Personal Protector

by Debra Webb

  The sound of metal scraping across concrete jerked Ric from the haze of lust. He stilled, listening over the sound of their frantic breathing. His erection pulsed inside her slick walls. Another indistinguishable sound reached him. He strained to listen, to determine whether the sound was closer. Piper moved. Ric almost groaned out loud. He tried to hold her still, but she kept on moving. Slow. Little. Moves. His fingers tightened around her waist. He needed to listen…but she just kept on moving.

  She moaned softly and started to come around him. He could feel her body clenching, squeezing him to the point of pain. The explosion hit them both at the same time. Light and sensation behind his tightly closed lids and the roar of blood in his ears. He covered her mouth with his and took her urgent cry as she took his.

  They sagged together, holding each other tight, both struggling to slow their ragged breath. Ric listened for any sound beyond their savage gasping. Nothing. He would wait a while longer to be sure the guy wasn’t coming back. Then he would go down and check things out. When Ric was satisfied it was safe for Piper to come out, he would get her back to the hotel.

  But for now, all he could do was hold her and pray he could walk away from her when this was over.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ric didn’t breathe easily until he and Piper had reached the hotel lobby. And then it hit him like a sledgehammer in the gut. Tonight’s little outing had been a huge risk. He should never have allowed Piper to talk him into it…but he would have done most anything to make her happy.

  He punched the call button for the elevator and ushered her inside the moment the doors opened. If Townsend had knocked on their door for anything, he was going to be furious for being left out of the loop like this. And Raine was probably madder than hell that Ric had lost him. Just before the elevator doors closed, an arm poked inside, sending the doors gliding apart again.

  Tension raced up Ric’s spine. He had the weapon out of its holster and held carefully out of sight before the doors opened fully. He braced himself squarely in front of Piper. A tall, sandy-haired man, his mouth set in a grim line, stepped onto the elevator and leveled a hard, unyielding gaze on Ric.

  Jack Raine.

  Damn.

  His eyes never deviating from Ric, Raine stabbed the button for their floor and leaned against the wall in a relaxed stance as the car jerked into motion.

  From the clenched jaw to the lethal stare it was quite clear that Raine was pissed. Ric was too emotionally drained to work up any real anxiety over what the man thought of the fool thing Ric had done. He hadn’t been thinking. He’d been feeling, which was a dangerous thing in this business. And he knew it. He tucked the weapon into his waistband at the small of his back and attempted to relax.

  “Martinez,” Piper murmured quietly.

  He turned to her, seeing the question in her eyes. “Don’t worry, querida. He’s on our side.” He vaguely wondered if she would remember Raine as their limo driver that first night.

  She nodded, then peeked around Ric to get a better look at Raine. Ric was pretty sure the man had a few choice words to say to him. The bad part was, Ric didn’t blame him. He’d screwed up big-time. Taken an unnecessary risk with the principal he was supposed to protect.

  The elevator stopped on the top floor and Raine exited first. Ric and Piper followed. When they reached the door to their suite, Raine turned to Ric.

  “The room’s clear, so Miss Ryan can go on in, but we need to talk, Martinez.”

  It wasn’t a request.

  “All right.”

  Piper looked uncertain, but she obeyed when Ric angled his head toward the door to their suite. Once she was inside, he turned back to Raine. “Where are Townsend and Green?”

  Raine nodded to the door across the hall. “You’re in it deep, buddy,” he said flatly. “In fact, I can truthfully say that I definitely wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

  Ric met his lead-filled glare evenly. “You called Lucas.”

  Raine scoffed. “You’re damned right I did. You call me and inform me that you and Miss Ryan are taking a little outing when you know she’s been confined to quarters. Then you disappear from the club with not one but two hostiles hot on your heels.”

  “I lost them,” Ric said, grinding out the words.

  “I can see that. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” Raine’s gaze changed a little; maybe just the tiniest bit of respect flickered there. “You know how to handle yourself, Martinez. That’s not the problem.”

