Page 10

DENVER

“He looks even more of a jerk than the first time I saw him.” Jenson chuckles.

I grunt, and Jenson moves back, away from where he was looking over my shoulder at my laptop.

“Why are you checking on him again, anyway?” he asks.

My eyes flick up from the image of Brad flexing his pecs in another Instagram image to Jenson, who’s pacing up and down the length of the meeting room, tapping on the back of each of the chairs as he passes.

We usually have our meetings at Seasons.

But since the fire, we’ve been holding them at Beaufort Diamonds’ head office.

“Yeah, Boss. Any reason you’re repeating work you’ve already done?” Killian smirks from his position on the opposite side of the meeting table. I clench my jaw, throwing him a warning look.

“Our work is never done . We have to be vigilant at all times,” I hiss.

Killian arches his brows at me, looking like he’s about to speak.

“She’s under my protection. Which means any man who so much as looks at her is on my radar. And I’ll find out every damn thing there is to know about them if I see fit. Got it?”

“Yes, Boss,” they echo.

I suck in a breath as I return to my dissection of Brad Garrett-Charles’ Instagram profile.

It’s picture after picture of him posing like a jackass.

He’s mostly alone. But there are some with models and actresses.

None of Sinclair. Her agent wouldn’t allow her to be tagged for privacy reasons. Thank fuck they have some sense.

The door to the meeting room opens, and I snap my laptop shut and stand as Sterling, Sullivan, and Mal walk inside.

“Gentlemen,” Sterling greets first, his silver-flecked hair catching the light against his dark blue suit.

“Boss,” the three of us reply.

“Everyone all right?” Mal asks, pulling out a seat at the table and dropping into it.

He’s Elaina’s older brother, a few years older than Sterling.

But even though the guy dyes his slicked back hair back to its original sandy blond, he looks at least ten years older than his years.

Grief has aged him, creating deep lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes, pulling them down and making him appear permanently sad.

“We’re fine,” I reply.

There’s a knock at the door and Sullivan answers it. A woman says something to him before he shakes his head and says something in reply. She walks off and he closes the door.

“Let’s get to it, shall we?” he says as he unbuttons his suit jacket with one hand and takes a seat at the table.

“Problem?” Sterling asks him.

“No.” He waves a hand. “Just someone calling for me. I’ll call them back.”

“Right. In that case, let’s get the first thing on the list out the way… Neil?” Sterling says.

He pins his eyes on Killian and Jenson where they’ve taken seats opposite me. I’d usually be the one he asks for updates. But now that I’m with Sinclair the majority of the time, keeping tabs on Elaina’s ex-lover has fallen on them.

“He’s paid upfront for another week at The Lanceford,” Killian says.

“Damn it,” Sterling mutters, running a hand around his jaw. “He’s not planning on going anywhere, is he?”

“Doesn’t look like it, Boss,” Killian answers.

“What’s he back in New York for? Have we figured that out?” Mal asks, leaning over the table. “He hasn’t been here since he and Elaina…” He glances at Sterling who gestures for him to go on. “He left after she died. Why come back now?”

“Could be a coincidence,” Jenson says.

“Or it might not be,” Killian adds. “Whatever it is, we’ll find out. We’ve got the guys watching him twenty-four-seven.”

Sterling nods. “Good. Keep it that way. We need to know what he’s doing here.” His eyes pinch as he thinks. But they’re bright in a way they haven’t been in all the years I’ve known him.

He’s a changed man since he met Halliday.

Jenson jokes about her being twenty years his junior, and even Killian was skeptical when she blew into the Beauforts’ lives with all her crystals and talks about energetic vibrations and manifesting your dreams. But I saw the change in him immediately.

It was there the day he first told me that Sinclair had hired him a dating expert to find him love.

And it’s grown brighter every day since they became a couple and got engaged.

It’s almost blinding now they’re expecting a baby together.

Something Sinclair’s so excited about that she was showing me baby clothes on her phone this morning when I drove her to her workout with Brad.

Brad Garrett-Charles. The name makes sourness roll over my tongue.

“Denver? How’s my daughter? Any idea on who’s been sending her these threats?”

