“Perhaps not directly, but we’re in this together. If they’re hunting you, they might as well be hunting me.”
Samuel’s lips turned up in a proud smile. They didn’t have family, but they had each other.
James’ phone vibrated and he looked at the caller ID: Jayce Tohmatsu.
“Jayce,” James said, surprised to hear from him. Calls from his number were, thankfully, rare lately.
“James. What are you doing?”
James laughed. “Working. What do you want?”
“A favor,” Jayce said.
“A favor?” James said, eyeballing Deacon.
Deacon made a twirling motion with his index finger and Samuel converted the call to play through the speaker.
“Go ahead,” James said curiously.
“Mak Ashwood. I received a call from her today asking if I could put her in touch with Thomas Security.”
James cringed internally. It had been three days since he’d seen Mak Ashwood and he was doing everything possible to keep her out of his mind. But here she was again, back in his world—in the worst possible way.
“Why the change? She seemed confident in her security at your party,” James said.
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask the question. Can you meet with her?”
James looked to Deacon, who seemed nonchalant about the idea. James knew it was a bad idea to take her on as a client—he was already more involved than he should’ve been. James didn’t need to look at Samuel to know what he was thinking.
James stalled. “A favor? What might you do to return the favor, if I should ever need it?”
Jayce scoffed and then paused, as if he were thinking it through. “Maybe I’ll build you the next Thomas Security headquarters, you know, when you grow out of that one.”
James grinned. Jayce would love that because then he’d know every intricate detail of their building and Jayce loved to know the inside facts. “I see. We’re not taking on any new clients, Jayce, you know that. We took on your family to repay a favor from Kyoji—it was an exception.”
The conversation had Deacon’s attention now because he knew James was stalling.
“I know, but I’m asking you to make a concession and meet with her at least—her family is apparently very worried about her.”
“We’ll meet with her, Jayce, but I’m not making any promises.”
An annoyed groan came through the line. “Fine. Today? What time should I tell her?”
James rolled his eyes again and Deacon chuckled. Jayce personified efficiency. “We’ll see her today and we’ll call her with the details and arrange a car for her.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Jayce said before hanging up.
James put his phone down on the table.
Deacon raised one eyebrow. “What was that about?”
James cleared his throat and crossed his leg over his knee. He had to be honest, as much as he wanted to hide the truth. “She’s a distraction.”
He’d expected Deacon to be concerned but instead he did something completely unexpected: he laughed.
“You think this is funny?” James asked.
“I’m sorry, I…I’ve never heard those words from your mouth,” Deacon said, fighting to control himself.
She’s a distraction. It was their code when women were involved. Deacon had used it several times in the past, but it was the first time James had used it. He normally prided himself on his ability to block out desirable women, but Mak Ashwood had undone him.
“So what do you want to do?” Deacon asked.
James rubbed his eyes. “We’ll meet with her and see what’s going on. If we take her on, though, I’m not working with her. You’re going to have to be the main contact.”
Deacon’s face beamed a pretty-boy smile. “Okay, let’s see what the five-foot beauty that has James all flustered has to say.”
Deacon and Samuel smiled at each other and James was just grateful Samuel had kept his mouth shut thus far.
*
The blows came at him, hard and fast.
“Again,” James said, not giving his sparring partner a chance to rest.
An expletive fell from his partner’s mouth but the man straightened up and focused.
“Your left is still too weak,” James said. “You need to work on it.”
He was in a training session, passing time until Mak arrived. They had personal trainers who worked with their bodyguards, but every few months James and Deacon tested them themselves. They expected them to be the best—nothing less was acceptable when someone’s life was in their hands.
“Again!” James said.
His partner looked like he might fall over at any minute, or vomit, but James pushed him harder. After another two rounds, he called time.
“Well done,” James said, patting him on the back. “I’ve got a meeting soon but I’ll make some notes and have them sent to you. Discuss them with your trainer and make sure that left arm is a priority.”
It was natural for righties to be weak in the left hand, but if you worked for Thomas Security, you’d better be able to throw a punch with your left just as hard as your right.
His partner didn’t speak as he grappled for air, simply nodding his head instead. James grabbed his towel and phone and headed to his apartment. He showered, changed into a clean sweater and jeans, his daily uniform, and was back downstairs with five minutes to spare. He found Deacon in Samuel’s office.
“Ready?” Deacon asked with a lopsided smile.
“Yes, Deacon,” James said, leading the way downstairs to the boardroom. Samuel wouldn’t join them but he’d be witness to everything that went on via a surveillance system. Every single room in Thomas Security had full surveillance, including their apartments.
James pushed the sleeves of his sweater up as he sat down. He felt warm, a result of the training session and the anticipation churning inside him.
The phone rang and Deacon answered it. “Send her up,” he said.
She’s here, James thought. He didn’t want to see her; he wanted to forget her. But he did want to know why she was here. Why had she changed her mind? What had happened in the last seventy-two hours?
“Take charge of this meeting, Deacon,” James said. “I want to be involved as little as possible.”