  Anger erupted inside Ric. “You’re damned right I do. I’ve been the one who’s gotten her out of harm’s way every time. So don’t give me any grief, Raine.”

  “Oh, you misunderstand, compadre.” Raine chuckled softly. “I don’t have a problem with your job performance. Hell, I’d team up with you anytime.” He leaned forward, putting himself nose-to-nose with Martinez. “But I ain’t sleeping with Lucas’s one and only niece. He’s going to be supremely pissed, my friend. You have my sincerest sympathy. I’ll be sure and come to your funeral.”

  A red mist swam before Ric’s eyes. “What’s between Piper and me is none of your business, man,” he said tightly.

  Raine shook his head. “You’re right, it’s not. But when Lucas gets through with you, you’ll wish it wasn’t yours, either.” Raine hitched a thumb toward the door. “By the way, he’s waiting for you.”

  Ric’s anger dissolved instantly. Lucas Camp was here. Inside. No doubt waiting to take Ric’s head off.

  “Oh, yeah,” Raine said, obviously noting the sudden pallor that slid over Ric’s face. “For future reference, Martinez, when Lucas Camp gives an order, follow it. Don’t deviate, don’t even hesitate.” Raine leaned forward again and sniffed. “And I think the first thing I’d do is wash off the scent of his niece. He’s killed for a lot less.”

  Ric ignored that last remark. “The blonde from the art auction was with the guy.”

  Raine nodded. “Yeah, tailing her is how I lost the two of you.”

  “Did you nail her?”

  “Of course.” Raine glanced at his watch. “But she didn’t want to talk.”

  Ric frowned. “You killed her?”

  Raine shook his head slowly from side to side. “Didn’t have to. When she realized I had her, she ate a bullet from her own weapon.”

  Ric swore.

  Raine inclined his head toward the suite door. “Lucas is waiting.” He flashed Ric one last look of sympathy then walked away.

  Ric was a dead man.

  If Lucas Camp didn’t kill him, Victoria Colby would.

  “UNCLE LUCAS, YOU DO NOT rule my life,” Piper insisted impatiently. The nerve of the man showing up here in the middle of the night to chastise her for going out. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was twenty-seven years old. She was way past being put on curfew.

  His steady stare told her that she was wasting her time trying to get that concept through his thick skull. “You’re in protective custody, young lady. You don’t give the federal agents assigned to guard you the slip when you’re in protective custody,” he said calmly.

  But Piper knew he wasn’t calm. In fact, she couldn’t ever recall seeing him this angry. His face was beet red and a vein throbbed in his forehead. She swallowed with difficulty, then sagged with defeat, dropping into the closest chair. She sure didn’t want to be the cause of her uncle having an aneurysm or stroke.

  “Now they know for sure that you’re here,” he added too evenly. “The whole point of bringing you here was to keep them from finding you.”

  Piper shook her head. “They had to know I was here. They had to be watching,” she suggested meekly, not wanting to antagonize him further.

  “Maybe so,” he said tightly. “But you didn’t have to give them such an open target.”

  “All right, I know I shouldn’t have gone out. I guess it was a mistake,” she admitted wearily. “But you know how I hate this town.” She closed her eyes and pushed away the unbidden and painful images that tried
to form in her head. “It brings back too many bad memories for me.”

  Lucas took the three steps necessary to stand directly in front of her. He lowered himself onto the table facing her. “I know you don’t like being here, Piper, but it was the only way I could ensure your safety and at the same time facilitate this interview you seem so determined to do, come hell or high water.” He patted her hand. “You know I’ve always tried to take care of you, to make up for your father’s absence.”

  Piper rubbed her hands over her face. She didn’t want to talk about this again. Rehashing the past would change nothing about how she felt. “I know, Uncle Lucas, and I’m grateful for all you’ve done.” She reached out and cupped his very dear, and very worried, face. “I love you. But I’m not a child anymore.” She dropped her hands to her lap and sighed tiredly. She really was extremely tired. A secret smile warmed her heart when she considered just how Martinez had worn her out. “I know what I did tonight wasn’t so bright, and I’m sorry if I made you worry, but I had Martinez with me.”

