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Weston remained quiet following Jasper back to Leo’s office. Silence, a survival mechanism as a child, continued to work in his favor as an adult. Many people took his reticence as a sign of weakness.

Their mistake.

“Thanks for waiting,” Leo said as they arrived back in the office. “I talked to Kayleigh and she has agreed to live-in security until this merger is complete.”

The older man turned to Jasper. “Can you prep a security detail for the Lake Austin house? You know the property best.”

Jasper barely hid his preen. “I’m already on it.” He glanced over at Weston. “If it’s okay with you, sir, I think we should not use any outside team members for this situation.”

Leo nodded. “You have carte blanche. Do whatever you feel is necessary to make sure that property is secure.”

Weston didn’t say anything as Jasper left the room with a smirk. He wasn’t offended by Jasper not wanting him on the team. Their style would not blend well.

And if Jasper was who Kayleigh had agreed to, then it was not Weston’s concern. He certainly had no business being disappointed.

Just like he’d had no business getting so caught up talking to her outside—in studying the details of her face, the soft huskiness of her voice, tamping down the urge to touch a strand of her long brown hair falling out of her loose braid.

“This is the Lake Austin house I was referring to.” Leo passed an electronic notebook across the desk.

Weston thumbed through the images. “It’s impressive.” The damned thing was hardly anything less than a mansion.

“It’s got two separate guardhouses and security rivaling a military base. I wish that’s where Kayleigh would go to stay for us to keep her safe.”

Weston slid the tablet back across the desk, raising an eyebrow. “It’s not?”

Leo tapped something on the tablet then slid it back to him again. “No, this is the Lake Ray Roberts property. This is where she’s going.”

This house was much smaller and, to Weston’s eyes, much more appealing. He looked through the photos of the grounds. They were much more natural, less landscaped.

“You approve of that house more than the big one.”

Weston shrugged. “Let’s just say it’s more my style than anything quite as ornate as your Lake Austin property.”

“Kayleigh basically feels the same way. She wouldn’t last two days at Lake Austin with Jasper’s men before they drove her crazy and she took off.” He pointed at the tablet. “But she’s agreed to stay here, and you can guard her if that works for you.”

“Yes.” Weston kept his answer simple, although he was feeling a lot more. Hell yes, he wanted to make sure he was the one keeping Kayleigh safe, especially somewhere like this. If she’d agreed to it, he was all in.

“The property doesn’t have a lot of amenities, but it’s got plants for days.” Leo pointed at a slight bit of dirt that had gotten on Weston’s shirt. “It looks like you still have an affinity for plants, like when you were a boy and came with Henry.”

Weston brushed the spot. “I do. I spend a lot of my free time in the dirt.”

Leo seemed pleased with the news. “The Ray Roberts property is completely off the radar, which is why I’m not bringing Jasper in on this. If you can keep it casual, Kayleigh is much more likely to feel comfortable around you. Not running from her own security detail is going to keep her much safer.”

“Agreed.”

“If you want to do some gardening work while you’re there, I’m happy to pay you a little extra. Kayleigh loves plants too. That’s why she became a nature photographer. She’ll probably relax more around them.”

“No need to pay me to work with the plants. I’m sure I won’t be able to stop myself from messing with them anyway.”

Leo conceded with a slight dip of his head. “The property has a separate gardener’s unit right next to the house—has running water and electricity. Does that suit you? I don’t want to put Kayleigh in a situation where she has to stay in a house with someone she doesn’t know.”

“That’s fine. I’ll set up security for the main house so I know if anyone is around other than the two of us.”

Leo gave him a smile. “Good. Bill me for whatever you need to purchase. Kayleigh is planning to arrive tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then I’ll head there tonight and make sure security is the way I want it to be.”

“Spare no expense. Whatever you need. Kayleigh’s safety is the most important thing.” Leo pulled out a file containing keys, maps and entry info, and handed it over.

Weston turned to leave but then stopped. “Leo, are you sure you don’t want to go with Jasper? He may not be her favorite person, but he seems diligent when it comes to security. Changing things up might be a mistake.”

Leo stared at him for a long minute before turning to look out the window. “Mistakes. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with Kayleigh. Made a lot of mistakes all the way around.”

“Like what?”

