Page 157 of Tangled Like Us

I click my mic at the collar of my black button-down. “Copy.” I hike around the small room. Inspecting every outlet, and I pick up some of her blouses off the floor, folding them on her vanity stool.

I crouch and eye the electrical outlet behind her headboard, then I straighten up to a towering stance. Back on comms, I respond, “All clear.” Right then, my phone rings.

I don’t guess who it could be. Reaching the back pocket of my slacks, I pull out my cell. My gaze tightens on the screen.

Connor Cobalt is calling me.

I soften comms chatter in my ear. No hesitation. I have to talk to him.

He’s considered thekingof this American dynasty—and he’s Jane’s dad. Guys on the team say Connor Cobalt is all-knowing, all-seeing like the Wizard of fucking Oz and if you have the honor of protecting him, you’ll come back with a higher IQ.

I can’t know what he’d think of me because to him, I’m just a bodyguard and a pawn in a ploy to protect his daughter.

My mission is to maintain professionalism. And it’s abnormal for him to be calling me while I’m not a lead.

I’ve never been the bodyguard to Connor Cobalt. Parents typically don’t reach out directly to their child’s 24/7 bodyguard. Not unless they’ve built some type of bond already with them. Like how Farrow was the bodyguard to Maximoff’s mom.

Parents, instead, communicate with the threeleads, who’ll then pass intel to men on their respective force.

Connor should’ve called Akara. It’s likely he already did.

My brows pull together. I’m not slow to answer. I put the phone to my ear on the second ring. “Sir.”

“Akara knows I’m reaching out to you,” Connor says calmly. “I’m assuming you already know I’ve talked to my daughter.”

“Yes, sir.” I fix the cord to my earpiece.

Earlier, Jane spoke to her mom and dad over the phone. They were concerned about the break-in, but Jane told me,“My parents are brilliant at solving problems—but they know not to solve mine. And if I really need them, I recognize they are one call away from unlocking a cabinetry of battle armor and hell. But we have this covered.”

Maximoff and Jane like being self-reliant, and after the parents made a massive fuck-up at the Camp Away, not initially believing Jane about the incest rumor—they’ve tried to back off and not involve themselves.

“You’ve been a lead and a bodyguard for over six years. When it comes to the safety of my daughter, I value your opinion.” His calm, smooth voice never changes shape. “So I’m asking, is the townhouse safe for Jane to sleep there tonight?”

“It is, sir,” I say sternly.

She’s with me. I’m staying alert so she can sleep peacefully. It’s my job.My duty.I add, “We’re posting more guards outside tonight to secure the perimeter.”

“I heard. Do you think it’s enough?”

I sweep the room while I talk. “Yes, sir. Farrow and I are prepared if anything were to happen. We’re confident in our ability to defuse all targets.”

We know this townhouse is safe. We just wish it could be safer.

Farrow wouldn’t let Maximoff spend the night here if he believed the threats were critical. I wouldn’t let Jane. We’d already pack their shit up and drive them to a hotel.

But it hasn’t come to that.

Hopefully it never will.

“Thank you,” Connor says. “I’ll keep in touch.” He hangs up. Brief. To have longer conversations with Connor Cobalt, you have to be important to him.

I pocket my phone.

Floorboards creak.

I turn my head a few seconds before Jane appears. Already dressed in a long-sleeved, collared pajama top and matching pants. What some bodyguards and family call hergrannie jammies—and this blue pair has images of kittens and yarn balls.

She’s cute in them.