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Elle
Jonah rushed back into the apartment with his eyes wild. Immediately, blood stopped flowing to my extremities. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and exchanged a quick shake of his head with Dillon. “Nothing. It’s going to be fine. Um, but there’s something you need to know.” He pulled back so he could look at me. “I just quit my job at Hawk Works.”
“What the hell?” Dillon exclaimed. “Why would you do that?”
Oh, god. This had all become too much for him—the drama, the craziness, the chaos that made up my life. And who could blame him? I didn’t even like that part of my life.
Jonah shook his head at Dillon. “I’m sorry, man. Samantha wanted to send me back to Austin. I refused to leave. She refused to listen to reason. So, I quit.”
Disbelief roared through me. I knew how much his job meant to him. I tapped my hand on his chest. “Wait a minute. I don’t understand. This guy is seemingly getting more dangerous, and she thinks it’s a good idea to pull one of my bodyguards?”
“No, sweetheart. She plans to replace me, because I got involved with you. But don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you.”
“But your job—”
“I can find a new job. I can’t find a new you.”
My heartbeat took off like a bullet train. Just last night, he’d told me that I wasn’t as important as his job, but today he quit his job...for me? “But I don’t understand. Why?”
He gave me a small, tremulous smile. “I realized something when I was talking to Samantha. My job didn’t matter as much as making sure you’re safe, and that’s why I couldn’t leave.” He hesitated for a moment and brushed the pad of his thumb high over my cheekbone, his gaze intense. “But even if this guy wasn’t a threat anymore, I don’t think I could leave. I think I’m falling in love with you.”
“Oh...wow.” My words came out on a shocked sigh. This was so not what I’d been expecting. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest.
Dillon groaned as if he was in pain, but I ignored him.
VA clapped her hands together like an excited cheerleader. “I’m so glad I’m here for this. My little girl and her first love.”
Heat flooded my face. “You had to do this in front of my mom? Oh, god, this is embarrassing.” I buried my face in Jonah’s chest where I could feel him shaking with laughter.
“Sorry,” he said, although I could still hear the laughter in his voice that negated the apology. “I kind of forgot she was here,” he whispered under his breath.
Ooh, VA would not like that he had forgotten her presence. Hopefully, she hadn’t heard that part.
“Isn’t there something you want to say back to him?” VA asked.
I turned around and glared at her. “Mom!”
Her eyes widened in shock. I’m not sure if it was because I yelled at her or that I called her mom, something I hadn’t done to her face since I was ten years old.
My automatic reaction had been to tell him I loved him, too—since it was completely true—but our audience had interrupted the moment. And that was probably a good thing. Jonah couldn’t give up his job for me. He’d eventually grow to regret it, and then, he’d resent me.
“What’s going to happen now?” Dillon asked.
Jonah frowned. “I don’t know. I’m assuming Samantha is still going to call in additional Hawk Works guys to replace me, because they’re still the contracted company. But I just couldn’t let her force me out.”
Dillon looked between Jonah and me. “I don’t like this,” he said. “The three of us work well together. We have a system. Bringing someone else in will disrupt that. And honestly, this apartment isn’t big enough for more people to live here.”
“You two have worked together a long time?” ViviAnna asked as she waved a hand between Jonah and Dillon.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jonah answered. “We were in the military together, joined Hawk Works together, and are roommates in Austin. HW always pairs us as a team just because we do work so fluidly together.”
“Perfect.” ViviAnna clapped her hands together and pulled out her phone. “I’ll set it up with my accountants. You two will be in charge of Illumination’s security.”
Dillon sent an alarmed glance at Jonah. “Um, I’m still working for Hawk Works, and I’m assuming your contract is with them. I should still be here working”—he frowned down at his cell phone—“maybe. But regardless of that, your contract is with them.”
“Nonsense.” ViviAnna waved her hand in the air. “I trust you two to do the job most efficiently, and that’s the ultimate goal here—Illumination’s safety. Don’t worry. Hawk Works will be sufficiently compensated.”
The guys exchanged another loaded look that said they were really not comfortable with this. Jonah had just quit his job and had to still be reeling from that. Now, VA was suggesting Dillon do the exact same thing.
I cleared my throat. “ViviAnna, I think we should wait and see what their boss has to say about all this. You’re messing with more than just my security setup. This is their lives, and you can’t just coerce them to do your will.”
Before anybody could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Jonah nodded to Dillon, who went to answer it with his gun drawn. After peeking through the peephole, he cut his hand at Jonah, who’d been grabbing my chef knife block. “It’s Samantha.”
