Bryce: The Project (Indie Rebels Book 3)

by Miranda P. Charles

  Sighing, Bryce crossed the road towards a hotel. At least he could spend the night talking to Emma. She’d be happy to know that his job wasn’t as complex as he’d expected, and that he could go home to her tomorrow.

  He smiled even as sadness wrapped around his heart. All the lies would have a serious effect on their relationship. Whether he could win back her trust after all was said and done, he didn’t know, especially when he couldn’t tell her he was an Indie Rebel. Frankly, he didn’t like his chances.

  He inhaled deeply. He wanted nothing more than to be back in her arms right now. Their blissful days could be numbered.

  Chapter 16

  Emma left her work and waved to Kallan, who was sitting in his usual spot at the health food bar next door. Hopefully, her dad had spoken to him regarding the new arrangement. She’d been thrilled when her dad had rung earlier in the day to tell her he approved of Kallan’s suggestion.

  Kallan waved back, his mouth full of whatever he was eating.

  She grinned. She and Kallan had become fast friends, more like buddies than employer-employee. She took the spare seat at his table. “What are you having?”

  Kallan showed her his almost empty bowl of yummy-looking salad. He finished chewing and wiped his mouth with a serviette. “Sorry. I thought I’d have something to eat while I wait for you. Did your dad call you?”

  “Yup. He’s happy for Bryce to take me to work and to pick me up—and for me to call you only when I need you.”

  “Yes. But he did want me to ensure that I’m available for you when he can’t be around.”

  “Well, my suggestion is that every Saturday night, Bryce and I can discuss his schedule. Then I’ll let you know when I need you for that week so you can mark your calendar.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Kallan said tentatively. “But how about I still work full-time for a week or so? It doesn’t matter that Bryce and I overlap. I mean, he’s really your boyfriend while I’m your bodyguard.”

  “Where would be the sense in that? I don’t need two people protecting me at the same time.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you changed your mind about this?”

  “I just don’t want to regret my decision. I’m scared something might happen to you after I cut back.”

  “Hey, I honestly don’t think anything will ever happen to me—not in that sense. But if something did, it wouldn’t be your fault. I definitely won’t be blaming you. And I’m sure Dad won’t, either, since he approved it.”

  Kallan looked doubtful, then he sighed in resignation. “Okay, fine.”

  She smiled at him fondly. “Thank you for your concern. Anyway, you can also have the rest of the night off in about five to ten minutes.”

  “Why?”

  “Bryce is back from Auckland, and he’s coming here to pick me up.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Kallan took a drink of water and leaned back, frowning. “What did he do in Auckland?”

  “One of his clients had an emergency of some sort. But apparently, it wasn’t as bad as they thought and Bryce was able to fix it quickly.”

  “Right. It’s good that I’ll be meeting him. I want to ask him more about his business. I tried to do a quick research and I couldn’t find much. When did he start it?”

  “He said not long after he moved here. That would be about…just over seven months ago?”

  Kallan pursed his lips, his brows remaining furrowed. “Maybe I’ve been doing a search on the wrong company name or something. It’s just that the entity mentioned on his website doesn’t seem to be actively trading.”

  Emma shrugged. “Just ask him. He’ll be here soon.”

  “You really like him, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” she said a little shyly.

  “Ooh, what’s that look? I think you more than like him.”

  “Are you using your powers of deduction to read me?”

  “I’m more of a PI than a bodyguard, remember?”

  “So are you looking forward to doing meatier, more interesting work now that you’ll have the time?”

  “Yes, I am. And you just avoided answering my question.”

  Emma laughed. “I’m not going to tell you. I haven’t even told Bryce yet.”

  “Aha. You want him to be the first to hear it. Okay. I already have my answer anyway.”

  She widened her eyes. “And what answer did you deduce?”

  Kallan chuckled. “It’s written all over your face, Emma. You light up even if you’re just talking about him. And when he’s actually around, you’re brighter than a giant Christmas tree.”

  Her jaw dropped, heat rising to her face. Had she been that obvious?

  Did it matter?

  She sighed. Who cared if everybody could tell? It was the truth, no matter how much she’d tried to tell herself to take things slow. She simply hadn’t been able to help falling in love with Bryce.

  A hand touched her shoulder, and she was already grinning before she twisted to look up at the culprit. “Hi!”

  “Hi.” Bryce leaned down to give her a peck on the lips.

  Emma tingled all over, and she suppressed a giggle as she spotted Kallan half-rolling his eyes.

  “Hey, Kallan,” Bryce said, extending his hand.

  Kallan gripped Bryce’s hand and stood to drag another chair to their table for Bryce.

  “Thanks,” Bryce said, sitting and gazing at Emma.

  Emma smiled at him, letting him know with her eyes that she’d missed him too.

  “I’ll leave you two alone as soon as I finish my salad,” Kallan said dryly.

  “You don’t need to hurry,” Emma said. “We don’t want you to get indigestion.”

  Bryce chuckled.

  “Hey.” Emma placed her hand on Bryce’s thigh. “Kallan spoke to my dad about reducing his hours as my bodyguard.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Bryce asked.

