by Alison Mello
“What’s wrong?” It’s obvious everyone in the room is now worrying over the phone call Shane just got.
“A guy he put in jail fifteen years ago was just let out on a technicality. He’s pissed, and word on the street is he has it out for your father and his family.”
My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp. “Daddy,” is all I say.
“Baby, your dad carries a forty-five. He’ll be fine. He’s worried about your mom, you, and your sister. We need to be very careful. Starting tomorrow, I’ll bring you to work. If you have appointments out of the office, you need to let us know,” Shane says.
I turn toward the balcony and stare out the window. “You don’t understand. We have dealt with threats in the past. It never gets any easier. This time is different, though. If this guy spent years in jail, he is going to be beyond pissed. He’s probably been plotting the entire time.” I take a deep breath, turning back toward Shane. “My dad has to figure out how to put him back in jail. He put him there once. He can do it again,” I say with determination.
“I don’t think it’s that easy, baby.” Shane wraps his arm around me and walks me toward our friends, who all have concerned looks.
“Can you work from home?” Sadie asks.
“I’m sure I can some of the time, but my boss isn’t going to allow me to work from home full time. Plus, I have to be able to meet with clients.”
“How many clients do you have?” Logan asks.
“Counting you? I currently have three. The one I signed this morning, Scott, and now you.” Logan nods.
“Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to talk to your boss. I want your undivided attention on my marketing plan, and I’ll make it worth her while to do it. Then you can work from home or the club where we can keep an eye on you.”
“You don’t have to do that, Logan,” I say, panicking.
“Oh, but I do. If you’re not safe, Shane won’t focus. Not to mention you’re a friend, and that’s what friends do. We have each other’s backs.”
I give Logan a small smile as he continues. “Shane, take her into work tomorrow so she can wrap up and hand off what she needs to. I will have everything arranged by the end of the day.”
“Thanks, man.” Shane and Logan shake hands.
This isn’t the first time my dad’s been in danger, but it’s the first time we have been because of his job, and I’m scared.
Chapter 12
Shane
I have a training appointment at ten, and I need to take Katie to work at nine. I’m actually glad the plan is for me to drop her off. She didn’t sleep very well last night. I tried to get her to settle down, but the news of a threat against her family has her mind going crazy. “Are you almost ready, baby?” She jumps at the sound of my voice. “Listen to me. I understand your fear, but I’ll keep you safe. I’ve already spoken to the building’s management about making sure no one is let up except for those on the list. I’ve never had a problem in the past. You will be safe here.”
She closes her eyes and nods. “I’m sorry, Shane. I’m just so tired. I couldn’t sleep last night.”
“I know, love. Get through work today, and we’ll go to bed early tonight. You can catch up then.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” she says, sounding unsure of herself.
When we pull up to her office building, I take her chin and force her to look into my eyes. “No leaving this building without me.”
“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere. Miranda and I will order in for lunch.”
“Good, I’m going to worry enough about you all day today. I have three appointments and then I’ll be home. If you need anything, you call me.”
“I will. Thanks, Shane.”
“Go get some work done.” I give her a small smile before jumping out of the car and quickly walking her to the door.
She gives me a quick kiss and says, “See you later.”
Shane: Please text me when you get up to your office.
Katie: I’m already here.
Shane: Good. Have a great day.
I put my phone down on the seat, pull away from the curb, and head straight to the gym. My mind is reeling, trying to figure out how we are going to ensure her entire family stays safe. Her father has promised me more info as he gets it, but the wait is killing me.
I push the thoughts away, needing to focus on the road. The last thing Katie needs is for me to get into a wreck.
When I pull up to the gym, I’ve got energy to burn. Since I’m already wearing my workout clothes, I go straight to the treadmill for a run before my first client arrives. Putting in my headphones, I set the treadmill and begin a full-on run. I'm running harder than I have in a long time, determined to stay in the best shape possible so I can take care of Katie. I’ll be damned if some asshole is going to take her from me.
