It might have been comical in a movie or on television. At the moment it seemed like providence since a guardian was exactly what she needed.
She hurried to the door, pausing at the entrance to see if she was still being followed. The man whose eye she’d caught at the end of the alley skirted around people on the sidewalk. He turned toward her, but she ducked into the bar praying he didn’t see her.
Polished chocolate-brown wood covered the walls and climbed to the ceiling where matching beams ran the length of the space. Conversation competed with the pop music falling from the overhead speakers. Bottles of liquor in a rainbow of colors climbed the wall behind the long bar.
People milled throughout the bar, a decent showing for a Monday night, but still far too open to make for a good hiding spot.
The back wall opened up onto a hallway, the universal stick-figure sign for the restrooms hanging overhead. At the end of the hall, a door with the words Emergency Exit blocked out in silver lettering beckoned. If she could just get to that door, she could slip out the back and onto the adjacent street without the men chasing her any the wiser.
She weaved through the tables toward the exit, the soles of her flats adhering to the sticky floor.
The door to the bar opened, and her bald pursuer entered. She turned, stepping close to three laughing women headed toward the restrooms. The women shot her curious looks, but she laughed along, the sound brittle. The bald guy would look for a single woman. Nadia could only hope he wouldn’t pay close attention to a group of women heading for the restroom.
Their merry band had almost made it to the hall when the door at its end swung open, letting in a chilly burst of air along with one of the men chasing her.
Nadia shifted, moving behind the tallest of the women. She only had seconds before the women turned into the bathroom, and there was no way she could go with them without being seen by the man coming down the hall. If she went in, she’d be trapped.
She glanced back at the front door. The bald man stood to the side, still scanning the crowd. He hadn’t seen her, but it was only a matter of time before he did.
To her left, a corner booth packed with people celebrating something overflowed. Three large men stood around a table, all but masking it from the rest of the bar.
She slid between the two biggest guys and tucked herself in front of one using his body to hide her own.
“Hello.” A deep baritone rolled against her back.
Nadia twisted to see the face of the man she was using as a shield, freezing when familiar hazel eyes met her own.
“What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that.” Ryan cocked an eyebrow at her.
“I...” She stared up at the man she’d been crushing on for the last two years, unsure how to explain why she’d practically thrown her body onto his.
Through the sliver of space separating Ryan and the man standing next to him, she saw the bald man moving through the crowd, examining the women at the bar and at tables one by one.
“I know this is weird, but please don’t move. Two guys followed me in here, and I need to hide until they’re gone.”
Ryan’s face hardened. He already dwarfed her, but his body tensed at her words, his broad shoulders expanding.
Having overheard their conversation, the man standing next to Ryan stepped closer, making it harder for her to be seen.
She smiled her thanks.
“This is my colleague, Gideon Wainwright. Gideon, Nadia.”
Gideon nodded.
The chatter in the bar was too loud for the other people at the table to have heard her declaration, but it didn’t keep them from shooting curious glances at her. A thin man with a wispy blond goatee sitting on the far side of the booth leaned forward as if to direct a comment or question her way.
Ryan shook his head, and the man paused, his lips turning down in a frown, before sitting back in the booth and diving back into conversation with the woman next to him.
“Where are these guys that followed you?” Gideon asked with a Southern lilt that surprised her. With muscles on top of muscles, he looked more Arnold Schwarzenegger than Matthew McConaughey.
“One is a bald guy that followed me in the front door. The other guy came from the back hall.”
Gideon angled his body away from Nadia and Ryan, his head turning slowly from one end of the space to the other. Nadia couldn’t see the men who’d been chasing her, but based on the hard lines of Gideon’s mouth, he did.
“Why are they following you?” Ryan rested his hands on her shoulders. She let herself rest against his warm body. She was still tense and afraid, but less so now that she wasn’t alone.
She knew instinctively Ryan wouldn’t let those guys get to her.
“I don’t know. They were in my apartment when I got home tonight. The door wasn’t closed all the way, and I heard them talking about grabbing me. I could see them a little through the crack in the door. One of them had a gun in his hand, so I ran.”
Remembering their words and the sight of the gun sent a shudder down her spine.
Ryan kneaded her shoulders. “You did exactly the right thing. You got yourself to safety.”
“They’re leaving,” Gideon said without looking at them. “I’m going to follow them.” He walked away without waiting for Ryan’s response.
The tension in her body melted away, leaving her feeling like overcooked spaghetti. She would have fallen if Ryan hadn’t wrapped his arm around her waist.
He urged her toward the opposite end of the bar. As they moved away, he spoke to the table. “Keep the party going. We’ll be back.”
* * *
RYAN STOPPED BY the bar and asked his bartender, Stacey, to send a cup of hot tea to his office before steering Nadia through a door behind the bar. He’d have asked Stacey to send something stronger, but he wasn’t sure if Nadia drank.
“Is it okay for you to be back here?” Nadia glanced back the way they’d come.