Deacon nodded his head, his assessing gaze unnerving James. Deacon still didn’t know James had already pulled reports on Mak, otherwise he would’ve surely said something, and he definitely didn’t know he’d followed her car home.
The door opened and James assumed his role, showing no emotion whatsoever.
“Mak, I’m Deacon Thomas,” Deacon said, moving forward to shake her hand. “James you’ve already met.” He closed the door behind her.
James moved forward to shake her hand and when he touched her he felt it again—the tightening of his chest and his already warm body heating further.
“Mak,” James said, nodding his head. He sat down beside his brother, and Mak sat opposite them.
“So, how can we help you?” Deacon asked and in return Mak looked at him when she spoke—exactly as James had intended.
“Thank you for meeting me today,” she said, her voice calm but strong. “I have a situation,” she continued, “and you come highly recommended, obviously.”
“We know about the case you’re working on, but we were surprised to receive your call. Our understanding is that you already have security in place,” Deacon said.
“I do have security in place but I’m not sure that they are sufficient for the job. I asked them to look into a few things, and they haven’t been able to give me the answers that I need. Jayce Tohmatsu seems to think that you can find out anything, hence why I’m here.”
James was intrigued.
“What has changed, Mak?” Deacon asked.
Mak rubbed her lips together and James’ eyes lingered on them, wondering what they would taste like. He noticed Mak hadn’t looked at him yet. Was she avoiding his
gaze?
“There have been two separate security breaches. One in my hotel room in London, and one in my apartment. My security firm can’t provide any information on either, other than advising me that the hotel’s security tapes have been tampered with.”
“We need details, Mak, to understand the situation. Anything you say is completely confidential, whether we have a security contract with you or not,” Deacon said.
Her chest rose as she inhaled. “Two notes, on delicate paper rolled up like a scroll and tied with a red ribbon. The first one said: ‘Death is but an illusion, as you will soon see’. The second one said: ‘Keep your eyes open, Makaela’.”
Fuck, this is bad, James thought.
James looked at Deacon, who looked genuinely surprised.
“Where are you staying now?” Deacon asked.
Mak’s eyes flickered between Deacon and James. “In my apartment.”
Deacon shook his head. “They got into your apartment once, and if they want to, they will do it again. You should not be staying there, I can tell you that already. We’ll book you into a secure hotel until suitable accommodation can be arranged.”
“Who do you think is doing this?” James asked, speaking for the first time.
Mak met his gaze, unwavering. “It would have to be related to the case I’m working on. I think they’re trying to scare me, to intimidate me. They’re the mob—they think that laws don’t apply to them, that their crimes should go unpunished. And the fact that a female, younger than the average prosecutor, took on this case…Well, I don’t think they like it very much.”
It wasn’t what she said, but the way she said it. It wasn’t just her looks that he was attracted to, it was her demeanor, and her courage. She was too tempting, and too much of a distraction. James knew in that instant they couldn’t take the case.
James took control of the meeting. “The level of security you have on you is completely inadequate and Deacon is right, you can’t stay at your apartment. The security plan we would create for you would be detailed, and resource intensive, which we currently don’t have. It’s a much more complicated case then we’d initially assumed and I don’t think we’re the right firm for you at this moment. What we’ll do is arrange your security for the next forty-eight hours while we source an alternative firm and consult with them to create a plan.”
Deacon looked at James calmly but James knew he no longer thought the distraction was funny.
“He’s right, Mak. And we’ll cover you so that you’re safe until everything is sorted,” Deacon finally said.
Mak’s eyes stayed on James, and he felt like he was going to start sweating.
“You looked after the entire Tohmatsu family, including Zahra Foster. I am one person, and you don’t have the resources to cover me?”
“We took on two big clients last week, so it’s just bad timing,” James said, his face as impassive as hers.
“But you don’t take on new clients,” she argued back.
“Ordinarily, no, we don’t. But as we had the resources available, primarily those no longer allocated to the Tohmatsu family, when we were approached, we took the offer.”
“Why did you meet me if you can’t take on any new clients?”
“As I said, your case is more complex than we first realized. We would put you under twenty-four-hour surveillance, a personal bodyguard, bodyguards surveying your environment twenty-four hours a day, upgrade the security at your office, provide you with a personal driver, change your apartment, etc. We’re good at what we do because we don’t take any risks with our clients. It’s extreme, or it’s nothing. We don’t do in-between, because that’s when people get hurt. We will find you a good firm that has the resources to put our plan in place.”
She raised her eyebrows, transferring her penetrating gaze to Deacon.
“Jayce said that he wouldn’t use anyone else, that Thomas Security is the best. So who are you going to recommend?” Mak questioned.
Deacon spoke up. “Truthfully, I don’t know yet. We’ve collaborated with other firms in the past, so it will be one of those, but we need to speak to them first and assess the situation. That’s why we said we’ll cover you for the next forty-eight hours, until we can get this sorted. You don’t need to do anything. Go back to your office, in one of our cars. We’ll send a bodyguard with you and we’ll organize your accommodation for this evening. Tomorrow, we’ll get back to you with an update. Let us handle this, please. You need security and you need it now.”
