Ronan
“Sir?” Fiona’s voice interrupted the conversation I was having with Kade and Zeke in my office, and I glanced at where she stood framed in the doorway. “She’s here.”
I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.” I’d asked her to tell me when Willow arrived, but I was surprised I hadn’t felt a shift in the air to indicate that a Lennox was in my space. “Once you’ve gone over the contract, and emphasized the confidentiality clause, send her through to human resources.”
“Will do.” She smiled at me and Kade, ignored Zeke, and stepped outside.
“That woman doesn’t like me,” Zeke remarked. “Any tips on how to soften her up?”
I hid a grin. It hadn’t taken Fiona long to pin Zeke down as the business partner most likely to cause problems. His slick way of talking did him no favors with her.
“You’re fighting a losing battle,” Kade told him. “Just give up. She’s not interested in you.” He turned to me. “While we’re on the subject of bad ideas, I still think that inviting Willow to work here is underhanded and bound to screw things up.”
“Noted. I promise to be on my best behavior.”
Zeke formed a steeple with his hands, watching me with an expression some people would have mistaken for boredom. Not me though. His brain was constantly going a hundred miles an hour. “She’s even prettier in person.”
Neither Kade nor I asked when he’d seen her. If it were anywhere other than the office, we’d rather not know.
“And what?”
Zeke leaned forward. “Seducing her would be the ultimate revenge. Could you imagine Tom’s reaction if you dated the precious Lennox heiress? Not that there’s much of an inheritance to speak of.”
I sighed. “What did I just say? I’m not messing with her.”
He held up his hands. “Hey, if you genuinely liked her then you wouldn’t be messing with her, would you?” He winked. “Maybe she’s the one for you? Have you thought about that?”
I snorted. I was certain of many things, and one of them was that Willow and I weren’t about to embark on an epic Romeo and Juliet love story. That wasn’t my style. I was hands-off. Calculating. Efficient. I didn’t get personally involved. Women like Willow didn’t want men like me.
“Not happening,” I said before Kade spontaneously combusted.
My friend—always a staunch defender of the fairer sex—looked like he might go up in flames at any moment. Only Zeke could rile him up like this. They weren’t long-time friends, as I was with Kade. To tell the truth, it was difficult to truly be Zeke’s friend because his life consisted of secrets layered on secrets. Getting to know the man behind the mask was next to impossible.
“Fine.” Zeke shrugged. “I just thought I’d put it out there. She’s beautiful. Seems nice. You could do worse.”
“I don’t want Tom for a brother-in-law. Anyway, my problems with him have nothing to do with her.”
Zeke cocked his head and touched a fingertip to the metal hoop through his eyebrow. “By breaking into your office, she inserted herself into the situation. She’s a player here, whether the Neanderthal beside me likes it or not.”
“Fair point. But the topic is closed for discussion.” I scanned my desk until I found the file I was looking for. “I need to talk to you both about the Fairbanks case.”
Half an hour later, Kade and Zeke exited my office, and I stood and stretched the kinks from my back. A muscle in my shoulder twinged. While I hadn’t performed any active bodyguard duty for years, I liked to keep in good physical condition. I attended more public events than either of my business partners, and if I let myself go, it might not inspire trust from potential clients. Besides, I enjoyed pushing myself in my home gym.
An errant thought drew me from my office. Before I realized where I was going, I found myself standing in the open plan area where the marketing, communications, and public relations staff were based. Willow sat at a long desk, hunched over a laptop, her chin propped on her hand, studying the screen intently. Awareness fizzled through my body. She was stunning. Zeke had been right about that. Her silky blonde hair hung down her back in a way that tempted me to wrap it around my fist.
I swallowed. Damn, I needed to get my thoughts under control.
“Can I help you?” a voice asked to my right.
I flinched, caught off guard, and turned. Imani, a Black woman in her mid-twenties and one of Willow’s new colleagues, was seated at the long desk behind Willow and gave me a look that said she’d caught me staring.
Willow glanced over her shoulder, and her eyes widened.
“I just wanted to say hello to our newest recruit,” I said, relieved it wasn’t unusual for me to check in with new employees. In fact, I think I’d done the same thing with Imani when she started.
Willow tucked her hair behind her ears. “Everything is fine, thanks.” She studied me as though she thought I was trying to catch her slacking off. “Imani has already shown me how to use the systems. Now I’m familiarizing myself with the kind of work you do so I can best determine where to focus the social media campaigns.”
