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Jonah
My jaw cracked as I yawned and shuffled across the wood floor in the kitchen, scratching the hair on my bare chest. We’d slept in this morning, but it was still taking forever for me to get awake. I needed coffee. Stat.
I eyed the huge professional-looking coffee machine in the corner of the countertop that I’d never seen Elle touch and had an idea.
I yelled up to Elle, who was still in the loft, “Hey, babe, you want me to make you a cappuccino?”
“Yeah,” she yelled back.
I looked up, and she was leaning over the half wall of her bedroom.
She leered for a moment and then winked at me. “That sounds amazing. There are some flavored syrups in the pantry. I’m gonna take a quick shower, and I’ll be down.”
Cool. I pulled the machine away from the backsplash and plugged it in. One step down, only several dozen more to go. I detoured to the pantry to check out what kinds of flavors Elle had on hand.
Elle had a huge walk-in pantry, and it took me a bit to find the syrups. They’d been shoved back into the corner, and it didn’t look like anyone had ever used them. Thinking about Elle’s moans over her Dulce de leche dessert crepes last night, I grabbed the caramel flavoring.
As I headed toward the door of the pantry, I heard a feminine voice and assumed Elle was on her cell phone. I stepped into the kitchen, startled at the sight of my boss, Samantha, standing there with ViviAnna. Behind them were a couple of ViviAnna’s huge bodyguards.
They both stopped and stared at me in shock, their eyes quickly dropping to my black boxer briefs and bare legs.
ViviAnna quirked a salacious smile. “My, my, my. What do we have here?” A single eyebrow raised as she licked her lips. “This is a nice surprise. Elle has class right now. I thought you would be with her.”
“Hey, Jonah.” Elle descended the stairs wrapped in a skimpy, wet towel. Another covered her head as she dried her hair as she came down.
I glanced up and ran to intercept her. “Elle—”
“I have an idea,” she continued, oblivious to all of us staring in horror. “How about we take the coffee back to bed, and I can show you this new technique I read about for sucking—”
She pulled the towel from her head, and her eyes widened in surprise at her audience. Her feet stumbled over the last couple of steps, and I dove for her as she fell. I caught her, but we both ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor. Somewhere on the way down those last few steps, the towel around her body had fallen off, leaving her completely exposed where we both sprawled on the ground.
I draped my torso over her to shield her nudity as much as possible, glaring at the bodyguards who weren’t even trying to hide their interest.
I glared at them. “You two. Out. Now.”
I must have looked scary enough even though I was crouching in just my underwear since they both rushed out the front door.
Samantha rushed over to retrieve the towel that had fallen between the open steps. She handed it to me.
I gently covered Elle with it. “Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah.” She blew out a deep breath. “Just completely mortified. Those guys didn’t get any photos, did they?”
“I’ll make sure they didn’t.” I clenched my jaw. That was her first thought when getting caught like this? How awful. So much of Elle’s life was completely unfair, especially since she’d never chosen any of this.
When she seemed sufficiently covered, I helped her stand, and we turned to face the two women in the room, staring at us.
“Well, isn’t this interesting?” ViviAnna drawled. She didn’t sound the least bit unhappy to find her daughter practically naked with me.
From the death-glares my boss kept shooting at me, she did not share the same viewpoint as ViviAnna.
“Elle, why don’t you go back upstairs and get dressed?” I said quietly to her. “I’ll find out exactly how everyone managed to just walk into the apartment without notifying us that they were here first.”
Elle rested her hand on my bicep. “That’s my fault. After the last time, I figured it wouldn’t hurt—especially since my mother never comes to New Mexico—to give VA full access to my apartment. I’d cleared it with Jennifer.” She hesitated and glanced at my boss. “I never imagined...” The regret in her voice was obvious.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “Just go get dressed.”
As she went up the stairs, I squared my shoulders and turned to face my boss and the mother of the girl I’d de-virginized.
In my underwear.
I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning.
“Do you want to explain how this looks so bad, but is really something innocent and professional, Mr. Sutton?” Samantha asked, her tone calm and modulated although her eyes shot sparks of fury directly at me.
ViviAnna tilted her head and waited like this was a great soap opera created entirely for her entertainment.
