Her Covert Protector (Rogue Protectors Book 4)

by Victoria Paige

  Garrison extended his arm. “Gian Ferraro.”

  Slick. That way if Nadia accidentally called him John, with the noise levels here, it wouldn’t be an obvious mistake.

  “Boyfriend, Lisbeth?”

  “Just friends,” Nadia said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d have time to chat with me. I didn’t want to show up alone, you know?”

  Sympathy flashed across Ken’s face, and he lightly put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the group of people he was talking to earlier. “This is my design team. Any of them would hang on your every word. Just talk to them about the drones you use at the LAPD. Ladies and Gentlemen,” Ken said with flourish. “Let me introduce the lovely Nadia Powell.” A fond smile broke through his face. “My gaming pal and my Lisbeth … and oh.” He turned back to her. “Are you going to StreamCon this year?”

  “You betcha,” Nadia replied. StreamCon was similar to ComicCon but for streaming networks. It was a big event for cosplaying.

  “Oh, I’m going, too!” A young woman with bangs and squarish glasses bounced up to her. “Are you going in costume?”

  “Of course.” Nadia grinned.

  “I heard the Hodgetown cast has a panel.” Another of Ken’s computer engineers joined their conversation eagerly. “I’m going as a—”

  “Now, Rupert,” Ken cut his employee off. “Let’s not monopolize Nadia’s time with StreamCon.”

  “But you brought it up, boss,” Rupert argued.

  “Because I know she likes to cosplay. I want to hear who she’s going to go as, not you,” Ken retorted and spun Nadia away from his tech horde. “Sorry about that.”

  “Those are our people, Ken.” Nadia kept the smile on her face but couldn’t keep the ice from her voice.

  “Always standing up for our kind, but …” he paused. “I want to catch up with you. I don’t want to hear about them because I spend my time with them day in and day out.”

  Nadia barely understood his words because the music drowned out the chatter and that only made people speak louder. She was all too aware of the weight of Garrison’s stare burning a hole in her back. She also noticed that Ken’s security moved closer, but her friend waved them off.

  “So, how has the infamous Homeland Security hacker been faring so far?” she asked.

  “Doing well. I just came back from Hong Kong where I audited the infrastructure of a major bank.” Ken was almost yelling, and she could see his spittle flying.

  Ew.

  She surreptitiously inched away. “Must be exciting being so in demand.”

  Her geeky friend laughed … well geekily. A sound she’d associated as a Woody Woodpecker laugh punctuated with snorts. On the old Ken, it was adorable, but somehow for a successful businessman, it was jarring.

  “I have everyone who stood up for me during the investigation to thank for that,” he said with a smile.

  She shot him an enraptured gaze. “So, tell me what your genius is up to now?”

  Ken’s smile transformed from warm to sly. He stopped a server with a tray of drinks and grabbed a red, fruity cocktail. Nadia declined. Her liver didn’t agree well with alcohol and she frequently only drank at home where she could roll directly into bed.

  “Gian?” Ken said politely.

  “I’m good right now,” Garrison grunted.

  Her friend took a sip of his drink. “Have you heard about my Crown-Key?”

  “Vaguely. It came up last year during the SillianNet hack.” It was a wonder she said that with a straight face.

  A genuine sadness came over Ken’s face. “That’s terrible. I’ve offered my services to them before. Is that why Thomas Brandt committed suicide? I heard your task force was on the case.”

  “I can’t comment. You know that.” They’d ventured through an arched hallway and the sound of the music faded into a pounding bass.

  “Wow.” Nadia glanced around.

  “Special acoustics.” Ken stopped, casting a wary glance at Garrison. “I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

  “I’m here for her,” John responded.

  “You can leave her with me now,” Ken said. “Why don’t you enjoy the open bar?” He waggled his brows. “And there are plenty of chicks that dig the seventies gangster look. Tony Montana, right?”

  “I’m not channeling Tony Montana,” John bit out. “And I’m fine tagging wherever.”

