Unexpected Guardian (Skyline Trilogy Book 3)

by Willow Summers

  Mike would hole up in his office, plans and papers all over the place. Erika would show up with coffee and a smile, ready to get the day going. Ada…well. Time to forget about normal. Normal was shot to hell.

  Jenna sharpened her urge to break into tears, turned it into a hard edge. It was a brittle edge at the moment, but eventually it would strengthen and become part of her. It would be another stream of lava hidden inside her, bubbling and brewing.

  She walked past Don’s assistant without looking at her. She heard the “Now, wait just a minute, he’s—” as she pushed open the door and walked in.

  Don looked up with a warning in his eyes that quickly quieted. “Jenna. Where the hell were you?” He waved away the assistant.

  “Working,” she said, no-nonsense. “We need to talk.”

  “I’m a little busy, Jenna. That’s why I asked to speak with you over an hour ago.”

  “The day doesn’t officially start until nine.”

  “You got here at seven.”

  “Your point?”

  Don leaned back in his massive chair, behind his massive desk, and massaged his slightly less than massive stomach. He’d lost some weight. Looking closer, Jenna noticed his hair was slightly thinner, his face haggard, and his eyes carried worry lines that hadn’t been there before this all started.

  “Having a hell of a time, huh, Don?” Jenna asked, taking a seat.

  “Yeah, kid. A helluva time. I hear you are, too.”

  Jenna smoothed her hair back. “It hasn’t been real fun.”

  “So, I figured we should go over the plans.”

  “Let’s do that with what’s left of the team. I have everything together. Hopefully we can make up for lost time with what I figured out on the nature hikes you forced on us. I meant to bring back the boots you kindly bought me, but—”

  Jenna nearly choked on the words. Doing flippant or indifferent wouldn’t work with the memory of shooting a man. She pulled it all back, hard, and tucked it away.

  A very brittle edge. It wasn’t good.

  A knowing gleam infused Don’s eyes, followed by sympathy. “You need the number of a counselor?” he asked softly.

  “Some things can’t be said to counselors, Don.”

  “Don’t I know it, kid. Don’t I know it. I’ve been there. And you know enough about me to know that’s true. It never goes away—I won’t say that it does. But you learn to live with it sooner or later.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay. Well, let’s get material, shall we? I sent you a proposal for a settlement. Janice has some damn good lawyers—I’m keeping in mind that you will, too. Plus, you’ll make my life a living hell if I don’t come through, and I’m not in the mood. So hopefully it’ll work.”

  “Is the settlement good for Janice and her people?”

  “We haven’t gotten that far yet. We’re just throwing around numbers.”

  “All right, I’ll have a look. Is anyone here yet? Is anyone coming in?”

  “Erika is in. Mike is, too, and looking like hell. Lewis has gone, which is probably no surprise. Janice has gone, and Dale…”

  “Yeah.”

  “So we come to the subject of bodyguards.”

  Jenna scoffed. “I’ve been in danger in New York before. I can handle it.”

  “All the same.”

  “Don’t want one.”

  “Don’t care. He’ll be here tomorrow. He looks really good on paper. He—”

  “Don, I don’t care. I don’t want him. I’ve had enough people fawning over me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to see Mike.”

  “Fine, go. Next time, show up to your meeting on time.”

  Jenna waved to him as she left the office. Ignoring the glower from the assistant as she passed by, she found Mike’s office and knocked softly on the open door. Mike looked up from behind a pile of papers, his eyes bloodshot and sporting dark circles. He was looking haggard, too. There was no other word for it. He looked like he’d aged four years in the last four days.

  “Mike, I am so glad to see you safe,” Jenna said, not having to fake her relief.

  A cockeyed smile crept up his face. “I think that is the only time you’ve ever said something feminine to me.”

  “Feminine?”

  “Yeah. Caring.”

  “Men don’t care?”

  “Men don’t gush when they care.”

  “Go screw yourself.”

