Page 18 of React
Turner, however, only moved to gaze down at Lake who was looking between us, concern and question in her eyes. She rooted her attention on Turner and the two had a rather lengthy silent conversation with their eyes before Turner let out a long sigh and turned to follow Jones back to the house.
As the man moved past me, I shot an arm out in front of Turner, forcing him to stop. “You and I have a long conversation coming, Turner. Don’t get comfortable.”
A wide eyed nod of trepidation was the only response I got as Turner finally came back to his damn senses, shuffling past me and damn near jogging for the house. I turned my enraged gaze to Lake and could see that she’d already shored up her defenses, hard mask of haughty indifference shuttering her features. Then, without a word, she closed her eyes and rested her head back on the lounge, perfect body glistening with the lotion she’d rubbed in to absorb the sun. She was back to ignoring me, choosing to act like she was alone rather than deal with me.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited. Silence was a powerful motivator. People hated a heavy silence that seemed to push down on them until they finally popped. But Lake was motionless, not squirming under my angry silence, the only movement was the rise and fall of her mouth-watering chest as she inhaled and exhaled calmly. She almost looked like she’d fallen asleep, completely unfazed by the snarling beast who’d booted her security detail.
The buzz of a text came from my phone in my pants, breaking the one-man staring contest. Pulling the offending object from my front pocket, I frowned at the words on my screen.
Kasey:She’s been putting off a much needed talk since the first day. You’re going to have to pry it out of her.
Decker:She’s been talking to all the men just fine. Talking to Turner too much.
Kasey:Careful, boss. You sound jealous.
I let out a low growl of frustration, shoving my phone back into my pocket and turning my glare back on Lake. She hadn’t moved a muscle, and I realized then that she wasn’t relaxed at all, just laying there rigid and waiting like she was dreading having to even look at me. The heat of anger cooled with a sense of rejection that I had no time or desire to dwell on.
“You’re the one staring now,” she said, finally breaking the silence, eyes still closed.
“Waiting for you to tell me what you’ve clued my other men in on.” My words were clipped and hard.
After a sigh, she sat up and turned her head toward me. The look on her face wasn’t angry or upset, just resigned like she was too tired to even argue. “You ordered Jack to look into my life.” It wasn’t a question, nor was it a statement I would deny. I had a right to the details about a client's life that would help not only my job in protecting her, but also the investigation into the threats against her. What Iwoulddeny was the fact that my blood boiled at her casual use of Kasey’s first name, like they were old pals.
When I said nothing, she continued. “Evan found my degree in finance in the library, and I’m sure Jack would have found the transcripts if he hadn’t been eavesdropping the night me and Evan were talking about it.” Why did she insist on the overly familiar use of their first names? Why did it piss me off so much? “So, for the sake of transparency I will have you know I haven’t informed my father of my degree in finance, and I don’t particularly want it in whatever reports you give him. Evan already said it doesn’t affect the work you guys are doing so there’s really no need to tell him anything about it.”
Before I could bristle at Turner making that decision, my mind wandered back to our first meeting and something her father had said. He’d made a comment about her partying like a sorority girl only to drive the insult in further by mentioning she’d never even been to college. And yet, here she was, admitting that she’d not only attended college in some way, but she’d acquired a degree. In finance?
What did a trust fund party girl need with a degree in finance? When did she have the time to attend school? Why had she hidden it?
Instead of asking any of the questions now battling for supremacy in my mind, I watched her, stone faced. Lake turned her entire body to me then, crossing her legs under her as she sat sideways on the lounge. I kept my eyes trained on her’s even as I was wrestling the urge to let my gaze drop to the thin fabric covering her center splayed open to my view.
As if my silence had been filled with my previous questions, she attempted to ease the tension further. “I’ve always been good with numbers and patterns and decided to use it to my advantage. Jack knows by now that I make my money day trading, and honestly, I’d rather let my father think I'm a dimwitted child who doesn’t care.”
“Why?” I finally asked, breaking my own silence, surprised by the compassion held in that one word.
