takes the safety of their employees and how, due to the nature of the work we do, if an employee should encounter a situation that puts their safety in jeopardy, the firm’s senior management may enact such security measures as they deem just and proper to protect the firm and their employees.” She shook her head and tossed the contract back on his desk. “Two questions, counselor, before I submit myself to this.” She said coolly.

  “Go ahead.” Her father nodded.

  “Would you be this concerned if I were a man? Would you go this far if I weren’t your daughter?” She added, trying to keep the ire out of her voice. Her father pursed his lips and looked down. She was furious, shooting to her feet in an instant, ready to lay into him. Before she could say a word, he looked up.

  “Yes, I would. And I have.” He said calmly. She narrowed her eyes, not sure if she could believe him. He’d never lied to her, but she knew the lengths her father would go to to protect her, though she wished she’d never had to find out.

  “Do you remember Pete Sanders?” He asked quietly.

  “Of course.” She replied, sitting again. “He used to be in Criminal Defense until he went on sabbatical two years ago. When he came back he transferred to Real Estate.”

  “Do you know why he went on sabbatical?”

  She frowned. “No, I just assumed it was for medical reasons. The sabbatical and the transfer to Real Estate seemed to indicate that the stress of the job was getting to him.”

  “It wasn’t for medical reasons, nor was his transfer.” Her father sighed. “He was in a similar situation. He’d received threats to his family that were eventually traced back to a case he was working on. We sent him and his family to stay with relatives out of state and made sure he was protected until it was sorted out.” He glanced at Connor, and she knew there were specifics he couldn’t mention due to attorney client privilege.

  “Fine, but it seems unnecessary to go through all this for just two weeks.”

  “What happens in two weeks?” Connor asked, confused.

  “I’m leaving the country.”

  ✽✽✽

  Connor had just begun to look forward to this assignment when she dropped that particular bomb. Alexandra Hughes had, at first, seemed like all the other women in the office with their boring corporate suits, tame hair, sensible shoes. But as soon as she’d started lamb basting her ‘old man’ on her way into the office, he knew she was different.

  Oh, she was professional all right. She seemed to be keeping an iron grip on her emotions. She asked her questions, made her statements, and absorbed all the information thrown at her with poise and calm. But he’d seen the battle light in her eyes, and he’d caught a hint of a flush creep over her face more than once.

  She was cool, calm and collected on the outside, but there was a riot going on in her head. She was going to be a challenge. You learned a lot about people when you spent hours a day shadowing them as they went about their lives. He was very curious what he would find out about Alexandra Hughes. But two weeks wouldn’t give him much time.

  Aside from feeling like she might have a personality under her cool facade, she certainly would be easy on the eyes. She was fit, but still had curves in all the right places and in ideal proportions.

  Her hair, though appearing solid brown in the photos, was more dimensional in the natural light of the office. It was a rich chocolate brown with natural hints of honey and caramel blonde throughout. Her eyes were hazel, a golden brown around the irises with a ring of jade green on the outside.

  And she was tall. Not as tall as he was, obviously, but a statuesque 5’8- close to six feet in the black patent pumps she wore. The shoes, which were anything but sensible, like her dark suit and straight blunt hairstyle, were a power play. They almost certainly made her taller than most men she worked with, or would go up against, and that would give her an edge.

  To Conor, they were fuck me pumps, pure and simple. They didn’t intimidate him and they did amazing things to the way she moved. He could only wonder what they would do to her legs if she were wearing a skirt instead of dress slacks.

  He shut down that line of thought and turned his attention back to Mr. Hughes.

  “Mr. MacLachlan, or one of his associates, or possibly more than one, will be accompanying you to London.” Hughes said. Alexandra’s eyes widened a fraction and then she uncrossed her legs and crossed them again on the other side. No other signs of discomfort.

  “I don’t think that’s necessary.” She said smoothly. “I doubt someone would go to the trouble of following me all the way across the pond.” She smirked.

  “With respect, ma’am, we have no way of knowing what they will or won’t do. Until we know who they are and what their goal is, it’s best to cover every contingency.” Connor supplied.

  And it’ll be me covering you in
London.