  Nadia turned away to stifle a smile. John shouldn’t be offended. He was in disguise anyway.

  Ken exhaled a long-suffering sigh. “Well then, Nadia and I can’t go to my office where I want to show her my latest upgrade to the Crown-Key.” He grinned indulgently at her. “Geeks only allowed. And you, Mr. Ferraro, are not one.”

  Two of his security guys appeared at the mouth of the hallway. That explained Ken’s renewed bravado. He hadn’t changed his taste in clothes, but they were higher quality—even designer—from the looks of them. He still wore flannel over a t-shirt and his beloved checkerboard slip-on sneakers. He’d traded his jeans for dark slacks. His unruly hair was tamed by pomade or gel. But underneath all those designer threads and new hairstyle lived the geek who still hated the jock. And, right now, Ken had the power, and he was relishing it.

  Her gaze locked with Garrison’s. At this moment, if he approached Ken with his offer to put his company under Homeland Security, they’d be thrown out by his security detail.

  Ken’s face lost its affability and turned cold. “Do we have a problem?” He glanced at Nadia. “Are you sure he’s just a friend?”

  “Gian, I’ll be fine.” She slipped her arm into the crook of the tech millionaire’s arm. “Ken and I are old friends. I told you that.”

  Nadia swore John’s right eye twitched. Dammit. This wasn’t exactly their playbook, so she was improvising. Without waiting for the CIA officer’s reply, she said, “Go grab a drink at the bar.” She glanced over her shoulder and winked. “Or like Ken said, a hot chick.”

  Ken broke into his trademark laugh again, and it grated over her nerves but at least their whole operation hadn’t crashed and burned.

  Yet.

  “Whiskey. Neat.”

  John needed a drink, and he needed one now. Otherwise, he’d rip Nadia away from that two-faced pen-test wonder boy. The second John met him, he didn’t buy his “aw, shucks” act one bit. Ken Huxley personally oversaw his company’s deal negotiations, including one with a Chinese conglomerate that was a financial powerhouse. He wouldn’t be intimidated by John with his security surrounding them, nor would Huxley’s ego pass up this opportunity to impress the girl.

  The whiskey appeared and he tossed it back and asked for another.

  He damned near swallowed his tongue when Nadia strutted out of her bedroom wearing a scrap of fabric she called a dress and fuck-me-boots that made his cock thicken. Her platinum hair cascaded over her creamy skin, reminding him how smooth it felt underneath his palms. Heavy liner accentuated her hazel eyes to almost tawny. She might be wearing contacts, but the effect was the same. He was sucked into their depths. The dark red shade she painted on her mouth invited him to devour her with a kiss. And what the hell was that twirl back in the apartment? Letting her skirt do a peekaboo, taunting him with the sight of her bare ass?

  She was playing with fire, but maybe he was doing the same because John seriously questioned his plan to use her as a distraction. At that moment, his concentration was shot. He’d been hoping to exorcise his attraction to her once and for all, but once he set eyes on Nadia again, he recognized the futility of that attempt. It was a good thing Stephen Powell showed up when he did because John’s erection promptly deflated. But once Nadia met him outside her apartment, he had to try very hard not to wonder if she was wearing panties.

  She clearly wasn’t wearing a bra.

  The ride to Huxley’s penthouse was pure torture.

  The ride up the elevator was heaven in hell.

  John kept a grip on her shoulders when what his fingers itched to do was slide under her skirt
, rub her clit, and finger fuck her until she’d come against him in an elevator full of people.

  It would be so easy with how short her skirt was, so easy to slide down that strap and cup her naked tit.

  He sat up when visions of Huxley pawing Nadia assailed his thoughts, of that son of a bitch chasing her around the office with his zipper down, and his dick in hand, wanting to thrust it into her pussy.

  Fuck this.

  Nadia going in there alone wasn’t even close to the game plan. If it were, he would have suggested she wear a wire. He was not down with that at all. He was crashing into that room and yanking her out of there. To hell with the consequences.

