by Katie Reus
Under His Protection
Red Stone Security Series
Katie Reus
Under His Protection
Copyright © 2014 Katie Reus
Cover Art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Copy editor JRT Editing
Digital Formatting by Author E.M.S.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
ISBN: 9780996087438
Dedication
For my wonderful readers.
Chapter 1
Julieta Mederos looked up from her computer screen as the bell above her shop door jingled. She inwardly cringed. She thought she’d locked the door. It was ten minutes until closing but as the owner of Julieta’s Silk and Lace she could make executive decisions. And it was Friday night, she was starving, and the employee she’d had scheduled to close this evening had called in sick. Again.
Since no one else had been able to come in, she’d been stuck covering. Again. She hated to let anyone go, but tomorrow morning she was making the call.
Shoving those thoughts away she smiled at the beautiful couple entering. “Hi, please feel free to shop around and let me know if you have any questions about anything.”
The woman was tall, slender and wearing a long, bright print Bohemian-style dress with simple gold sandals. She was truly stunning, the kind of woman Julieta wouldn’t be surprised to see gracing the cover of a magazine. She smiled back, her expression tentative. “I saw the hours on your door, are you sure you’re still open?” When she fingered the strap of her purse, the giant diamond on her left hand, ring finger glinted under the colorful track lighting.
Julieta nodded, already liking the woman from that one thoughtful question. “I’m Julieta so I can stay open as late as you’d like.” She flicked a glance to the tall, blond man standing next to her. He looked like a sexy Viking god. Well, a sexy, angry one. He was practically glaring at her. Okay then.
Maybe Julieta’s discomfort showed on her face because the woman nudged the male in the sharp black suit next to her. “I’m going to shop and my friend here is going to sit right over there.” There was an edge to her voice as the woman pointed to a plush couch next to a glass-cased display of discreet sex toys.
Practically growling, the man went to stand next to the couch, turning his body so that he had a view of the front door and the rest of the shop. As Julieta watched him she realized just how huge he was. Most people were taller than her anyway, but with broad shoulders and a muscular body even a suit couldn’t hide, a sliver of anxiety threaded through her veins. She’d never been robbed before, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think it couldn’t happen to her.
Julieta sold high-end lingerie, but she also sold affordable, quality fashion jewelry and sex toys. Some days it amazed her how many toys she sold. Remaining where she was, she placed her hand on the silent alarm button under the display case. “Just let me know if you need help.” She made it a point not to crowd her customers unless it was clear they needed assistance and she wanted to keep some distance between herself and the big man in case he tried anything.
“I actually do need help. My friend Elizabeth Porter recommended this place to me,” the woman said as she strode farther into the shop, her gold bangles jangling around her wrist noisily.
“Lizzy?”
Smiling widely, the woman nodded. “Yes. We’re new friends actually. I just moved to Miami a month ago and my fiancé works for the same company Lizzy and her husband do.”
Julieta let her hand drop from hovering over the silent alarm. That explained the man’s military-style stance as if he was guarding or casing the place. She tilted her head to the man standing stiffly in the front of her store. “He’s with Red Stone too?”
She nodded. “Yes, but he’s not my fiancé. That’s Ivan Mitchell. He’s my personal guard.”
Julieta started to raise her eyebrows then caught herself. “Well I’m more than happy to help a friend of Lizzy’s. Our mothers go way back and I’ve known Lizzy since we were kids.”
The woman smiled. “That’s what she said. She said she’s a couple years younger than you and used to follow you around like a puppy dog whenever your parents got together.”
At that, Julieta let out a sharp bark of laughter and rounded the counter, all anxiety about the sexy Ivan dissipating. “I don’t know about that, but she was quite attentive.”
The woman’s shoulders relaxed slightly, her sun-kissed arms a nice bronze. “I’m Mina.”
“Nice to meet you. You can call me Jules. Why don’t you tell me what I can help you with?”
The woman flicked a glance to the front of the store. Julieta followed her line of sight to see the sexy Viking watching them intently again. She squirmed under his glare. It was like he expected her to pull out a weapon at any moment.
Not liking the way he watched her, she turned back to Mina. The tall woman bent slightly, as if wanting to tell her a secret. “I didn’t want to bring him but he insisted on coming inside.” She let out an annoyed sigh before continuing. “Lizzy said you sold the best lingerie in town and that you sold fun…toys,” she said in a whisper. Her cheeks tinged crimson and Julieta bit back a smile.
It was always fun to introduce women to their first sex toys. Sadly for her, toys had been her only form of companionship the last three years. Gah, she couldn’t even think about that. Nodding, she said, “Are you looking for solo toys or something you can use with your fiancé? Maybe as a surprise for him?” She was just guessing but she’d gotten good at reading her customers the past couple years.