“No, Boss,” I answer. “I’m checking out everyone she knows. But so far it’s brought up nothing. There have been no further causes for concern since her car was damaged.”

And shit on.

I keep that to myself. The men at the table have matching grave expressions.

They’re worried about her. Telling them some asshole or crazy fan took a dump on her car isn’t going to make it any better.

Sinclair still hasn’t admitted as much to anyone.

So for now, the information is for me and me alone.

“Good. She seems to be taking it well,” Sterling says.

“She giving you hell?”

Sullivan’s eyes meet mine as I look along the table to him.

I purse my lips. “She’s?—”

“That’s a yes.” His eyes glint. “You know my sister. The harder she is on you, the closer you’re getting to her.”

“Denver must be about in her panties then judging by the shit she gives hi?—”

One swift elbow to the ribs has Jenson’s cheeks puffing out as he holds back a curse. Killian flashes me a look, leaning back in his chair next to Jenson.

“Just look after her,” Sullivan says, ignoring Jenson as his phone starts ringing in his pocket and he pulls it out.

“I will,” I reply, my eyes meeting Sterling’s as he studies me.

“I trust you, Denver,” Sterling says, pinning me with a cool blue gaze.

“I know, Boss. I won’t let you down.”

He nods, then his face softens. “Now that business is out of the way, I wanted to discuss something else.”

“You’re hiring the rest of us out to Sinclair’s model friends to be their bodyguards?” Jenson quips, having made a speedy recovery from his winding.

Sterling chuckles. “They’d eat you alive, Boy.”

Jenson drops back in his seat, defeated. “And I’d hand them the fork to do it… Can’t blame a guy for wishing, though, hey?”

We chuckle, and the mood in the room lifts.

“It’s about the wedding,” Sterling continues. “Hallie and I have chosen Cape Town. And I know you’re all expecting to be there.”

I glance over at Killian and Jenson’s matching frowns.

They’ve spent a lot of time in Cape Town searching for answers over why Sterling’s yacht caught on fire that day.

I know they’ve made friends there and were looking forward to a work trip taking them back there since Sterling called off their hunt, saying it was time to move on and accept there might not be any answers to find.

“But…” Sterling spreads his palms. “I don’t want you there as our family’s security team.”

Jenson shifts in his seat and I swear if he tries to say anything stupid, I’ll shut him up in a nano second. Sterling has been nothing but good to us since we came to work for him. He does things no normal boss ever would.

“… I want you there as our family.”

My attention turns to him, and his eyes are waiting for me, twinkling.

“You’ve all worked with us for years, especially you, Denver. You’re family as much as if we shared blood. So you’ll be there as guests. We’ll get other guys in to cover the security.”

I nod. “I’ll handle it. I know the best guys. I’ll give them a call.”

“Good.” He stands. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a pregnant fiancée and my granddaughter to take for an early dinner before they both get tired.”

“And I’ve got a call to make,” Sullivan clips, rising from his chair, typing into his phone.

“And I…” Mal looks at their retreating backs as they leave the room. “I’m going to check in on the team at Seasons, see how the re-model is going.” He sighs wearily and stands.

He takes care of the diamond and gemstone imports from Africa, meaning he spends a lot of time away from home. But ever since the fire at Seasons he’s stayed in New York. I think the whole family has felt the need to be close together.

“I’ll give you a ride,” I say, standing and gathering up my laptop. Killian and Jenson have assured me it’s all fine, and Sterling is there every day. But I still want to make sure they’re doing it as well and as fast as they can.

I owe it to Sterling.

Seasons is also on route to Sinclair’s place. She said she was staying in today after her workout this morning because she wanted to relax after yesterday’s runway show. But I want to check in on her, see if she needs anything.

My phone buzzes with an incoming text. The screen fills with an image that instantly makes my heart melt.

“You must be proud of her. Look at that smile,” Mal says, looking at the picture.

“I am.” I admire the light brown braids in her hair, framing her cheeks. She’s grown since I last saw her and held her in my arms, smelled the sweet strawberry scent of her hair.

“How old is she now?” Mal asks.

“Six,” I reply. “Dixie’s six.”