He waved her into a small office and moved a stack of papers from a black leather love seat before gently lowering her onto it.
“It’s my office. I co-own the bar with Shawn.”
He pulled his desk chair across the office to sit in front of Nadia.
Nadia’s forehead scrunched. “I thought you worked at your father’s security firm.”
“We do. The bar is just...” He wasn’t sure what the bar was. When the previous owner had decided it was time to retire to Arizona, he and Shawn hadn’t wanted to let one of their favorite hangouts close. They’d bought it without a lot of forethought. Lucky for them Stacey wasn’t just a great bartender, she was also an excellent manager. “Diversification. Now, tell me about the men that followed you in here.”
Nadia crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts together. Focus.
“I honestly don’t know what they want from me. I’ve never seen them before.”
A knock sounded on the door, and one of the newer waitresses carried in the cup of tea he’d asked Stacey to have sent to the office. He remained silent until the waitress backed out of the room.
“Start from the beginning.”
Nadia let out a sigh and explained coming home to find the men in her apartment, being chased from the building through the neighborhood and ducking into the bar. It had been happenstance that he and Gideon had been standing close enough to act as a shield when she’d needed them.
Another knock sounded on the office door. Gideon and Shawn entered without waiting for an answer.
“We followed the guys to a parking garage on MLK Boulevard,” Gideon said. “I thought it would be too conspicuous to follow them inside, but we waited awhile and got the tag of a black SUV that exited soon after the guys went in.”
Ryan nodded. “Good. Run it. Let’s see who the tag comes back to.”
“Already done. Stolen out of Jersey five days ago,” Shawn said.
Five days ago. That meant these guys either habitually rode in stolen vehicles or they stole this one in preparation for the break-in at Nadia’s. Neither option was good for Nadia.
“Can you think of anyone who might have it in for you? Enemies? Ex-boyfriends?”
His stomach clenched involuntarily at the thought of her with another man.
Nadia rubbed her temples. “I don’t have any enemies, and I haven’t been on a date in over a year.” Her fingers stilled, and her eyes squeezed shut. She clearly hadn’t meant to say that last part.
He couldn’t stop his lips from quirking up at the news. Shawn’s gaze flicked from Ryan to Nadia and back, and Ryan quickly schooled his face.
“Who inherits the hotels if something happens to you?”
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “It’s just me and Uncle Erik, my dad’s half brother, now. But there’s no way my uncle would hurt me.”
Ryan didn’t bother telling her what families had done to each other in the pursuit of money. He’d look into Uncle Erik.
“Did you hear these guys specifically use your name when they were in your apartment?” Ryan asked, moving on.
“No, just that they were waiting for me to come home.”
So the men might have had the wrong apartment. His gut didn’t buy that, though.
Ryan turned to Shawn and Gideon. “Can you two check out Nadia’s apartment?”
“No problem,” Shawn said.
Nadia slid to the edge of the couch. “Hang on. I appreciate your help tonight, but I can’t ask you to do any more. I’m sure my personal security isn’t included in the contract you have with Shelton Hotels.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryan said.
Shawn’s lips curved up in a wisp of a smile.
Nadia rattled off her address and handed over the keys she’d miraculously held on to despite her mad dash through the streets of Harlem.
She stood as Shawn left and began pacing the small space. “Why do you want to check out my apartment?”
“We’re not sure who was in the SUV. I’m not sending you back to your place without knowing exactly what the situation is there.”
Her laugh was rueful. “I hope you can figure it out because I’m at a loss.”
Considering everything she’d been through, she was holding up well, but she’d been operating on adrenaline. That high would wane, and the fall could be emotionally brutal as the reality of how close she’d come to being kidnapped, or worse, began to sink in. It was another reason he didn’t want to let her out of his sight.
Ryan leaned back in his chair, rolling it back to give her more space to move the length of the office. “Have you made anyone mad lately? Had a business deal go south?”
“Shelton Hotels has been doing great since Nate and I took over and rebranded as an environmentally conscious chain,” she said, pacing again, “but we are small potatoes in the hospitality industry. There’s no reason for anyone to come after me.”
Yet someone had. Twice in one day. He didn’t believe for a second that her tumble into the street this morning was unrelated to the break-in at her apartment tonight. Both attacks were personal, if not well executed, which suggested someone close to her was behind them.
“But you can’t think of anyone who might be angry with you or want to get back at you for some reason?” he said to Nadia’s back.
She stilled, then turned to face him. “One of my exes came to see me today. Not about anything personal, but he definitely wasn’t one of the guys chasing me.”
“What’s his name?”
“Mike Dexter. He’s president of Aurora Hotels and Suites. He dropped by my office this morning, but I don’t think he would do anything like this.” Nadia shook her head in disbelief.
Ryan jotted the name down. He’d check Dexter out thoroughly because, while most people never thought someone they knew would target them, he’d been in the security business long enough to know how wrong they often were.
