The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 3) Page 7
The elevator doors opened and Willa bolted out like lightning. Nope. She couldn’t pretend this was normal. If she didn’t get outside right now, she was going to end up throwing up all over the lobby of her father’s building. And that would probably raise attention.
She couldn’t look at any of the blurring, spinning scenery around her as she ran for the door of the building. All she could do was stare at the sunlight streaming in through the glass spinning doors.
When she was outside finally, she was gasping for breath, but it felt as though she were in a vacuum and nothing was going in. Something touched her back and she jumped, the action not working with the whole not being able to breathe thing.
But James kept on rubbing her back as he took her arm with his other hand and led her toward the side of the building so they were out of the way from the pedestrians on the sidewalk who seemed to be ignoring her little panic attack.
“Willa, look at me,” said James.
Look at him? He was half the reason for this. She needed to be looking anywhere but at him. “What....” She gasped for air before she could get any more words out. “Why?” Not a lot of words.
“Just relax. I’m here.”
She really wished he’d stop telling her to relax. But even as she thought it, his hands rubbing gentle circles into her back seemed to be getting the job done. As she took a deep inhale, she finally felt the oxygen fill her body. She took another breath and another before she finally worked up the nerve to look up at him.
He had shaved. That was the first thing she noticed. He still had a well-trimmed goatee, but the rough stubble that had covered his entire jaw was now gone. She debated touching the fresh shaved skin but decided that would be weird. Maybe not as weird as everything she’d done in the last few minutes, but there had to be a line drawn somewhere.
And as many questions as she wanted to ask, they were still right outside her father’s building. So questions would have to wait. Now that she had some control of herself again, she stepped away from James and rolled her shoulders as though shaking off his touch. “I think I’d like to walk.” She started down the sidewalk.
She didn’t have to look to know he was at her side. Not behind her like he had been before. Her high-heeled pumps weren’t made for distance walking, but right now, it didn’t matter. Because the only place in the city she knew for sure that her father didn’t have bugged was the city sidewalks.
Once they were a block away, she finally let go of everything. “What the hell are you doing here, James? Are you trying to die? Are you trying to get me killed? And how the hell did you end up working for my dad? I know you weren’t working for him before. If he knew what I was trying to do, I’d probably be dead already. So someone had to get you a job here, right? What is your end game? You need to leave because if you are around, I’m going to keep on doing stupid stuff that’s going to get me caught. What the hell are you doing here, James?”
They were still walking during her entire tirade and James, ever the silent one, wasn’t in any rush to answer her questions. “You talk a lot.”
“Yep. And did you know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west?”
He raised his brow as a silent touché. “Nothing changed. I’m still trying to get your father to give up the location of someone I’m looking for. The only thing that complicated matters was you taking off. With my truck.”
“I left the keys in it,” she said weakly.
“And my cover as your personal bodyguard will give me a good reason to get close to your father.”
He didn’t mention anything about staying close to her. Some part of her had thought he’d come to track her down and drag her back with him. Or maybe some part of her wanted that? Who knew what her jumbled mind was going for these days?
But it wasn’t all in her head. Maybe back when she was at his place in the Arizona desert, it was easy to think her inconvenient feelings were one-sided, but they’d kissed. And it hadn’t been just her doing the kissing. He’d been just as into it as she’d been. And those few seconds she’d seen him in Vegas....
“So now what? Where are you going to go?”
He frowned. “I’m going home with you.”
“No you’re not.”
“My cover is as your security detail. That means I go home with you.”
“Then....” Willa tried to think of something to say to end up not spending any time secluded with James, but nothing really came to her. If he wanted to get close to Jadon, she really was the best way in, especially considering she was on his side. But that didn’t make her feel better about it. Because Willa sucked with words, she just burst out with the truth. “James, he’ll kill you.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I’m not that easy to kill, hun.”
Wasn’t that the truth? If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t be worried. She’d seen firsthand how dangerous James could be. But Jadon wasn’t just anyone. The kind of money in this family was dangerous. Dangerous in a way she’d never realized before.
“Tell you what,” said James. “We go to your apartment, regroup, and you’ll get used to the idea.”
Willa chewed at her bottom lip. It really didn’t matter what she said. She couldn’t abandon James now that he was here. Jadon would be too suspicious about her hesitation to let him watch her, especially after her embarrassing reaction to seeing him. And she had a feeling that even if James did agree to leave her alone, he wouldn’t drop his agenda against her father. So if she didn’t want him to die, he was going to be spending a lot more time with her. Willa let out a groan and rubbed at her temples. “Fine. Let’s go home.”
Willa was still rubbing her forehead when the cab dropped them off in front of her building. Everything about this was wrong. The fact that James was here was wrong. The fact that he was wearing a full suit, even a tie, was wrong. The fact that they were about to stop at her apartment was wrong.
Really, after everything that had happened recently, she should be used to things feeling wrong, but nope. She wasn’t even close to being okay with this.
