“Then you’re not going to be doing very well, are you?” He squeezes my breast softly. “What about you, kitten? What would you take?”
“Cheeseburgers, water and a flashlight.”
He laughs. “Honestly?”
“Sure, I wouldn’t be hungry, thirsty or scared of the dark.”
He grunts. “And what about your sexual needs?”
“Well, those bananas will come in handy, won’t they?”
We both burst out laughing and his arm tightens around my waist.
“Okay, okay.” I wheeze between laughter. “Serious one, for real this time. Tell me the college memory that never leaves you, we all have one.”
He stops laughing and groans. “No, it was fucking awful.”
“Come on, handsome, if you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”
“That only works if there’s show-and-tell,” he grunts.
“Please,” I plead.
“Fine, I got stripped naked and my entire body was shaved. I lost a dare, I can’t even remember what, but that was the cost.”
I’m silent, then I howl with laughter. “Even your … balls?” I gasp through my chuckling.
“Yeah, I looked fucking pretty for a month, I mean, who doesn’t love a man with no eyebrows or hair?”
I giggle. “That would have been so itchy!”
“You have no idea. Every hair on my body was growing back all at once, I think the teachers thought I had crabs, I was scratching my balls so much.”
“Ch-ch-ch-charming,” I laugh and stutter at the same time.
“Come on, what’s yours?”
“The mean girls of the school put superglue on my chair, and I was wearing a skirt.”
He roars with laughter. “So your bare ass was stuck to a chair? How did you not feel the superglue?”
“I did feel it! But I was young, and cared about my reputation. I thought it was just water so I sat still, refusing to let them beat me, until I realized it was not water. It was very humiliating,” I point out. “You try having your professor massage your butt cheeks as someone tips toxic-smelling liquid on your ass to release it from the chair.”
“Your professor had to massage your ass cheeks?” he says, releasing me to clutch his stomach.
“Yes, he had to move it back little by little as the glue dissolved.”
“Did you at least give him your number after that?”
“Ha-ha,” I mutter.
He squeezes me tight. “Okay, my turn.”
“I don’t trust you, you’re probably going to ask about my first kiss.”
“Actually, your first sexual experience.”
I slap his hand. “You can’t ask that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s rude.”
He snorts. “Come on, enlighten me.”
“Will you get jealous and throw me over your shoulder and carry me off into your cave?”
He makes a grunting, caveman sound and I laugh.
“Okay, fine. I was sixteen, it was in a park, and it was horrible.”
“A park?”
“Yes, a park. The worst part is when it was over, he said, ‘that was really good’ and this voice comes out of the shadows saying, ‘yes it was’—turns out there was a homeless guy sleeping and we did the deed right in front of him. Though I’m sure he didn’t see much because it was so dark. I was picking twigs out of my hair for hours.”
Jax is silent, then he roars with laughter. “You lost your virginity, in a park, in front of a homeless dude.”
“I didn’t know he was there!” I protest.
“Probably made his year.”
“I’ll hurt you, Shields.”
He grunts. “Try it.”
I don’t. Instead I ask, “What about you?”
“I was fourteen, she was sixteen, it was over before it began and we were in the back of a smelly old car.”
“Did you blow your load before you even slid home?” I giggle.
“Oh no, I slid home, then blew my load. Immediately.”
I snort laugh. “No pumping action?”
“Not one,” he mutters.
“Oh that’s hilarious.”
“I was fourteen. I don’t think any of us could hold it in at that age. Hell, I just looked at a picture of a naked woman and would come in my pants.”
I’m laughing so hard my belly hurts. “Seriously?” I giggle. “I feel bad for your partner. She probably avoided younger men from then on.”
“Well, at least I didn’t entertain a homeless man.”
I pinch his arm.
“Okay, well, mine was a little worse than yours. Fine. My turn now.”
“Shoot.”
“Have you ever been in love, Mr. Shields?”
“Nope.”
“Never?”
“Nope.”
“Not even close?”
He chuckles. “Baby, nope.”
“Poor, sad, strange little man.”
“Trust me, nothing about me is little.” He grunts. “What about you? You ever been in love?”
“No, but that doesn’t count. You’re old, I’m not.”
He squeezes my breast. “We’re only a few years apart in age, kitten.”
“Whatever, it makes sense in my head, okay?”
“All right.”
We fall silent a moment, then I ask, “What made you want to run a big chain of hotels?”
He shrugs behind me. “I don’t honestly know. I think it was just sheer determination. I grew up knowing I was going to do something with my life, but I was never a jock type, or the armed forces type. I wanted power and I wanted success. The first hotel was handed to me by my grandfather, back when it only had two in the chain. I decided to take over the management when he died, and with the inheritance he left me, I started building it up.”
“What happened to your parents?” I ask.
“They split when I was only three. My mom didn’t want the responsibility of a child, so she ran and I never saw her again. My dad died of cancer. I lived with my grandfather from that point, and that’s where it all started.”
Gosh, that’s awful.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you ever curious about your mom?”
He sighs. “Sometimes, not so much now. She made a choice and I’m not going to go searching for someone who doesn’t want to love me.”