“When Kayleigh was—” The man shook his head, cutting himself off. “Things happened to Kayleigh not long after you knew her before. I won’t go into details, but I have smothered her too much over the years to make up for it. But not in the way I should have. I constantly threw more security at her when I should’ve been taking more time with her myself.”

“It’s not too late to make that change.”

“That’s what I’m hoping. That’s why these last two mergers I’m working on are so important. It will help right some of my wrongs over the years.”

“Can you tell me more about the mergers? Maybe we should be working this from both ends—protective detail but also figuring out how to stop potential danger before it starts.”

“Everything centers around Brighton Pharmaceuticals.”

Weston had heard of the company but didn’t know much more than that. “Big name.”

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m ruffling a lot of feathers on damned near everybody with this transaction. I have my team looking into the threats.”

San Antonio Security would be looking into it also. A fresh set of eyes never hurt. And Weston wanted to know everything he could going into this situation.

“I’m willing to take the job, but I want to make sure this is really what you want.”

“What I want doesn’t really matter. What matters is keeping Kayleigh safe. Fixing things.” Leo scrubbed a hand down his face, looking older than he had a few minutes ago. “Kayleigh struggles. She doesn’t like to have people in her personal space. I’m hoping that will be different with you. You were special to her.”

She’d been special to him too. “It was a long time ago.”

He looked back out the window. “She asked for you, you know, after Henry died. Didn’t understand why you couldn’t come back. I should’ve made more effort to find you. Especially after...”

He trailed off again then straightened in his chair. “Let’s just say that keeping Kayleigh safe is the most important thing in the world to me. The two of you in a location no one else knows about is the best way to make that happen.”

“I will keep her safe, I promise.”

Weston didn’t make promises lightly.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” Leo stood up. “Now go get whatever you need to keep my girl safe. And don’t forget to work on the plants too. That’s what will help her feel most at ease.”

W ESTON WASN ’ T SURE , exactly, what it said about his life that he could take off for an undetermined amount of time and it barely be noticeable.

If it wasn’t for his parents and brothers, he had no idea how introverted he would’ve become. From the day he’d met Clinton and Sheila Patterson, they had slowly and gently eased him out of his shell. His talkative brothers had done the same.

But outside of his family, Weston was very much reserved and liked to be alone. Even during his three years in the San Antonio Police Department, he’d had a reputation for being a loner.

So the only call he’d had to make to slip out of his regular life for two weeks to allow him to protect Kayleigh was to the office. Nobody else would even realize he was gone.

It was getting dark as he dropped by his apartment to grab some clothes and his personal weapons. His Glock 19 was rarely away from his body, but this situation also called for some other firearms.

While packing, he made a call to Chance. Since his other brothers had families now, he didn’t want to bother them. Chance was single, like Weston, and he would be the best at digging up intel on the potential threats surrounding Brighton Pharmaceuticals.

“Hey,” Chance answered after the second ring. “Heard you’re besties with Leo Delacruz.”

Weston shrugged and put a couple of T-shirts in his duffel bag. “I see Brax hasn’t lost his flair for the melodramatic. But yeah, Delacruz wants to hire us for a security detail.”

“Okay. Do I need to get it on the schedule?”

“No, I’m going to do this one myself. Live-in security for two to three weeks.”

There was a moment of silence from Chance. “So you are Delacruz’s bestie.”

“I knew his daughter back when we were kids. She doesn’t like the current security team, so Leo wanted to see if she’ll do better with me.”

“Fair enough. At his estate?”

“No, we’re going to a property at Lake Ray Roberts. I’ll send you the info.”

“You’re not usually one to volunteer for live-in security. Cuts into your alone time.”

He added some socks to the bag. “I guess I’m willing to do this one for old times’ sake.”

And because, if anyone was going to protect Kayleigh, Weston wanted to be that person. Even though they came from opposite worlds and probably had nothing in common.

Maybe he was doing it for kid Weston, who never had the chance to get closure with that friendship. Or maybe for the Kayleigh who had been such a good friend then and needed help now.

Or, if he was honest, probably because he’d never been able to get her out of his mind as a kid, teenager or adult.

“I need you to look into this merger Delacruz has, involving Brighton Pharmaceuticals. See who has the most to lose by it.”

“Has he gotten direct threats?”