  Alexandra studied him for a moment before brusquely standing and turning to her father.

  “I suppose there’s no point in arguing, so if there’s nothing else, I’d like to get back to work.”

  “Certainly. I have things to discuss with Mr. MacLaclan.” Hughes nodded.

  She just nodded in response, resolute, and made her way out of the office at a businesslike pace. Connor tried, and failed, not to sneak a surreptitious look at her ass as she walked away.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “So what did Dear Old Dad have to say?” Janie asked as soon as Alexandra stepped up to her desk. Janie handed her a cardboard cup from Starbucks and Alexandra took a sip and groaned with pleasure. Janie was a saint who kept Alexandra’s life on schedule, her files organized and her bloodstream caffeinated.

  “Business, for once.” Alexandra shrugged. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted her assistant to be aware of. She didn’t want anyone else involved, but she didn’t want to keep her in the dark either. She considered Janie a friend as well as a colleague. She didn’t have many and she needed the few she had.

  The phone rang and Janie answered it with her usual brisk efficiency.

  “Alexandra Hughes’ office, how can I help you?”

  Alexandra walked past Janie’s desk and opened the door to her office. It was much smaller than her father’s, which was fine by her. It was just large enough for several book shelves on either wall, a large desk which faced the door leaving the window to her back. Two club chairs similar to those in her father’s office faced the desk. The layout was almost precisely the same, but on a much cozier scale. She had added some personal touches on the shelves and on her desk, but nothing overtly feminine or too personal. It was understated and comfortable, but professional at the same time.

  She slumped into her chair and kicked off her shoes, returning to the case file strewn across her desk. She tried to go back to making notes and preparing for the upcoming deposition, but her thoughts kept swimming back to the meeting in her father’s office. She considered her current cases and wondered if there was anything about any of them that would cause someone to follow her, and potentially threaten her.

  On the surface, none of them seemed to be the type that would drive someone to do something so… desperate? Immoral? Dangerous? They weren’t high profile. They weren’t criminal cases. She dealt primarily with civil litigation, and not multi-million dollar cases, either.

  She had only one case that would be going to trial before she left for London, but that was hardly enough evidence to make her suspect there was a connection.

  She was obsessing and she had to get her head back in the game. This wasn’t her biggest client, but a win was still a win. More than that, she liked helping people. She liked being part of the justice system that was supposed to render fair and impartial judgment to make sure that everyone was treated equally and with respect.

  It didn’t work out that way for you, did it?

  But that was more reason for her to do what she did with total commitment and focus. No one was going to fix the system from the outside. As part of the system, she could use it to do the right thing when so many people used it to avoid doing the right thing.

  She gave herself a stern talking to and took a few deep breaths to focus herself, before returning to her notes. It worked, and she was able to get a couple of hours of good work in before and after lunch.

  At five thirty, Alexandra exited the conference room on the third floor and tried not to smile smugly as the opposing side filed out past her toward the elevator. There was a mumbled, “We’ll be in touch next week.”To which she responded with a mild, “Looking forward to it.”

  As soon as they were all packed away on the elevators with the doors closing on them, she had to resist the urge to pump her fist and strut down the hall back to her office.

  “Nice work.” Alexandra felt a quick squeeze on her shoulder.

  “Thanks, Charles. You weren’t so bad yourself.”

  Charles chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, no. I was clearly only there for moral support. You did a bang up job, kid.”

  Alexandra smiled. She was only two months younger than Charles Bennett, but he always called her kid. From anyone else it would have been insulting, but she and Charles were friends from law school and he treated her with the utmost respect when it came to their work.

  “Thanks. Do me a favor and say that a little louder so they can hear you up on the tenth floor.”

  Charles laughed again, flashing his perfectly straight, perfectly white, movie star smile. He had swoon worthy looks. He looked just like the boy next door, blond hair, blue eyes, dimples. And he looked damn good in a suit.

  “What?” He said, giving her a skeptical look.

  “You’re a handsome bastard, Charles.” Alexandra shook her head.

  “That I am.” He replied.

  “Are you coming for drinks with me and Janie?”

  “If you’re buying.” He grinned and winked.

