Page 17 of React

A new look spread across Evan’s face then. Compassion? Pity? Either way, I didn’t need it. “Dominic Parker is a self-centered prick who likes to take every opportunity to belittle me in front of my father or in private if he feels so inclined. Usually if it’s just us in a room, he’ll treat me like furniture.” The pang of fury remembering every time he blatantly pretended I didn’t exist was hard to tamp down as I continued. “In a nutshell, I despise him and would rather he have no insight into my life. I know I can’t control how much my father tells him, but I’ll be damned if he gets a look into the inner workings of me through some string of reports meant for someone else.”

“I can buy you some time” came a voice from the direction of the red mess that used to be a neatly placed camera. I let out a strangled moan of fear dropping my fork that only managed to bounce off the place and hit the floor. Evan was already standing, hand hovering over the gun on his hip.

“Christ, Kasey.” Evan said letting out a long breath and letting his hand fall to his side, clenching and unclenching his fist as if it would help regulate his heart rate. I had nothing to fall back on to regulate as I felt like my chest might burst with every ragged beat.

Dread flooded my senses. “Have you been listening the entire time?” I asked, not hiding the horror in my tone. There was no way I could get on board with the constant surveillance my life was caught under. I didn’t want to feel watched and listened to and bugged while just trying to live my own life. This entire situation had moved from a necessary evil, to a soulless invasion of even my personal moments.

“Uh, no. Sorry. I swear.” Kasey’s voice took on a decidedly guilty tone. “Turner never came back from the food run, Deck wanted us to find him, and this was the last place I checked since no one thought he’d turn feeding you into a date.”

“It wasn’t a date,” Evan grumbled, cheeks heating with embarrassment at the accusation and the fact that he’d somehow slipped on the job.

“I made him sit with me and eat. I refuse to starve the only member of your team that I actually like having around.” I didn’t care if I was insulting anyone else, even the disembodied voice of Jack. I didn’t want Evan facing the possibility of losing his job because I wanted company.

“I was kidding,” came Kasey’s voice from the camera. “I switched over to the blank feed in time to hear you talking about your…” his voice trailed off as if he was attempting to word his next thoughts properly. “Academics,” he finally said before rushing to continue on. “And then all the stuff about Parker, and I can help.”

“How?” I asked skeptically.

“I’ll just tell Deck that security needs to be tightened up and all reports have to be hand delivered to Robert Harrington, himself. That way, at least the guy won't be able to pry without having to go through confidential reports or asking your father himself. Of course, you’ll have to talk to Decker about the information you’d rather not have passed along.”

“Right,” I said, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, eyes focused down as I decided what I did and didn’t want to have to divulge to the head of my security. “Can I do that tomorrow? It's been a really long day.” I glanced at the clock and noted that I was now on day two of this nightmare as the clock told me we’d descended into the early morning. “It’s 2 in the morning and I’m about to crash hard from the information overload.”

Evan immediately moved to pile the forgotten food back onto the tray and lifted it from the coffee table. “I’ll get this taken care of. Plus I have to check in.” He gave me a polite nod and left the room immediately.

“You still there, Kasey?” I asked, not bothering to snuff out the irritation his constant voice out of nowhere caused. No voice now. Just the silence of the room and the waves crashing on the shore outside. I was alone or as alone as I could get with a camera in every room and what felt like a battalion of armed guards roaming my once peaceful home.

Letting exhaustion finally wash over me, I sluggishly crossed the room to my bed, sinking under the covers as I tapped the button on the side of the nightstand, plunging the room into darkness. As much as I tried to sift through the day’s events, the gentle lull of the ocean had my mind drifting quickly to darkness where I could finally get rest. The world would have to wait.

CHAPTER 8

DECKER

Two weeks of routine and quiet should have put me at ease, but of course it didn’t. My need to keep a controlled patience pushed down on me causing a pressure that would no doubt cause my walls to implode. There was no obvious cause for the irritation mounting when I reviewed the last two weeks in my mind. The routine was easy enough on all of them, adapting as usual to the job and the needs. Even Lake had fallen in easily with the men around her, men working, not just to protect her, but to also get to the bottom of the threat.

Each and every man working for Remington Security seemed to have their own relationship with Lake in which she made it a point to zero in on something unique to them and use it to bond with the men. She would hussle some at cards and bet on games of billiards with others. She had Fitz recounting the insanity of his youth and made Cabot throw his head back with a genuine howl of laughter that had almost been forgotten these past few years. Every single man on the team had a piece of her… except me.