  The expression on her uncle’s face changed instantly. Fury darkened his gray eyes. “So I’ve heard.”

  Piper frowned, uncertain what all that uncharacteristic animosity was about. “Anyway, I know he’s just a cameraman, but he saved my life. Jumped between a bullet and me,” she added emphatically just in case Lucas hadn’t heard, which was highly unlikely. “I knew I’d be safe with him. He carries a gun and knows how to handle himself. I just couldn’t stand it, cooped up here another minute.” She took her uncle’s hands in hers. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  “You know I don’t blame you, Piper.” He studied her for a moment, before he continued, his voice tight. “Raine says that you and Martinez are…involved.”

  Piper blushed to the roots of her hair. She and Lucas had never talked about sex. For that matter, neither had she and her mother.

  “Is that true?” her uncle prodded.

  She adopted an indignant expression. “I can’t believe you would ask me a question as private as that. I’m an adult. My sex life, and with whom I choose to conduct it, are most certainly none of your business.”

  Lucas looked away. “I’m going to kill him.”

  Appalled at her uncle’s words, Piper’s mouth dropped open, but the outrage she intended to display died a sure and swift death when she saw the lethal look in his eyes. He was serious. Martinez chose that precise moment to walk into the room. Piper could tell by the look on his face that Raine had already warned him that her uncle was not happy. She frowned. How was it that Ric knew all about Raine and she didn’t?

  Ric felt the muscle in his jaw begin to tic the moment Lucas stood and faced him. Ric clenched it in an effort to stop the rhythmic jerk, but his attempt failed. Ignoring the fierce glare directed at him, he shifted his gaze to Piper, smiled and winked. She looked somewhat rumpled but so beautiful that his heart instantly melted. He didn’t care what Camp had to say to him; what he’d shared with Piper was worth any price.

  “It’s time we told Piper the truth about who you really are,” Lucas said bluntly.

  Ric winced inwardly at the look of confusion that captured Piper’s expression. Any price, he amended, but this one. “Can we talk privately first?”

  Lucas shook his head. “I should have told her from the beginning and spared her the hurt she’s going to suffer now because of your lack of professionalism.”

  “But you don’t understand—” Ric argued, his blood going from boiling to freezing instantly.

  “I understand perfectly,” Lucas returned angrily. “You allowed my niece to become intimately involved with you while you were on duty.”

  “On duty?” Piper was standing now, looking from her uncle to Ric for an explanation.

  “This is not what you think,” Ric said quickly, in an effort to head off the hurt he knew would follow Lucas’s bombshell. But there was no way to explain away the facts.

  “This isn’t entirely his fault,” Lucas said tautly. “It was my idea for him to work undercover as your cameraman. Hell, I even set it up for him to stay in your neighbor’s apartment, so he’d be close to you. But I never expected him to let it get personal.” Lucas glared at Ric then. “He was supposed to protect you—nothing else.”

  Ric watched the color drain from Piper’s face and his heart sank all the way to the floor. He’d wanted to tell her himself, to try and make her understand somehow. “I wanted you to hear it from me first,” he managed to get past the lump at the back of his throat, but he barely recognized his own voice. The look of devastation on Piper’s face trampled his heart already lying at his feet. No matter what was said, he couldn’t take back the hurt he saw in her eyes at that moment. And he knew that hurt would grow. He could imagine no reason she would ever forgive him. He should have told her already. He’d had the perfect opportunity, but he’d been selfish. He didn’t want to give up whatever time they had together. And now they were both going to pay for his selfishness.