She paid the cab driver and gave him a generous tip as she led the way into her building. She almost went to introduce James to the doorman so he would be able to get in and out without issue, but then remembered that she’d never done that with security detail in the past. Normally her father took care of it.
Right after they reached the elevator and she hit the up arrow, she started to have reservations. “Maybe we should go somewhere else. He could be listen—” The elevator doors opened and instead of moving away from the elevator, James set a hand at the small of her back and led her inside. Apparently he was scrapping that idea.
As soon as they were inside the elevator, Willa stepped away from James. “I think we need boundaries,” she said.
He stared straight ahead, but the elevator doors were basically an oversized golden mirror, so she couldn’t tell whether he was looking at her.
“Because the little incident that happened was just a one-time thing. Considering that you’re here for work, I think we can both agree that it would be best for each of us if that didn’t happen again.” He didn’t say anything. “I think distractions are dangerous and since I obviously barely have any idea of what I’m doing to begin with, I need all the help I can get.”
The doors opened right to her luxury apartment and James set an arm in front of the doors as though to hold them open for her.
She stepped inside and turned around to face him. “Damn it, James. I know you’re not big on talking, but I’m trying to work with you here and you’re not really giving me much to go with.”
He left the elevator and the doors slid shut behind him, sealing them in together. He stood right past the threshold as he pulled off his jacket and hung it up on one of the hooks right next to the elevator. Each movement was precise and measured, and if he didn’t answer her questions in the next second, she was going to tell him exactly where he could shove that jacket.
She blinked a few times and stepped back. “I....” Damn it. Words. She never lost words.
He moved closer and she retreated even more.
“James, there was—” Her back hit the wall that separated the foyer from the kitchen and her throat went dry. “He was going to keep on sending guys and they never would’ve stopped and there was nothing I could do holed up in the desert. I don’t know how Jadon found me, but he did and I had to decide if I was willing to have you keep killing for me or I could work on my own mess and I knew that if I told you, you’d never let me go and—”
James set his palms flat on the wall on either side of her, effectively caging her in. Willa’s heart leapt into her throat. She wasn’t afraid of him. She was a hundred percent sure that James would never hurt her. Not through any logic obviously, but it was something she just knew. An instinct.
But that didn’t change the fact that he stood over her, radiating fury and rage. She finally forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. Lust. Big time lust.
Oh boy.
“You left me,” he said again.
“I was trying to protect you,” she said in a barely there voice.
His arms bent, bringing him closer to her. “I protect you. Understand?”
His golden eyes bore into hers and she couldn’t say anything. Because she couldn’t give him the answer he wanted and she had no idea whether that would push him over the edge. Over the edge of what? What would he do if she said no? Kiss her? Was that a bad thing? Her lips were suddenly dry as though her body was begging for that kiss. All she had to do was—
The elevator doors opened and Willa squeezed her eyes shut. Which was probably the exact opposite thing James would’ve done when something unexpected happened but she couldn’t help what her instincts were telling her at the moment.
When she opened her eyes again, James had turned from her and faced the door, but he didn’t have the defensive or angry posture she expected. When Willa craned her neck to see the uninvited guest to her apartment, she understood why he wasn’t more upset. The newcomer was a young woman, probably the same age as Willa, and not a lot taller. The woman had long blonde hair thrown up in a ponytail and was casually dressed in tight jeans and a T-shirt. Willa had an eye for fabric, though, and she knew for certain from the cut of that shirt that it wasn’t a random purchase off a rack. That was designer.
“Who are you?” asked Willa.
The woman smiled. “Oh, are you two done? Because I can always let you finish and I can come back later.”
Willa could feel the blood rushing her cheeks. She crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to keep her composure. “What I do and who I do it with in my own apartment isn’t any of your business. Now tell me who you are or I’m going to call security.”
The blonde tilted her head and regarded Willa. It was really frustrating to be sized up by an utter stranger. It was impossible to not feel at a disadvantage. Luckily the mystery was solved soon.
“This is Toni Murray,” said James.
That was a name she knew. “You’re Melody’s sister!” said Willa as it clicked. “The computer hacker.”
Toni winced. “Hack is a dirty word. I don’t hack computers. I seduce them. Cajole them. Romance them.”
Willa glanced over to James and he gave her a little shrug. He didn’t seem to know exactly what to do with Toni either.
“Did you seduce my elevator into letting you up?” she asked.
Toni smiled, but changed the subject instead of answering. “Since Weston is on duty with you and you’re an integral part of this plan, I figured it would be best if we were all working together. I am renting out the penthouse below you for a little bit.”
Melody’s sister was now her downstairs neighbor? Sure, why not? “What happened to Mrs. Willis?”
“Mrs. Willis won a free luxury cruise. Apparently even rich people love freebies. She’ll be out of our hair for a while.” Toni turned her attention to James. “Did everything go okay at orientation?”