He opened the door, and Samantha swept into the room. She didn’t even look at Jonah, but instead focused on ViviAnna. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I have a team of three other men coming to New Mexico. They will be here on the next flight in from Austin, so in about three hours. In the meantime, I will stay here along with Dillon to make sure nothing happens to Illumination.”
I clenched my jaw. I really wished everyone would get it through their heads that I preferred to be called Elle. The use of my proper name on top of all the stress and drama was beginning to drive me nuts.
“Her name is Elle,” Jonah said, and my heart melted just a little bit more for this guy.
Samantha glared at him, the barely banked anger in her eyes sparking in fury.
“I can assure you that we will have a very smooth transition as I move Dillon and Jonah out of the positions of handling Illu—” She clenched her jaw. “Elle’s security,” she corrected the name with a tight smile.
VA glanced around the room and then focused on me as she said, “No. I believe these two men are the best security team for my daughter. If you don’t agree with that, then I will happily buy out my contract with Hawk Works.”
Samantha paled. “With all due respect, I disagree with your assertion, and I’m the one with the appropriate security training to make this call.”
VA turned back to Samantha with what I liked to call her shark’s smile. Oh, hell. No one challenged VA directly like that and got away with it. This might just get ugly.
VA said, “And I am the client. These gentlemen are the team I want to protect my daughter. If you don’t like that, I have full faith that they can do this without your help.” VA twisted her mouth to the side and sneered at Samantha as she looked her up and down, making no secret that she found the boss from Hawk Works lacking.
Which was a joke, because Samantha was a beautiful woman and from everything Jonah had told me, she was highly respected within the community.
With a tight, closed mouth smile, Samantha gritted out, “That’s certainly within your rights to decide. I’m here to tell you that you’re making a mistake. When he got personally involved with her, he compromised his ability to think through protocols clearly.”
VA nodded. “I have no doubt about that, but unlike you, I see that as a good thing. With his emotions involved, he won’t think twice to make sure she’s safe—no matter what. And because his friend is as emotionally involved with him, that makes them a team that I want on my girl. I’ll have my accountant forward the balance due on my contract by the end of the day. Goodbye, Miss Billings.”
Samantha froze. I doubted she’d ever been so thoroughly dismissed in her life, but then, she seemed to come around. “Mr. Matthews.” She focused on Dillon. “This is your only chance. If you want to keep your job at Hawk Works, you’ll need to come with me.”
With a single glance at Jonah, Dillon crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry, Samantha. I’m staying here.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She gave me an inscrutable look. “For your sake, I hope this doesn’t blow up in everyone’s face.” Then she stormed out of the apartment.
With the echoing slam of the front door, Dillon, Jonah, and I stood there, exchanging worried glances.
VA opened her phone and started sending messages. This was the power of VA. She’d swept in, and now, these two good men had had their entire world turned upside down.
The bad thing was that she wasn’t worried about it. She just continued firing off demands on her phone. She gathered up her purse, never looking up from her phone as she worked. “I’m sure you all have some things to discuss. Just know that whatever resources you need, you will have. There is no limit on funding for this operation. Of course, it should go without saying that the costs that Hawk Works was incurring on your behalf I’ll now pay—hotels, rentals, whatever.” She waved a hand in the air and then fished into her purse, coming out with a business card that she flipped onto the island countertop. “That’s the number of my accountant. Just let him know your needs, and he’ll take care of it all. In the meantime, I’m staying at the Windsett Plaza. You can call me if there are any issues, and I will let you know if I hear from the stalker. Any questions?”
Both men remained quiet. I don’t think I’d ever seen them this still and quiet. I was pretty sure they were both reeling.
“ViviAnna, let us talk it all through. I’m sure we’ll have some things to discuss with you and your team of security,” I said.
She nodded and came over to me. She squeezed my forearm. “Be safe. I’ll be in touch.” Then she swept out of the room.
When the door clicked closed this time, Dillon grabbed his head, tugging at his hair. “Holy shit, what just happened?”
Jonah cleared his throat. “I think we just started our own security agency. We’d always said that we wanted to do that eventually, right?”
“Um, sure,” Dillon said on a slightly hysterical-sounding laugh.
I tried not to let that worry me, although I trusted Jonah. And wasn’t that a surprise? It was my life on the line here, but I trusted him completely, when a month ago I hadn’t even known him. My perspective on the world had definitely shifted and it was a good change.
They were rattled right now, but they would settle. I had faith in both of them, but especially Jonah.