Page 43 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

Cassidy

“From ‘I’d like to take you out on a date’ to ‘move in with me’ didn’t take very long,” Cassidy joked because if she didn’t joke, if she didn’t find a way to laugh about this, she was going to completely fall apart.

David gave her a dark look. He didn’t seem to have a sense of humor about the situation at all. From the moment Jensen had appeared with the roses, it was like a switch had been flipped.

No more Master David, no more Sweetly Awkward David—he’d morphed into Protector David, which was also hot. Though in a very different way. A very hands-off way.

He was focused. Tightly wound. Watching her every move.

Cassidy folded her hands on her lap as she sat on his couch, doing her best to contain her nervous energy.

It was not quite as comfortable as Jensen’s couch, which was so easy to sink into.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, either, just… more utilitarian.

Just like the rest of his apartment. Which is where she was staying for the foreseeable future since Don apparently knew where she was.

She hadn’t even been allowed to bring a bag of clothing with her since they didn’t know how he’d tracked her.

Nothing that had come up from Maryland with her.

Everything had been left at Jensen’s. So, she still had access to it; it just wasn’t within immediate reach.

Which meant there was no reason to feel like crying.

Other than Don stripping her of the rest of the very little she’d held onto. It was temporary.

No big deal.

Right now, she was wearing Mick’s clothes since he was a little closer to her size than Jensen. The basketball shorts and t-shirt were baggy on her, but at least they weren’t falling off her.

Claudia plopped down on the couch next to her.

“Ginger wants to take you on a date?” she asked, a slightly gleeful note in her voice.

“Now is not the time, Scary,” David admonished, glaring at her.

The whole group had snapped into work mode after the arrival of the roses.

They all had an air of alertness she hadn’t seen before, they were using each other’s call signs, and even their tones of voice had changed. “Do not mess with me.”

“I’m just trying to find out if you’re going to be messing with her.”

“We agreed that I would take her out on a date, eventually. Sometime in the future. So, if you bet something for this week, you lost.” He said the words flatly, and Claudia made a face. “Now, leave her alone. I need her to go over the descriptions of the tailgating again.”

Which was exactly what Cassidy had hoped to avoid. They’d already talked it through several times. After each time, David paced, shook his head, then wanted to go over it again. Hence making the joke about moving in together while he paced.

A knock on the door had both Claudia and David straightening on high alert.

“It’s me!” The voice through the door was familiar, and it only took Cassidy a moment to place it before Drew opened the door, revealing she’d correctly identified Ashley.

The pretty brunette smiled as she hurried in, seeking out and immediately finding Cassidy peeking at her from over the back of the couch.

She had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a plastic shopping bag in her other hand.

“Sorry, it took me longer than I thought to get everything because I figured you wouldn’t want to wear my underwear, so I had to stop by the store for that. ”

Cassidy blinked.

“Your underwear?”

“I asked her if you could borrow some clothing. Just for a few days while we go over all your things,” David explained. “You two are the most similar in size from our group.”

“And I figured you wouldn’t want to borrow underwear.” Ashley wrinkled her nose, coming over to sit down on the other side of Cassidy on the couch. She gave Claudia a little smile.

Seeing her sit, David sighed, seemingly giving up on going a sixth round of “Is there anything else you remember?” with Cassidy now that she was flanked by Ashley and Claudia.

He moved around the couch, heading for the table where Mason, Drew, and Jensen were sitting, reviewing security footage from Jensen’s house from the past few weeks to see if there was something they’d missed.

Definitely not the way she’d imagined spending her Saturday morning.

Ashley leaned in conspiratorially.

“I know you guys are supposed to be keeping things to the club, but since you’re staying here now, I got you some of the good stuff.” She gave the little plastic bag a shake.

“Her ex just found her, and you think she needs sexy underwear?” David whirled around, proving that he had been listening.

“I’m just saying, it’s a one-bedroom apartment, and the safest place for her to sleep is either right next to or under you,” Ashley retorted. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Scowling, David turned away from her. Apparently, he was going to pretend he hadn’t heard her.

Instead, he leaned over Drew’s shoulder, looking at something on the other man’s screen.

Drew gave him a glance, then shot another apologetic glance to Cassidy before refocusing.

The moment he’d arrived, he’d apologized for not taking her flat tire more seriously, but honestly, she hadn’t wanted him to.

It had been nice to have a night of not worrying about Don last night. If she’d been freaking out, thinking it was Don who had given her a flat tire, last night with David wouldn’t have happened. At least this way, things had already shifted between them before she went on lockdown with him.

If she’d had to move in and then they’d slept together… would David have even slept with her under those circumstances?

Probably not. Even if he moved her in with him, he would probably have insisted on sleeping on the couch. It was the right thing to do. But Ashely was right—Cassidy would be safest with him at her side. That’s definitely where she’d feel safest, and that had to count for something.

Though she hoped she wouldn’t need sexy underwear to convince him of that. She wasn’t sure she’d be feeling very sexy.