“Wasn’t eventful. You gave them all my real information.”
Toni snorted. “Why make up a mercenary when I have a real live one who fits the bill? I just hid all your associations with a certain family of con women.”
Family of con women... Melody, Toni, and their oldest sister Jennifer. “Oh my God....” She turned to James. “They’re who Jadon hired you to protect me from?” Her father had said it wasn’t just the feds, but there was a family of vagrants after them.
“What?” asked James.
“Your dad said that?” said Toni.
Well, at least there was one thing she knew. “Yes. Before I knew James was here, I was trying to talk Jadon out of the security. He said there was a criminal family after him. I thought it was just an excuse to have someone spy on me, but I couldn’t put up a huge fight without seeming suspicious.”
“That could be a problem.” Toni’s brow creased. Willa could practically see her running through thousands of different scenarios. “Hold up,” said Toni suddenly. “You didn’t know James was coming here?”
Willa sighed. She was too sober for this conversation. So she just turned and walked farther into her apartment and left James and Toni to follow her. The penthouse apartment was on the top level of the building and overlooked the river. Although the kitchen was slightly closed off, the rest of the apartment was open, with fresh white walls and a light hardwood floor that complemented the natural light that came in through all the windows. Even though Willa could really go for a glass—or six—of wine at the moment, she decided to play it safe and took some water out of her fridge. She set two extra bottles on the island that divided the kitchen from the rest of the living space.
Toni took a seat on one of the barstools on the other side of the island and James moved to stand next to Willa. Toni’s gaze bounced between the two of them. She shook her head as she twisted off the cap. “So, Willa, if you didn’t know Weston was coming here, what exactly happened today?”
“Well.... He walked in the room and I literally fell off my chair in surprise.”
Toni smirked and rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you, Weston. You should know better.”
“You have something you want to tell me?” he asked in a low, gruff voice.
“Hey guys,” said Willa, trying to defuse the situation.
But Toni apparently wasn’t in the mood to back down. “Yeah. I want to tell you that the guy we’re after killed my mother. I can’t afford to have you running around with your little girlfriend,” she turned to Willa quickly, “no offense,” she turned back to James, “and taking your eye off the ball.”
“You want me to stay focused on the prize? Where is Hart, Toni? Is he going to be sleeping in the spare bedroom at your borrowed place or is he going to be safely tucked away at a hotel?”
Willa had no idea what just happened, but Toni immediately shut up. After taking a deep drink from the water bottle, she set it back on the counter and fished out a piece of paper from her pocket and slid it over. “This is my contact info. Don’t lose it. If it gets compromised, I can just change it. I isolated the signal from the bugs and gave them a replacement feed that is transferring to whoever is on the other end. I’ll switch it up to make it believable. Maybe transmit one of those Real Housewives shows or something.”
Great. Toni hacked my DVR.
“In the meantime, please try to remember that you’re not on vacation, Weston. And Willa, if you’re in the mood for tall, beefcake, and handsome, I will find someone else for you. Someone who is much less distracted.”
James narrowed his eyes at her and Willa immediately averted her gaze away from him. This was a topic she was not discussing with Toni. As Toni started for the elevator, Willa followed and asked, “Are Melody and Adam coming?”
“Adam,” said Toni slowly, as though tasting the word and not being very happy about the taste. She snapped out of it and hit the down
arrow on the elevator. “Melody isn’t America’s most wanted any more, but she’s still too hot to be in such a big city. Her face would be recognized in a heartbeat. Weston is our freshest face, so he’s a good asset. Jennifer and Austin will be here soon and between the two of them, we’ll pretty much own the city.”
“So what do you need me for? What is my role in this?”
“You’ve already done your part. You told us that Jadon Belli knows we’re coming after him. So for the time being, keep your eyes and ears open. Weston will be doing the same. I’m still sorting some things out, so I’ll be in touch.”
By then, the elevator had reached the apartment and Toni was getting on. Funny, Willa had been upset about the strange woman’s appearance, but she didn’t want her to leave. Because now she was once again alone with James, and now that he’d made his intentions more than clear, she was going to have to be diligent every second he was close.
Mostly because her own self-control wasn’t to be trusted.
“What the hell did you say to her?”
“Pointed out that she’s being a hypocrite.” James undid the buttons at his wrists and rolled up his sleeves.
Toni being here had ended up being a good thing. James had caught her by surprise twice today. Once when he walked into that conference room and again when he’d made the intensity of his feelings all too well known. Well, she wasn’t going to be taken by surprise again.
“I have to get some things ready before I go out for dinner tonight with Jadon. There’s the television that I’m sure you can figure out and this building also has a fully equipped gym and recreation center if you want to get away for a few minutes.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said James.
Of course he wasn’t. “That’s fine. But I need some time alone, so until then, please make yourself at home.”
He and Willa had very different definitions of alone time. James had been waiting for her to come out of her room for a good hour before he realized that she had no intentions of facing him again.