“Because my business is none of his.” The response was quick and forced, like a well practiced launch of irritation. She had spent the last half of her life doing things to incite negative reactions from her father. This had to be just another form of control she wanted over the man. Lake Harrington was a therapist's wet dream. I refused to let myself think about the fact that she could quickly become my own wet dream for vastly different reasons.
“So you have a heavily encrypted computer for day trading?” The question held all of the skepticism I still felt toward the device she had with her most of the time.
Rolling her eyes, Lake let out a small humorless chuckle. “I simply wanted a computer that wasn’t trackable by my father or his little minions. I didn’t realize asking a friend in cyber security to help would end up with me having pentagon level protection.”
Pentagon. Cyber Security. Suddenly it clicked into place and I couldn’t hide the twitch of amusement curling the corner of my mouth. “Scout Landow?” She tapped her index finger on the tip of her nose once before smirking and uncrossing her legs. Stretching out, she turned her body over on the lounge, stomach down and ass on display as she sunned her back, smoothing the loose strands that had fallen from the knot on top of her head. She attempted to tuck them into the rest of her hair, before finally giving up.
Scout Landow was the genius daughter of John Landow, Governor of Rhode Island. The same man who had reached out to me personally looking for protection for the Harringtons. I had known John for years, and by extension I had met Scout on more than one occasion. By outward appearances she was shy and mousy, usually hiding behind her glasses and whatever electronic device she could get her hands on. She also happened to be a cyber security expert working for the Pentagon. The same Pentagon she’d hacked at age 15, just to see if she could.
The punishment for anyone else would have been federal prison and being banned from ever having access to damaging electronics again, but thanks to John’s political pull and a very large cover-up spearheaded by Robert Harrington, Scout was instead educated and began working for the very people she should have been imprisoned by. She’d also fixed the very security threat that had gained her access those years before.
The list of people who knew the real story behind Scout Landow’s job was small enough to where I wondered if Lake even knew. I knew from background on her that Lake and Scout had been friends far longer than Bailey or Monica had been in her life. Shallow friends came and went, but in all my understanding, Scout had always remained. Possibly due to the friendship their fathers shared. Or possibly it was the similarities I had never seen before when it came to the two women. Similarities missed because I’d fallen for the image Lake had made for herself, I’d only seen the vapid party girl and completely missed the bold, intelligent woman standing strong behind her eyes.
“So that’s it?” I asked, causing her to turn her head, cheek resting on the lounge to look at me. “You don’t want your father to know you’re college educated and have a lucrative career?”
“Pretty much.” The words held a hint of something I couldn’t quite place. Like there was more, but she wasn’t going to admit it off hand. “Now that we’ve talked, Jack can stop lecturing me like a weird Wizard of Oz, and I can work on soaking up some vitamin D without the tan lines.” She kept her body pressed to the towel on the lounge, reaching back and untying first the string at her back, then the one securing the top to her neck.
My mouth went dry as I watched her sink back into comfort, back smooth and bare. She was a study in perfection, the gentle curve of her spine to meet those dimples kissing her lower back, ass high and rounded, leading into her toned thighs and calves. The tingling in my fingertips were a silent reminder of the electricity that seemed to jolt my senses when I touched her, the digits aching to reach out again and follow the path my eyes had. My dick jerked to attention and I turned on my heel immediately making my exit, ignoring the nod from Jones as the man passed me to return to his shift with Lake. I was irritated and humiliated by my inability to control my reactions. Reactions and emotions. She played mine like an instrument.
CHAPTER 9
He scrolled through the pictures sent to him by the man watching the estate. Lake might have run off and away from his personal grasp, but he had other ways of getting to her. Any man could be bought if the price was right. He’d learned that as a child, first to survive, then to thrive in the world he’d crafted for himself. He’d figured once she had a protection detail, they’d send her somewhere more secure than a building accessed by strangers hundreds of times daily. Any half-brained man would have guessed that meant hiding her at the house that was much more isolated and easy to defend if others had no reason to be so close to her.