Page 6

PART II

"Hey, squirt!"

William had snuck up behind his sister and when she startled and yelped, he wrapped his arms around her for a hug.

"Hey! Don't smoosh me!"

He loosened his arms, and she turned around, untangling her arms so she could wrap them around him, too. "I just need you to get a little taller, M. That way when I hug you, I won't cut off your air."

William swore that he could feel her rolling her eyes.

And then she pinched his side, making him pull back from her.

"Not fair!" He shook his head at her. "That's a sibling sin, remember? Taking advantage of a physiological weakness!"

She looked up at him and poked him in the chest with her finger. "And what kind of accommodations do I get since you're bigger and stronger?"

He shrugged. "I can't help you there."

Mary sighed and wrapped her arms around him in a punishing hug that almost took his breath away.

"How about this?"

William felt his ribs flex and come close to cracking. "Okay. Okay... I give! Uncle!"

Laughing, she stepped away and turned her head to look at the duffel bag that he'd set down just inside the door. "How long do we get to have you on this trip?"

He looked at Mary, shaking his head. "Not long enough." He drew in a breath and smiled at her. "Missed you, squirt."

Mary rolled her eyes and William reached out a hand to tug on her ponytail only to find that she didn't have one anymore.

"What happened to your hair?"

He wasn't sure if she'd heard his shock. She took it as a compliment, turning around in a circle, her fingers fluffing up her hair.

"I was going to send you a picture, but dad said it would give you a heart attack."

William sighed. "That sounds like dad. I think it would only have shocked me a little. I'm made of strong stuff. At least the Marines thought so."

Mary looked at him, her expression suddenly making her look a little older than he remembered. "How is the adjustment going?" She shrugged, trying to look like she was just asking a simple question, but he knew that Mary worried.

She always worried. When their mother had passed away, she'd found a way to step in and do a lot of the things that their mom had done. She took primary care of the house and cooked meals.

Part of the reason why William had wanted to visit home was to check on his father and his sister. "How is dad?"

Mary shrugged but managed to keep a smile on her face. "He's better. He's back at work now. He didn't call you?"

William shook his head. "Do you need something? Dad?"

She looked at him for a moment before launching herself at him. "I'm just happy to see you again! To have you home!"

She hugged him close, and he returned the gesture. It felt good to be near her. To be close to family.

When Mary stepped back, she gave his chest a pat. "Thanks for the Nyx T-shirt, Will."

He grinned at her words. "She's really nice. You'd like her. "

Mary's eyes widened at his words. "Does that mean that you 'know' her?"

"We talked a little. And she's marrying one of the guys I work with."

Mary's chin dropped down, her eyes wide with amazement. "Holy sh-"

"Language, Mary."

William and his sister turned toward the door, and they saw their father coming through the door, his arms full of grocery bags.

"I just came from the market. Knew we needed some groceries for the week."

William moved with his sister, and they helped their father put away the groceries. It was easy to fall into their old habits, but along with the fun they were having, William would catch glimpses of each of them looking around for the one person missing in the room.

His mother.

He heard a soft hiss and turned to look at Mary.

She had a cut on her finger and was fighting back tears.

"Here." He reached out a hand and wrapped it around Mary's wrist. He made a quick excuse to his father before taking her into the bathroom off of the hall. "Let's get this fixed up."

He turned on the water and put her hand under the rush .

He heard her hiss from the pain and his teeth ground together. "Don't look."

Mary was very studiously looking up at the skylight in the bathroom.

As he cleaned off her cut, he heard her hiss, and he wanted to take her mind off of the pain.

He darted a look at the ceiling and grinned. "Who ever thought we'd like a skylight in the bathroom?"

She stiffened for a moment and then laughed. "The only time I've ever really thought about it was when there was snow piled on top, and it was dark in here."

He nodded and reached for the antibiotic cream. "Crazy, right? I guess I could see it if we were in a tropical place, or in the woods."

She nodded. "We'd have some trees to look at."

He wrapped a bandage around her finger and secured it with tape. "I'm guessing it was a part of the design of the era."

He let go of her hand and gave her a one-armed hug. "Go outside. I'll clean up in here."