After thirty solid minutes of running, I jump off the treadmill, dripping sweat and panting. I have just enough time to shower and change into my trainer shirt.
***
Katie
As I sit down, I see the text from Shane and instantly respond. I don’t want him to worry about me; he has to get through work today too. I boot up my computer to check my email and begin my day. I can’t let this guy get the best of me. I have no idea what he looks like or if he’s even really after us, but that leaves us with no choice but to live cautiously. Dad is getting us some different mug shots to study so we can keep an eye out, but it’s all so nerve-wracking.
Taking a deep breath, I push him from my thoughts and begin the process of going through my emails. “Hey girl, how was your weekend?” Miranda asks, scaring the shit out of me. “Wow, what’s wrong? You’re quite jumpy today.”
“Sorry, Miranda. I didn’t sleep last night. My dad called while we were at Logan’s.”
“Is he okay?” She knows he’s a cop, so naturally her thoughts went straight to his safety.
“He’s fine, but some guy he put in jail was released on a technicality and now he wants revenge.”
“Are you serious?” she asks, obviously scared for me.
I nod. “We need to order in for lunch. Shane brought me in and I can’t leave the office alone.”
“That’s fine. We’ll order in. What about your appointments?”
I shrug. “I have to talk to Tanya.”
Tanya peeks into my office. “Katie, can I see you in my office please?”
“Sure.” I grab my notepad, standing from behind my desk. Miranda follows me out and makes her way to her office.
I’m shaking, worried over what Tanya has to say. This entire situation can totally screw up my career at a point when I’ve finally started to build a good name for myself.
“Have a seat,” she says as she sits behind her desk, sitting back and crossing her legs. “What’s going on?” she asks, and I go into the details of everything that happened last night.
“How do you know already?”
“A gentleman by the name of Logan Michaels called and said he wanted your undivided attention on a marketing assignment. When I asked why, he told me it was personal.”
“Tanya, my career means a lot to me. I will do whatever you would like.”
“Katie, I appreciate that, but we have to keep you safe. I’m not going to let you blow your career over this. If that’s what you’re worried about, you can stop.” She shakes her head. “This is serious.” She looks down at her desk in contemplation. “I’m letting this Logan guy hire you. We don’t typically market clubs, never mind let someone hire a coordinator for only one project—it’s just not our thing—but considering the circumstances, we’re going to take on this client. It’s yours.”
“Are you sure, Tanya?” I ask with a bit of concern.
“Yes, I want you to forward your case files to Miranda. Evelyn will still help you with whatever you need for your new client.”
“Thank you, Tanya. I’m scared and this is not a feeling I’m used to. I’m scared for my family, for my job, and
for Shane. We have no idea what this guy’s intentions are.”
“I know and you have the right to be scared, so let us all help you.”
“How do you want the contract for the clubs to be handled?”
“This contract is a bit different, so I’ll draw this one up. Logan has promised to sign it as soon as it’s in his email. In the meantime, you get busy updating Miranda on what you have going on.”
“Is it okay if we use the conference room so I can meet with Miranda and Evelyn?”
“Absolutely, you’ll work from home the remainder of this week. I only want you in here if you need to be.” She gives me a stern look and says, “You’re much safer at home.”
I stand from my seat to exit the room, and when I reach the door I turn to her. “Thank you, Tanya.”
“Stay safe, sweetie.” She gives me a warm smile and goes back to work. I’m so thankful Tanya has always been good to me, and today she showed me she truly cares. I feel like more than just an employee, and that means a lot.
As I’m approaching Evelyn’s desk, I ask her, “Can you meet Miranda and I in the conference room in fifteen minutes?”
“You got it,” she says with a smile.
I walk into my office and call Miranda to let her know of our impromptu meeting, and send a quick text to Shane to update him.
Katie: Logan has already spoken to Tanya and she’s on board. I’ll work from home the rest of the week.
