Page 12 of Duty Unbound

She blinked. “What?”

“I’m Ethan Cross with Citadel Solutions. This is Tyler Hughes, one of my security specialists. We’re here for the security consult.”

The color drained from her face. “Oh my God.” For a moment, she just stared at me, mortification replacing exhaustion in her expression. “And I’ve been lecturing you about punctuality.”

“To be fair, punctuality is important in our line of work too.”

A small, embarrassed laugh escaped her. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Cross. This is… God, this is humiliating.”

“Please, call me Ethan. And don’t worry about it.” I found myself wanting to ease her discomfort, which wasn’t like me at all. “The mix-up actually gave us a chance to see some security issues we might not have noticed otherwise.”

“And please call me Mel.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear—the first imperfection in her otherwise controlled appearance. “It’s been like this for weeks. I’ve been trying to implement better security protocols, but with the tour preparations and Nova’s schedule…”

I nodded, still assessing. The apology seemed genuine, but so had Samantha’s in the early days. And the continuous glances at her phone—even now, she checked it quickly—reminded me too much of my ex-fiancée’s obsession with climbing the corporate ladder at any cost.

The security situation here was a shitshow. The client’s sister was already striking me as high-maintenance. And I wasn’t convinced the actual client—the pop star herself—would be any easier to work with.

This assignment probably wasn’t a good fit for Citadel Solutions. We would do the force protection assessment and point out the problems we saw, but then we’d let someone take overday-to-day security operations for the Rivers sisters. This sort of work wasn’t for me. I needed something with more action.

But then Logan’s words in Colombia echoed in my mind: “You can eliminate every threat that comes your way and still be haunted by the ghosts you’re running from.”

Was that what I was doing? Running toward dangerous missions in an attempt to keep my own demons at a distance?

When was I going to stop? When someone on my team got killed? I owed it to my guys to at least evaluate this assignment and consider it the way I would any other. Be fucking professional.

“Why don’t we start with the details about the break-in and proceed from there. We’ll see if we’re a good fit for each other.” Her green eyes shot to mine.

Fuck, that had come out more suggestive than I meant. Although my body had no problem dwelling on whether Mel Rivers and I would fit well together.

“See whether your situation is a good assignment for Citadel Solutions to take on,” I corrected, keeping my tone neutral.

Yes, professional and distant was key. Whatever my personal misgivings about Mel Rivers or this assignment, I had a job to do.

And I would do it.

Chapter 5

Ethan

“The break-in happened in here,” Mel said, gesturing to the kitchen as we entered.

I’d already reviewed the police report that my detective friend Corey Hollis had shared with me, but I wanted to hear it directly from her. The spacious kitchen gleamed with high-end appliances and marble countertops, sunlight streaming through the large windows. Too many damn windows.

“We were upstairs,” Mel continued, her voice steady despite the memory. “Nova was taking a bath, and I was with her, taking notes about the tour. The power went out, and I came down to check the breaker box.”

She walked toward a serving cart near the door, wincing slightly as she reached up with her left arm to touch the edge. The involuntary reaction caught my attention immediately.

“When I got back, Nova had come down here and found the flowers…” She trailed off, gesturing to where the roses had been left.

“No alarm system went off?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“We have one, but it wasn’t armed.” She crossed her arms, the professional mask

slipping just enough to reveal her frustration. “Nova doesn’t like dealing with the codes.”

Ty made notes beside me, but I kept my focus on Mel.

“And the side door was unlocked?”