Chapter 1

Tuck is late, as usual. He"s my assigned bodyguard, but he still has duties at Midnight Heat. Because of my run-ins with Marcos, Jason wanted me to have a bodyguard when I walked back and forth between our restaurant and the club.

Jason found me last night, took me back to Midnight Heat, and cleaned and bandaged my burn. I refused to go to the hospital for such a small thing, but it was a bad burn.

I have several packages of food to be delivered for different employees at the nightclub, but I make Jason"s plate myself. You see, I have a big-time crush on Jason Harris. He's my wannabe boo, my wet dreams at night, and, yeah, my hero. I don't think I'm those things to him, but a girl can hope.

Anyway, Jason started working security for the nightclub about five years ago. A couple of my brothers are ex-military and they sort of understood he was one of their own. Carlos, who hates everyone, had an immediate rapport with Jason, and they became best friends. Or at least as much of a friend as you can be to a man who says very little but sees everything.

"Don"t you have a delivery, Xiǎo gōng zhǔ?" My mother calls me Little Princess. It always makes me feel special.

"I do, Mama, but Tuck is late."

"We need to talk to your brothers about that attack."

"It wasn"t an attack."

"It was, and Jason shouldn"t be the one providing protection for you. That"s what your seven brothers are for."

"Brandon won"t be happy. Marcos is one of his best customers. He plays a lot, loses a lot, and drinks a lot."

"Then maybe your papa should have a word with Brandon as well."

That"s the last thing I wanted to happen. Chen Lee is a strict man, but he loves his children fiercely. Mama and Papa couldn"t have any children of their own, so they fostered many children and then adopted eight of them. I was the only girl, which sometimes felt like my own little hell on earth, especially growing up. But foster care was worse, so I put up with my dear bullies—brothers, I mean.

"No, please. Papa"s been looking for reasons to close the card games for the longest time. He"ll get into it with Brandon and start pushing again. I don"t want to cause a battle between family members."

My mother looks at me and purses her lips. She doesn"t like it, but she"ll go with it. She knows what a blessing it is to have a fight-free zone in her home.

"Oh look, there"s your security detail now," she says with a smirk.

"Mama!"

"Just remember, your father is an intelligent man. Soon, he"ll start asking questions. You"ll have to tell him the truth."

The truth is that I made a huge mistake letting this man I thought was charming and attentive into my life, only to discover he"s a monster.

Tuck enters the kitchen and sees the packages in front of me. We split them in half and then leave for Midnight Heat. We walk in silence for a bit, and he clears his throat.

"Sorry for being late."

"That"s okay, Tuck."

"Don"t tell the boss, please."

I nod and keep walking. I'm focusing on what I will say to Jason when we get to the club. Whatever few words I get to say to him have to be carefully chosen. He"s always so serious and focused on his job, but when I deliver the food, he usually asks me to stay with him. Doesn"t want to eat alone, I guess. I wish he asked me because he wanted to spend some time with me. But there"s always this tense silence that I keep trying to break to no avail.

We enter the club through the back, and most of the people who ordered are waiting in the kitchen.

"I"m sorry I"m late," I say.

"Don"t worry, we know it"s Tuck"s fault," Anne says with a smile.

Anne is the nightclub"s social media manager, and we"ve become a bit close since she started working here. She"s dating the CEO, Maxwell Lewis, who is very scary in person. I mostly just try to stay out of his way.

"Hey," I bump her with my hip and whisper, "we should hang out soon."

"You got it."

She takes the containers labeled with her name and waves me goodbye. I take a deep breath and go in search of Jason. Security has a mid-sized office that holds all the video surveillance equipment, and that"s where I can usually find the heads of security, Jason and Althea. I knock softly on the door, and Jason says it"s okay to come inside.

I stay in the doorway and just lift up the food so that he knows it"s dinnertime. He nods, and then I retreat and head to a small office where Jason prefers to eat. I brought some food for myself as well, so it"s not awkward. Jason said it was okay, and now we"ve gotten into a routine. I place everything on the table and sit down. Jason comes in after a minute or so and sits in the seat across from me.

We eat in silence, but after a few minutes I remember my mother"s comment about the security.

"Um, my mom has noticed Tuck following me around. She thinks my brothers should be taking care of me, not you."

He looks at me for a few seconds, his icy stare making me shiver, but not in fear. Never in fear.

"What do you think?" He asks.

"I think you"re using the club"s resources to take care of me, and I"m not sure I"m completely fine with that."

"I talked to the owners."

"You don"t have to take care of me."

"Are you going to get your brothers to protect you?" He raises a dark eyebrow.

"I…"

"Then the security detail stays until you do."

The finality of his words scares me a little bit. Is he going to leave now? But he just keeps on eating as if this intense conversation never happened. I"m a little intimidated by his silence, but I have something else to get off my chest.

"Jason, thank you for helping me the other night."

He nods and keeps eating. So, I guess this was as much conversation as I"m getting from him tonight. But he surprises me with his response.

"I owe it to your brother."

Well, that just crushes my heart. So he didn"t really help me for me but for his best friend. Thanks for putting me in my place, Jason Harris. Now, I"m the one eager to leave. He looks at me, and I try to avoid his gaze. My face shows everything I feel, and right now, I"m feeling low. I wait until he finishes eating, but I don"t say another word.

I pack the garbage and take it with me to throw in the kitchen. I get up to leave, still trying to keep the tears from falling. He grabs my arm gently before I exit the office.

"I upset you. Why?" His concern only threatens to make those tears spill.

"It doesn"t matter. I"ll go get Tuck to take me back."

"I"ll take you."

"That"s okay, I can get Tuck."

"He"s probably still eating. Let"s go."

I don"t want to make a big deal of it so I just let him walk me back to the restaurant. The silence between us eats at me, but at the same time, I can feel the heat emanating from his chiseled body as he walks beside me. When we get to the back of the restaurant, he grabs my hand. It feels so small in his, but his hand is definitely the hand of a protector.

"I"m sorry I upset you. You know I"m not good with words."

"I know." I avoid his eyes. "Goodnight."

I rush inside the restaurant"s kitchen and go to my mother"s office, hoping it"s empty at this time of night. When I go in, I see that Mama is sitting at the computer doing the accounting.

"Can I sit here with you for a bit, Mama?"

"Of course, darling."

Instead of sitting, I go to the couch at the back of the room and lie down. I don"t know whether to scream or cry, and then tears start falling down my face. My mother hears my whimpers and turns to me.

"That man is an idiot."

"Wha-what? Why?"

"Maybe it"s better that he doesn"t know you are in love with him. Your brother Carlos idolizes him, but he"s made it clear that Jason Harris is a dangerous man. I don"t want that for you, Cassie, baby."

She grabs some tissues and hands them to me. My heart takes this as permission to let the tears flow, and I start crying in earnest until I fall asleep. Dangerous men surround me, but one of them I trust with everything I"ve got.