I understand that.
My phone starts ringing in my uniform on the floor, cutting off the conversation, and I sigh, sliding out of the bed and picking it up, seeing an unknown caller. I answer it.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Great, a prankster.
“Hello?” I push again.
“I wonder how your friend is doing,” a thick, deep, muffled voice says.
“Who is this?”
“He put up a good fight.”
My stomach flips and I look to Jax, who is already out of bed.
“Who. Is. This?”
“Better go and check on him, after all he’s only one floor down.”
I drop the phone and grab my clothes, jerking them on before turning and charging towards the door. Jax, who has been speaking to me for the last few minutes, but I’ve taken none of it in, lunges at me, circling my waist and hauling me backwards. “Delaney, whoa. You need to stop and slow down. What’s going on?”
“Kyle, oh God.”
“What about him? Laney, speak to me.”
“They said someone’s hurt. They meant Kyle, I know it. I have to go to him.”
“No,” Jax says, squeezing his arms around me. “No, Delaney, don’t go to him. If that’s who I think it was, it’s probably a trick.”
I stop struggling and his words sink in. He’s probably right, it probably is a trick.
“What do I do?” I whisper.
“Call the cops, Laney.”
I nod and pull out my phone, dialing the cops. I tell them what happened and they assure me they’ll be on their way
, then Jax dials reception.
“Did someone enter the hotel only ten, fifteen minutes ago and request to see Kyle?” he asks.
He nods a few times.
“And you just fucking let them up?”
More silence.
“There are security measures in place for all my fucking guests,” he roars. “And one of those is that you call up every fucking visitor.”
More silence.
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re new, this is unacceptable.”
I place my hand on his arm, but he doesn’t notice.
“You better tell Timothy I’m coming to see him, and while you’re doing that, pack your shit. I won’t have incompetent people working in my hotel.”
Then he slams the phone closed and turns to me. “The new receptionist let them up, they said they were Kyle’s brothers.”
“Jax,” I say, my voice shaky.
“It’s okay, Delaney. The police are on their way.”
“I should go down…”
“No, there’s a chance they’re waiting somewhere, I can’t risk that.”
“This is all my fault,” I say, dropping my head into my hands. “I should have been paying more attention instead of…”
“No,” Jax says, taking my arms and holding me tight against him. “Don’t you fucking dare blame yourself for this, I won’t have it. Even if you were at my door, standing guard, you still wouldn’t have known anything was going on. The receptionist who let them up is the one to blame, not you.”
He’s right, I know he’s right, but I’m too panicked to do anything but wait and pray that Kyle isn’t dead down there. I busy myself making sure my hair is straightened, my clothes are respectable, and I have my weapon ready, while Jax tidies the bed and gets dressed. Just as he finishes buttoning up his shirt, there’s a knock at the door.
I move quickly, gun drawn. I slowly approach it, then stare through the peephole. There are two police officers and the hotel manager, Timothy, standing outside. I lower my gun and unlatch the door. “Hello, officers,” I say, my voice shaky. “Timothy.”
“Ma’am, we’re here to inform you of the goings-on downstairs. We understand you’re Mr. Shields’ protection?”
I nod.
“Kyle was left in a bad way when we found him, but he’s alive and stable. He was beaten badly, some knife wounds, but it would appear he put up a good fight. He’s being rushed to the hospital now. The room was a mess.”
“But he’ll be okay, you think?” I ask.
The officers nod.
“We’d like to talk to you about the situation, if you wouldn’t mind.”
I turn to Jax. “Jax should be able to inform you better than I can.”
The officers nod and enter the room. I turn to Timothy. “He’s not happy.”
Timothy nods. “I’m not either. I’ve already sent Rona packing. She knew the rules, but was too busy flirting and chatting to pay any attention. It’s my fault, I should have had a supervisor on tonight, but I was in the hotel and she was properly trained, so I figured I didn’t need one.”
“It’s not your fault, Timothy,” I say softly. “It could have happened even if there was a supervisor on.”
“Yeah,” he says, solemnly. “You’re probably right.”
I pat his arm and turn, walking towards Jax and the police officers. I stand quietly as they go over everything with him, and when they’re gone, I pull out my phone and call Nak.
“I just heard,” he says, his voice raspy when he answers.
“He’s stable, or so they said. Nak, I don’t know what to do from here.”
“The situation has become far more dangerous than I first thought. Kyle is lucky to be alive. The best option for us now is to have at least three guards on Jax at all times. These men will stop at nothing, and I can’t risk leaving you alone.”
“I understand.”
“I’m sending Duke and Devon over, and putting some of the newer recruits on their smaller cases. Can you please put Jaxson on?”
“Yeah,” I say, thrusting the phone to Jax.
He takes it, pressing it to his ear. “Yeah?”
He listens a while, a long while, then says, “Fine by me, Nak. I’ll make sure to put them all up.”
He nods a few times.
“The cost isn’t an issue.”
Then he hands the phone back to me.