“Definitely with him. And yes, it’s a surprise.”
“If we can move your scary bodyguard away from the case up front, I think I’ve got a few things that might interest you. If you decide you like something, I can have it delivered or you can take it with you today—discreetly packaged. And if you don’t find anything you like, I have a catalogue you can check out too.”
Relief bled into Mina’s dark green eyes. “My fiancé, Alex, is coming back tonight from an out of town trip so I’m sure I’ll find something.”
Julieta nodded and forced herself to ignore the intent stare from the blond-haired, blue-eyed god standing up front as she led Mina to the display case. She’d met enough judgmental men to last a lifetime, thank you very much. Maybe he didn’t like the fact that she sold sex toys. Heaven forbid women please themselves on their own. Whatever his problem was, she didn’t give a crap. He wasn’t her customer and she didn’t have time to worry about it.
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Chapter 2
Two months later
“You are going to love what I got her,” Julieta whispered to Lizzy.
They were sitting next to each other at Mina’s bridal shower. Mina Hollingsworth, soon-to-be Mina Blue. The sweet artist was marrying former pro-fo
otball player/former Marine Alexander Blue and she was one of the nicest people Julieta had ever met.
“I take it you went off the registry,” Lizzy whispered back before taking a sip of her mimosa.
“Just a bit.” She held back her grin as Mina picked up her next gift. The black and white damask bag with a bright pink stripe across the top was distinctively from Julieta’s store.
“I know who this is from,” Mina said, already blushing as she delicately pulled the paper stuffing out the top. Her face split into a wide smile as she pulled out the sheer white, delicate lace lingerie babydoll halter. The back had ruffled layers to create a small bustle and above that in bright pink hand-done stitching were the words ‘property of Alex’. Mina’s fiancé might have mentioned something to Julieta about this.
As Mina pulled it out and saw the back she started laughing, her cheeks flushing an even darker shade of pink. “Did Alex ask you to do this?” she asked.
Julieta just shrugged and pursed her lips together as she fought a smile.
Mina turned it around for the twenty other women to see. Everyone started howling and talking about how much their significant others would want them to get one. Julieta ignored the small pang in her chest. For a bridal shower this one was very small and considering how wealthy Mina was, she was surprised it wasn’t bigger. But maybe she shouldn’t be. The woman was incredibly picky about who she was friends with—because she wasn’t sure who she could trust—and she had guards around her most of the time. All the women at the shower were either married or engaged, except two of Mina’s friends from California.
Being single had never bothered Julieta before. The last three years she’d been working like mad to get her business off the ground and now that it had and she was doing well, she had more time on her hands. She had a lot of friends and a huge, loving family but the truth was, she was lonely. When she’d first started her business she’d actually had a serious boyfriend. They’d been together the last two years of college, but once she’d started working long hours he’d decided he couldn’t handle it. He’d said he wanted her to be successful and would support her, but in the end it had all been lip service. She was glad she’d found out before they’d taken the next step, but it still stung when she thought about how badly things had ended between them.
She couldn’t remember the last date she’d gone on and unfortunately the last two months she’d spent fantasizing about a certain sexy Red Stone Security employee she kept seeing because of her friendship with Mina. But she couldn’t get a read on the man. He was always so tight-lipped and gave brooding stares when she was around. She was pretty sure he didn’t even like her. Not to mention Mina had mentioned that he was a total player on more than one occasion.
Which made her fantasies even more ridiculous. She wasn’t into playboys or bad boys. So why did everything about Ivan make her wake up and take notice?
“Is that from your new line?” Lizzy demanded, shifting against the loveseat in the expansive living room that overlooked the Miami bay as Mina told everyone to go grab food and drinks.
Huge windows and a bright October day made for a gorgeous view and natural lighting as the women broke up and started to eat and mingle.
“Minus the personalized stitching, yes. And yes, I’ve already saved one for you. I can’t believe you had a baby five months ago. You look amazing,” she said in mock disgust.
“Porter keeps me busy.” Lizzy’s smile turned mischievous which only made that pang in Julieta’s chest expand.
She shoved down those feelings as best she could. “Seriously, do you need to remind me how long it’s been since I’ve had sex…” She trailed off as Ivan appeared from out of nowhere.
Wearing his standard dark suit he looked imposing and too sexy for his own good. She gritted her teeth at his timing because she was pretty sure he’d heard her. He so did not need to know she had no sex life. He nodded at both of them politely. For a brief moment she thought he’d approached to speak to her and her heart rate increased by about a thousand percent. That lasted for all of two seconds. The thought of him approaching her just to chat was as ridiculous as her fantasies about him.
“Hey Ivan, where’ve you been hiding?” Lizzy asked casually.