He heard her sigh of relief and leaned into the kiss she put on his cheek.

"Thanks, bro. You know I hate... the red stuff."

He chuckled and waited until she was out of the room before he said anything.

"I'm not a big fan of it either."

And he wasn't. But blood, sometimes, was just a part of what he did .

Just like loss was the part of a family. It was the worst part, but it was there.

His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.

He gestured at the phone and saw Mary's disappointment written clearly on her features. "Sorry, squirt. I have to take this."

She sighed and poked him in the gut. "I know you're being called away," she managed a smile. "I'm okay with it as long as you're not leaving for months and months like your deployments."

"We'll get used to this new normal, okay?"

She shrugged. "Maybe you'll end up married like that guy you work with."

He shook his head, walking toward the door, his sister's laughter trailing behind him.

William answered the call. "Alex?"

Sadie Patterson opened the door to the hotel room and William found himself a little star struck. He'd met Sadie Patterson before but every time he did, he was a little tongue-tied. It was more like brain tied. She was that famous.

"I'm William-"

"I know who you are William. We have met before."

Oh? Well that was fucking embarrassing. "I'm... sorry. "

Hank Patterson, Sadie's husband, walked into the living room area of the hotel suite with a smile and a sigh. "Dazzling another man, sweetheart?"

William watched as Sadie sighed right back at her husband. "I'm sure he didn't expect me to show up today."

William nodded. "I got the message that Alex had a new assignment for me."

Sadie gestured to the luxurious chairs in the seating area. "Have a seat, please."

William moved over to one of the chairs, standing in front of it, but he didn't sit until Sadie sat down on the couch.

A knock at the door of the suite had William leaning forward to stand up, but Hank passed behind him, setting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I've got this, man."

William snuck a look at Sadie and wondered if he'd ever be in a room with her and not feel a little star struck.

He didn't have a crush on her or anything of the sort. It was something entirely different for him. She was a singular talent, just like Selene. Being in a room with her made him feel like Selene was close.

Denial?

Maybe.

But he couldn't help wishing that he could get this close to Selene again .

They'd talked a few times on the phone, but mostly texts.

And while he knew they'd had a connection on the night of the inauguration, he was under no misconception that they were involved at all.

They were... there wasn't a definition for what they were.

Guard and protectee?

Work acquaintances?

Wishful thinking? Yeah.

That.

The door opened and a hotel employee stepped into the room with a cart, followed by Alex, Badger, and Flash.

Flash gave him a nod.

Badger was his normal stiff upper lip Brit.

And Alex?

There was something in the look that he cast in William's direction that had William rubbing his palms against his slacks.

It was as if he could feel an underlying current in the room.

And the focus of that energy was himself.

Flash and Badger greeted Sadie with smiles and soft comments while Alex leaned in for a hug from the world-famous actor.

She sat back in her chair and looked across the seating area .

At him.

William Winchester.

The hotel employee set up a coffee station at the side wall of the room, but made a coffee for each of them before leaving and when the door opened up for the hotel employee to leave, another man walked in.

William could tell that Sadie, Hank, and Alex were all expecting the latest person to enter the room, just as easily as he could tell that Badger and Flash weren't.

It was good to know that he was in good company.

The man had an air of elegance about him. He made eye contact with everyone in the room easily and he waved off the offer of coffee before he leaned in to give Sadie a kiss on her cheek.

A kiss that looked like it had taken a little longer than it should have.

Sadie pushed him back, rolling her eyes. "You can take the empty seat," she pointed at the armchair a few feet from her, "and do it before my husband considers throwing you out of the window."

He sat down heavily and lifted a leg, putting the ankle of one leg onto the knee of the other. The man looked familiar, like he'd seen him on television.

Or a movie trailer.

Something like that .

Sadie put her hand on Hank's arm and gestured at the new man in the room. "This is Cooper Armand. He's an actor."

"Oscar nominated."

The man had offered the caveat and William managed to look vaguely interested.

Cooper leaned on the arm closest to Sadie. "I'm sure they know who I am."

William bit back the comment he had on the tip of his tongue. If you were sure we knew who you were, why tell us the Oscar thing?