  “First round only.” She warned. “Between you and Janie, I’d be broke before closing time.”

  “True. I’ll go get my things and meet you out front. Should I get a cab?”

  “No, it’s close. We’ll walk.”

  Alexandra left Charles at his office and stopped at Janie’s desk.

  “How’d it go?” Janie asked anxiously. Alexandra was tempted to mess with her a little, but she knew that would be cruel. Janie was just as invested in Alexandra’s cases as she was.

  “To perfection.” Alexandra grinned. Janie squealed and ducked around her desk to hug her.

  “Congratulations.”

  “Don’t congratulate me yet. I’m sure they’ll make an offer for settlement but we may still have to take it to trial if they aren’t willing to meet our number.”

  “They will. I’m sure you’ve got them by the balls.” Janie said with a wicked smile.

  “Language in the workplace, Janice.” Janie scowled. Janie hated her full name.

  “Language, yourself.” Janie grumbled. Alexandra laughed and extended a peace offering.

  “Alright, if it will make you feel better, we can go to that new place you wanted to try.”

  Janie practically jumped for joy.

  “Charles is coming too.” Alexandra added. Janie rolled her eyes.

  “Ugh, fine.”

  “Come on, you like Charles.”

  “I love Charles,” Janie said. “Don’t misunderstand, but he’s too gorgeous. He scares away all the other men in the room just by existing.”

  That was true, which was part of why Alexandra wanted him to come. She liked having a barrier between her and other people, especially men. She wasn’t looking for a hookup, or a relationship, and flirting usually led one or both people to believe it was headed one way or the other. She didn’t need the hassle.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him occupied. That way you can have all the men to yourself.”

  “Deal.” Janie grinned.

  “I’ll be right out. Charles is probably waiting for us out front.”

  Alexandra popped into her office to drop off the file from the deposition and grab her coat and bag. She was about to head out and lock up when her intercom buzzed.

  “Janie, you couldn’t wait two minutes?” She huffed.

  “Um, there’s someone to see you, Ms. Hughes.” Janie sounded a little nervous.

  Shit. She’d almost forgotten. She had so successfully focused on work that she’d completely blocked out the meeting with her father this morning. That was probably him now.

  “Send him in.” Alexandra sighed. She tossed her bag and coat in one of the chairs and leaned back against her desk, folding her arms across her chest. To her surprise, Connor MacLachlan walked through her door.

  Her jaw almost dropped. She would admit that he’d briefly turned her head in her father’s office this morning, but now… There were no words to describe how delicious he looked. He’d changed. Liter
ally. He’d lost the suit and was standing before her in casual clothes. Faded blue jeans with a small tear on one thigh, a tight black t-shirt strained over a muscular chest and taut stomach. It was layered under an unzipped grey hooded sweatshirt and a black wool peacoat. Work boots and a five o’clock shadow finished off the look. Mouthwatering.

  ✽✽✽

  Apparently she hadn’t been expecting him. Connor thought Mr. Hughes would have already gone over what they’d discussed in his office with his daughter, but apparently he would have the pleasure of explaining it to her. At the moment she seemed completely baffled. He didn’t comment at her obvious perusal of his clothing. She gave him a frank once over and he wondered if she was perhaps appalled at his less professional appearance, or if maybe, she liked what she saw. Then he saw that adorable blush creeping over the collar of that starched white blouse and he had his answer. Interesting.

  Finally she blinked, turned away and began shuffling papers on her desk.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” she began. Her voice cracked on the last word and he smiled since her back was turned and she wouldn’t see it. But she did.

  He made eye contact with her reflection in the window, the darkness outside turning it into a mirror, and her eyes narrowed. She whipped around, her face a neutral mask.

  “Was there something I can do for you, Mr. MacLachlan?” She said.

  “No, ma’am.” He replied. “I’m here to begin your protection detail.”

  Alexandra frowned and then pursed her lips.

  “The old man left you to do the dirty work, didn’t he?” She asked.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.” Connor said blandly. Maybe if he pled ignorance, she’d take the issue up with her father. She snorted.

  “Right. I take it that you and my father hammered out the details of this arrangement after I left his office this morning?” She asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”