Bound by Darkness

by Alexis Morgan

  Then he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “Can you hand me my boxers and socks? I don’t think your father would appreciate stumbling over them.”

  Her cheeks flamed red, but she actually giggled. “I like a man who thinks clearly in times of crisis. Wait here.”

  A second later she shoved the rest of his clothing through the door at him. “Give me fifteen minutes.”

  “Will do.”

  He stopped in the guest bathroom long enough to finish dressing. After washing his face and combing his hair, he studied his image in the mirror. The strain of the past twenty-four hours definitely showed in the dark circles under his eyes, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Hopefully Sasha’s father would put it off to a night spent on guard duty rather than a bout of scorching hot sex with his daughter.

  Before rejoining Mr. Willis, he texted Devlin about the situation, not wanting to risk a call that the Regent might overhear. Satisfied he’d done as much damage control as he could, he headed back to the kitchen.

  Chaz parked his ass on a stool at the kitchen counter, even though he’d rather be pacing the floor. But from the way that damned dog kept staring at him, he’d play it safe and sit still. At least he could breathe again. Maybe the situation wasn’t as out of control as he’d feared.

  But as soon as that guy came back, he was going to demand answers. What the hell was going on? All he knew for sure was that he’d gotten an e-mail from Rusty about Sasha being hit by a car. It had taken him several phone calls to find out where she’d been taken, and then the hospital would tell him only that she was a patient there. After that, all he could think about was getting on the first plane heading west. He’d envisioned finding her safely ensconced in the hospital, craving the comforting presence of her father.

  But upon arrival, he found out that she’d already been discharged. After digging through his backlog of e-mails, he’d located the address for her condo and grabbed another cab, hoping like hell that she’d made it through the night all right on her own.

  But then she hadn’t been alone after all, which raised a whole new bunch of questions. Like why were there Paladins posted outside? Not that he was complaining. But who the hell was that long-haired guy, and what was he doing in Sasha’s home?

  Even without knowing his name, it didn’t take a genius to recognize a stone-cold killer on sight. Even without that gun in his hand, he had the same look that all Paladins did—like they were the toughest sons of bitches on the planet. Chaz had met enough of them over the years to know they might just be right about that.

  But there was something different about this guy that Chaz couldn’t quite put his finger on. The man’s eyes were an unusual color, but it also could’ve been all that hair. Chaz hadn’t really gotten a good look at him because he’d been too busy keeping a wary eye on that monster of a dog.

  Which, he just noticed, was back again. The animal sat blocking the hallway that evidently led back to Sasha’s bedroom. Even if Chaz were so inclined to go pound on her door and demand answers to his increasing number of questions, he wasn’t about to challenge a dog that size.

  A door opened somewhere behind the dog. Sometime between the time he’d gone back to tell Sasha of his arrival, the guy had straightened his clothes and combed his hair, which he now wore back in a ponytail. It looked better that way, but only marginally. Maybe Chaz should have a talk with Devlin Bane about enforcing a dress code. And that he was even worried about something so stupid was just a sign of how tired he was. It had been years since he’d pulled an all-nighter.

  “Miss Willis will join us shortly. Would you like a cup of tea or would you prefer coffee?”

  “Coffee, Mr.—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Larem. Larem Jones.”

  “Well, Mr. Jones, would you care to explain what you’re doing here? Forgive me for being a bit pushy on the subject, but fathers are always curious when they discover a man spent the night in their daughter’s place.”

  And maybe in her bed. But surely not. This guy certainly had little in common with the men Sasha had dated in the past. Still, a father had to wonder.

  Chaz drew some comfort from noticing the guy wasn’t at home in Sasha’s kitchen. He’d had to hunt for the coffee and then the sugar. Good. Finally, when the water was on to boil and the coffee pot was doing its thing, Larem slowed down long enough to talk.

  “I’m assuming you’re here because of the incident Sasha was involved in yesterday. Since Devlin Bane wasn’t sure it was an accident, he asked me to stay over to keep an eye on things. He’ll be sending someone to relieve me shortly.”