Sadie smiled at him, but William could see that she was trying to make him feel at ease. "Why don't you tell us who you're working with here in New York."

Drawing in a breath, he looked at the group. "I'm here working with Selene on a movie shoot."

Selene.

William felt the color drain from his face.

Selene.

Yeah, he didn't know she was here in New York.

His hand itched to take out his phone and text her, but he sat there, quietly.

No one asked who Selene was and no one had to explain. They just knew.

Cooper continued. "There have been a few... questionable happenings around the set and so far, we've been able to keep them quiet from the press. And... Selene." He looked at Sadie and she nodded for him to continue. Nodding to himself, he looked at the group. "Someone broke into her trailer and made a mess. Until this, we didn't have anything actually happen. No damage.

"And we kept it quiet. The cast hadn't heard and the crew, most of them had been kept in the dark."

His broad grin and Hollywood-like air had faded.

William could see that the man was shaken.

"What happened this time that you couldn't keep it quiet?"

William couldn't keep his question in. He knew he probably should have let Alex, Sadie, or Hank speak, but he just had to know.

Cooper's lips pressed into a thin pale line before he answered.

"Selene saw it."

He shook his head, and William could read the embarrassment on his face.

"She got there early to set to go through her lines and walked in on the destruction in her trailer."

He nodded and Sadie handed a stack of papers to Alex. Alex took a copy from the top and handed the rest of the stack down to Flash.

William waited, almost patiently, for it to make its way down to him.

Cooper continued to talk. "You're all getting copies of the police report and the pictures. If you want to see the images, I can have the electronic files available for you."

Alex spoke up. "We're going to need those."

Cooper smiled. "Not a problem. I just want to make sure that we protect Selene during the rest of the shoot. She's already nervous about the movie and she was shaken when she saw what happened to her trailer."

"If you have pictures of any other damage from events before this. We'll need to see that as well."

William's heart was in his throat, and he didn't bother looking down at the packet of paper that Badger had handed him. He didn't want to see the images while he was in the room with others. He had a good hold on his actions.

Normally.

Selene was a weak spot for him in the same way that his sister was.

No.

Selene wasn't anything like his sister.

His thoughts about the singer had NOTHING to do with those kinds of affectionate thoughts.

He wanted to protect Selene. Needed to.

"We have two weeks left in filming and it's imperative that we keep the public's knowledge about this to a minimum. We've been concerned with keeping the whole shoot quiet as a favor to Selene."

Sadie moved and William turned to look at her.

"Selene wasn't sure she wanted to do this movie," Sadie explained. "She wasn't sure she wanted to branch out from singing. She's done videos and the like, but it's normally based on performing her songs for the camera. This movie is about a singer, so she is singing, but there is a lot of acting for her to do. And the production company that Cooper founded is using this as their first movie to be released. A flagship production."

Badger and Flash nodded. William turned his gaze toward Sadie and then met Alex's normally calmly elegant demeanor.

Cooper continued. "I'm up to my eyeballs in funding this picture."

William bristled at his words.

"But my first concern is Selene. And making sure that she feels safe to work. Keeping things quiet is at a premium." His gaze dipped down a little. "The people who say no press is bad press wasn't around during social media. Now, all it takes to tank a film is for a hint of scandal to pop up."

William's left hand fisted at his side. He managed to keep his right hand on the armrest, relaxed. As much as he could feign the emotion.

"So, if we could keep any more negative aspects of this quiet. That would be ideal."

William lifted the packet and looked at the first page. "Vandalism?"

"Huh?" Cooper's head popped up and he frowned. "What- "

"The police are classifying the incident as vandalism."

Cooper nodded. “As far as we know, it is."

"You're talking about Selene specifically. But you're dismissing this, at least publicly as simple vandalism?"

"Gunny-"

William turned his head toward Alex and with a look, he turned back to the producer. "You're not telling us everything you're worried about."

He saw Sadie's expression across the way in his peripheral vision. She raised a brow at his comments, but her face didn't show any anger or other emotion like it.

"You're worried about Selene specifically. So these other incidents must have been targeted at her."

Cooper lowered his leg to the ground and sat forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.

He looked very different than the confident Oscar nominated actor that sat down a few minutes before.