Shane: That’s great, baby. Let me know when you want me to pick you up.
Grabbing the files I need, I drop them in the conference room and then make myself a cup of coffee before the meeting. When I get back into the room, Miranda and Evelyn are already there. I close the door and take a seat.
“What’s going on?” Evelyn asks, full of fear.
“I’m going to be working from home on a large contract for one client. That means I need to update you ladies on the clients I’m working on. You two will be taking on these clients, while I work with Logan Michaels on marketing Club Thrive and Club Heat.”
Evelyn’s brows furrow. “Why? We don’t do club work. Plus, you never work from home, unless it’s a weekend. What are you not telling me?”
Miranda sighs and gives me a sympathetic look. I give her a brief explanation of what’s happening. She gasps fearfully, for both me and my family. Once I’ve updated them, we get to work on going over everything. Luckily for Miranda, I’ve already got the contract from Anna on the bridal shop so all she has to do is finish everything off.
About an hour later, we’re done going over everything work related. We decide to take an early lunch because, to be honest, Tanya is right. I’m safer at home. I plan to get out of here as early as I can. While Miranda orders our food, I shoot down to Tanya’s office to check in with her on how she wants me to handle my clients.
I knock on her door. “Come in,” she says.
“Hey, Tanya, I’ve updated the team, but we’re wondering how you want us to handle notifying my clients that they’ll be working with Miranda now.”
She sighs. “Send them an email that states you have a family emergency that’s pulling you from the office for a short time, so we’ve decided it’s best that someone else handle their cases.”
I nod. “Will do.”
“Oh, and Katie?” Tanya calls out as I’m walking out the door.
“Yes, Tanya?”
“Let me know when you’re leaving, and that you made it home safely.”
“Sure. Thank you for caring.” I walk out the door. I want to get the emails sent out before lunch arrives so I can relax a bit with the girls.
As I’m hitting send on the final email to a client, I get a message from Logan.
Katie,
I just signed and sent the contract back to your boss. Please touch base with me in the morning so we can talk about my ideas for the clubs and the areas I think we’re struggling in. I look forward to your help with this project.
Logan
I smile while reading his email. I’m so lucky to have great friends to help me out. I have no idea how Tanya would have handled this situation, had I not had Logan to back me. There’s a knock on my office door and when I look up, Evelyn is standing there holding the bags of food. “Lunch is here.”
“Thanks, I’ll be there in a second.” I’m going to miss being in the office. I have some good friends here.
After quickly typing out an email to Logan letting him know I saw his message and I’ll be in touch, I make my way to the conference room, stopping in the kitchen first for a bottle of water. Standing in the doorway, I find my friends chatting and laughing, and it makes me realize this may be harder than I thought. Kyle comes over, pulling me into the room and shutting the door behind me. “Katie, I want you to know that although Tanya has told me everything, we’ve all decided to keep it to just this group,” Kyle says while pulling out a chair for me.
“We’re all here if you need anything at all,” Tanya says, pulling her take out container from the bag.
“Thank you, guys. Although this can be a very serious situation, I’m hoping it’s nothing and I’ll be back here soon.” We all begin eating and while we do, Miranda fills us in on her date with Stone. Despite the fact that he’s a big guy with tattoos and long hair, she tells us he’s a total sweetheart. He took her to dinner the other night and they had a nice time and are planning to see each other again.
“That’s great! Why don’t I talk to Shane. We’ll get together on Wednesday night.” We’ve never hung with the guy outside the club. Actually, we’ve only ever hung with Logan, Sky, and Jonah outside the club. I hope he won’t be upset about hanging with the staff. I wasn’t thinking about how that would work, with him being the manager.
“That sounds good. I’ll talk to Stone and you talk to Shane.” Miranda pushes salad into her mouth.
“Cool.”
“I’m going to get back to work.” I stand to give Tanya a hug and thank her for her support.
