Page 84 of Close Protection

‘I do like a challenge,’ the icky guy mutters, his bad breath fanning past my nose.

I jab my elbow hard into his ribs before stabbing the poker into his trainer-clad foot earning a childlike scream out of him and a chance to get away.

Dropping the poker, I run to the drawer while he hobbles around clutching his foot, and retrieve the pan.

Moving with speed, I aim for his temple and strike him with acute precision.

He hits the floor with a dull thud, unconscious. But you can never be too sure so I batter him again. And again. Picking the poker back up I aim at his knees again, hitting until I hear a more convincing crack. Clearly the first one wasn’t good enough if he was able to walk. I look around for something to tie him up with, but can’t find anything in the kitchen so I move to the living room. Spotting the curtain ties I pull them off and run back into the kitchen, binding his feet together first, then his hands.

‘What was it you were saying about a challenge?’ I ask innocently, patting him down. I find a wallet and take it out, then I look for a tattoo. He’s wearing a black polo shirt and when I pull it down to check his collarbone I spot it.

What kind of employment website does Daveeno use to always get the scummiest-looking dullards?

‘What a sad little man.’

32MILOSH

I open the door, bag of groceries in hand, and am greeted by a Rapunzel-looking Daphne.

‘Whoa.’ She swings the pan in her hand and I duck just in time for it to miss as realization dawns on her.

‘Oh my gosh, Milo! I’m so sorry, did I hit you?’

‘No, you just missed. Why do you have a pan in your hand?’ But I don’t need her to reply because as I walk into the kitchen I get my answer.

‘What the hell happened?’ I turn around and she has the most bored, unimpressed look on her face.

‘He got in while I was in the shower so I couldn’t hear him. When I came downstairs I realized he was here and attacked him. He tried to hurt me but didn’t do much damage.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine, I was just waiting for you so we could question him together.’

I drop the bag of groceries on the counter and walk overto the intruder, who’s lying on the floor, bound and bloody, one side of his face swelling up.

‘You did this?’ I turn back to look at Daphne, who starts nodding with a satisfied smile on her face. I breathe out a laugh, shaking my head. ‘Well done, baby, good job.’

‘Thank you!’

‘Did you check him for ID?’

‘Yeah, as soon as I tied him up.’ She walks out of the room, returning only seconds later with a wallet in her hand. ‘His name is Ryan Moore. Oh, and…’ She walks past me, over to Ryan, and pulls down his polo neck.

I spot the all-too-familiar Daveeno tattoo and nod. I pull out one of the chairs by the dining table and haul him up onto it, fixing the curtain ties so they bind him to the chair too, leaving him nowhere to go when he wakes up.

I stand up and turn to face Daphne who still has the pan in her hand. ‘Is that what you used on him?’

‘This and the poker, yeah.’ Her eyes dip sensually as she walks over to me. ‘Turns out those training sessions really paid off. You’re a good teacher, Mr Petrov.’

‘No, baby, this was all you.’ Using my pointer finger and thumb I take her chin and lift her face to mine, pressing a lingering kiss to her mouth. ‘And apparently violence suits you, because you look beautiful today, by the way.’

Her lips tip up. ‘Thank you, Milo… I think.’

‘Hmm.’ I run my thumb over her bottom lip, revelling in the moment a second longer before I focus on the task at hand. ‘Since you beat him up, you wanna question him?’

‘Sure. You’re still going to be here, though?’

‘Of course.’