Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
He was there when my career turned from luck to legacy. When I learned the difference between being approachable and being safe. When the world decided my worth, he still treated me like that innocent sixteen-year-old with stars in her eyes.
Every major moment of my life bore the indelible mark of his shadow.
He was more than just my bodyguard. He was my family, my friend, and as much as a father to me as my own.
And now, I was suddenly terrified I was going to lose him too.
He once again pressed the gun toward me. “I need you, kiddo. I swore a long time ago, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’m not going out on a broken promise.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” I croaked, tears streaming down my face. “Do you understand me?”
“Loud and clear, boss. But I’ll be a lot more comfortable knowing you two aren’t either.”
Call it false bravado, years of acting experience, or maybe just the definition of finding yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place, I took the proffered gun. The moment it was out of his hand, Marty’s whole body sagged as if he were a soldier finally relieved from duty.
The mere thought of that shattered my heart all over again.
Keeping pressure on his wound with one hand, I settled beside him, gun held high and aimed at the door.
And then we waited.
My finger hovered over the trigger.
A tragic harmony of Zoey’s muffled cries and Marty’s shallow breaths were the only sounds in an otherwise silent house.
I sent up prayers to a God I hadn’t spoken to in years, pleading for help.
They went blisteringly unanswered as the seconds dragged on, stretching into cruel minutes.
The walls pressed inward.
Time hovered.
A purgatory of waiting.
Marty was honest to a fault. He had never once lied to me.
Until that day.
It wasn’t impossible for me to sink, because I felt my feet hit the depths of the ocean’s floor, as I helplessly watched him die.
2
DEVON
“You’re kidding, right?” I said, pointedly glancing down at the cash-filled coffee mug in my hand.
Apollo curled his lip as he stared up at me from his seat at the large conference table, a chocolate chip muffin on a paper plate beside him. “What? You asked for a donation. I gave you a donation.”
As Guardian Protection’s youngest and newest member, he wasn’t well-versed in how the collection cup worked. I couldn’t fault him for that. I could, however, rectify his assumption that a twenty spot would get me off his ass.
“You gave me a twenty,” I stated the obvious, in case he’d suddenly gone blind.
“Which, last I checked, is still American currency.”
“Sure, if your second cousin, twice removed turns ten and you have no idea what to get the kid as a gift.” Grabbing the chair beside him, I spun it on one leg and straddled it backwards. The fabric of my baby blue button-down stretched taut across my back as I leaned in. “However, this is for your boss’s birthday and we’re trying to buy him slightly better than matching friendship bracelets, so I’m gonna need you to dig deep inside that trust fund of yours and—” I thrust the mug under his nose. “—try a-fucking-gain.”
In a true show of defiance usually reserved for toddlers being fed vegetables, he swatted at the mug with both hands. “Get that thing out of my face.”
“Absolutely. Just as soon as you hand over Jackson’s four identical brothers.”
His chin jerked to the side as if I’d punched him. Which, unfortunately, I’d never had the pleasure of doing. For those years when he was Guardian Protection’s enemy numero uno, I’d considered, tried, and dreamed about feeding him my fist more than a few times. But we were way past those days. The “touch him and enjoy a lifetime of unemployment” speech Leo had issued all of us the day he’d hired Apollo had helped to quell the desire too.
With an appalled laugh, Apollo raked a hand through his short blond hair. “You’re expecting me to give a hundred bucks to buy a birthday present for a man who is holding me hostage? Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Yeah, okay, so maybe saying that Leo hired Apollo was a bit of an overstatement. The kid didn’t need a job. Thanks to Daddy’s inheritance, he was loaded. But he owed Leo a debt. A debt I was not privy to, and thank fuck for that. I did not need the specifics on whatever the hell “special skills” (Read: seriously illegal shit) Apollo could do behind a computer.
We all had skeletons in our closets. It was almost a prerequisite to work at Guardian Protection Agency. Some of those closets were larger than others. Ranging from what I would consider a small apartment for myself to what I assumed was a whole fucking warehouse for a few of the guys. But we didn’t ask questions, at least not the ones that truly mattered. Guardian was a family. We gave each other hell and made it a point to know every damn detail of each other’s present while never diving into the past.