“Jax has agreed that he wants all the security I’m offering,” Nak explains. “But it’s clear you’re all going to need to be together. From now on, he’ll allow all of you to stay in the same room as him or in an adjoining room where the access is easier. It’s not the ideal situation, but the police have assured me they’re close to making an arrest and tonight has pushed that even harder.”
“They followed us to New York, Nak,” I say slowly. “That means they’re watching us … a lot.”
“Security on the hotel has been tripled, and you’ll have backup arriving in a few hours. Jax has a meeting in the hotel, so there’s no need to venture out until it’s time to return home. You should be safe in there.”
So much for enjoying New York.
“Okay, Nak.”
“Sometimes these things happen, Delaney, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it until the police do their part. You just focus on protecting Jax and yourself, and leave the rest to them.”
“Yeah,” I say softly.
“Hang in there, girl.”
“Later, Nak.”
“Later.”
I hang up and turn to Jax, who is talking to Timothy. He meets my eyes and gives me a weak smile. I walk into the room, pulling down the blinds, then I do the same in the living area. As I watch the lights disappear, my heart aches. I’m fearful for my own life, but more than anything, I’m terrified for Jax. If these men are willing to go to extremes like this, what’s their next move going to be?
Timothy leaves and I don’t even notice, I just stare blankly at the blinds. Jax appears behind me once the door is locked, and his arms go around my waist. We stand there like that for a good long time, both of us no doubt wondering what the hell the next few weeks and months will bring.
“Are you doin’ okay, Laney?” he says, his breath hot against my ear.
“Yeah, I’m just … they got so close, Jax.”
“Yeah, they did. It won’t happen again. Timothy is putting the best security on the hotel while we’re here. Every entrance will be fully guarded, every person checked, every car or delivery brought in, searched. No one will get in, Laney.”
“I know, and that makes me feel better, but what about when we go home?”
“I’m going to organize the same security back in Denver. We’ll stay at the hotel, it’s safer than my apartment. Now that the violence has escalated, the police will step in and sort this out, you have to believe that.”
“I do … I do, but…”
“Laney.” He spins me around so I’m facing him. “This is your job, it’s what you’re trained to do. It’s a bad situation, but you can handle it.”
“You really believe that?”
He nods. “Yeah, I most certainly fucking do.”
I sink into him, pressing my face against his chest. He strokes a hand down my hair and I shiver. I breathe him in, knowing how much I am risking by doing this with him, but also knowing that there’s absolutely no way I can stop him. I need Jaxson Shields right now, more than I need air, and nothing will stop me from being with him.
“Come on,” he says. “You should soak in a bath or do something to relax a little bit. I’ll order up dinner. We’re safe up here, baby. Trust in that.”
I nod. “Just make sure you don’t answer the door when dinner arrives.”
He flashes me a smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
* * *
Duke and Devon arrive just after midnight. Jax and I get the call when we’re curled up on the couch, just spending time with each other before we have to give it up. Now that Duke and Devon are here, I ba
sically have to pretend Jax is just another person, and he has to return the favor. Jax has mostly been on the phone making sure everyone in his big meeting tomorrow knows about the new security.
I get off Jax with a sigh, hating that I have to distance myself from him. All I want is to find a secluded, hideaway cabin and spend an entire week in his arms. But that can’t happen, so for now I just have to focus on making sure he’s safe at all times, and this weekend, I have to be paying extra attention.
Jax had the hotel staff make sure there was enough bedding in this massive room for everyone. There is sleeping space for us all now, obviously with Jax’s room being separate. I’ve advised Jax to leave the blinds down, just for safety’s sake, and he’s agreed. I called the hospital an hour ago to check in on Kyle. They said he’s doing well and is safe. That made me feel a little better.
Only a little.
I make sure there’s no evidence of our lovemaking, then I adjust my uniform, feeling utterly exhausted after tonight’s events. Duke and Devon knock on the door, and I let them in. Jax greets them with his professional face on and then quickly fills them in on what’ll be happening tomorrow, the room layout, exits and bathrooms, so they can ensure his safety.
I yawn, sitting on the couch. Kyle was meant to be taking over now, but it looks like I’ll pull an all-nighter. Duke turns to me and studies my face. “Nak has given orders for you to rest tonight. We’ll need you full of energy tomorrow and you’ve been on Jax’s case all day. It’s only fair.”
Oh, thank heavens.
“I won’t argue with you, I’m exhausted,” I admit.
“I’ll get some sleep, too,” Jax says, flicking his eyes to me. “If you guys want to take turns resting, there’s plenty of bedding space.”
“I’ll take until morning,” Devon says. “Then Delaney and Duke can go down and assist Jax with setup until lunchtime—then if you want to have another rest you can. Then we’ll all assist for the dinner and break up shifts during the night.”
“Sounds fine to me,” I murmur. “I’ll take the pullout in the dark corner.” I point to the dark corner at the far left of the room.
“I hope you don’t snore.” Devon grins.
I smile weakly. “I’ve never gotten any complaints.”
He grins. “I wish I could say the same.”
I roll my eyes and look to Jax, longing to say something but knowing I can’t. “Well, good night.”