I took a deep breath and steeled myself. “No, Samantha. This is exactly what it looks like.”
I deserved whatever fallout came from it, because I had completely blown my professionalism in my handling of this case. However, our closeness hadn’t affected my ability to do my job. If anything, I was even more aware of exactly when something felt off with Elle. I was more in-tune with her, which made me able to discern when she felt threatened. “But my job in keeping Elle safe has not been compromised. She is safer than she’s ever been.” Except maybe from the fallout from this thing developing between us.
Elle rushed back down the stairs having thrown on some leggings and a big sweatshirt. She came up behind me. “Go get dressed, and I’ll make us all some coffee.”
I didn’t take my gaze from Samantha as I nodded. “Okay.” To Samantha, I said, “I’ll be right back down.”
She gave a tight nod that said more than words ever could. Knowing my boss, she was ready to chop off a few body parts, starting with my dick.
I sprinted up the stairs and pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt from my duffel bag. Very aware of every second I was gone and my boss’s escalating temper, I flew to the bathroom, running a quick washcloth over my body, a hand through my hair, and toothbrush over my teeth. While not exactly fresh and clean, I felt slightly more put together than I had in my underwear with the scent of Elle all over me.
I grabbed my cell and shot off a quick text to Dillon that he probably should head over, because Samantha and Elle’s mom were here.
The kitchen echoed with quiet as I came back downstairs. This was going to get awkward, but right now, I didn’t care about the judgment and opinions of our surprise guests. They hadn’t shown up here this morning by happenstance. I needed to know what was going on and how it pertained to Elle’s safety.
All three of them watched me as I came around to join Elle behind the island. ViviAnna had sat down on one of the barstools, and Samantha stood down at the end of the island with a mug in one hand but her arms crossed across her chest.
Elle handed me a cup of coffee, already doctored with the shot of milk I preferred.
“Thanks,” I said and took a sip. Although the surprise appearance of our guests had done a lot to get me awake, I still needed some caffeine in my system to weather what was about to come.
I looked to Samantha. “What’s happened?”
She firmed her lips, and I could see it was killing her to not dress me down about what was going on between Elle and I. But she kept her cool with ViviAnna watching every move with avid interest. “Late last night, a message was couriered to ViviAnna from Illumination’s kidnapper.”
Elle tensed beside me.
Samantha pulled out her iPad and opened the screen to a photo that had been taken of the delivery. Elle and I moved closer to get a better look. ViviAnna stayed seated, instead looking in the other direction.
That didn’t give me happy feelings about what I was about to see.
“There were two photos and a note inside the unmarked envelope.” Samantha pushed one of her app buttons and a photo appeared on the screen. From the briefings I’d gotten from Hawk Works, I immediately recognized Raquel Hutchins, the kidnapped photographer. She was tied to a chair with tears rolling down her ragged, aged face and duct tape over her mouth.
“Oh, no,” Elle cried as she gently lifted her hand as if to touch the terrified face on the screen. “Oh, god. He’s going to hurt her; isn’t he?”
“That’s what he’s threatening,” Samantha said. “Although he’s not making demands just yet, he’s definitely on the verge. He’s taunting. He wants both you and ViviAnna to be prepared—his word, not mine—to come save her. He also hinted that ViviAnna should be in New Mexico—not Texas—so she’d be ready when the time came.”
“So, he’s definitely going to make his move here,” I said.
Samantha nodded. “That’s what it sounds like.”
Which meant this maniac was somewhere close by and had probably been watching Elle. Anger churned low in my gut.
Elle had gone chalk-white, and I couldn’t stand it. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my chest. “It’s going to be okay. He won’t get to you. I promise.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Okay, that’s it. You and I need to have a talk,” Samantha barked as she pointed at me. “Where’s Dillon?”
Just as she said that, Dillon walked in the door. “Right here. What’s going on?” he asked with his eyebrows raised high in question.
“A lot, but right now, I need to talk to Mr. Sutton. In private.” Samantha turned to Dillon. “You, stay here. Don’t let either one of them out of your sight.” She pointed at me again. “You. Where are the offices you’re using in this building?”
“On the floor below this one.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
I didn’t want to leave Elle when she was so obviously upset, but I didn’t want to tick off my boss any more than she already was. “I’ll be right back.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed.
