Chapter 7

Lucky stared at Ellie’s bedroom door, the muted sounds of a running shower reaching his ears through the barrier’s dense, wooden fibers. His fists clenched as they hovered above his laptop’s keyboard.

Block it out, asshole. Block. It. Out!

Despite the mental order, it still took everything in him not to picture the sexy lawyer in there now, standing beneath the shower’s steady rain.

Wet.

Sudsy.

Naked.

So much for being a perfect gentleman.

With a muttered curse, he pushed himself up off the couch and went in search of something cold to drink. The apartment’s open concept made finding the kitchen effortless, and the woman’s stocked supply of water bottles in the fridge made his drink selection just as easy.

After grabbing the nearest bottle, Lucky shut the door and twisted off the cap. He’d just taken a generous swig of the icy cold liquid when a familiar notification dinged at him from the living room.

About damn time.

He returned to the couch, plopping his ass back down onto the plush center cushion. With his computer resting on the coffee table in front of him, he reached for a nearby coaster and set his water down.

Lucky’s focus became locked on the screen. More specifically, the files his program had finally managed to access. Files containing video footage of that morning’s press conference.

With a click of his wireless mouse, he opened one. The recording was from the camera mounted high above the courthouse doors, showing a partial view of the front of the crowd as they waited for the conference to begin.

Lucky fast-forwarded several minutes, hitting pause when the first shot rang out. From there, he watched the remainder of the recording, and when he was finished, he rewound it and watched it all over again.

And again.

And again.

Once he had a solid foundation of what that particular camera had picked up, Lucky then went back to each frame, taking his time to study each of the video’s captured images. When he was finished with that file, he moved on to the next, repeating the process with each new recording.

Over the course of the next few hours, Lucky combed through every single file. He studied every individual frame with an expert eye. But even with his meticulous focus, unparalleled training, and years of experience, he was still unable to identify the shooter.

Bastard knew exactly where the cameras were located, and he made damn sure he wasn’t seen.

Even so, and despite his inability to get a good look at their suspect, Lucky’s time and effortmanaged to uncover one important aspect of the investigation. He finally had the answer to a question that had been burning through all their minds since the shooting took place.

And that realization made him want to kill.

Abandoning the screen before him, Lucky glanced over the small monitor and sclosed bedroom door. He thought about the woman behind it. Thought about what could have happened to her today.

What almost didhappen.

We almost lost her today. I was right there, and we almost lost her.

He thought in terms of “we” because, after everything went down with Cassie and Arch, Ellie had started to become a semi-permanent fixture within the Eagle’s Nest family. Did he want her all to himself? Hell yes, he did. Did he ever think it would happen?

A man can dream, can’t he?

And he had. In fact, the sexy lawyer had been the star of many, many dreams. But right now his focus needed to be on reality. Not fantasy. Speaking of which…

Lucky brought his focus back to the task at hand and reached for his cell. Picking it up from the coffee table, he held it in front of his face, impatiently waiting as the device’s embedded facial recognition security program unlocked it.

A quick swipe of the screen and a couple of taps later, and the phone was at his ear.

Come on…come on…

“Nash.” Archer’s groggy voice was rough with sleep.

“It’s me.” Lucky kept his voice low to avoid the risk of waking Ellie.

Before Archer could respond, Cassie’s tired voice sounded in the background. “Arch? What is it?” Alarm shot its way into her sweet tone. “Wait, is it El? Did something happen?”

“Ellie’s fine,” Lucky quickly reassured his teammate. He waited while the other man passed on the message onto his wife before telling the other man, “Sorry to wake you both, but I—”

“Found something?” The sleepiness in the man’s tone had all but vanished.

Lucky’s grip tightened around the phone. “Unfortunately, yeah. I’m pretty sure I did.”

“Hang on.” The sound of rustling sheets filled the cell’s speaker. Seconds later, the other man cleared his throat and then, “Okay, I’m back. You said Ellie’s fine, so what’s up?”

“We need to get the team together.”

“Now?” Archer’s confusion was impossible to miss.

Hell, yes, he wanted to meet now. But the thought of the woman sleeping soundly in the other room had Lucky quickly reconsidering.

“In the morning,” he clarified. “First thing.”

“You gonna tell me what’s going on, or do I have to guess?”

Knowing Archer did not sound like he was up for a game of Twenty Questions, Lucky quickly explained what he’d discovered on the security cam footage. His friend grew silent, taking a moment to process Lucky’s suspicions.

“You’re sure?”

“Pretty damn,” he answered honestly. “I mean, I still want you and the others to put eyes on the files to make sure I’m not missing something. But yeah.” He raked a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “If I had to put money on it…”

A low curse reached his ear before Archer commented, “You’re right. The team needs to meet.”

I’ve been sayin’.

“I’ll call Logan and get it set up for first thing in the morning,” Lucky offered. Looking back at that same closed door, his chest grew tight as he thought about having to give Ellie the news. “I’ll let El sleep for a few more hours, and then I’ll bring her to the office.”