“Mostly vague, but I’d like to know what we’re dealing with. Maybe you can get intel Delacruz can’t because they’re watching for him to make a move.”

“Smart. We’ll get on it.”

He finished putting the rest of his clothes in the bag. “And can you ask Maci to clear my schedule for the next couple of weeks? I don’t have much on the calendar, but some of it will need to be juggled.”

There was a long moment of silence from Chance. “Why are you asking me to do that?”

“Because I’m on the phone with you, dumbass. When you see her tomorrow, ask her for me.”

“Right. When I see her tomorrow.”

What in the world was going on with his brother? “Are you okay, Chance? Had some sort of head injury in the last few hours I don’t know about?”

Chance was the most sharply focused of all his brothers. This behavior wasn’t like him at all. Then Weston heard a woman’s voice in the background at Chance’s house.

That explained it. Or at least some of it. Chance dated quite a bit, but he’d never known any of the women to be a distraction.

“Never mind, you have company. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll be sure to give Maci the message. Tomorrow. When I see her.”

Whoever Chance’s guest was had him pretty tied up in knots, judging by his stilted sentences. Weston chuckled. “Thanks, bro.”

He disconnected the call, finished packing and headed out the door.

A few hours later, he was pulling up at the Lake Ray Roberts property.

He’d already gotten what he’d needed at the defense and tactical gear store on the outskirts of San Antonio. His contact had been willing to open up for him despite it being after business hours. Some of it was out of respect for their security firm, but mostly it was because Weston was able to flash Leo’s cash at him.

He looked around as best he could in the dark. Using this remote property, rather than one of the more elaborate homes Leo owned, was a good tactical plan. But Weston still wanted electronic backups in place in case they were necessary.

He let himself into the house with the key Leo had given him and walked through it. There was nothing too special about it—two bedrooms, one set up as an office. Living room, eat-in kitchen. Front of the house had the most windows since that faced the lake. The gardener’s unit was a bedroom and bath. No view of the lake, but very close to the house—perfect for security needs.

He was up at dawn the next morning and drove as far as he could around the property, then got out of his car and walked around it to familiarize himself. It was everything it had looked like in the pictures—wild and lush. Definitely not the manicured elegance of the Lake Austin mansion Leo had shown him. Weston would take this house any day of the week, not just because it was better for security, but because of the nature surrounding them.

As far as Weston was concerned, lawns needed to become a thing of the past. They’d been a show of wealth and status in the seventeenth century. No need for them anymore. Give him indigenous trees and plants any day.

But right now he didn’t care about the plant life around him, except for how it affected security.

He spent the entire morning setting up sensors he’d bought that would let him know if there was anyone else on the property besides him and Kayleigh. He put sensors near the road and along anything that even remotely resembled a path leading toward them. He placed even more sensors around the house, and in all the windows and the doors, keeping them as unobtrusive as possible.

Hopefully, keeping them out of sight would help Kayleigh to relax with the security. He wanted to do that for her, not just because it would make his job of protecting her easier, but because he wanted her to be relaxed. He wasn’t sure what it was Leo had been alluding to that had happened to her, but it hadn’t sounded good.

He walked down to the water. The lake itself made security more difficult. They’d be able to hear an engine, but anyone using stealth would be harder to monitor. He set up sensors along the shore, but made mental note of this potential hole.

Once he had the property the way he wanted, he got back in his car to familiarize himself with the wider area surrounding them. There was a marina a couple miles away by car, so he decided to rent a boat, using Leo’s money, and had it delivered. That could be used as a backup getaway vehicle if they needed it.

He also stocked up on groceries and, since they had a decent gardening section at one of the stores, went ahead and bought some of the things he would need to work the land. He had some ideas of what he’d like to do landscaping-wise. It would enhance the natural beauty of the area.

By midafternoon, he was confident about the level of security he’d set up. Secrecy would still be their best defense, but the devices he’d put into play would notify him if there was trouble.

Now all he had to do was wait for Kayleigh to arrive. He changed into some more suitable clothes for gardening and decided to go ahead and tackle some of the landscaping until she got there. The monitor systems he’d set up would let him know when she was nearby. The system was a good one. He was confident in his own experience and ability to keep her safe.

He was much more prepared for whatever danger may come than he probably was for the woman herself.