She pressed her lips together again and then said, “Okay. Thank you.”
“Right, give us five minutes to get a bodyguard and a car organized and we’ll get you back to your office. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of, I promise,” Deacon said.
James and Deacon stood up and walked silently to Samuel’s office, but James knew the wrath that was coming. They never argued in front of anyone but Samuel and Cami, because they were family.
When the door closed, it started.
“Really? This situation isn’t funny anymore. You can’t trust yourself to stay out of it, even with me managing her case? What exactly is going on here?” Deacon made no effort to conceal his displeasure at the situation.
“I’m doing everyone a favor. And if her case gets as complicated as I think it’s going to, we’re going to have to work on it together.” James didn’t completely answer Deacon’s question but he had a valid point, and his brother knew it.
Deacon’s jaw sawed back and forth and then he turned to Samuel, who was watching quietly from behind his desk. “Run a security report on Mak Ashwood and find out which of our hotels have availability.”
Samuel faltered for a fraction of a second and anyone would’ve missed it, but not Deacon. And not James.
“What?” Deacon asked.
James didn’t want to put Samuel in the middle of this. “He already has the reports. I asked him to run them. Mak Ashwood was on my flight from London. The engagement party wasn’t the first time I saw her, but it was the first time I met her, properly at least.”
Deacon’s eyes blazed. “You should’ve fucking told me before that meeting. You should’ve said no to Jayce, and you should never have put yourself in this situation. Why are you doing this? Is it because of what happened in Paris?”
“It’s got nothing to do with that,” James said, although he wasn’t entirely convinced of that himself.
Deacon eyeballed him, no doubt trying to work out if he was lying or not.
“If it’s got nothing to do with that, then I don’t fucking understand this at all. This is so unlike you!” Deacon said.
“I’m doing the right thing by not taking her on as a client,” James repeated, refusing to raise his voice in retaliation.
“You did the right thing in the meeting, but every other move you’ve made has been wrong. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I assumed you would react exactly as you are,” James said.
“No, I’m reacting like this because you’re being secretive with Samuel, and I’m not entirely sure you’re being honest about the level of your feelings for her, either. I don’t know what you were even thinking by meeting with her!”
Deacon’s fury was rising and James didn’t have an answer—he wasn’t sure what he felt or why he had done it either. James did know, however, that it wasn’t just this situation that had triggered his brother’s emotions.
When James didn’t respond—refusing to engage in a yelling match—it only infuriated his brother further.
Deacon glared at him. “How do you think that we, that you, are any different from the men she talked about in the meeting? She’s a criminal prosecutor! She abides by the law. She loathes men like you.”
“Don’t make this personal, Deacon,” James said. He knew that underneath the words Deacon was trying to protect him, to deter him from pursuing her, but his words still hurt—because they were true.
“This,” Deacon said, “is a fucking dis
aster waiting to happen. I’m sorting her out. You stay here, and you stay out of this!” Deacon slammed the door behind him and James tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling.
“He’s overreacting, but you understand why, right?” Samuel said quietly.
“Yeah,” James said. “He’s thinking about Nicole.”
CHAPTER FIVE –
MAK ASHWOOD
The silence was corrupted with awkwardness, and no one but Mak seemed to notice.
“You’re very quiet,” Mak said to her temporary bodyguard, Cami.
Cami gave her a smile that reached her eyes. “I can be talkative too. It all depends on you. Some clients love to chatter away, others like to pretend we don’t exist. I don’t mind either way, but I usually leave it up to the client to choose whether to engage or not.”
Mak nodded her head. “I see. How long have you worked at Thomas Security?”
“From the beginning—I was one of their first employees,” she said without elaborating.
“How many female bodyguards do they have?” Mak said, the question two-fold. She was curious to know how many females worked in the private security industry, Mak assumed a low percentage, and she was also slyly trying to gain more information about Cami’s rank—she wanted to know if Deacon Thomas gave her one of his best bodyguards.
Cami sighed, shaking her head. “Not enough. I think there are…nine of us. It’s very much a male dominated field but that gives us women an advantage: we’re always underestimated. In fact, I nearly kicked Deacon’s ass yesterday. Nearly, but not quite. I’ll get there, though,” she said with a laugh.
“Deacon’s ass, huh? And what about James’ ass?”
Cami chuckled softly. “No, there’s no beating James. Deacon has, but only once, and James was sick with a cold. We all have our different strengths, though. If we got into a car chase, you would want Deacon driving, not James.” Cami looked directly at Mak, her eyes soft and comforting. “You’re going to be okay, Mak. You’ll be well protected, even if it’s not with Thomas Security.”
Mak nodded her head but her emotions were still thrown from that meeting. She’d thought Deacon was the one calling the shots but ultimately it had been James’ decision. It seemed a legitimate excuse not to take her on, and she wouldn’t want someone doing a sub-par job, but there was something hiding behind those black eyes.
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