“Mike and I broke up over a year ago.” She opened her eyes and looked at him head-on, considering what to say. “Since Nate’s death, I’ve assumed sole responsibility for the company. I haven’t had time for a personal life.”
West Security had sent flowers when Nate died, and Ryan had gone to the memorial service. Nadia had been the picture of forbearance and graciousness, consoling Nate’s many friends. But beneath it all he’d seen the unbridled grief, and his heart broke for her. He hadn’t wanted to impose, so he’d signed the condolence book without adding to the throng of people surrounding her.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been putting your own stamp on the hotels. Leaning into the green initiative. Making some changes to the buildings. Have there been any employees unhappy with changes you’ve been making?”
Nadia smiled wryly. “Our employees loved Nate. Some of them preferred his—” she stopped as if searching for the right word “—looser management style to mine. But I can’t see any of them attacking me or breaking into my apartment over it.”
It was a long shot, but he’d seen people do a lot of irrational things. He wasn’t ready to dismiss any potential suspects without an investigation. He asked Nadia for the names of the employees who’d shown unhappiness with her leadership. After a long moment’s hesitation, Nadia gave him two names, both assistant managers at the hotel.
Taking over had to have been difficult for her, if only because she’d been thrust into the role of CEO. She’d had to work through the grief of losing Nate and at the same time keep the family business steady. And she’d done it, to all appearances, without breaking a sweat.
But he knew from experience, appearances could be deceiving.
“How are you coping with Nate’s passing?”
Nadia plopped down on the couch, her eyes trained on the floor. “As best can be expected, I guess. It was a car accident, eleven months ago. Some days I forget he’s even gone, and then it all comes crashing back.”
They sat in silence for a long moment. He wanted to go to her, to pull her to him and promise he’d make everything all right. But she’d wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze still diverted from his.
He had the kitchen send a couple sandwiches back to his office, and he was glad to see some of the color returning to Nadia’s face as she ate. Not long after they’d finished their dinner, Shawn and Gideon pushed the office door open, forgoing knocking this time. “We checked out the apartment. It was tossed, but I can’t tell if they were just being destructive or if they were looking for something. Found this in the hall.”
Shawn held her purse and keys out to her.
“Everything’s here,” Nadia said, relief clear in her voice. “Credit cards, ID and the little bit of cash I keep for emergencies.”
Ryan’s frown deepened. “So not a straight-up robbery.”
Nadia’s face paled, and the way she swayed made Ryan glad she was sitting. He rose from his chair and moved to sit next to her on the couch.
“I’ve got this.” Ryan nodded toward the door. It was a terse dismissal, but none of West’s operatives were the type to get their feelings hurt easily. Shawn and Gideon shuffled through the door without a word.
Nadia held her head in her hands. “I don’t understand why this is happening.”
Ryan rubbed circles on her back. “I know. But until we figure it out, I don’t think you should stay at your apartment.”
She swiped away a tear. “I can take a room at Shelton Harlem for the night.”
He wasn’t sure that was a good idea either. Whoever was behind this knew who she was, and when she didn’t come home, it wouldn’t be much of a leap to deduce she might be at a Shelton hotel.
Every fiber of his being told him to take her to his home and not let her out until the threat
had passed. The small part of his brain still functioning objectively countered that he was too emotionally involved. Still, his place was a lot safer than a hotel or her apartment. He could remain professional to keep an eye on Nadia.
“You can stay with me. If they know where you live, we have to assume they know where you work.”
She examined him with wary eyes. “I don’t know.”
“I have a big place, and you can’t get better security anywhere in the city.”
A hint of a smile crossed her lips. “That I believe.” Her shoulders relaxed, and a genuine smile transformed her face, making it even more gorgeous. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Try not to worry. I promise I will keep you safe.”
Chapter Four
Before heading to Ryan’s apartment, they called the police and walked back to Nadia’s condo to report the break-in. The officer taking the report wasn’t nearly as concerned as Ryan would have liked. She seemed skeptical that the intruders had been chasing Nadia, preferring the theory that Nadia’s sudden appearance caused burglars to flee the scene of the crime to avoid being caught. When Nadia pointed out that the men had followed her to Sentinel, the officer had brushed it off as little more than adrenaline-fueled hysteria.
They couldn’t prove the guys that had come into Sentinel after Nadia were the same guys who’d broken into her apartment, so there was nothing else they could do except take the officer’s card. Ryan didn’t even bother to mention to the disbelieving officer that Nadia had been pushed into the street earlier that morning, and Nadia didn’t appear to have connected the two events.
He typically used his ride-sharing app to get around the city on his personal time, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Nadia’s safety. He’d had a company car dropped off while he and Nadia spoke to the officer, and now he navigated the black SUV west to his Riverside Drive apartment building.
He glanced at Nadia in the seat beside him. Her head leaned against the window of the SUV, her eyes closed. She looked tired and scared, but she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was luminous. Not for the first time, he considered breaking his rule about not dating Nadia.
Pursuit of the Truth Page 3