“Me too,” Kyle adds. I grab my phone and let Shane know that I’m going to pack up my laptop and I’ll be ready soon. My phone chirps with a response from Shane, letting me know he’s on his way and will meet me downstairs.
When I get downstairs a short time later, as promised he’s waiting for me by the door. “Hey, baby.” He plants a soft, sweet kiss on my lips.
“How was your day?” I ask, taking his hand as we walk out the door.
“It just got a lot better. I like knowing you’re home safe with me.”
I smile. “Well, I consider myself quite lucky that my boss is so understanding of my situation and is being so supportive, because my career means a lot to me.”
“I know it does, and I’m grateful too. We’ll find a way to make it up to her.”
We both climb into the car. “Speaking of bosses, being Stone’s boss, are you opposed to hanging with him outside the club?”
“Not really, why?” He starts the car to take us home.
“Well, I wasn’t really thinking when I offered, but I invited Stone and Miranda over for dinner so I can hang with her. I figured, since they were dating, we could have them both over.”
“I take it their date went well?” he asks with a smile.
“Yeah, they seem to be getting along and both agreed to see where it goes.”
“That’s cool. We can have them over for dinner. I don’t see a problem with that.”
My smile grows. “Good, because they are coming Wednesday night.”
He shakes his head. “What would you have done if I told you I couldn’t have him over?”
“I don’t know. It kind of just came out and I realized that it may be an issue. It’s not, so I guess I got lucky.” He laughs at me, and I shrug.
Shane and I are getting out of the car when my cell rings. I pull it from my purse to see it’s my father. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Where are you?” he blurts out, practically cutting me off.
“Shane and I just pulled up to ou
r place. Why?”
“Get inside, then call me.” He cuts the call. He yelled so loud I’m sure Shane heard him. He grabs my laptop bag and takes my hand, pulling me into the building and past the doorman.
“Everything okay, Mr. Sutton?” Clive asks.
“I’m not really sure. We just heard from Katie’s father and he asked us to hurry inside. Please keep your eyes peeled.”
He nods. “You got it.”
We both go straight upstairs and as soon as we’re through the door, Katie calls her father. “Daddy, I’m home safe. What’s going on?”
“I’m following up on a lead, but someone spotted him in your area. He may be trying to figure out exactly where you live. I’ll call you as soon as I get home to give you an update.”
I sigh. “Okay, Daddy,” I say, then cut the call.
Chapter 13
Shane
My baby is sleeping peacefully beside me while I lie there just watching her. She looks beautiful with the morning sun reflecting off her glowing skin. Since she’s working from home and I’ve cancelled my appointments for today, it’s time to start our day right. I roll onto my side, gliding my tongue up her neck to her ear. My hand slips up her leg and into the little shorts she’s wearing. I love when she wears them sans panties; it makes it so much easier to have fun with her. As I nibble on her ear, my fingers find their way through her folds. Rubbing her clit, I feel the moisture building as I kiss my way down her chest. She finally moans when I take her nipple into my mouth through her shirt, biting on it playfully.
“Good morning, baby.” I apply a bit more pressure to her clit, and her hips jerk up slightly.
She bites her lips, moaning a good morning. Peeling her shirt up, I take her nipple back in my mouth and roll the other between my wet fingers. Her hips are grinding against my cock and it’s driving me wild, but I want to taste her, so I work my way down her flat belly. “I. Want. To. Taste. You,” I say between kisses until I make it down to her soaked shorts. Making quick work of them, I toss them to the side and smile when I find her pretty pussy glistening for me. “I’m really going to enjoy this,” I tell her, positioning myself between her legs. I gently blow on her sensitive bud and she whimpers, wanting more. She knows I won’t disappoint. My tongue makes contact with her clit, and her hips instantly begin to grind against my mouth for more friction but I want this at my pace, so I pin her down with my forearms, using my hands to spread her folds so she’s open to me. My tongue is all over her. I’m licking and sucking on her sweet pussy, lapping up every drop of her juices.