After agreeing on a time, Archer said, “Hey, listen. You stepping up the way you did today…that means a lot. To Cass, and to me. And we both appreciate you offering to stay and keep an eye on El tonight—”

“But…” The trailed word cut Archer off.

“But…I talked to Boyer about everything earlier. His schedule for this week was already light, so he shifted some things around and…well, now you don’t have to waste your time playing bodyguard after tonight.”

Waste my…

An unexpected rush of anger had his spine stiffening and his jaw clenching down tight. “You think keeping Ellie safe is a waste of time?”

It fucking wasn’t.

“What?” Archer’s voice rose half an octave. “How can you even ask me that?”

“Because that’s literally what you just said.”

“Wrong.” A deep, instantaneous denial. “What I said was that Boyer can stand in, so you don’t have to waste your time watching over El. Not that protecting her was a waste of time.”

“Semantics.”

“Apples and oranges, asshole.”

“I can keep El safe,” Lucky bit out the solemn vow.

A stretch of silence passed before his teammate came back with, “Never said you couldn’t.”

“Then what’s the fucking problem?”

“There is no problem. I just figured your time would be better spent working your magic behind the keyboard.”

“Really?” he challenged his friend. “There’s nothing more to this unilateral decision to pull a changing of the guards?” Archer’s hesitation was all the answer Lucky needed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just admit it, brother,” he challenged his friend. “If you don’t trust me to protect Ellie, then just say the fucking words.”

Silence filled the phone’s speakers for so long that Lucky started to think he’d been hung up on. But just as he parted his lips to check, the other man’s deep voice filled his ear once more.

“You know damn good and well that I have full and complete trust in your ability to keep El or anyone else safe.” Archer’s voice was tight. “That’s never been in question.”

“Well something sure as hell is.”

And he wasn’t buying the whole behind-the-keyboard excuse because he could—and had—worked from anywhere with a reliable power source and decent internet service.

“Okay, fine.” Archer sighed. “I just thought…” Another long pause. “Look, man. Don’t get all bent out of shape over this, okay? I just know how you are with women, and Ellie’s…she’s different, Luck.”

How I am with…

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, come on, Lucky. It’s not like you hide the fact that you’re a total player. And that’s fine. Really. I mean, what you do on your own time is your business—”

“You’re damn right it’s my business.”

“—but this is El we’re talking about,” Archer didn’t miss a beat. “You flirt with troves of women at those dance clubs you like to frequent, and they practically fall all over themselves for a chance to go home with you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Dude, I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes.” The other man paused. “I’ve also seen Ellie’s reaction to your attempts at making a move on her, and it’s clear she’s not interested in you.”

Lucky blinked. Arch never had been the type to pull punches, but damn.

“While I appreciate the recap, I’m fully aware of Ellie’s aversion toward me.” A problem he intended to rectify ASAP. “Now, I didn’t think it needed to be said, but clearly I was wrong, so here it is…” Lucky swallowed his anger and forced his voice to remain steady and calm. “I’m here to make sure El doesn’t get hurt. That’s it. Nothing more. And since I’m not trying to use the situation to get into her pants, and since I can work from virtually anywhere, there’s absolutely no reason to hand this one over to Boyer or anyone else. Not unless El says that’s what she wants.”

Maybe not even then.

“You saying you can keep things professional? That you won’t try anything while she’s under your watch?”

“You mean like the things you tried…correction, the things you did with Cassie when you assigned yourself as her personal bodyguard?” Lucky raked a frustrated hand through his hair. “Have you forgotten you took Cass on as a client without even consulting the team first? Or that you started sleeping with her while she was still a client? But you’re right. Feel free to lecture me about keeping shit professional.”

Apparently, what’s good for Yee is not for thee.

“That was different.”

“I’m sure that’s what you tell yourself.”

“It wasn’t just sex for sex’s sake,” Archer kept on. “Cassie and I…we fell in love.”

“And I’m the asshole player incapable of love, is that it?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.” The bite in Archer’s voice vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “Listen, Lucky. You know I love you like a brother. And Cass…she feels the same way about you, too. And Ellie…she’s Cass’s best friend. So I’m just trying to keep the peace, here. That’s all.”

“You know, you and Cass had no problems with me staying over tonight. In fact, you two were practically begging Ellie to let me.”

“That was different. It was one night, and she’d been injured, and—”

“You need to hear the words, fine. Here they are.” Lucky’s throat worked a hard swallow. “I promise to keep my hands to myself. Happy?”

“No. I’m not fucking happy.’ Archer’s slow, deep sigh was audible through the phone. “But I will be, once the shooter’s either behind bars or lying six feet under.”

On that, he and Arch agreed. George Ray Harvey or some other prick, it didn’t matter. Lucky and his team would find the son of a bitch who’d pulled that trigger, and when they did…

You’ll never get the chance to hurt Ellie again.