  “Yes. As long as you’re around, like we discussed before. But Kallan will make me a priority when I need him.”

  Bryce grinned. “Great! So what are you going to do with your newfound spare time?” he asked Kallan.

  “I’ll be picking up where I left off with my private investigation business.”

  “Oh, you’re a PI? I didn’t know. I just assumed you’ve always been a bodyguard.”

  “No, I’ve been a PI now for three years,” Kallan said with a chuckle. “I used to work for a private security firm that had big contracts with corporations and government departments.”

  “Right. Which company did you work for?”

  “Sorry. Can’t talk about them or anything I did for them. I signed an NDA that’s enforceable while the companies still exist. Anyway, I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you. There could be a synergy between our businesses, and I was wondering if you’re open to considering working together on projects? I get enquiries for big cases every now and then, but I can’t handle them on my own. At this point in time, I’m not keen to employ staff, so I’d rather have a partner on a case-by-case basis—someone I don’t have to train.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Bryce said. “I’m pretty full-on at the moment, but I’m happy to have a chat.”

  Emma smiled, enjoying listening to the men talk cooperatively. “Kallan’s so ready to go back to PI work that he’s already been doing research on you,” she said teasingly.

  “Have you?” Bryce asked Kallan.

  “Yeah. And you know what? For some reason, some things didn’t come up for me. Do you have a company not mentioned in your website?”

  “Yes. We can talk in-depth later, if you like.” Bryce turned to Emma and smiled at her.

  Emma wanted to say she didn’t mind if the men continued talking business a little bit more, but that would be a lie. She wanted to be alone with Bryce now. They could celebrate their two-month anniversary one day late.

  “Feel free to leave,” Kallan said good-naturedly. “I don’t mind.”

  Bryce got up. “Thanks. I’ll contact you later to tee up a time to
chat. I’ll get your number from Emma.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Emma rose from her seat. “I’ll let you know my schedule ASAP.”

  Kallan nodded. “You guys have fun.”

  Emma slipped her arm around Bryce’s waist just as he placed his around her shoulders. She heaved a sigh, content to stroll slowly wherever Bryce wanted to lead her. “I’m so glad you’ll be looking after me. You don’t mind do you?”

  “What kind of question is that? Of course I don’t mind. I worry a lot about you.”

  “That’s nice. But if you find that it’s clashing with your work schedule, you let me know, okay? Dad’s apparently paying Kallan extra so he could make himself available whenever I call.”

  Bryce huffed. “If your bodyguard is eating his dinner when he’s supposed to be on the lookout for dangerous situations, I’m not sure how effective he really is.”

  “Hey, he’s not that bad. It’s just that he’s discovered I’m not really in that much of a danger, if at all. We both think Dad’s just being over the top.”

  “You never know, and a bodyguard worth his salt shouldn’t be thinking that, much less saying that to you.”

  “It’s because we’ve become friends. But he does take his job seriously.”

  Bryce shook his head. “Anyway, I’m happy now that I’m taking over—for the most part.”

  “Me too. But…you’re not gonna get sick of me, right?” She bumped herself against his side.

  Bryce frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re now committed to seeing me every single day. You could get as bored as Kallan.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Will you get sick of me?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Why not?” Bryce murmured, nuzzling her temple.

  She shrugged, a thrill running down her spine.

  “The way I’m feeling, I want to see you all the time,” Bryce declared.

  She grinned, her heart expanding at his words. “You’re the sweetest thing, you know?”

  Bryce kissed her lips. “I’m glad you think so. So where would you like to go for dinner? You want to try the place we were supposed to go to yesterday?”

  Emma tightened her arm around his waist. “Well, I feel like cooking for you tonight. How about we pass by the supermarket and get some groceries, then head home.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Bryce placed his lips against her ear. “Maybe we can have sex first before you cook. I missed you so fucking much.”

  She stifled a giggle, his words doing something to her. “Okay.”

  Bryce briefly caressed her ass, then he steered her towards the entrance to the car park. “You know what? How about we have sex first before we get the groceries?”

  She nodded. Bryce aroused her like no other man had or could. She couldn’t wait to get home and feel him all around her—and inside of her.

  They got to his car and Bryce opened her door. But before she could get in, Bryce took her in his arms. He held her tight, squeezing her like he hadn’t seen her in years instead of a day.

  She closed her eyes and revelled in his affection.

  I love you.

  God, she wanted to say that out loud, but a public car park just wasn’t the place for it.

  Besides, call her a scaredy cat, but the more she felt for Bryce, the more afraid she was that they wouldn’t work out in the end. What if his business started to constantly take him to different parts of Australia, even the globe? He’d just come back from New Zealand for business. Who was to say there wouldn’t be more of those kinds of calls? What if they became regular and he was hardly home? What if he got so sexually frustrated from being away from her a lot that—?

  Hey, shoo!

  She forcefully pushed her negative thoughts aside and looked at him. “We better hurry home.”

  “Great idea,” he murmured. Bryce kissed her hard, his hand straying to her boob before he pressed his hips closer to her.

  Oh God.

  “Let’s go home,” she pleaded again.

