by Ivy Nelson
She huffed but backed away. After snapping on a pair of latex gloves, the tall detective reached into the gash in the tire and pulled out a piece of paper.
“What is it?” If Bradley wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of panic in Darci’s voice.
“Jesus, Darci give me a minute.”
“Darci come here baby. Let the man do his job,” Bradley said, holding out his hand.
“Sorry, Michael. I’m just nervous,” Darci said, letting Bradley pull her against him.
Michael didn’t respond as he examined the paper. “Bradley, you better see this.” Bradley kissed the top of Darci’s head and slipped around her to where Michael knelt by the tire.
“Fuck,” he bit out. Fear curled in his belly. Printed on the paper was a photo of Darci and him at Iwo Jima yesterday morning along with a handwritten note that read:
You can’t keep her safe.
“What is it?” Darci practically shouted.
“It’s definitely him. Darci,” Michael said. “It’s time for us to go through your life with a fine-tooth comb. We need to look at any and everyone that this could be.”
“We need to put professional security on her,” Bradley said.
“No! I will not let some goons follow me around all day.”
“Darci, it’s not a bad idea,” Michael interjected. “What would Peter say?”
Bradley had turned to look at Darci. She was not happy about the notion of security, but when Michael mentioned Peter, her demeanor changed. He decided not to say anything else. One way or another though, a security detail was being assigned to her tonight.
The police finished their questioning, a tow truck came and took the car away, and Darci invited Michael in for coffee.
• • •
Darci paced back and forth in Bradley’s living room. He had holed himself up in his office with Michael when they got inside. She couldn’t help but feel like they were conspiring against her. The urge to sneak out and catch a cab back to her apartment was overwhelming. Knowing that both men in the office would hunt her down and the fact that a serial killer was taunting her kept her from it.
Darci had never done well with being smothered. The foster homes she lived in always seemed overprotective and stifling, and then there was the night in college that changed her life forever. Everyone always thought they knew what was best for her and didn’t appear to care what she wanted. They always meant well, but it still made her feel trapped. Michael came out of the office first. At the site of her pacing, he shook his head.
“Darci, sit down. You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor.”
“Michael, I can’t stand being smothered. You know that. Please don’t let him smother me.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure I can keep him from anything, but I talked him into only two bodyguards instead of twelve.” She gasped in horror before she recognized the twinkle in the detective’s eyes.
“You’re mocking me, right? This is you mocking me?”
“Maybe just a little,” he admitted. “He cares Darci, and so do I. You need the protection and I recommended Peter’s old firm. They train these guards to keep you safe without completely disrupting your life. You’ll be able to work like normal. You’ll just have to share your schedule with them and get used to being followed.”
“Apparently, I’m already being followed,” she snapped.
He sighed. “Don’t remind me. Just promise you won’t do anything stupid like try to ditch your detail.”
“If she does that, I’m going to take her across my knee, mine or not.” They both whirled around at the sound of Bradley’s voice. There was a hardness to his voice that Darci had not heard before. It was kind of hot. But not hot enough to keep her from being irritated.
“I’m staying out of this one,” Michael said, stepping out from between them.
“A lot of help you are.” Darci glared at him, but he just grinned and stepped farther away from her.
“Darci I mean it. Do not fight me on this because I will win,” Bradley said as he reached her.
“I can tell you mean that, and I know you mean well, so for now, I’m going to shut up and go back to sleep, but I’m not done talking about this, Bradley. If they disrupt my life, I’m going to throw a fit.” Something flashed in his eyes. Anger? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to find out.
“Michael, do you need Darci and me tonight?” Bradley’s voice was calm. Too calm.
“No, but we need to do an intense interview with Darci about anyone she’s crossed paths with so we can cross off names,” Michael answered, oblivious to the fact that the energy had shifted in the room. Darci however, was very aware of the change.
“Fine. Would you mind leaving us alone then? We’ll schedule something for tomorrow.” He was calm and polite, but Darci was sure they were about to have an epic fight. She sighed. So much for going back to sleep. Michael said goodbye and Bradley calmly shut and locked the door. He turned and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest, regarding her coolly.
“We can either fight, or we can fuck. The choice is yours.”
Darci gasped. That was not at all what she had expected. He stalked toward her. “I’m waiting,” he said when he reached her. Staring into his eyes, she swallowed hard. The deep blue orbs were boring holes into her as he waited for her answer.
“Well I certainly don’t want to fight,” she whispered, so turned on it hurt.
“Good. Me either.”
Without another word, he crushed his mouth to hers. Darci threw all her anger and frustration into their kiss. It was all teeth and tongue and hot. She bit down on his bottom lip and soon tasted the blood she drew. He growled and thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth. Backing her up, he lowered them down to the couch. The weight of him on top of her fed the fire of her need for him.
Suddenly he broke their kiss. Helping her sit up, he scooped her shirt off and made quick work of her bra. Her nipples were hard, making her need apparent. Taking both of her nipples, he gave them a sharp pinch. The girlish squeal she let out made him grin. His erection pressing into her fueled her desire, and she wanted to feel him inside her now. But he smacked her hand when she reached for his zipper. “Not yet.”
