Page 25

"Oh, for fuck's sake." She grumbled. "I don't need any of you to babysit me. It's just the fucking youth center."

"Well, I'm not too happy about it either, Princess." I drawled. "But it seems you've pissed Rich off too much to push the issue and, unlikeyou, some of us actually have to deal with the consequences of overstepping."

"We can just not and say we did.Daddoesn't have to know you let me go by myself." She snarked.

"No can do, Princess. If Rich says you need a babysitter, you get a babysitter." I replied, chuckling. "Come on, it's a nice day out, at least. We can put the top down on the Porsche and make the most of the situation."

The wind with the top down made it impossible to converse as we drove across the city to the youth center. I was grateful for it, considering I wanted to be saddled with babysitting duty even less than Victoria wanted me as an escort. Craig had taken her the last several days, but he was busy tracking down a lead about the attack on the club.

Victoria didn't wait for me to cut the engine off after I parked in the back lot, immediately jumping out of her seat andpower-walking around the side of the building. I had to jog to catch up with her and nearly bowled her over when she stopped suddenly, looking down at her phone. Her head jerked up at the sound of my approach, and she stuffed her phone in her pocket, her face pinched in annoyance.

"Interrupting something, Princess?" I asked, eyeing her with suspicion.

"It's nothing." She gritted out, reaching for the handle on the glass double doors and yanking it open with more force than necessary.

Before I could press her on it, she was swept up in a bear hug. I recognized the clean-cut blond man as Noah Mercer. One of the kids we'd grown up with at the center. Now, he was a cop who spent his free time giving back to the community, playing ball with the center kids like the do-gooder he was.

"Noah! I didn't know you'd be here!" Victoria squealed in delight.

"Tory!" He grinned, spinning her in a circle before setting her back down on her feet. "You're a sight for sore eyes. I was starting to think you'd run off somewhere after the gala. How are you? How's your dad?" He stepped back and gave her a look of concern as he took in her appearance.

"My father is doing well, as of two weeks ago. He's been in recovery at home. I'm fine, I promise. You know I couldn't leave this place, it's just been… a little crazy." Her eyes flicked to me, causing Noah to follow her gaze.

"Casadei." He said, a muscle in his jaw twitching before his attention returned to Victoria. "This guy giving you trouble, Tory? You know you can tell me, right?"

"Nothing like that," she smiled at him. And for some reason, that caused my hold on my tightly leashed anger to slip for just a second. "Dad decided I needed bodyguards after the gala."

Noah slipped his hand in hers and drew her further into the youth center. "I'm not sure he's the kind of bodyguard you need."

"Let me guess, Mercer." I snorted. "You're the sort she needs, right?" His eyes flicked to me for a moment, then back to Victoria without responding.

"Since you're back out and about, Tory. When are you gonna let me take you out?" He gave her a smile that I supposed was meant to be charming.

My patience for this boy-next-door banter was starting to wear very thin. The last thing I needed was Dudley Do-Right sniffing around the Princess while the boys and I were trying to understand why she framed me.

Victoria laughed, swatting Noah's arm playfully. "You're still on about that, huh? You know I have a strict no dating friends policy."

"Can't blame a guy for trying." He replied with an affable grin.

"Let me give you my new number and we can make plans for you to come to dinner at the manor soon."

Something about the easy way she laughed and chatted with Noah made me want to deck him. She was smiling in a way I wasn't familiar with, and it lit up her face. She'd never look at me like that or any of us. The thought came unbidden into my mind like I'd just been slugged, and the tenuous hold on my emotions was becoming unbearably difficult to maintain.

"Princess, I didn't realize we'd come all this way for social hour. I was under the impression you had work to do." I clipped through gritted teeth. She handed Noah back his phone and rolled her eyes at me.

"Tory, do you want me to get rid of this joker?" Noah said, squaring his shoulders and turning to face me. Victoria sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's fine. Az is… Az. I do actually have some work to do, though, so I need to get to my office. Call me sometime and we'll catch up properly, okay?" She stood on her toes and brushed her lips against his cheek before patting his chest and heading further into the youth center. It took every ounce of willpower I had to not make a scene in the place that had been my second home as a child. I sneered at him as she walked away, and he just looked back at me with a victorious grin, like he'd won something here.

"I'm curious, Casadei. How'd you convince Hugo you should be Tory's protection when you were the primary suspect in the gala fire?" He asked, dropping the nice guy facade the moment he was sure she was out of earshot. "Seems to me you'd be exactly the sort he's trying to protect her from."

"What can I say, Mercer? I'm just a charismatic guy. Besides, those charges were dropped. I'm innocent as a baby. Or don't you watch the news?"

"You and innocent don't belong in the same sentence." He snorted. "You're up to something, and you can bet your ass I'll figure out what. If Tory gets hurt by whatever the hell you're up to, it won't matter if the center is neutral ground. I'll take you down wherever I find you."

"Oh man, you really have a hard on for that good guy schtick, huh? You must be dumber than you look if you think any of us would come for the center like that. It's a wonder you're able to find your own dick for all the signs you're missing."

Noah stepped closer to me, bringing us nearly chest to chest. "I mean it, Casadei. Tory is as good as they come. I won't sit back and watch you ruin her with whatever fucking game you're playing."