  Chapter 17

  Bryce dropped to his couch and raked his hair with his fingers. He wished he was with Aidan right now, poring over all the documents and photos of Kallan. Luckily, with the impressive resources and knowledge base of the Indie Rebels, they’d finally discovered something about the guy even though his records were, indeed, top secret. “So Kallan’s telling the truth?”

  “Yes,” Aidan voice said through the hands-free speakers of Bryce’s phone. “The company he used to work for mainly had government contracts that were all classified. That was why we couldn’t find anything on him previously. If he hadn’t given you that tidbit about the secrecy of his previous employer, we’d still be in the dark. We didn’t think of looking into top level security firms.”

  “How did you get into their systems?”

  “Do you even need to ask that question?” Aidan said dryly.

  Bryce snickered. “So Kallan was actually a competent investigator. That’s probably why Addison wanted him in his team. Wait… Do you think he’s Jester?”

  “I thought he could be Jester. But, no. Our IT guys cross-referenced the times when Jester was trying to hack our system with what we know of Kallan’s movements. It couldn’t possibly be him. Kallan was out and about—sometimes with Emma—when a majority of the hacking was going on. Besides, we couldn’t find anything that suggests he was an IT expert or that he worked on any computer systems.”

  “Right,” Bryce said, disappointed. For a second there, he’d hoped they’d caught their guy.

  He was getting frustrated with their progress. While his relationship with Emma had grown in leaps and bounds in such a short amount of time, his main mission—that of finding Jester—was going nowhere.

  “The chiefs and I are quite worried that Kallan’s questioning the details on your website,” Aidan said. “Our IT guys traced recent clicks on your website, and it came from Kallan’s previous employer. I’d say he asked one of his former coworkers to check you out using systems only available to them. But what I don’t understand is, if he’s working with Addison, why should he be surprised that you have gaps in your info?”

  “Good question. Unless he doesn’t know my history. Addison did instruct me not to talk to him about anything.”

  “Yes, that’s probably it.”

  “So the real question is”—Bryce sighed wearily—“what’s Addison’s reason for putting him in the role as Emma’s bodyguard? I think we can safely say that Addison knows Emma couldn’t possibly be an IR target. His daughter’s innocent, and we don’t have a record of using innocent family members to get to the crime bosses. He probably wants something from Kallan, just as he wants something from Emma. But what?”

  “Yeah. And why is Addison now happy to let Kallan go part-time after offering him substantial money to be Emma’s round-the-clock bodyguard? Because he feels he can trust you?”

  Bryce pursed his lips. “Maybe Kallan was meant to check me out in the first place—No. That can’t be. He’s only started looking into my details recently—two months after I started going out with Emma.”

  “Lots of questions. And the most important ones are: Who the hell is Jester, and where on earth is he?”

  “Maybe once we find out what information Addison wants from Emma, some pieces will fall into place.”

  “Right. So keep charming your way into Addison’s trusted circle. That still seems to be our best bet at this time.”

  A message popped up on Bryce’s phone. He frowned. “I just received a text from a private number, obviously from Addison. He wants me to go back to Auckland for a week.”

  “What for?”

  “No reason given.”

  “When?”

  “In two days. I’m texting back right now to ask why.”

  “A week is a long time. He might be ordering you to do an assignment.”

  Bryce breathed deeply. He’d been dreading the time that Addison would ask him to d
o something against his will or conscience. “I bloody hope not. I’m not ready to pull back.”

  “You might not have a choice. Remember that you have strict orders from the chiefs to go into hiding the minute he asks you to do something heinous. You’ll be risking your life if you hang around him yet not do his bidding.”

  “Well, let’s hope I can charm my way out of it.”

  “You’ll be out of the country, Bryce. We’ll have IRs shadow you in Auckland, but it will take time for us to give you full support there if you happen to need it.”

  “I know. Don’t worry. I’ll think of something,” he said with confidence he didn’t feel. But, damn it, he had to keep his cover no matter what. They’d be back to square one if he had to pull out of this project. Plus, he’d be forced to stay away from Emma. He might never see her again.

  His breathing shallowed. That scared him just as much as Jester successfully hacking the IR system.

  Addison’s reply flashed on his screen.

  I want you to do something for me. Get to the airport at 3pm on Wednesday. I’ll have Ernie meet you with plane tickets.

  “It’s looks like we guessed right,” he said to Aidan, relaying to him Addison’s response.

  “Right. We better prepare for it then. I’ll organise more IRs to follow you this time around.”

  “Copy.”

  Bryce hung up, and he had a sudden hankering to see Emma. He’d dropped her off at her place after picking her up from work earlier, then he’d gone home straight away for his phone meeting with Aidan.

  He dialled her number, his chest tight from some undefined fear—or premonition.

  “Hi, hon,” Emma said cheerfully.

  He smiled at the sound of her voice. “Hey, babe. Still up?”

  “Yeah. I’m watching TV. What’re you doing?”

  “I just finished my call with a client, and I was wondering if I can stay over tonight?”

  “Oh, yes, please,” Emma said readily—happily.

  He chuckled, his heart expanding. They’d already spent the last four days together after he’d come home from Auckland. He was glad she seemed to miss him already, just like he missed her.