“She’s a quick learner,” Imani added, still wearing a mischievous smile. “She’s going to build us a following in no time.”
I nodded. “I’m certain she will.” I took a step back. “I’d best return to work and let you get on with yours. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.”
“I won’t need it.” Willow raised her chin, her hair spilling over her shoulders and rippling golden in the overhead light.
Don’t pay attention to her hair, I told myself. She’s an employee, like any other.
Except for one thing: her brother was my worst enemy.
Willow
I flopped against my seat the moment Ronan was out of sight.
Across from me, Imani giggled. “Don’t worry, he has that effect on a lot of people.”
“What effect?”
Imani flashed pearly teeth. “The urge to melt into a puddle at his feet.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Consider it your initiation. The three founders of King’s Security are all unfairly hot, although Ronan is the most classically handsome. Have you met the others?”
I shook my head, wanting to protest that she’d misunderstood my interest in Ronan, but she wasn’t entirely wrong. The man was breathtaking, and he made my pulse spike.
“That’s not—”
“Sweetie.” She gave me a look. “Be real. There’s no shame.”
“Fine,” I admitted. “He’s attractive.”
“He’s smoking.” She wheeled her desk chair over, and I gave her my full attention. “Let me tell you about the founders.”
“Okay.” It was obvious she wanted an audience, and I was happy to listen. The more information I could gather about them, the better.
“First, we have Ronan, CEO and generally well-respected guy. He’s not soft, but he’s fair. Kade, who heads up the personal security division—bodyguards and the like—is his best friend from college. He’s former military and doesn’t talk much, but what he says is worth listening to. Serious hottie if you like them scary and built. The last member of the trio is Zeke, who joined the company from God only knows what super-secret arm of national security. Computer wunderkind, in charge of cyber. If you like your men nerdy with an edge, you might be Team Zeke.”
“An edge,” I echoed, not sure what she meant.
“You’ll see what I mean.” She cocked her head. “Where did you say you worked before coming here?”
I cringed because I hadn’t mentioned the fact I’d come from Lennox Securities. It had been bad enough when the human resources staff had seemed wary of me because of my last name.
“A similar position,” I said evasively. “Only it was more of a general role, whereas here I’ll be focused purely on social media.”
Imani nodded, although I knew she hadn’t missed my dodge. “So you basically did my general comms job at your last post?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, if you need someone to brainstorm ideas with, let me know.” She rolled back over to her desk. “King’s Security has been meaning to get someone to do socials for months now, so I’ve had plenty of time to think about what might work.”
“Thanks.” I appreciated her acceptance of me. “I’ll put my thoughts together and perhaps we could compare notes?”
“Perfect.”
I returned my focus to work, and so did she. For thirty minutes, I sank my teeth into information about programs and personnel. It wasn’t the most thrilling reading, but any intel was good intel.
Gradually, I became aware of someone standing in front of me. I jolted to attention and clicked out of the screen, hoping he hadn’t seen what I’d been looking at. My eyes widened as they settled on the man waiting for my attention. He had messy black hair, a short beard, and a piercing through his eyebrow, another in his earlobe. The darkest eyes I’d ever seen were set in a face too harsh to be considered handsome but striking all the same. My gaze tracked down his shoulders, which were clad in a leather jacket. Tattoos covered the backs of his hands and disappeared into his sleeves. Several chunky metal rings adorned his fingers. He cleared his throat, and my eyes flew up to meet his. I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment at getting caught staring.
“How’s it going, princess?” he asked, his hands remaining at his sides. “Finding everything you need?”
I broke into a cold sweat. Had he seen me snooping? I glanced at Imani, hoping she hadn’t heard the comment. Fortunately, she was entranced by something on her screen.
“Yes, I’m managing.” I forced myself to smile and play dumb. “I don’t think we’ve met?”
“We haven’t.” A smirk played at the corners of his mouth. “I’m Zeke. Don’t pay attention to what anyone says about me. I’m a big teddy bear.”
Somehow, I doubted that. Everything about this man screamed danger. Even though I knew it was stupid, I wondered whether his skin would be cold to the touch. It seemed like it ought to be.
“Good to know.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
His lips twitched. “Behave yourself, Willow. Not all of us are as trusting as King.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “And remember that blood isn’t always thicker than water.”
With that last cryptic comment, he straightened and left. I watched him go, unsure how to react.
“Was that Zeke?” Imani asked, finally glancing up from her computer.