  Piper felt weak, as if she might faint. This couldn’t be right. She shook her head in denial of her uncle’s charges. But Martinez’s words confirmed her worst fears. I wanted you to hear it from me first. He was working in one capacity or another for her uncle. He wasn’t a cameraman. He wasn’t the man she thought she knew at all. He had lied. He was a total stranger. And she’d trusted him, made love with him….

  “Let me explain,” Martinez said, starting toward her. “I didn’t mean for things to happen this way.”

  Fury crashed down around her. She didn’t want to hear his excuses or his explanations. She held up her hand to halt his coming nearer. “Don’t.” She shuddered inwardly at the look of hurt on his handsome face. But she refused to care if she hurt him or not. She was dying inside and it was his fault. He’d lied to her.

  “I thought I was doing the right thing,” Lucas said quietly. “I hired Martinez as your personal protector. I wanted someone right by your side every minute of every day to keep you safe. Someone outside all the political crap. It was my decision to keep his identity a secret. Not his.”

  She cut her uncle a scathing gaze. Was he trying to get her to go easy on his hired help now? “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  Lucas shook his head. “No, I guess not. But it is the truth.”

  She looked from her uncle to Martinez. “Oh, this is a fine time to decide to tell me the truth.” She braced her hands on her hips. “Both of you lied to me.” She glared at Martinez with all the disgust she could muster. “You could have told me while you were making love to me.” Her voice trembled. Dammit, she didn’t want to cry. “Or were you having too much fun to do the right thing?”

  How could he look so sincerely remorseful?

  He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t seem to form the words for a few seconds. “I’ll leave if that’s what you want.” He dragged his gaze from her to Lucas. “But I would prefer to stay on and finish the job I was hired to do.”

  Hurt and anger bubbled over inside Piper. “I want you to leave,” she said shakily, very near tears. How could he even think of staying now?

  Martinez only looked at her, his expression so distressed she could hardly bear to look at him. And she hated herself for caring.

  “He stays,” Lucas announced in a commanding tone that left no room for protest.

  Piper protested anyway. “No way. I don’t want to be near him.” She hugged herself and tried to push away the images of Martinez making slow, sweet love to her.

  “I’ll keep my distance,” Martinez offered quietly. “But, please, don’t shut me out. You know I won’t allow anything to happen to you. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You know that.”

  Piper rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. He was right about protecting her. He’d proven that to her more than once. Apparently encouraged by her silence, he turned to Lucas for confirmation, and something clicked in Piper’s memory.

  “It was you,” she blurted, her gaze landing
on a startled Martinez. The way he turned. She had noticed that before, but eventually dismissed it when nothing came to mind. “You were the one who took down the guy who tried to shoot me that day in the traffic jam.” She blinked in disbelief. How could she have been this close to him and not known him at all? “It was you.” She shook her head, still dumbfounded that she could have been so blind.

  She’d lost it. There could be no other explanation. She’d never let anyone blindside her like this. Why didn’t she question anything? Why didn’t she see the odd coincidences? His showing up at the station, then right next door to her apartment. The tux. Who keeps a tux on hand? She’d swallowed that story about the rough neighborhood in which he’d grown up—hook, line and sinker. He was a professionally trained bodyguard, not some guy who’d turned his life around like he’d led her to believe.

  “Martinez is good at what he does,” Lucas said finally. “We need him on our team. We should put this…other issue aside for the moment. The only important thing right now is keeping you safe.”

  Piper sank back into her chair, her legs no longer able to hold her. If everything she knew about him was a lie…then the truth of the matter was that Martinez didn’t really care about her. He’d only been doing his job. He was one of them. One of those guys who just do the job. Like Lucas. Like her father. Her heart fractured, making her want to cry out with the pain of it. She’d done the one thing she never wanted to do—she’d fallen in love with a man just like her father. One who would do anything to accomplish his mission. Even take her to bed…or out dancing even when instinct warned him against it.

  “Are you listening to me, Piper?” Lucas sat down on the table in front of her again. “We have to do whatever it takes to make sure these maniacs don’t get to you. That’s all that matters right now.”