Page 17 of Unseen Danger

“Very.” At five feet nine inches, Jazz wasn’t kidding.

“Good thing you’ll be working so closely with your dream man, then.” Bris laughed, and Sof and Jazz joined in.

Nevaeh may never have loved Jazz more than at that moment. Nevaeh could normally take a good ribbing as well as she could dish it out but having to focus so much on the bodyguard right now…she’d probably have ended up running off to have a meltdown in the bathroom again. And then she’d lose this job.

Couldn’t risk that, especially with the mess it sounded like D-Chop was in. Whether someone only wanted to make life hard for him or wanted to do worse—like harm the rapper himself—Nevaeh couldn’t sit back and leave him on his own. Not when there was a chance she could help him. Jordy would want her to do that, and so would Pops and Grams, if she were still alive.

D-Chop had been there for Jordy—for her family—when nobody else had. She’d do what she could for D-Chop now. Try to keep him from a fate like Jordy’s.

Even if it meant she had to risk being around the burly bodyguard who reminded her of the past she needed to forget. D-Chop had risked a lot, including jail time, to stay with Jordy that night. She could risk getting triggered to repay him.

“You’re to visit the estate at one o’clock for a tour in daylight.” Phoenix’s deep voice interrupted Nevaeh’s inner pep talk.

So they’d have to go sooner than she thought. And the Aaberg dude would probably be their tour guide.

Nevaeh swallowed. She could do that. She’d have Alvarez with her. And Jazz and Flash. She’d be fine.

“Just remember,” Phoenix seemed to watch Nevaeh instead of Jazz, though it was hard to tell for sure under her cap, “D-Chop is hiring additional security for a reason. Be alert at all times.”

The warning snaked a shiver down Nevaeh’s spine. Alert—more like downright yellow—was the only thing she seemed unable to stop being at the moment.

Phoenix always told her to use her fear. That it was a warning she should listen to, the signal to get ready for danger. If only Phoenix, just this once, could be wrong.

Six

Branson should not be excited to see the two women and K-9s walking from a navy blue SUV to D-Chop’s house. And he probably shouldn’t be spying on them from the camera feed in the security room.

Then again, he was the head of security here. And he was also nervous, a foreign experience for him. He hadn’t felt a tickle in his belly like this since the first day of basic training.

He dashed out of the security room and hurried through the hallway, sliding his hand over his short hair that he’d added more gel to than normal to make sure it’d stay in place.

Cutting through the expansive rooms designed and decorated to impress, he barely glanced at the surroundings. Would they impress Nevaeh? Or did she care about more important things when—

The thought halted the instant he realized what he was thinking. When looking for a man? Good grief.

He’d spent his entire adult life without so much as a girlfriend, and now he was suddenly hoping for a serious relationship? With a woman he’d only talked to for about twenty seconds.

And she’d barely said two words in return. If she’d even said that many.

He hadn’t really noticed. All he’d been able to notice were her eyes, her abundant curls, her perfect features. And the way she gave him a breathless feeling when he was standing stock-still.

“This way.” The voice of Marsha Phillips, the housekeeper, echoed from the entryway as Branson reached it. “Oh.” The tall woman with high cheekbones and soft-styled wavy hair, the brown color belying her sixty-some years, gave him a smile when she saw him. “I was about to bring these ladies to you. They’re from the Phoenix K-9 Agency.”

He turned in the direction she looked, his gaze skimming across the redhead and locking on the target it had sought from the beginning.

Nevaeh. She was every bit as breathtaking as he’d remembered. No, even more so in the daylight.

Sunrays streamed through the windows behind her and cast a warm glow on her richly colored black hair. Her features were more defined in this light—her full lips, perfectly shaped nose, and gorgeous eyes that…were staring right at him.

Gone was the fear he’d seen in them last night, but they also didn’t hold the friendliness he’d hoped for when he’d imagined talking to her again. They were cool, almost hostile, as was the shape of her lovely mouth.

He squelched the urge to clear his throat and looked at the housekeeper. “Thanks, Marsha. Have you already introduced yourself?”

“I have.”

“Great. I’ll take it from here.”

She nodded and moved off in her elegant way.