  Then he pulled a dozen eggs out of the fridge and began cracking them into a bowl. He dumped them into a skillet he’d had heating on the burner and started stirring.

  A few seconds later, he pointed toward the other end of the counter. “You want to put bread in the toaster?”

  Okay, so breakfast was going to be a team effort. Fine, he’d go along with the program for the moment. But when Chaz started to stand up, the dog took notice and didn’t particularly like it.

  Jones gave the dog the evil eye. “Chance, stop it. Mr. Willis has every right to be here.”

  The dog backed down but still followed his every move with a great deal of suspicion. Maybe Chaz would learn more if he asked a few questions, starting with the easy ones.

  “Your dog is huge. What kind is he?”

  Larem looked up from the skillet. “I don’t know. Miss Willis adopted Chance from a rescue shelter. She brought him home yesterday evening.”

  A lump of disappointment settled in Chaz’s stomach. If he’d had any doubts about Sasha wanting to make this move permanent, they were rapidly disappearing. The thought made him sick, especially if Devlin Bane thought she’d come under attack.

  Short of the entire Board of Regents ordering her back to Missouri, there wasn’t much Chaz could do. Besides, he wasn’t sure she’d even listen to him, even if he told her it was unlikely the other Regents would ever invite her to join their ranks.

  At the sound of a door opening down the hall, Chance lumbered to his feet, his tail wagging like crazy. From his reaction, the dog was already firmly attached to Sasha. When she appeared in the kitchen doorway, he made a beeline for her. At least the dog had the good manners to sit down and wait for Sasha to notice him.

  In fact, this Larem guy acted much the same. Although he kept himself busy serving up eggs and buttering the toast, there was a new level of tension in the air. The bodyguard’s reaction to Sasha’s presence was definitely interesting—and pretty damned disturbing.

  Sasha gave her dog a quick pat. “Good morning, big guy.”

  Then she walked over to kiss Chaz on the cheek. “Hi, Dad. What brings you here?”

  He would’ve thought it was obvious. Her cavalier attitude infuriated him, but before he could sputter out an answer, she’d already moved on.

  “Larem, that smells delicious. I’m usually not big on breakfast, but I woke up with quite an appetite this morning.”

  Jones shoved a mug of tea into her hands. “I’d think that was normal, considering everything you’ve been through since yesterday.”

  Sasha stared at the bodyguard over the rim of her cup as she sipped her tea. “I’m not sure anything that’s happened since yesterday could be classified as normal, at least not in my experience.”

  Why was she smiling at the man that way? Chaz studied the interplay between the two of them. He’d always been good at reading layers of meaning in any given situation, and what he was picking up right now really pissed him off. He was willing to accept that this Jones guy stood guard last night to keep an eye on Sasha. The real question was just how close he’d been to her while he carried out his duties.

  Larem set out three plates of eggs and toast along with a glass of orange juice for each of them. “Do you take cream or sugar with your coffee, Mr. Willis?”

  “Black is fine.”

  Why hadn’t he
noticed the guy’s accent earlier? He was almost positive it was heavier now. Something niggled at the back of his mind. He’d give them all a chance to relax over their meal and then pounce.

  Contrary to Sasha’s earlier claim, she was merely toying with her food. When she thought Chaz wouldn’t notice, she watched the grimly silent man seated at the far end of the counter.

  As much as he respected the Paladins and the work they did, no father would want his daughter to get mixed up with one. There’d been no keeping Sasha from pursuing a career working for the Regents, but at least in St. Louis she’d had only minimal contact with the blood-and-guts part of the business. She had a tender heart, the kind that was ripe to fall for someone she saw as a real hero.

  Chaz set his fork back down on the plate. “Thanks, that was good.”

  Jones grunted in response and started clearing things away. Sasha slipped a couple of bites to her dog and then pushed the rest of her breakfast away.