  Another drink appeared in front of him. He tossed that back too and sprinted back to the hallway that led to the millionaire’s office.

  Two of Huxley’s security guys ran past him and headed the same way.

  Fuck.

  He quickened his steps but was blocked by security before he cleared the hallway.

  “You’re leaving with me, Mr. Ferraro.”

  “Not without—”

  “Don’t touch me!” Nadia’s yell echoed from inside the room framed by open double-doors.

  Before the security man in front of him could react, John punched him across the face and cracked his head against his knee.

  Nadia appeared at the open door, two more of Huxley’s security clutching her on either arm. “Let me go! I’ll walk out on my own.”

  “Throw her out of here,” Ken said from behind her and then spying John, he scowled. “I should have known better. You’re a Fed, aren’t you?”

  John stalked toward them. “Get your hands off her …”

  “Or what?” Ken challenged as he nodded to one of the men holding Nadia. That man pulled a gun and aimed it at John. “You’re on my property. Invited, but now I’m uninviting both of you.”

  Nadia turned to Ken. “You don’t know what danger you’re in. Look what happened to Brandt.”

  “Please,” Ken scoffed. “You know the chatter on the dark web is that Thomas Brandt was responsible for the SillianNet mess last year. Someone probably took him out.” He glanced at John. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the government since it affected several institutions including the Justice Department, and the Office of Personnel Management. Now there’s a big leak. Every single background check of every person who worked for the government is stored in there. That’s what the government should be worrying about, not me—a man who makes an honest living by helping companies improve their security.”

  The man had a point, but it didn’t lessen the urge to wipe his smug expression on the floor, especially with Nadia looking so agitated.

  “I’m not going to repeat myself,” John said evenly. “Get your fucking hands off her.”

  “Or what?” The security challenged with a laugh.

  John probably didn’t look intimidating with his gold chains and his dark unbuttoned shirt, looking like a disco-era has-been. But he knew the background of every man in Huxley’s security detail, and the one who would have given him the most trouble was unconscious.

  Now this man with the gun, who he’d nicknamed Dumb and the guy on Nadia’s right he’d called Dumber, both barely passed Basic and had hardly seen any action when they were deployed. Besides, John could easily read them.

  He advanced a step.

  “John,” Nadia admonished.

  Go ahead and struggle, sweetheart. Now is when I need the distraction.

  “Stay back, Mr. Ferraro.” Dumb’s hand holding the gun wavered.

  Another step. He hated that alias. It was pretentious.

  It did serve his purpose. On his third step, and when he was within reaching distance of Dumb’s gun, Dumber went for his weapon too.

  “Stop it!” Nadia squirmed.

  Without taking his eyes off Dumb’s alarmed ones, John deftly slapped the barrel to the left with his right hand, and with his other, yanked it forward while disarming and unloading the magazine. Before Dumb could react, he elbowed him square on his face, and blood splattered, making him release his hold on Nadia. John grabbed her arm and yanked her forward while Dumber still fumbled with his weapon, giving him an opening to kick him above the knee.

  Dumber collapsed to the ground.

  By this time, John had Nadia behind him and backed away with her.

  Ken stared at him open-mouthed and then at his crew who were groaning on the ground.

  Another three security men rushed in with weapons drawn. The one John knocked out in the hallway staggered after them.

  “We’re leaving,” John said. This would have ended more civilly if they hadn’t put their hands on Nadia. “I gave you all fair warning to let her go.”

  “I wasn’t going to let them harm her,” Ken protested. “I just don’t like being deceived.” He glared at Nadia. “I knew working for the LAPD would corrupt you. Now you’re like everyone in the government.”

  “Think this through, Ken,” she implored. John had moved them around the perimeter, never taking his eyes off Huxley’s men.

  “Get out of here,” the tech millionaire demanded.

  He wrapped his arms around Nadia, and moved her along, keeping her shielded as they left Huxley’s penthouse.

  4

  “Oh my God,” Nadia pressed an arm across her belly. “That was wild.”

