3

Will

As usual, I was the first one to arrive at the office. I started bodyguarding shortly after my special ops team had been dismantled. A few friends who knew me, and knew what I was capable of, recommended me to protect their high-profile clients. Word of my skills and reputation spread fast, and before I knew it, I'd more requests than hours in the day. So, I called my brothers from the special ops team—Jake, Christian, and Jager—and asked if they would join me. Not one of them had hesitated.

I placed my thumb on the fingerprint scanner and waited for the red light to scan my retina. Jager had installed several high-tech security devices as soon as he joined my team.

The sound of my boots crossing the foyer's hardwood floor was the only sound in the three-thousand-square-foot building. I often came here at night to research some of the men I suspected of hurting their partners. If any of them had any outstanding warrants or were in violation of their parole, I would make a call to the police station and have them picked up. It was the easiest solution I could come up with in desperate situations. Unfortunately, it wasn't always a long-lasting one.

Last night, however, I'd gone home after driving the woman and her baby to the shelter and fell asleep on my couch. I'd been too exhausted to even make it to my bed.

After a long hot shower this morning, I was ready to start the day.

Shortly after having settled in at my desk, Jake walked into my office.

"Morning, Will."

"Morning, Jake."

My friend frowned when I looked up. "Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked.

I shrugged. "A little." Then, wanting to change the subject, I asked, "What's on your mind?"

His frown remained but he didn't press me further. We had an unspoken rule among my brothers. We didn't talk about our past or press each other with our problems. Whenever one of us wanted help, though, we would be there.

Despite our closeness, my army brothers didn't know about my parents. They also didn't know where I hung out after work. I worried they'd asked too many questions like why I spent so much of my time helping these women.

"I came here to ask you something."

I slapped a smile on my face. "Shoot."

If he saw through the smile he didn't press further, instead, he moved on. "Okay. Well, I wanted to talk to you about a potential bodyguard assignment."

"Potential? What do you mean?"

"Nikole is concerned about a colleague at work. She was nearly killed two days ago when some goon ran her off the road. But Nikole says she's resistant to hiring a bodyguard."

I smiled. A genuine smile this time. "I recall Nikole being resistant to you protecting her as well."

He groaned but his mouth twitched. "Oh, I still remember some of the stunts she pulled, so you don't have to remind me."

We both chuckled but I wasn't keen on taking on this assignment, especially if the woman didn't want protection. "If she isn't interested in our services, then maybe we should respect that."

"I agree, except Nikole says she got banged up, and my wife won't leave me alone until we at least look into it. Christian has been MIA since his last assignment, Jager is currently protecting a Saudi prince, and I'm leaving again to accompany my mother-in-law on her next campaign rally. I wouldn't ask you if I could do it myself."

"I don't know…"

Jake bit his lip. "I did a background check on the girl while I was protecting Nikole. She's had it rough." He rubbed his mouth. "And Nikole thinks her sister might be in some sort of trouble with these guys."

My protective instincts snapped to attention and I couldn't ignore the plea in Jake's voice. "All right, I'll look into it."

"Thanks, Will. It may all just be a simple misunderstanding."

"Mmm… maybe."

"I've got to run. But call me if you need anything. Oh, and you've got Nikole's number, right?"

"Yeah. I'm good. What did you say her name was again?"

"Christina Polito."

"And you did a check on her already? So, it should be on file."

"Yeah, it's all in our shared drive under the Adams case."

"Thanks."

Jake nodded and rushed out the door.

I clicked on the Adams folder and opened Christina Polito's file. According to Jake's research, her parents had been murdered in a drive-by shooting. Police believed they were innocent bystanders.

Her brother, on the other hand, was in prison for selling drugs and her sister had been arrested a couple of times for possession. But nothing on Christina.

I closed the file and decided to head over to Nikole's office and meet the woman myself.

***

The law office where Nikole worked was one of the best in the country, but the lack of security surprised me. Jake said it was worse before he had installed more cameras and a guard at the front.

I guess war and life experiences made us different from others. I'd seen what people were capable of and prepared for the worst to happen.

I showed the guard my ID and signed in with the front desk receptionist. She was a nice, if perhaps overly cheerful woman.

I texted Nikole when I arrived and spotted her as she rushed down a hallway toward me. "Hey, Will. Good to see you." She looked over her shoulder and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Um… this isn't a good time. I spoke to Christina, and she doesn't like the idea of a bodyguard. I shouldn't have gotten you involved."

"Don't worry, Nikole. Jake told me all about it." I looked around the office, searching for the exits and escape routes should Christina ever need to use them.

The office wasn't particularly big, but there were lots of windows and opportunities for people to break in.

She pulled on my sleeve to get my attention. "Will, I'm serious. I told Jake that I want you to look into it, but Christina has flatly refused any type of protection."

"I understand." I patted Nikole's arm, and she looked at it pointedly. "I've dealt with situations like this before, and I know all about difficult clients."

I winked and grinned widely to remind her that I knew all about what happened between her and Jake.

She didn't return my smile. Instead, she crossed her arms and shook her head. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Nikole turned to walk away, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Which one is Christina's office?"

She sighed deeply and pointed to the one next to hers. "Perfect. Thanks."

I walked back with her down the hallway. The offices were separated by glass only and while it was probably soundproof, it didn't leave much in the way of privacy. Perhaps that was the point.

