Chapter 12

"Bentley Gray and Erik Lamont. AKA Falcon." Caden slapped a folder onto the conference table. "Both work for W.J. Protective Services which is owned by Westley James."

"Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?" he asked Caden, rather than trying to figure it out on his own.

"Because he's a legend. The agencies have a love-hate relationship with the man. He doesn't hide that he has no patience for bureaucracy and marches to his own tune."

Oh, that's right. He never had the pleasure of working with the man because he had left the bureau before Wes started his company but friends of his that he worked with on occasion would talk fondly of him. The higher-ups obviously didn't show the same sentiment.

"So they're good men to have in our corner."

"They certainly can't hurt." Caden shrugged. "Want to tell me why you had me run them?"

"Known associates of Monica."

He didn't need to say much more than that. The information Caden pulled would've included their spouses and that connection was previously established due to Ash's connection to the company.

"Now it all makes sense."

"What's that smirk for?"

If Ryker was considered the obnoxious one on their team, then Caden was the complete opposite. The man was all business all the time. It was great during an assignment, but he sometimes worried about his friend. The man needed to loosen up.

"Just never thought I'd see the day where a woman has you looking at every man in her life."

That wasn't what he was doing, was it?

"Just taking the normal precautions we would take if this was any other assignment."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either and his friend knew it. Nothing about Monica's situation was like anything they had faced before.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just a little unexpected. I thought if anyone fell first, it would be Austin. That man is always talking about settling down."

"Hey, I heard that!" Austin hollered from where he was organizing a filing cabinet on the other end of the room.

"I wasn't being quiet about it."

That was another thing about Caden. He was honest to a fault and didn't give the first fuck if he offended someone in the process.

"I agree with Caden. My money would've been on Austin as well," Nash chimed in.

"Screw you, fuckers." Austin gave them all the finger. "Just because I believe in love doesn't mean I'm going to fall for the first woman I fancy. There's such a thing as soulmates and I fully plan to wait to find mine."

"Soulmates are a crock of shit," Jayce added just like he knew his friend would.

Jayce was the only one on the team who had been married previously and to say that marriage ended in a disaster would be the understatement of the century. Fifteen years later and he was still bitter as the day it happened.

"She who shall not be named was not your soulmate and shouldn't be who you base your standard on."

Austin wasn't wrong. Jayce's ex-wife was a cunt, and he didn't use that word lightly. She fucked him up in ways that none of them would ever forgive her for. If anyone deserved to find a woman who could show him how great of a man he was, it was Jayce.

"I don't even believe in soulmates and I agree. That woman doesn't deserve to be anyone's standard," Caden candidly threw out without looking up from the report on the table.

"Let's drop the topic of love and focus on getting this place organized. At some point, we need to start taking assignments again and I would much prefer that was sooner rather than later."

What Jayce really meant was he needed work to keep his mind off other things. It wasn't healthy but Jayce used work as an escape and they all allowed him. Maybe it was time to change that.

The thought drifted away when his phone beeped, and he saw a message from Monica. A small part of him worried when he didn't hear from her this morning that any progress they made last night went up in smoke.

He was glad to see that wasn't the case.

MONICA: Is there a reason two hunky men are following me to lunch?

Maybe sending Ryker wasn't the best idea he ever had. The ladies loved him.

LUKE: Considering neither of those men are me, I'm not sure who you're calling hunky.

Jealousy wasn't an emotion he was familiar with but damn if he didn't want to call Dom and Ryker back to the office just so he could knock the two of them out.

MONICA: That was too easy lol.

Damn, he showed his hand early.

MONICA: When you mentioned I would have people watching me, I didn't think they would be so obvious about it.

He and his friends had discussed it that morning. They debated between staying hidden or making their presence known. Ryker suggested a visual presence in hopes it would deter Fletcher in case he also had someone watching her. Dom wanted to be as subtle as possible. The only reason Ryker won out was because he didn't want Monica freaking out not knowing the identities of those following her.

LUKE: Just trying to stay in front of the situation. The hope is it will keep anyone from thinking twice that you're an easy target.

MONICA: Unless they like a challenge.

And that was what he feared. Alexander Fletcher wasn't the kind of man who allowed himself to be easily beaten. He could just as easily see it as the challenge Monica mentioned and do everything in his power to get around his team. That's why they needed to be extra vigilant and try to lock in Fletcher's location before he could slip back into the States.