"That's what might be happening, but we haven't had concrete evidence saying that it's all focused on her."

William felt a muscle tick in his jaw.

Alex shifted on his chair and gave William a look.

William dropped his chin to acknowledge the communication.

"I'd like to hire you to make sure that Selene is safe and protected at all times. "

William's hand flexed on his thigh and if he had any nails at all he might have clawed through his slacks.

"William?"

He looked over at Sadie.

Alex, Hank, and the others called him Gunny, but Sadie had never done it.

He saw her keen look in his direction.

"William, would you take point on this?"

He looked over at Alex who lifted a brow at the question as if to say, 'Well?'

"I'd be happy to help with this."

Cooper frowned at him and looked over at Sadie. "Are you sure?"

He looked at Flash and William felt his face go cold.

"What about him?"

William felt Badger relax in his chair.

Sadie looked at Flash and William saw the other man smile.

"I'm f-"

"I know Selene."

Badger turned his head to look, and William saw the other man's brow quirk up.

Flash leaned against the armrest, his gaze focused on William's face. "Really, man?"

Sadie was smiling. She reached her hand out and laced her fingers with her husband's. "I remember those photos. "

Cooper frowned. "Did I miss something on TMZ?"

Sadie shook her head, and William saw her looking at him. "It was when she sang at the Inauguration. Social Media called him the Smoking Hot Marine."

Cooper frowned at that, his gaze narrowing in on William.

William looked right back at him with what he hoped was a tranquil expression.

"I seem to remember something about that."

Sadie grinned. "I don't blame you for not remembering it all that much. You're not a woman."

“For a while there, they had a bump in recruitment for the Marines." Alex gave him a knowing smile.

William turned his head toward Hank and Alex.

Alex nodded with a small smile. "I'm surprised they didn't put you on a poster back then. Join the Marines and you too can guard National Treasures."

Alex's droll delivery made everyone smile.

"I think it's a great idea to have Gunny be point on this. If he already knows her, it will make it easier if she trusts him."

Putting it that way, William was a little nervous about that.

Yes.

He hadn't seen her in a few years.

She might not be happy to see him .

Sure they texted back and forth once in a while, but it wasn't like they were close.

"William?"

He looked up at Sadie and managed a smile. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

Her smile was easy, which helped the unease he felt inside. He didn't want her to think he wasn't up for the job.

"Will you be able to go with me and Cooper to meet with Selene tonight?"

Tonight?

He'd been ready for years.

"I'm ready to go when you are."

Cooper stood and reached into his pocket. "I can call Selene and ask her to meet at my brownstone tonight for dinner. She knows that Sadie is in town and wants to meet her." He looked at Sadie with a wink. "She's a big fan of yours."

She leaned into Hank's side. "I'm a fan of hers as well."

Sadie stood and Hank stepped up to her side, putting a hand on her lower back.

The head of the Brotherhood Protectors gently moved his hand to his wife's hip. "Our kids are fans of hers, too."

Cooper looked at Flash and Badger. "What about you two?"

Alex gestured to the others. "They'll be here to help with logistics. "

Alex's tone was calm and reserved, but William knew what he wasn't saying.

They'd have the two others in reserve if they were needed for... other things.

Cooper moved closer and as he walked, he looked William over from his head to his feet and back again. "I'm told you have suits."

William smiled at that. "Yes, sir."

"You can handle yourself in polite company?"

The words weren't all that bad, but the look in the man's eyes was irritating.

"I'm good."

Flash barely held in a smile.

Badger managed to lift a brow.

"I guess if Sadie says you're presentable-"

"Cooper," Sadie stepped in, hooking her arm through the producer's, "I told you that these men know their way around society. And they'll make sure that Selene has the best protection. You trust me, don't you?"

Cooper had the good sense to look shocked at her question. "Of course!"

"They all work for me, Cooper."

He nodded and William saw his shoulders relax a little.

William had a feeling that Cooper probably walked around every minute of every day stressing about something, but he also understood that this was about Selene .

"Mister Armand."

Cooper turned around to look at him. "Yes?"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to her."

The man's whole expression changed, and he offered a smile. "That's what I'm counting on."