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
I forced myself to shrug. “I’m not sure.” My guess would be that he was suspicious of me and he’d been warning me not to betray Ronan.
She raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. “Fine. Have your secrets.” She stood, holding her purse. “Come on, I’ll show you the best place to get coffee.”
We took the elevator to the ground floor and exited onto the street.
“It’s only a short walk.”
A couple of buildings down from the King’s Security office, she turned into a cafe. I followed, but just as the door swung closed, I caught a glimpse of a figure behind me. Watching us. When I turned, they were gone.
Ronan
I was composing an email to one of our biggest corporate clients when Zeke breezed into my office without knocking. He grabbed the chair opposite my desk and dropped into it, not waiting for an invitation. I bit the inside of my lip so he wouldn’t see me smile. Encouragement was the last thing he needed.
“So,” he said, interrupting the flow of my fingers over the keyboard. “Your Willow isn’t what I expected.”
I held up a finger to quiet him while I tried to finish my sentence. Unfortunately, his statement had intrigued me, and I couldn’t remember what I’d been about to type. I managed to piece something together—I could fix it later—and gave him my full attention.
“How do you mean?”
He smirked, pleased to have me hooked. “She’s gutsy and interesting.”
I shoved my keyboard away since I clearly wasn’t going to get anything done until Zeke was gone. “Why would that be a surprise? She did break into my office, you know.”
“In all the photos of her on the internet, she looks standoffish.” He slid off one of his rings and turned it over between his fingers. “Her communications are carefully worded. I figured she thought she was above everyone else, but after meeting her, I’m not so sure.”
“You’re admitting you might have been wrong about someone?” I cocked my head. “Can I get that in a written statement, signed and dated?”
He rolled his eyes. “Not going to happen, King.”
“Didn’t think so.” I wasn’t sure why he’d felt the need to interrupt me for this character assessment though. “Where are you going with this?”
He angled his chin toward me, his smile widening. “Oh, nowhere in particular. Just that I don’t trust her and I think it would be best to keep a close eye on her. If that happens to mean asking her out, then I’m prepared to take one for the team. Especially since you’ve already said you’re not interested.”
Frustration snapped like a rubber band inside me at the thought of Zeke crossing any kind of line with Willow. I would have liked to think she wouldn’t fall for his particular brand of charm, but because of his mysterious past and bad-boy facade, women tended to lose their minds over him.
“Stay away from her,” I ordered. “We’re not playing with her feelings. That option is off the table. Got it?”
Zeke laughed. “Got it, boss man.”
My eyes narrowed. He was being facetious. Technically, he was my partner, not my employee. We’d agreed at the outset that since I was the one bringing the money and the client connections, I’d be the CEO.
“Have you stopped to think about why you’re so determined for her not to get caught in the crossfire?” Zeke asked.
“Because it would be wrong,” I replied, ignoring the way my chest burned at the thought of Zeke touching her. Yes, that would be very wrong indeed.
“Sure it would.” Zeke smirked. “Wrong to strike back at the criminal who snuck into your office and went through your personal files.” He stroked his scruffy jaw, then said something entirely unexpected. “You’re smitten with her.”
My mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
He gave me a look. “I saw the way you visited her desk earlier.” As I began to protest, he stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I get the appeal. Just make sure you don’t lose your edge because you have a thing for our enemy’s sister.”
“Fuck off.” I seethed, even though I knew he’d hit the mark. “That won’t be happening. In case you’ve forgotten, Tom Lennox is my enemy. Not ours. And his sister is nothing more than a tool.”
Zeke stared at me, his black gaze intense. “Keep it that way. Oh, and just so you know, Lennox is our enemy, not just yours. We’re partners. You aren’t alone in this.”
My rising temper ebbed. “I appreciate that.”
I tamped down what remained of my anger and reminded myself that as a former spy, Zeke simply didn’t know how to behave like a normal person. He was all about collecting intel and manipulating pieces into place.
“I’m not sure where I’d be without you.” He shrugged, making light of what he’d said. “I like my life now, so let’s not do anything to screw it up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes and waved a hand at the door. “Get back to work, Watts.” Then I had a thought. “Wait a second. Have you found anything on Lennox yet?”
“Not anything worthwhile.” He made a face. “But there’s something. Trust me, I get a vibe from the guy. We’ll keep looking.”
“Thanks.” He raised a hand as he left, and I pondered the puzzle of Tom Lennox. “What are you involved in?”