When Nikole entered her office, I continued next door to Christina's.

A woman sat cross-legged at a glass desk in front of a silver laptop. Her straight black hair skimmed the top of her shoulders. I couldn't see the color of her eyes as they were hidden behind glasses reflecting a blue light from her screen.

I knocked lightly on her door, and she looked up. Her lips, which were previously turned downward, curled up and she pulled her glasses below the bridge of her nose. "Can I help you?"

Brown. Her eyes were brown, and they sized me up from my head down to my toes as her red lips curled higher into a brilliant smile.

A simmer of electricity pulsed between us and I smiled back. "Hi." My voice was deeper than usual, so I cleared my throat. "My name is Will Nash. I'm a friend of Jake's and Nikole's." I shoved my hands in my pocket, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. I knew at 6'4 and weighing more than two hundred pounds, I could come across as intimidating.

That flirty smile vanished, and in its place was a thin line of disapproval. She pushed her glasses up and stared back at her screen. "There's been a misunderstanding, Mr. Nash. I do not require your services."

Her cold response and dismissal immediately shut down any spark that was there just a moment ago. All that was left was a cold and awkward silence between us.

I cleared my throat again. "I understand the difficult situation you are in," I began. "I want you to know that I am here to help you."

I might as well have pleaded my case to a brick wall. She kept her face down and her eyes away from me. It was as though she hadn't heard a word.

I approached her desk. "Christina—"

"Please step back, Mr. Nash. I haven't invited you in. I have a lot of work to do and don't have time to waste on redundant conversations."

Redundant? We'd barely spoken for two minutes.

I tried a different approach.

"I understand your sister may be in trouble. I—"

"My sister is fine." She finally looked up again. Then, leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms under her chest, pushing her cleavage past the first button of her black blouse.

I immediately schooled my eyes up toward her face, ashamed of having been distracted so easily.

"I saw my sister and I'm handling the situation." She ran her hand through her silky black hair, exposing a large bandage that had been hidden underneath a layer of hair.

"Is that how you handled it?" I asked, nodding toward her injury.

She yanked her hand down and fixed her hair over the bandage once again. "I said ‘handling'. It's going to take some time, but I don't need any help. So, if you don't mind, please see yourself out."

Her mouth tightened as she resumed reading on her laptop. My hand fisted at my side.

I should leave. She'd asked me to go. But I'd heard that many times before, even from my own mother, until it was too late. Something in my gut told me she was in over her head.

"Perhaps there's some way I can talk to your sister, and—"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" She pushed away from her desk and stalked toward me. She narrowed her eyes as she approached and snapped, "That's what I get for trying to be nice!"

She stormed out of the office and down the hallway, leaving a trail of outrage, irritation, and a hint of peppermint behind.

As I watched Christina push through the bathroom door, a movement to my right caught my attention.

Nikole stood leaning against her office door frame. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

I frowned, still staring after Christina. "You didn't warn me. You never said she was a hellcat."

"She's not. She's very caring."

"You could have fooled me."

"She has a hard time accepting help from others, that's all. Even though she's always the first person to offer it to me. Give it some time. If I hear of anything else, I'll speak to her again."

"I don't know what sort of trouble she and her sister are in, but it's never good when one of them comes out of it battered and bleeding."

"I know. But you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped."

"Yes. I can."

I wouldn't make that mistake again.

I stalked down the hallway toward the bathroom and waited for Christina. I would approach her less formally this time, perhaps try cracking a joke.

When she opened the bathroom door a few minutes later, she rolled her eyes at me. "Are you still here?"

"Yes, and I'm not leaving until we talk about this."

She scrunched up her face. "Why? Why is this important to you? You know shit about me."

"Because my friends asked me to help and they're worried about you. And that's good enough for me. Let's just sit in your office and chat. Maybe you'll find that I can offer you something you can't do." I smiled, hoping she would see reason in having a team of people help her out.

She smiled back.

Finally, I was getting through to her.

She stepped closer to me, backing me up into a corner and away from prying eyes. Then, in one quick movement, she pushed herself up against me. I grinned widely, liking where this was going. But before I could enjoy her heaving chest against mine, she grabbed my balls, gripping them tightly between her fingers.

A sharp pain shot from my groin to every nerve ending in my body. My lungs seized from the immense agony that tore through me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't speak.

I'd been tortured in foreign prisons, and held at gunpoint in dark alleys, but never had I'd been inflicted with as much pain as her tiny, well-manicured fingers were wreaking. Perhaps because my dick had already been hard with her breasts pressed against me. But this was the worst pain I could ever recall.

"Just so we're clear, and there's no confusion. I. Do. Not. Need. Nor. Want. Your. Help. And the next time you feel the need to push your protection onto me and ignore my requests, I want you to remember this moment and how it feels to cross me. Do you understand?"

I grunted, but that wasn't good enough for her. She twisted her wrist and a blue haze clouded my vision.

"I. Understand," I ground out, biting back the pain.

"Good." She released her hold on me and I sucked in a breath of air through clenched teeth.

I stayed where I was, unable to move, unable to do anything other than watch her go. When the pain finally receded and I knew I could walk out of there without crumbling to the floor, I finally stepped away. I walked out, taking myself and my balls as far away from that woman as humanly possible.