She frowned, and he pinched her nipples hard again. “Please,” she begged, closing her eyes as pain coursed through her nipples and straight to her clit.
“Please what? What do you want Darci?” His voice was hard and in any other situation his tone may have sounded angry, but here, now, it made her clit throb harder.
“I want you inside me. Please.” It was amazing, he hadn’t even touched her pussy yet, but she was throbbing with the need to orgasm.
“I like hearing you beg.” He grinned and climbed off her.
“Hey! Where are you going?” she asked, her voice frantic with need. He said nothing but slowly peeled his jeans and boxers off. His erection sprang free, and the site of him made her want him even more.
“Please,” she whimpered.
Taking her by surprise, he grasped her hips, and tugged her pants down her legs. Then he flipped her onto her stomach and ordered her onto her knees.
“Rest your arms on the back of the couch.”
As soon as she obeyed, he was filling her. The position made him seem even bigger. His cock slammed into her, forcing her to open to him, and within just a few minutes they both fell over the edge. As their orgasms subsided, he pulled out of her and gently laid her on the couch. “Jesus woman you’re gonna kill me.”
At first, she said nothing, trying to catch her breath. When she had recovered, she said, “It’s been way too long since I’ve fucked like that.”
In response, he grinned, kissed her noisily and said, “Good.” That had her laughing as he dropped to the floor beside the couch and picked up her hand.
“Thanks for not fighting right now, Darci.”
“Oh, we’re still going to fight.”
“I kind of suspected,” he said dryly.
“But for now, we can either drink a lot of coffee or go back to sleep,” she said.
“I’m voting for sleep. It’s going to be a long day.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning Darci was awake before Bradley so she started a pot of coffee. After they’d gone to bed, she had resigned herself to accepting the extra security, but she didn’t have to like it. She had a lot to do today. It was going to be interesting to see what kind of bodyguards she was going to have.
When the coffee was ready, she grabbed two mugs and poured them both a cup. As she was dumping sugar into hers, his arms slipped around her. “That smells amazing.” He pressed his nose into her hair. “And so do you.”
Relaxing into his hug, she sighed and said, “Good morning.”
When she handed him the second mug of coffee, he drank appreciatively.
“The security detail will be here in half an hour to brief us.” Unable to stop herself, she rolled her eyes at the idea of security and he shot her a glare.
“Don’t glare at me. I agree to accept the security, but I do not agree to like it.”
“I can live with that.” He sat on one of the barstools and patted the one next to him. “Let’s just have a cup of coffee together before they get here, and you get all pissed at me again.” She giggled but joined him at the counter.
“I promise to try not to be too pissed about it.” He squeezed her shoulder.
“It’s gonna be OK, baby. I promise.”
They enjoyed their coffee until there was a knock on the door. Darci rolled her eyes one more time, placed their empty coffee cups in the sink and put on a professional face while Bradley answered the door. Four men followed him into the kitchen. Four? Jesus, I thought Michael said two. As if he could read her thoughts, Bradley told her they would rotate out every twelve hours. She studied the men who filled the small living room. She recognized one as former secret service Agent Savko, an old co-worker of Peter’s. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“Miss Sanders, we need to go over your schedule for the week and come up with transportation plans. We’ll need to know every place you plan to visit, and who you will be meeting so we can vet them,” one of the men she didn’t recognize said.
“Fine, I’ll copy you on my calendar but I’m just going to tell you right now, my schedule changes a lot, and some clients aren’t the kind you can vet.” She already hated this, but she did her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
This time Savko spoke up. “We’re going to ask you to stick to your schedule, but if you have to make changes, just tell us as soon as possible.” They explained that one of them would be at her side at all times during the day while the other would be nearby watching for suspicious people. They would also be driving her and Bradley to work each morning.
“I think I can live with all of this, but you need to understand that I deal with sensitive clients and information. I can’t have you guys hovering over me, or people won’t talk to me.”
“We will be as unobtrusive as possible, ma’am.”
“Call me Darci please.”
“We prefer to keep things professional, ma’am,” the guard responded.
“Fine, call me Miss Sanders. But don’t call me ma’am it makes my skin crawl. I’m not even thirty.”
“Yes, ma’am... uh Miss Sanders,” the tall man mumbled. Bradley smirked at her, but she ignored it.
While she shared her calendar with the men, Bradley slipped out to get ready for work. They reviewed her tentative schedule for the day before she excused herself to get ready to leave. This was going to suck.
When she came back into the kitchen with her briefcase and a jacket, the men were gone. Bradley was perched on a barstool waiting for her.
“Come here,” he commanded gently as she entered.
“We’re going to be late,” she said, fidgeting with the handle of her briefcase. He stood and took the leather case and coat from her. Setting them aside, he pulled her into a hug. His hands drifted to her hips, and he settled back onto the barstool pulling her between his thighs. He gripped her hands and waited for her to look at him.