Elle gave me a tremulous smile. “It’s okay.”
I followed Samantha out of Elle’s apartment and led her to the stairs to take us down a floor. Neither one of us said anything as we walked. I needed to follow her lead on this.
Samantha had been the one who hired me out of the army. I had nothing but respect for her. To know that she was disappointed in me right now left my chest aching. I wouldn’t have changed anything about how I handled this assignment or Elle, but I did hate it that it had affected Samantha’s perception of me.
I led her into the security offices. Charlie, the Windsett Complex computer guy, rose from the desk when we stepped into the room. “Jonah. Who is your guest, and why is she in our secure area?”
“Charlie, I’m sorry about the lack of notice. This is Samantha Billings, my boss from Hawk Works. We needed a secure space to talk freely. I’m sure it’s okay, but call down to Jennifer, and she’ll vouch for Samantha.”
Charlie did just that, and within thirty seconds, he nodded into the phone before hanging up. He reached across to Samantha to shake her hand. “You’re clear. Welcome to the Windsett Complex Security Center. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure you were on the up and up.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely no problem. I’d be more worried if you hadn’t done that, but now, we need to proceed.” She aimed this comment at me.
I led her back to the office we’d been using. She walked through the door and then closed and locked it firmly behind me. This room was a conference room with no other access to the outside, so now we had complete privacy.
She leaned over the conference table with her hands fisted on it. “What the hell were you thinking to sleep with a client? Someone who is counting on you to be aware of every single thing happening around you. How the fuck do you expect to be able to do that when you’re distracted by your dick? If something happens to Ms. Wilcox, do you know what’s going to happen?”
She didn’t give me a chance to answer. She just kept yelling at me without taking a breath. “ViviAnna—the ViviAnna, who has appeared on the cover of every magazine in the world and has been on pretty much every talk show known to man—is going to sue Hawk Works because you got distracted, because you took advantage of her young, scared, traumatized daughter.”
Samantha began to pace. “And you know what? It won’t matter if that’s true or not. She knows you’ve slept with Illumination, and she won’t think twice about sharing that with the world. Hawk Works will be ruined, because you couldn’t keep it in your pants. Dammit, Jonah. What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t—”
She swiped her hand in the air at me. “No. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to hear it. I thought you were smarter than this, but I was obviously wrong. I can’t trust you here anymore. I’m sending you back to Austin. I’ll figure out what to do with you by Monday. Report into my office at six a.m. sharp.”
“No.”
She stilled and slowly swiveled to face me. “What. Did. You. Say?”
“I said ‘no.’ I’m not going to leave Elle, not while this guy is still out there. I won’t leave her. My job is to protect her, and I’m not going to stop doing that.” Just the thought of what might happen to Elle if he got to her... No, just no. I was the only person I trusted to keep her safe. I wasn’t going to leave her.
“Your job,” Samantha bit out, hitting each syllable and consonant with emphasis, “is to do whatever the fuck I tell you to do. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high. I’m telling you that you are not going to be assigned to Illumination Wilcox any longer. You are going back to Austin.”
I swallowed against the anger clogging my throat. “I’m sorry to hear that, because I’m not leaving her unprotected.”
Samantha rolled her eyes at me. “Hawk Works’ job assignment hasn’t changed. Yours has. We will still be handling her protection. Dillon, your best friend, will still be here. I’ll be bringing other team members on board to do the job. It’s just won’t be you in charge of her safety.”
I shook my head. “And that’s where we have a problem. I’m not going to trust her safety to anyone else.”
“That’s not your call to make. You either go back to Austin, or you can find yourself another job.”
I shrugged like that was fine, although my insides were rattling as I made my decision. “Well, I guess that’s the answer then. I’m not leaving my girlfriend vulnerable to the whims of a madman. I quit.”
I stormed out the door, not sure which one of us was more stunned about what I’d just done.
Samantha knew me almost as well as anyone, so she knew what this meant for me to make a move like this. But as I ran up the stairs to the eleventh floor, it occurred to me what this meant.
I’d put the girl I cared for in front of my job. Something I’d just told her last night that I’d never, ever do. What did that mean?
Oh my fuck.
I’d fallen in love with Elle Wilcox.