Since they both worked for Red Stone, though in different capacities, the two were friends. It shouldn’t make Julieta jealous that Lizzy, one of her oldest, happily married friends, was so comfortable with Ivan. But it kind of did.
“Mina didn’t want us out here for the actual shower but… The other two sent me on recon to check out the food. We’re getting hungry.” He sounded almost sheepish as he spoke, the first time she’d ever seen him look so human.
Lizzy laughed just as Julieta’s phone buzzed in her purse. It was laying against her leg and she felt it on her calf. As Ivan and Lizzy started to talk, she snagged her phone and glanced at the incoming text. Even though she’d taken the day off her employees knew they could always reach her for an emergency. As she looked at the screen, all the air fled her lungs in a rush.
You looked fuckable when you left your house this morning. I wanted to shove that cherry dress up over your sweet ass and fuck you from behind. I bet you like it rough whore.
She tried to dismiss the ugly words but bile rose in her throat, swift and nauseating. Abruptly she stood and muttered what she hoped sounded like a believable excuse and hurried across the huge living room area of the luxury condo to the nearest hallway. Her stilettos clicked insistently over the hardwood floors as she hurried to one of the guest bathrooms.
Once inside the bathroom she took a deep breath. The expansive room was all dark wood and frosted glass everywhere. Not that she cared about the décor but it gave her something to focus on other than the revolting text. Whoever had sent it had actually seen her, because they’d described the dress she had on. Which meant whoever he was knew where she lived. An unwanted shudder snaked through her.
Today she was wearing a black retro style dress with a sweetheart neckline—with a cherry print. It was the first time she’d worn it too so the person wasn’t guessing. Paired with her heels it gave her the pinup look she’d been going for—not something she wanted a psycho to appreciate. She pressed a shaking hand to the middle of her chest and started to drag in a sharp breath when there was a knock on the door.
She opened it and was surprised to see Ivan standing there. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
His concern threw her for a loop, but she nodded. “Yeah, great.” Her voice sounded all high-pitched and uneven, even to her own ears. She cleared her throat. “Why?”
His eyebrows drew together as he stepped forward, making her take a step back inside. His broad frame took up way too much personal space for her comfort. “You looked shaken.”
On instinct her gaze flicked to her cell phone she’d laid on the frosted glass countertop. She met his piercing blue gaze again and shook her head. “I’m fine. Just needed a breather.” Seriously, she could hear the lie in her voice and knew he could too. But whatever, there was no way she was telling him anything. She didn’t want him to think her life was full of drama and besides, she didn’t want a stranger in her business. She could handle this situation. As soon as possible she planned to ask Lizzy and her husband Porter to help her. They were both security experts and had resources she didn’t and Julieta knew Lizzy would help with anything. They’d been friends forever.
Moving with a speed and grace she hadn’t expected for such a big man, Ivan crossed the distance between them and snagged her phone.
She let out a yelp of indignation but the man was fast, swiping in her code—how had he even known it!—and clearly reading her text. “What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to grab her phone from him, but he just turned to the side, using his body to block her as he read the message.
His savage curse made her freeze as he turned back to her, holding out her phone. “Who sent that to you?”
She snatched it from him with a trembling
hand. “I don’t know. How did you know my security code?” Julieta couldn’t keep the suspicion out of her voice as she took a step back. It wasn’t like she truly thought he was the freak who’d been sending her texts the last couple days, but it made her uneasy.
He shrugged unapologetically. “I saw you swipe it in out there.”
Okay, his observation skills weren’t exactly surprising. The man didn’t seem to miss anything. “Well don’t do that again. It’s an invasion of privacy.” She clutched her phone tightly in her fist and crossed her arms over her chest.
When she did, his gaze dipped to her cleavage for the barest instant before his eyes returned to her face. As if he didn’t want to look, but couldn’t help himself. “You don’t know who sent you that?”
She shook her head as a tremble racked her body. And she had no idea who it could be either.
His frown deepened and he started to lift a hand as if he might comfort her but stopped himself. “Is it the first one?”
Again she shook her head, hating that Ivan of all people was seeing her like this. “No, but I’m handling it. And I don’t want to talk about it.”
Frowning, he opened his mouth to respond when her phone started buzzing in her hand. She jumped then cursed her reaction. It was the number to her shop which meant it was Ruby calling. “This is work,” she said to Ivan. “Do you mind?” She looked pointedly at the door.
When he just crossed his arms over his chest and gave her an almost challenging look, she blinked in surprise before annoyance surged up. She so did not have time for this. Turning away from him, she answered the phone. “Hey, Ruby.”
“Hey, boss. Someone on a motorbike just drove by and threw a rock through the window. There’s something white wrapped around it with a rubber band. It looks like a note, but—”