“I wanted a minute before we left to make sure we’re OK. I know you hate the idea of security following you.” She laid her forehead against his and closed her eyes.
“I’m not even sure what we are, Bradley. But I’m enjoying spending time with you,” she said after a minute of quiet. “I just can’t help but feel like I need to pull away from you, not move in with you, which is basically what you’re asking.”
“It’s only temporary, and I’ve offered to keep my distance. I don’t want to, but I will. Now, if this is about you being worried about my career, I’ve told you not to worry about that.”
With a sigh, she kissed him. “Let’s just go to work. The goons aren’t staying in the house, are they?”
When she got to her office, Darci called Peter, Carrie’s husband. He ran a security firm in California, and he would have advice on how to make dealing with a security detail bearable.
“Kitten?” A man with a deep voice answered after the third ring.
“Hi Peter, I’m glad you picked up, I know it’s early with the time difference.”
“I’ve always got time for you, Kitten. It’s good to see your cute face popping up on my phone. It doesn’t happen enough.” She giggled. He was always so sweet to her.
“Well, you can see my cute face in person in a couple weeks,” she fired back.
After they finished saying hello, she launched into the story of how she wound up with a security detail.
“Woah, Kitten. I heard about the murders, but I didn’t realize you were connected to them. Why didn’t you call sooner?” His voice held the hint of a reprimand, and she winced. Peter had been her mentor and first dominant. She still hated disappointing him.
“I’m sorry. Things just got crazy, but these guys following me around will overwhelm me. Since you do the same work, I thought you could help calm me down.”
“I know it sucks, but keep in mind that they have your best interests at heart. Give me the name of the firm they work for. I’ve worked with most of the D.C. groups. I’ll put in a call and tell them you’re one of mine. They’ll take good care of you.” Darci’s heart constricted. She missed them so much. Peter and Carrie were family and had been almost since the day she had met them. When she told him that Bradley had hired his old firm, he reassured her that they were the best. Before they said goodbye, he insisted she promise to listen to them.
“I have way too many bossy men in my life,” she grumbled after promising to be good. His deep laugh rumbled through the phone line.
“It’s good for you, Kitten. I’ll see you soon.” They said goodbye and Darci put the phone down, feeling somewhat better about the situation.
At noon on Wednesday, Michael came to her office with sandwiches and questions. He asked her for a list of people who might be angry at her over her work with the ACSL. Could she have a stalker? Were there any readers who liked leaving mean or weird comments on her blog? Nothing she had to say seemed to offer any leads for him to follow.
Midway through a turkey club sandwich Michael grabbed her hand. “Darci have you considered the possibility that it might be...” She cut him off.
“No. It couldn’t be. After he escaped conviction, he left the area and as far as I’ve heard, he hasn’t been back.”
He sighed. “Sorry, I know you don’t like talking about that. Just to be safe, I’m going to track him down.”
“Don’t please. I don’t like digging for ghosts.”
He sighed, clearly frustrated. Next, he pulled out what she recognized as the guest log for her apartment.
“We can’t figure out how the intruder got into your place. Take a look at this. Do you recognize any of these names?”
She scanned the list. At first nothing stood out, so she read it one more time. Suddenly one name jumped out at her and she froze.
“Mich
ael. Did you not see this name? It’s Theresa Holden.”
“You mean Kaden’s ex fiancé?”
“The very same. I mean that was her name at least. It seems like a coincidence that she would sign into the building the very day my place got ransacked. She always blamed me for Kaden leaving school.”
Michael frowned. “I’m tracking them both down Darci. Don’t try to argue.”
She sighed. There was no point in trying to get him to leave it alone. It could wind up being a solid lead.
“Have you told Bradley yet?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“No. I’m not ready for that, so if you could keep this little bit of information between us, I would appreciate that.”
Because he was her friend, he agreed. “We’ll get you through this, sweetheart.”
By Friday afternoon, Darci was ready to be rid of the security team. They insisted on canceling or changing meeting locations, and they were smothering her. Even taking a walk among the tourists while she ate lunch wasn’t allowed. When she sent Peter a text expressing her frustration, he just reminded her that a little smothering was better than being kidnapped or killed. She scowled at his picture. He was supposed to be on her side. But she also knew he was right.
Bradley’s place was easier. They had fallen into a routine of dinner, sex, and working in companionable silence on whatever they had brought home from the office. It was the twelve to sixteen hours a day outside the house that was driving Darci insane. She wanted to go back to her own apartment, but after the tire slashing incident, Bradley had refused to take her. Now, it was just after lunch, and Bradley called her office to check on her and tell her he would be working a little late.
The guards were doing their best not to disrupt her life completely, but she felt like a caged animal. There had to be a way to convince him to cut the detail down to one man standing outside her office. The thought of how that conversation would go had her rolling her eyes. Maybe she could cook him dinner and ask extra nice. With Bradley working late that meant she had some time to plan.
Chapter Twenty-Two