  Mike grinned tiredly. “That’s the girl I know. Come to see what I’ve done?”

  “No, come to make a plan for what we have to do. But if you’ve been working, let’s see.”

  “Get Erika in. We might as well do it together. We’re all that’s left, right?”

  Jenna nodded, sharpening that edge. “Lewis was my fault, but yeah, we’re it.”

  “Lewis wasn’t much help anyway. I’m going to miss Janice, though. And even though Dale was a pervert, he had some good ideas when everyone else was stumped.”

  “You doing better with what happened?”

  Mike slumped in his chair. “Some days. I’ve come to terms with it, with the guilt. I can’t get it out of my mind, though. All that blood—” Mike shook himself.

  “Yeah. It didn’t really hit me until this morning. Anyway,” Jenna said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She needed a vacation from her life. “I’ll get Erika and meet you in the conference room in, what, thirty?”

  “Yeah.” Mike looked at the mountain of paper topping his desk.

  Jenna left Mike and braced herself against the hall wall for a second. She needed to get things under control. She needed to compartmentalize everything and store it away in her brain. This return to real life after the events of the last week was proving a lot harder than she thought it was going to be. It made her appreciate just how far she’d come since the traumas of her youth. Also, just how screwed up she really had been.

  And she missed Josh. Refusing to admit it would get her nowhere. She missed him. Acutely. It was an ache that wouldn’t go away.

  Just one more thing to get over.

  Erika was sitting at her desk, working diligently. Surprisingly, sitting in the corner, reading with his ankle crossed over his knee, was Jax.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenna asked Jax. “You her pet poodle?”

  Jax licked the pad of his finger before turning a page. “She got me the bodyguarding gig. Someone had to do it, so why not a cop, right?” He looked at her a little more closely. “You okay?”

  Jenna barely kept herself from rubbing her face—she’d destroy her makeup—and took a seat. “It all just hit me.”

  Jax nodded in sympathy. “I wondered.”

  “It’s fine.” Jenna sat straighter. “Erika, we’re meeting. When will you be ready?”

  “I’m not done yet, Jenna. I just have a couple more things to do.” Erika’s movements became hurried.

  “No problem. How about thirty minutes?”

  Erika leaned against her desk with a confused scowl. “Thirty minutes?” She straightened up. “Aren’t you stressed, mad, impatient, or angry that the team is not all here?”

  “It’s just you, Mike, and me. Mike will be ready in thirty, my stuff is done for now—what’s the problem?”

  “Why aren’t you being a bitch about it?” Erika braced a hand to her hip.

  Jenna grinned, ready to spin a sarcastic comment, before she realized Erika was being serious. “Will you be ready in thirty minutes or not?”

  “Yes. That’s plenty of time.” Erika’s brow scrunched up. “Is this a trick?”

  “Erika—” Jenna was losing her patience with this dog and pony show. “What is your problem? What do you want, me to yell at you? Well hurry the fuck up, will you! If you had spent less time screwing and more time working last night, we wouldn’t have to wait for your slow ass. Better?”

  Erika relaxed. “Yes, actually. I remember that Jenna. This easygoing, life-is-a-peach Jenna is a stranger. She freaks me out.”

  “Y
ou freak me out, psycho. Do your work. Quit stalling.”

  The group worked like dogs all day. Without Lewis to constantly tell Jenna that her ideas were bad, and without Dale to cause distraction, work was churned out faster than ever. They had a few disagreements, and they talked through various ideas, but mostly, they just worked off each other and divided up the tasks equally.

  When the day was long past done, they’d sifted through a week’s worth of work. It was amazing the time saved without bickering, not to mention Jenna had never seen the two toil so hard. She pointed it out.

  “I want to get this building done and get the hell out of here,” Mike said. “The family and I want to move to the West Coast. I hear it’s more mellow out there.”

  Jenna was shocked into silence.

  “I want to get this building done and get the hell out of here, too,” Erika replied, which didn’t shock Jenna all that much. It was old news.

