Page 13 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Terry

I picked up Lucas’s call on the first ring. “Yes?”

“Duke is checking with his LAPD contact to get a current location on Russo. Then, as soon as we assemble the team, I want to pay the guy a visit and let him know Grace is off-limits.”

We all knew Lucas’s preference when visiting one of the crime groups in town, and that could be summarized as overwhelming force .

When it came to close-quarters combat or gunplay, the local bad guys didn’t stand a chance against the former spec-ops guys I worked with.

But sometimes, the criminals were too egotistical to understand that.

To avoid drawing weapons, it was safer for us to have the numerical advantage and keep the dumbshits from wanting to start anything.

“I want to go along on that visit.” Knowing he wouldn’t like the idea, I added, “I want to look the fucker in the eyes and deliver that message.”

I could almost hear Lucas’s teeth grinding. “Okay. I’ll send Zane over to relieve you. ”

“Yes, sir. Hold fast.”

Zane was our newest addition, and so far he seemed a little cavalier to me—as if things outside of combat couldn’t turn dangerous in a hurry.

That was a lesson I’d learned more than once.

But he’d get there. More important than him being a former SEAL was the fact that Duke had personally vouched for him .

“How can I help you?” Grace’s assistant, Peyton, asked when I found her.

“I need to hang out and wait for an associate. Would it be okay to use Grace’s office?” I knew better than to make an enemy of the assistant by not asking her permission.

“Sure.” She pointed. “Right behind you. Who are you expecting?”

“Zane March is his name, but I don’t know his timing.”

She winked at me. “Got ya covered.”

The call came a half hour later. “Zane is on the way,” Lucas informed me. “Let me know when he arrives, and I’ll send you rendezvous coordinates.”

“Are we kitting up?” I had no idea how firm a statement Lucas wanted to make.

“No vests, handguns only. This is a friendly visit and discussion only.”

“Copy that. What about the warehouse?”

“Empty, but Jordy set up cameras to monitor for activity from here. One more word of caution…”

“Yeah?” His tone made it sound ominous.

“Serena is on the way. Don’t let her get in the middle of anything there.”

“Copy that.” Great. Duke’s woman and Grace’s best friend, Serena Benson, could be a handful at times, and now I was going to be responsible for two hard-headed women.

Zane arrived not long after the call, and before Serena. “Duke’s woman, Serena, is going to be here soon,” I warned him.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I think she’s cute.”

Zane clearly needed a mouth filter installed. If Duke overheard a comment like that, Zane would need emergency dental work.

I shook my head. “It’s a storm warning, sailor. She might want to take charge of things. Don’t let her. Also, you’re now responsible for two women instead of one. If those Russo pricks come looking for trouble and hurt Serena, then Duke?—”

Zane raised a hand. “I get it. If anything happens to his woman, I pay the price.”

“No.” I poked him in the chest. “If anything happens to either of them, you pay the price.”

He smirked. “I thought you wanted to throw Grace off a bridge last week.”

“Protection is the job. My personal feelings are irrelevant. Understand?” I had acted terribly toward her last week, which had been normal for us.

But since the attacks on her—not to mention our lip-lock moments— things had shifted.

Now, with the news Lucas had just given me about Pete, I had to keep things from getting out of hand.

“Understood.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Does she like Italian food?”

“No.” Of course Grace loved Italian food. “Concentrate on the job. The threat can come from anywhere.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t let her leave the office,” I warned Zane. Grace’s last two ventures out onto the street had not gone well. “Let’s go.” I brought Zane with me into the demo room.

When she heard the door open, Grace excused herself and removed her headset. “We’re almost done.”

“Sorry, but I have to run an errand. You know Zane here.”

Grace nodded and waved at Zane. She’d met him at the dinner last night.

“He’ll be with you until I get back.”

She’d always been happy to see me leave in the past, but today her smile faltered. Things really had shifted between us.

“I’ll stay out of your way,” Zane assured her.

She shooed us out of the room with a hand motion.

Back in the front room, Peyton was meeting with two new customers who’d arrived.

As I walked past, I heard her tell them they could squeeze in a meeting with Grace after her current one finished.

Downstairs, when I drove out of the parking lot for the meeting with Russo, an odd sense of foreboding passed through me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t feel right.

Grace

Serena was waiting by my office door when I escorted Gina Eclestone out of the demo room. I smiled and gave Serena a nod. “We’ll be back in touch to schedule a time to bring the samples to you,” I told my client.