On the other hand, just in case Don catches up to me, I might as well enjoy myself while I can.

Before being kidnapped or killed or whatever he planned to do.

Maudlin thoughts, but that wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that they felt a little farther away. Like something that could happen but wasn’t imminent. They were just thoughts. Her body wasn’t reacting like it normally did, as if it was real or about to happen at any moment.

Because she felt safe here.

David

“Maybe we should move her to Naomi’s shelter?” Drew suggested, though it was more of a question than a statement. “That’s not directly connected to any of us, and they’re good at making people disappear.”

“She’s perfectly safe here,” David growled, though deep down, he knew Drew’s suggestion wasn’t a bad one.

It just wasn’t the course of action he wanted to take at the moment.

He wanted her here where he could see her.

Where he could protect her. “Besides, until we know exactly how he found her, I don’t want her unprotected.

I also don’t want to put anyone else at risk. ”

“They’re used to it. He wouldn’t be the first stalker ex they’ve handled,” Drew pointed out, though he wasn’t really arguing.

“I know, but she came to us, not to Peggy’s House. If we need to, we’ll use them, but our workload has lightened a little, and they don’t need the heat. What’s that?” He pointed at the screen.

Drew, Mason, and Jensen were each looking at a different camera’s feed record. Drew had the back of the house. David didn’t really need to be looking over anyone’s shoulder, but it was the only thing keeping him from interrupting the women’s conversation. Again.

“Are we considering that this might not have anything to do with Cassidy?” Mason asked without looking up from his screen.

“What else could it be?” Jensen asked.

“Well, she’s not the only one living at that house. There’s also you and Mick.”

Mick was back at the house right now, with Harris’ team, looking through Cassidy’s things to see if there was anything suspicious among them.

David hated the invasion of privacy, but it was necessary.

That was part of why he’d insisted on moving Cassidy immediately.

That way, at least she didn’t have to watch all of her stuff being examined by a team.

“Mick did go on a date recently, but as far as I know, it went well,” Jensen admitted. “He said he’s going to be seeing her again soon. I can’t imagine why she would have sent him unsigned black roses.”

“They do seem like a threat,” Claudia agreed, coming up on the other side of the table where Jensen was sitting.

She’d left Ashley and Cassidy on the couch.

When David glanced over, he saw that Ashley was pulling out the clothing she’d brought for Cassidy to borrow, showing her the selection.

“Red roses? Romantic, for the most part, especially in modern terms. For us, black roses rarely mean anything good.”

“Rarely?” David asked, looking up with a frown. “Not always?”

“Sometimes, they mean mystery or rebirth. In Greek mythology, they were created from the blood of Aphrodite and Adonis after their tragic love affair, so they symbolize love and despair. They can mean eternal love, too.”

“Or?” Mason prompted, also looking up from his screen with an interested expression. He and Claudia would often get into discussions about mythology, though Claudia was more interested in the stories themselves, and Mason was more interested in what the myths said about the people who told them.

“It can also mean death or farewell, a symbol of the final act of saying goodbye forever.”

“As in, he’s given up on getting her back, and now he’s saying his final goodbye because he’s going to kill her,” Drew muttered.

David elbowed him sharply, glancing over to where Ashley and Cassidy were still talking.

Thankfully, they didn’t seem to have heard him.

Drew looked up with a sheepish expression.

“Sorry. I’m just… I’m still kicking myself over the flat tire. ”

“I know.” David put his hand on Drew’s shoulder to reassure him.

“You did exactly what you were supposed to do. More than.” Drew hadn’t waited until Monday to type up the report.

He’d assumed he would have a chance to talk to David on Friday night, and when he hadn’t, he’d typed up the report this morning and sent it.

“It was still too late,” Drew muttered. Enough of his reflection was visible on the screen for David to see that he was scowling.

“It wasn’t.” David squeezed the other man’s shoulder. “Even if you’d told me about it the second it happened, we wouldn’t have moved her. It didn’t happen at Jensen’s. It could have been coincidence. Hell, it still could be.”

Did he believe it was? No. But it could be.

Just like the tailgating.

That was the shitty thing about stalkers. They didn’t even have to be doing everything to instill fear and anxiety. Doing one or two things was enough to make a person look at everything askance.

“The roses are the first clear sign we’ve gotten that he knows where she is,” Mason agreed, obviously having listened. David knew he would probably make a point to talk to Drew about it later. “If it’s him.”

“Who else?” Jensen muttered, even though Mason sounded doubtful.

It was more like he was playing devil’s advocate just to keep them on their toes.

Mason shrugged, and Jensen sighed. “I’ll talk to Mick, just in case.

It would be just like him to pick up some whacked-out chick at the worst time possible. ”

He wasn’t wrong, but David couldn’t shake the feeling that the flowers weren’t some new girlfriend gone wrong.

Regardless, he was going to keep Cassidy safe from any threat. He almost hoped her ex would show up to claim responsibility. David would be very happy to explain to Don the Douchebag why he needed to leave Cassidy, and every other woman on the planet, alone.