  Her bodyguard shoved it right back toward her, adding another spoonful of scrambled eggs from the skillet. “Eat all of that. You need it.”

  Okay, so the guy didn’t know her very well after all. Ordering Sasha to do something was a surefire way to get her to dig in her heels. But much to his dismay, she sighed heavily and then tugged the plate back and started eating again.

  What was that all about? And why wasn’t she reading him, her own father, the riot act for encroaching on her territory without calling first? There was something definitely off about her behavior.

  “So tell me, Mr. Jones, where are you from? I don’t recognize your accent.”

  The silence was deafening. A sick feeling settled in his chest, making it hard to draw a full breath. There was only one reason not to respond to such a simple question: the answer was damning in some way. He grew more sure of it when Sasha tried to distract him.

  “Dad, so I’m guessing some helpful person took it upon himself to report back to you about what happened yesterday. I was going to call you myself this morning, but obviously someone saved me the trouble. Care to tell me who your spy is?”

  “No, I don’t. It was bad enough that I had to find out through the grapevine instead of hearing it straight from you.” He took great pains to keep his voice calm. “And, Mr. Jones, you haven’t answered my question, have you?”

  “Dad, don’t be rude.” Sasha stood up. “Why don’t the two of us go into the living room?”

  He stayed right where he was. “Is there a reason you don’t want him to answer me, Sasha?”

  “Yes, because it’s not your business. You’re in my home, and I won’t let you be rude to one of my friends.”

  He happened to be looking toward Larem at that moment. Judging by his reaction, he wasn’t happy that she’d let that last part slip. The two of them had obviously conspired to act more like employer and employee in front of him. If they were reluctant to admit they were at least friends, it meant their relationship had gone way past that stage.

  Chaz helped himself to another cup of coffee while he mulled over the situation. For now, he’d quit pressing for answers he really, really didn’t want to hear.

  Sasha buried her face in Chance’s soft fur, taking comfort in the dog’s undemanding acceptance. Could this be any more awkward? All she wanted to do was skulk back into her bedroom and pull the covers over her head—alone this time. Not that she regretted what she and Larem had shared, but right now life was throwing too much at her too quickly.

  Footsteps stopped a short distance away. She knew without looking that it was her father who stood there. She had only one question for him. Was he there in his role as Regent or solely as her parent?

  He sat down on the far end of the sofa and stared at Chance. “You know, if you wanted a pet, a goldfish would’ve been easier to take care of and a lot more portable.”

  She gave Chance one last hug before sitting up straight. “Yeah, but they’re harder to take on long walks.”

  As if aware that he was the subject of their conversation, Chance wandered over to stare at her father for several seconds before laying his head on his knee, woofing softly as he did so. She had to laugh at the look of horror on her dad’s face as he gave the dog an awkward pat on his head, sending up a small cloud of white fur.

  Then he gave in with a rueful grin. “Are you sure this guy is really a dog? Did you check the news for any lost pony reports?”

  She knew anything she and her father discussed would probably be overheard by the man in the next room, even over the racket he was making as he cleaned up the kitchen. Maybe Larem sensed she needed to talk to her father alone, because he appeared in the doorway with Chance’s lead in his hand.

  “I’m going to take the pony for a walk,” he said, confirming that his Kalith hearing had picked up their discussion. “We won’t go far, just up and down the block a few times. My relief will be here soon, but you should be safe with your father here and the guys across the street.”

  Then he pegged her dad with a hard look. “I left my spare gun on the counter. I assume you know how to use one. If not, be smart enough to admit it.”

  Her dad went into full Regent mode. “I do, and watch your tone with me.”

  “Dad, cut the man some slack. He’s been up all night.” Well, not all night, but an impressive amount of it. Not that she was about to share that little tidbit with her father.

  “I’ll be back, Miss Willis. Don’t open the door for anyone you don’t immediately recognize.”

  Then, while her father was looking at her, Larem winked at her and smiled. Then he was gone.