  “So, what you’re saying is, you’re all abandoning ship, and I’ll be left on my own?”

  Mike nodded with absolute conviction. “Sorry, Jenna, I love you—sometimes—but last week shook me. I gotta get out. This shit is for the birds.”

  Erika only looked marginally guilty as she nodded.

  As they all walked out, Erika and Jenna waved goodbye to Mike. Apparently he wouldn’t be getting his bodyguard until the following day either.

  Erika turned to Jenna. “Dinner?”

  Jenna caught Jax looking around them, seeking out danger. It reminded her of Josh. It was the last reminder she wanted. “Nah. I think I’ll do a little yoga, get a beer, and then turn in.”

  “On your own?” Erika asked.

  “Erika, I’ve lived in this city all my life. I’ll be fine.”

  Erika dug her elbow into Jax’s midsection.

  “Ouch, woman.” Jax looked down at her in obvious confusion. “What?”

  “Jenna wants to go out alone,” Erika said slowly. She waited for a reaction and was rewarded with a blank look. “A little help convincing her not to?”

  Jax glanced at Jenna before his gaze went back to sweeping their surroundings. “She’ll be fine. She’s tough.”

  “See?” Jenna said.

  “Are you serious?” Erika balled her fists and faced Jax.

  “See you all later,” Jenna said, using the distraction.

  “Wait, Jenna—”

  Jenna waved over her shoulder. She got a cab home, changed into yoga clothes, and headed to the gym. After a hard workout, and as she was leaving, her stomach growled. She realized that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so she took herself to a nearby pub and got a burger and a beer.

  The beer turned into many beers, the result of unwanted memories constantly popping up. When things got fuzzy, she staggered out and walked home, not feeling an ounce of danger the whole way. Or much of anything, really. It was a lovely change.

  If only she could work while drunk. It would sure help the sadness, panic, and other lingering effects of the last couple weeks.

  Safely back in her apartment, she hit the bed facedown with all her clothes on. Smelling of beer and spilled ketchup, she fell asleep, dreading the next day.

  Chapter Three

  Jenna woke up with drool on the side of her face and sticky hair plastered to her skin. She smacked her lips and identified the problem—she’d left the window open for some reason.

  Huffing, she threw back the sheet and stood, noticing her panties. They were the ugly ones—she had to do laundry. She glanced around, not finding her clothes from the night before.

  After closing the window, and then checking the air conditioning to make sure it was still on—what a waste of money—she found her clothes in the dirty hamper. Drunken autopilot was a wonderful thing. If only she could program herself to clean toilets in that state, she’d be all set.

  She got to the office with a slight headache and in no mood to tolerate anyone. No one was in yet, as usual, so she checked her email. Finding nothing urgent, she decided to start on Jax’s house. Designing had always been a hobby, and with so many problems with the building, the love of it seemed to have fallen away. She hoped that doing something on the side might spike her love of design again.

  Going over Erika’s notes, it immediately became apparent that she was trying to spare expense. Her fixes were as boring as the original ideas, and judging by Erika’s description, that was boring indeed. It wouldn’t do. The fact that houses in that part of the world were a fraction of what Jenna dealt with in Manhattan, if Jenna put her stamp on something, it would rock. Nothing else would do.

  At around nine thirty Jenna stopped what she was doing and went to check on Mike and Erika. Mike didn’t even look up when Jenna poked her head in. There was paper strewn all over his desk in piles and eddies, some sliding off the edge of the worn wood. She’d never seen him work so hard. It was so daunting, and more than a little sad, that he wanted to get out of there so badly.

  “You okay?” Jenna asked, not entering his space.

  Mike looked up, the dark circles under his eyes more pronounced. “Didn’t sleep well last night. I’ve got my family in that house, you know? What if someone gets in?”

  Jenna leaned against the door, her heart going out to him. “Can you send them somewhere else for a while?”

  “They’re leaving today. But…”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  Mike shrugged. “I get a bodyguard today, so…”

  “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Jenna,” Mike said tiredly before he looked back down at his work.