Serena shifted from leg to leg. To her credit, she knew enough to not interrupt me, even though her expression told me she was irritated, to put it mildly.

Gina smiled. “Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to it.”

This had gone better than expected, and the installation would be one to be proud of. I noticed a man I didn’t recognize on our reception couch. Zane was at an empty desk near my office, facing him.

“As soon as you’re done,” Peyton murmured as I got close, “your next is waiting in demo two, and…” She motioned toward my upset friend. “…she needs a minute.”

I nodded, although I didn’t recall that we’d booked anyone before the Morgenthous this afternoon.

“It’s been wonderful meeting you, Grace,” Gina said as she grasped my hands. “I can’t wait to get started, and also to tell all the ladies about you. Seeing how these changes will look in my house with that system was simply marvelous.”

“Call Peyton here when you know your husband will be out of the house and we have a window to bring the sample materials over.” She’d said she planned to have the installation done during their upcoming Europe trip and surprise him upon his return.

The next step was to bring samples of the materials that would be used so the customer could touch them, feel them, and appreciate—or not—the colors and textures involved. We couldn’t allow pictures alone to suffice. And we had to take exact measurements, of course.

Her face lit up. “I will. This is going to be so exciting.”

We said our goodbyes, and Marci escorted her to the door. I turned to Peyton after Serena left. “Who’s in demo two?”

“She called this morning and couldn’t wait. Her name’s…” She consulted her notepad. “Maria Torelli.” She shifted her eyes toward the reception couch. “He’s her driver.”

“Torelli? I don’t recognize the name.” But a personal driver spelled money in this town.

“And your friend?—”

“Gracie…” Serena came barreling down the hall from the restrooms. “I’m here to rescue you.”

I opened my arms to her and the predictable bear hug.

“I heard what happened,” she said. “Tell me you’re okay.”

I nodded. “I’m good.” Opening my arm toward my office, I suggested, “Let’s step in here a moment?”

Not wanting to rehash this morning’s events in front of my employees, I closed the door after us. Instead of sitting, I leaned against the desk.

“Duke said you got attacked again after you snuck out this morning.”

“Yeah,” I admitted, looking down.

“Are you really okay? Maybe you want to take a day off and talk.” Having been kidnapped herself, Serena was probably the only person I knew who understood the terror .

“No. My kids here need me. This business doesn’t run itself.” I slipped up using the word kids , but didn’t correct myself. Peyton had accused me of being a mother hen with my employees, and rightly so. My people deserved a boss who would look out for them in the way that I hadn’t been.

Serena folded her arms. “You can’t help them if you put yourself in danger, girl.”

“I’ve already had that lecture. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“And he was right.” She stepped forward and took my hands.

Hers were warm. “Look, I was stubborn and acted out like you did, ignoring some of Duke’s advice.

It was a bad idea. Instead, you should stop hating him and let him help you.

He cares.” She eyed me a moment. “You know, Terry was beyond pissed at Duke for letting you get away.”

Hearing that tugged at my heart. I shrugged. “I had to. Elliot needed me.”

“And,” she added, “I got in trouble for not watching you closer.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t take the chance that you’d try to stop me.”

“And I would have, as soon as you mentioned Elliot.” She leaned against the chair back. “That guy needs to grow up, and you need to stop enabling him.”

“Maybe,” I allowed.

“You can’t bail him out of every situation.”

I’d gotten this same lecture from Terry a dozen times. “You’re right.” Agreeing with her was easier than trying to explain my need to be there for Elliot when nobody else would.

“Lucas has everybody looking for the little dipshit as if he caused this.”

“He did,” I admitted. Then I explained the encounter at Burger King, including what Elliot had told me and getting Tasered before Terry arrived to save me…again.

“Tasered? No shit? Duke got Tasered saving me.” She shivered. “He shook it off as nothing, like the macho badass he is, but I could tell it really hurt.”

“Yeah. He got me in the back and…” I patted my butt. “Lower.”

She laughed. “Ouch. I’d hate that.”

“It’s like a piranha’s latched on to your ass and won’t let go. I don’t recommend it. I still can’t sit right.” I omitted the part that had required me to pull down my pants for Terry.

“You really should have waited for Terry.”

“Not you too.” I raised a hand. “Don’t you think the Tyrant himself already told me that roughly a hundred times? Including when he was…”

“Was what? ”