LUKE: Plan for the worst but hope for the best.

MONICA: An optimist. I never would've thought that about you.

He smiled. It meant she was thinking about him when he wasn't around. That made him far too happy.

LUKE: I wouldn't say I'm an optimist but one can hope for a good turnout.

MONICA: Pretty sure that's the literal definition of an optimist.

He researched the word on his phone, and sure enough, it was almost the exact definition that popped up.

LUKE: Maybe you're right.

MONICA: You looked up the definition, didn't you?

Either she knew him that well already or he was that easy to read. He wasn't sure which one was better.

LUKE: That obvious?

He liked that she didn't make him wait when he texted her. Almost all of her communications were nearly instant. When she gave him attention, she gave him all of it.

MONICA: Just seems like the kind of thing you would do.

So she did know him well enough already. That was a bit scary but mostly comforting.

LUKE: Going anywhere good for lunch?

MONICA: You mean you aren't getting minute-by-minute reports on how my day is going?

Another discussion he had with his friends that morning before they left was there was no need to check in with every move she made. It wasn't needed, and he trusted that his friends would tell him if anything vital came up. Where she went for lunch didn't qualify.

He was just starting to type out his response when another message popped up.

MONICA: I'm kidding. Obviously, I can see they aren't on their phones.

She was showing him more of her personality and damn if he didn't like it.

MONICA: Oh but they are coming over to introduce themselves. At least I assume that's the plan.

Fucking Ryker. He was probably going to hit on her. Luke had to stop himself from calling Dom and demanding that he keep their friend in line. It would do no good. Ryker would only be more obnoxious if he knew how much it bothered him.

LUKE: Don't fall for Ryker's nonsense.

When Monica didn't immediately message him back, he knew he had been right about her. She gave her full attention to whoever she was talking to at the time. That was by far the most attractive quality a person could have.

"Why do you look ready to come out of your seat?" Nash's question startled him.

He hadn't realized he was showing his obvious discomfort on the outside. Normally he was better about covering those kinds of things up.

"Ryker and Dom are introducing themselves to Monica while she's out to lunch."

He just remembered that she never told him where she had stopped. Was it someplace to sit down or one of those places where a person grabbed food and took it back to the office to eat? For his sanity, he hoped it was the second one.

"And you're worried she's going to like Ryker more than you."

"No. Technically she's already met Ryker."

But the two had barely spoken during that encounter because she had been more focused on him and how he discovered who she was. Now Ryker would have her full attention because Dom was too quiet and wouldn't say anything other than hi.

"You have nothing to worry about. Ryker knows how you feel about her. Anything he does is only to bust your balls."

And their friend was the champ at doing just that.

MONICA: Ryker's the troublemaker on the team, isn't he?

His response was immediate.

LUKE: It's that obvious?

MONICA: Hard to miss when he tried to kiss the back of my hand and called me gorgeous.

Ryker was a dead man. He was going to skin his friend alive when he came back, and that's if he didn't call him back early.

LUKE: I'm going to kill him.

MONICA: hahaha. It's too easy. Ryker was the perfect gentleman. He shook my hand and introduced himself but that was all. But I could see where that smile of his gets him what he wants more often than not.

Oh, so she had jokes. Just wait until he got her in the bedroom. He was going to show her what teasing was really like.

LUKE: Glad to see you're getting a kick out of torturing me.

She didn't make him wait for her comeback.

MONICA: It's the highlight of my day. It might just be my new favorite thing to do. Sadly, my lunch is ready and my day is too packed to eat anywhere other than my office.

LUKE: I'm just glad you got out to grab it.

He already knew she worked too much. As he was leaving, she admitted to not getting home until after eight and being just as busy which was one of the reasons she hadn't answered him the first time. The calls after that were her rejecting him. Already today he was making progress.

MONICA: I also plan to leave on time today for once. Some big steps happening today.

LUKE: I'm proud of you. Maybe you can stop by the office after work and meet the rest of the team. Then we can grab some dinner.

He watched as the bubbles appeared and then disappeared. And then once more. He was just starting to think that maybe he had pushed things too soon when her message popped up.

MONICA: I would love that. See you a little after 5.

Yes! The breath he had been holding whooshed out. This woman was tying him up in knots, but he wouldn't have it any other way.