Page 49 of Bodyguard By Night
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s go, Chaos. I want to get into the city before gridlock.”
“Good luck there.”
True to his word, we were over the bridge in record time. His beast of a truck practically mowed through traffic. It was obvious he knew his way around the city. He took shortcuts and streets I didn’t even know were actual roads.
Then again, some of them seemed more like suspicious alleyways.
Eventually, we arrived at a huge, towering building, jet black from the outside. The windows seemed to be opaque, making it look even more like a monolith in the middle of downtown.
We didn’t have to worry about parking since Roth Defense had its own underground garage. If I hadn’t known Aidan and his brother were so impressive before today, the building would have done the job. It was a rare feat to have parking in Manhattan without stacking vehicles like Legos.
A guard let us into the well-lit parking garage and gave us a special tag that he put on the dash. There were rows of black cars and luxury SUVs that seemed deceptively stylish, but I could tell they were also personal protection vehicles.
Roth Defense was leagues above what my kind of case would require. At least I hoped.
“Are you sure we should waste Aidan’s time with mymaybestalker. This place seems like guarding Lindsey York level.”
He parked. “First of all, you’re just as important as some musician.”
“Impressed you know who Brooklyn Dawn is, Grumpasaurus.”
He gave me that flat stare.
I shrugged. “I am. Regardless, I’m notthiskind of important.”
His nostrils flared. “Get out of the car.”
I sighed and grabbed my bag. Evidently, I wouldn’t need my coat. Before I could open the door, he was already there waiting for me. “I don’t know why you’re so grumpy. You’re Ransom and your default is snarly, but jeez.”
He invaded my space so thoroughly that his minty breath fanned my lips. “You matter. Whether there’s a million dollars in the bank or not, you matter. Especially to my best friend’s soon-to-be wife.”
Right. Just to his best friend. Mustn’t forget that.
His eyes were more blue than gray now, like the rolling sea just before a storm comes in. Pretty sure I needed to remind my nipples this was all business because they were as hard as diamonds.
“We don’t know what my situation is. I just mean this is very high tech for something so random as a guy—or girl—finding my address.”
“Lucky for you, I know good people. And if it wasn’t serious, he wouldn’t have called us in.” He took a step back.
I swallowed hard and nerves swarmed up my spine. “And I appreciate it.” I touched his arm. His muscles were hard as steel under the two layers of cotton. “I do.”
He nodded curtly and stepped aside for me to start walking. I hooked my messenger bag over my shoulder and we went to the elevator without speaking.
Ransom pulled his phone out of his pocket and fired off a text. As we got to the doors, it buzzed in his hand. He looked down and then punched a code in to the elevator panel.
Holy crap. Just what kind of place was this?
The doors slid open soundlessly. Inside was as jet-colored as the outside of the building. Shale-colored carpeting added to the soundproofing as we stepped inside.
Whatever code he’d put in programmed the car to go to a particular floor. When the doors opened again, the hum of people and machines was jarring. Four large cubicles sectioned off the space. Inside each were massive computer screens with two people manning surveillance of some sort.
One of them was a blond woman with quick fingers. She barked orders into a headset as her partner rolled around on a chair checking a laptop, then some sort of radio, then back to the intricate board that reminded me of a studio with levels and knobs.
Ransom hustled me along down a hallway. I craned my neck to keep watching as he curled his hand around my arm. “Nosy,” he muttered.
“What? I can’t help it. It’s right there. It’s not like there’s a door around them.”
“Still none of your business.”