  “He’s more than just your bodyguard, Sasha, isn’t he?”

  Her father sipped his coffee, obviously prepared to wait her out if she didn’t immediately answer. Fine, but she’d learned everything she knew about being stubborn from him.

  “Frankly, what Larem is, Dad, isn’t your concern. All you need to know is that he made sure I was safe last night.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Now, I get that you were worried, but why not just call? If you couldn’t reach me, you could’ve called Devlin Bane or his wife for a status report before hopping a red-eye from St. Louis.”

  They both knew she’d inherited her temper from him. Her dad’s eyes flashed hot before he visibly put a lid on it. “I’m here because you’re my daughter. I have a right to be a little curious about this new life you’re building for yourself here in Seattle. That coupled with the fact that you were almost killed seemed to warrant more than a phone call.”

  “Fine. I’m doing my job, Dad. The one the Regents sent me here to do. I spend most of my time knee-deep in reports and numbers and meetings. I’m making some real progress in reestablishing some trust between the Paladins and the organization. That seems to have ruffled a few feathers in certain quarters.”

  She picked at a small thread that had come loose on the arm of the sofa. “I like the people I’ve met here, and the Paladins deserve better than the way they’ve been treated the past few years. Based on prior experience, they have no reason to believe that things are going to change for the better, but they’ve been willing to give me a chance.”

  She chose her next words carefully but let more than a hint of her anger show as well. “Kincade was a sadistic bastard who screwed with people’s minds and lives for years. I can’t believe no one listened when Devlin Bane and others tried to tell the Regents what was going on here.”

  He settled into the corner of the sofa, turning to face her more directly. “I’m listening now.”

  “Only if you promise none of this goes any further until I’m ready to make a formal presentation to the Board itself. I’d appreciate getting your opinion on some things.”

  Crossing his heart, he held his hand up. “I can keep a secret with the best of them. Let’s hear it.”

  “Kincade was robbing the Regents blind. He funneled money out of every account he had access to, and then played with the numbers to cover his tracks. Over the years, it had to ad
d up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not only that, but he stirred up animosity between all the departments out here to keep everyone on edge. What he did to torment the Paladins was nothing short of criminal. We’re lucky there wasn’t an out-and-out rebellion.”

  Then she narrowed her eyes. “He wasn’t working alone either. As far as we can tell, he kept most of the money for himself, but the rest was sent to offshore accounts leading back to the Midwest Region.”

  Chaz erupted: “Like hell he did!” Then her father paused. “Wait a minute, surely you don’t suspect me!”

  “Of course I don’t. But I can’t speak for what Devlin Bane thinks. What I can tell you is that I’ve had two of Devlin’s IT specialists working on breaking the encryption codes on Kincade’s computer. I’m confident we’ll be able to follow the money right back to Kincade’s accomplices.”

  Her dad snorted. “IT specialists? Is that the new politically correct term for hackers? I’m guessing you’ve been working with D. J. Clayborne and Cullen Finley. God, Sasha, letting those two have free rein in a computer system is like turning a bunch of first-graders loose in a candy store.”

  She gave him her most innocent look. “I didn’t mention any names, Dad. All I can say is that the gentlemen in question are doing a terrific job.”

  “Fine, but keep an eye on them. I can’t tell you how many complaints I’ve heard over the years about their antics. Of course, I suppose there is some sense in that old adage about using a thief to catch one.”

  Sasha nodded. “My men have put in some long hours on the project, and that’s on top of all their other duties. You know how Paladins are.”

  “Yeah, I do, which should explain why I worry.” He softened the comment with a smile, although his gaze briefly strayed toward the door; clearly he was thinking about Larem. “I never wanted you to get entangled in their world.”

  “I know, but you’ve dedicated your life to serving the Regents and the Paladins. I’m following your lead. When do you think the Regents will make a decision about appointing a permanent Regent for this area?”

  And did she really stand a chance? She couldn’t bring herself to say that last part out loud.