  Jenna could hear Erika’s delighted babbles as she neared Erika’s office. She paused in the doorway.

  Erika glanced up and smiled. “How was your night?”

  Coming from Mike, Erika’s mood was a shock. Jenna just stared.

  Erika’s smile faltered. A knot worked through her brow.

  “Do we need to move Jax elsewhere so you can get some work done?” Jenna asked in a flat tone.

  “Ah crap, that Jenna is back. And I thought yesterday was the new you.”

  “Yesterday I didn’t have a headache named Erika. Work.”

  “Guess what the pain in my ass is called?”

  “Jax.” Jenna couldn’t help a smirk as she moved on.

  Back at her desk, she noticed a missed appointment with Don. She hit “ignore.” She didn’t need a bodyguard, and she didn’t feel like walking in there to get one. She was a half-hour late, anyway. With any luck, the man had gotten annoyed and taken off.

  She nearly ignored the new email from Don, too, but the attachment drew her eye. It was the proposal. She opened it and took a quick glance.

  Anger boiled immediately.

  The next second she was bursting into Don’s office, trailed by an irate assistant.

  “Just opened your proposal, Don. Care to enlighten me as to why you are trying to lowball me?”

  “Miss Anderson, really, you can’t—”

  Don waved his assistant away, his eyes on Jenna. “You missed the meeting.” His fingers were steepled in front of his face. He had his money hat on.

  Jenna squared her shoulders to his blunt stare. “Don, fifty thousand dollars? I make two fifty a year without the bonus or benefits factored in, and you think a measly fifty is enough to appease me after being shot at? And I better not find out you gave Erika less than that. My lawyers are her lawyers on this one.”

  “Miss Anderson, this isn’t the time to talk figures.”

  “I think it’s exactly the time to talk figures. Either get me what I want, or get someone else to say cheese when you try to sell this building.”

  “You are contractually obligated to have those pictures taken.”

  “You can attempt to sue my contractually obligated ass if you so choose, but I have already had all the loopholes mapped, and let me tell you, Don, I’ll walk away with a giant settlement, a bonus, and a big, fat fuck you if you push me.”

 
“What makes you think this week-long incident is worth more than you got?”

  “Are you serious?” Jenna talked very slowly so he caught everything. “Don, a coworker got shot and bled on me. I am severely messed up because of it. I cry myself to sleep at nights and think about cutting myself. I’ve even considered suicide because I can’t deal with the burden.”

  “Can it with the dramatics.”

  “I can cry on cue, Don, if that would help? Or how about pout? Better not put me in front of a male judge.”

  “That might push you to seventy-five, but not much more.”

  “Not much more? I had a gunman track me through the fucking woods, Don. I bet the media would love that. Give me what I want, or I’ll bankrupt this company.”

  “Again with the dramatics. You aren’t bankrupting anything. You wanna play hardball, kid? Well, then, can you prove any of that happened?”

  Crap. That was the big ol’ chink in the chain. She couldn’t very well say she could produce two bodies, but hold on, please, she had to go dig them up first.

  Then an idea came to her.

  “Of course. Witnesses.”

  “Witnesses?”

  “Yes, who will testify that I ran away and, obviously, got away, but I have been different ever since.”

  “And who are these witnesses?”

  “Men a jury and judge will listen to. Honorable men that fought for their country.”

  “Uh huh. And if you don’t have them under your thumb yet, you will, huh?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Well, that’s all well and good. An honorable citizen, such as yourself, would have filed a report or called someone.”

  “Obviously.”

  “So you called the cops on these alleged gunmen?”

  “Yes, I can have a sergeant testify to it.”

  “Is that right?”

  “It is. Also, someone shot at Erika in broad daylight at the mall, of all places. All sorts of witnesses there.”

  Don was drumming on the desk with his fingers. “Let me think on it. We’ll talk money another time.”

  “Four hundred.”