Lake Harrington was combative by nature, contrary by choice. She hadn’t said a word to me since that first day, instead giving me little more than rehearsed polite smiles as she made excuses to leave when I was around. Then there was the unusually close bond with Turner, always sticking close to him and speaking in hushed tones. Or the times I’d noticed her mumbling to the cameras when she thought the others were too busy to notice. Even Kasey was wrapped around her finger.

I’d been feeling like there was a great secret being held just out of my reach, and when I was shut out, I watched. The times when Lake wasn’t paying attention to the people around her, I was paying attention toher. Studying her daily patterns and becoming accustomed to how her days were filled when she wasn’t jet-setting.

She was awake and dressed by 5 every morning, coffee and fruit for breakfast before she was hunkered down in the library, door locked, for hours. By early afternoon she was setting the computer back in her room before she began call after call in different rooms of the house, always pacing and seeming to furiously thumb type on her phone while continuing whatever conversations she was having.

I’d asked Kasey about the calls numerous times, suspicious and irritated that the audio was always missing on playback. He’d told me she was just gossiping with friends and trying to keep the appearance that she was fine. She hadn’t divulged her location or any information about the threats, I’d been assured. I didn’t believe a single fucking word of it.

I had been studying her for weeks and knew how she held herself when speaking with friends. Even with Lake unseen by whoever she spoke to, she held herself in that commanding pose that challenged anyone to argue with her. It was the pose that made me want to drag my fingers down every inch of the rigid spine. To see if I could make her shatter that calm mask she wore. Two weeks had built more than a professional frustration in me and I hated myself for it.

I had my own personal routine now too. An early afternoon routine of scanning the cameras in the control center, making sure my men were on task as well as keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. And as always, secretly hoping to catch glimpses of the elusive Lake Harrington. One camera showing the exterior lawn had me leaning closer.

No threat to be seen, but then again, my focus was on the bikini-clad woman walking across the lawn toward the pool that sat to the side of the property, a low stone wall enclosing it. I couldn’t help but watch as her hips swayed with each step, confidence and sexuality demanding attention as she moved. The dark fabric of her bottoms stretching over a perfectly sculpted round ass, toned thighs making it evident that she’d worked for her body. The dimples on her lower back had my mouth damn near watering as I took her in on the screen, moving away from the camera and toward the pool, towel and bag in hand.

It wasn’t until the other two men came into focus that I pulled my mind from the lustful thoughts brewing. Turner and Jones were following behind at a safe and respectful distance. Turner had been brought on for his tactical driving, and somehow he’d become the shadow to Lake that was unwarranted and unwelcome. I was the shadow. I was the one who moved from room to room, keeping an eye on my client. Except she’d avoided being anywhere near me since the day she’d met me. I’d allowed it since I hadn’t wanted to deal with the reactions or the impulses I seemed to have to fight back when she was around.

So I’d allowed Turner to stay close, something that was infuriating now that I could see from all of my observations that they were far too close. If Fitz were around, I knew he’d be calling out the name of the emotion within me that made me want to beat the shit out of my own subordinate. He’d casually call it jealousy, and I’d tell him to fuck off, all the while knowing he was right. Emotional and reactionary. I’d become someone I didn’t recognize, and it made me turn that blame to Lake. I was pissed that she’d made me feel out of the loop with my own company, and sidelined at doing my own damn job.

It was that rage that had me rocketing out of the control center, past Fitz who was on the phone with someone and immediately disconnected. “Everything okay?” His tone was wary, probably due to the look of rage I knew I couldn’t hide.

“It’s fine, stay here.”

My feet carried me quickly across the yard and to the iron gate mounted into the small stone wall. I flung it wide, feeding off the chaotic sound of it hitting the wall with a reverberating clang. Lake’s attention shot to me from her spot lounging in a heavily padded chaise, angled for maximum sun exposure. The two guards looked at me strangely, both alert and waiting for news of danger. I gave a quick jerk of my head toward the house and Jones immediately began his exit, sliding easily past me as he was dismissed. Then I was staring at the man who had ignored my initial silent order. Tension vibrated between us as my anger rose at his refusal to leave. I’d expected he’d back down in the face of conflict with me, his boss.