  As much as she hated admitting it, Garrison had been incredibly hot, swooping in so calmly and disarming Ken’s security. Her lady bits definitely noticed and … Was it hot in here? Taking a peek at the brooding man beside her, he hadn’t said more than two words at a time since they left Ken’s soiree. In fact, he only said two sentences.

  When the elevator arrived.

  “Get in.”

  When they got to the Escalade.

  “Get in.”

  Terse. Angry.

  She exhaled a heavy sigh. “You’re mad at me.”

  He cut her a brief glance. “I wonder why that is.”

  “There was no other way. He wouldn’t have let you in there. So I said your piece for you.”

  Electricity zinged between them. It was as if she were tethered to him and felt his every emotion. He was displeased with her.

  No. Displeased was putting it mildly. He was angry.

  Furious.

  “You said my piece for me.” All his statements were controlled and monotone. She was used to this from John. He rarely lost his composure. Except that one night a couple of weeks ago.

  She blocked that memory before it took form. No way was that happening again.

  “You were in there for ten minutes—”

  “It felt longer than that,” she said. Maybe because she wasn’t that comfortable without John at her back.

  “What,” he gritted. “Happened back there? Did he show you any of the Crown-Key at all?”

  “Yes. It’s an upgrade all right.” And what it could do gave her the chills.

  “And?”

  “Without the visual he showed me, it’s hard to explain, but I understood right away what it could do. I’m not a fan of government involvement myself, but this is akin to a cyber-weapon in the wrong hands.”

  John let out a string of expletives. “We’ll talk at the house. Right now, we’re making a detour.”

  “What?”

  “We have a tail.”

  “Oh.”

  “He probably knows where you live,” he said.

  “I don’t think Ken is capable of murder, but, dammit, I hope he doesn’t hack into the LAPD.”

  “Not in his profile to do anything malicious that could land him under fed scrutiny again. He’s got too much to lose. Not that he won’t try and make you sweat a bit.”

  That didn’t give Nadia the warm fuzzies, and she worried for a moment about the security of her team’s computer network.

  Garrison glowered at the rearview mirror. “Taking you back to Assassin’s Hill.”

  “I need to get my laptop and log into work to make sure eve
rything is secure.”

  “You can do it at my place. Your task force gave me log in credentials a while back, remember? I’m sure you can configure one if I don’t have it.”

  “Yup.” She had her phone on her person. Her authenticator app was installed on it. So why were her lungs suddenly tight? What exactly was going to happen when they arrived at Garrison’s house? The last time they were alone, they didn’t do much talking.

  “Text your dad not to look for you tonight.”

  “I’ll call—”

  “No. Text. He’ll ask too many questions.”

  “Are you afraid of my dad, John?”

  A derisive chuckle rumbled in his chest, but he didn’t answer. Guess he was busy trying to lose the tail.

  As he made turns at breakneck speed, Nadia’s fingernails bit into the dashboard and the side of the door. Big SUVs weren’t made to turn on a dime, but John seemed to wield this one expertly without flipping them over. They pulled into a neighborhood she didn’t recognize. It looked shady as hell, and when they approached an alley, John shot past it before bumping the gear in reverse and backed between two buildings. Vehicles sped by them, and when a black, or maybe midnight blue, sedan flashed past them, Garrison muttered, “Gotcha.”

  “That the one?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe you can take me home now,” she said when their SUV pulled back onto the road.

  The tether between them grew taut.

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “We have things to talk about—you and I.”

  “I’m sure this can wait for tomorrow.”

  “I won’t be here tomorrow.”

  “Oh, another clandestine op?” she huffed. What else is new? “What exactly do you want to know? I can’t explain it to you without graphics. I need to write down what I remember so I can let our graphics guy model one for you.”

  “No need. We already know it’s capable of breaking into most networks and taking control of the system.”

  “Then what?”

  “Why did you wear that dress, Nadia?” John was looking straight ahead. “Was your plan to drive me crazy?”