“What?” Bailey looks around at our shocked faces, the picture of innocence. “It's not like I got her a giant inflatable?—”
“We get it!” I say, torn between mortification and laughter. “Thank you, Bails. It's very...thoughtful.”
“I can't believe you sometimes, Bailey,” Jill says, but there's a hint of admiration in her voice.
Riley eyes the vibrator with interest. “That's the new model, isn't it? I heard it has five differentsettings.”
Now it's my turn to call, “Riley!”
She shrugs, a small smile playing on her lips. “What? I read reviews.”
Bailey beams, clearly pleased. “See? Riley gets it. It's practical, it's fun, and it won't run away when you need it most.”
Three
RYDER
The text message glares at me from my phone screen.
Zane
Need a personal favor. I need you to protect Cora Valeur. Just for a few months.
My thumb hovers over Zane’s number. One call and I could back out, cite some bullshit emergency. But the dream of joining his elite team, of finally using my SEAL training for something meaningful again…
I pocket the phone and glare at the massive wrought-iron gate before me. Its ornate gold lettering gleams in the fading sunlight, a monument to excess that makes my stomach churn. After twenty hours of travel from Montana, I’m half-convinced I’m hallucinating this palatial estate.
My duffel bag digs into my shoulder as I shiftmy weight, the strap cutting into muscle knotted from hours of cramped airline seats.
As I approach the door, memories of my last bodyguard gig flash through my mind. The spoiled brat’s sneering face, the constant demands, the degrading tasks that had nothing to do with security. I said I would never do it again, but yet, here I am.
Zane will pay big for this.
He didn't want to give me too many details about the family.“Just do your job and protect her,”he'd said. When I pressed for more information, he'd finally relented a little. “She was mugged on the street. Probably nothing. Just an overprotective father, that's all.”
An overprotective father who apparently requested me by name.Great.
Was this really just about a random mugging, or was there more to the story? Either way, I'm stuck playing babysitter instead of joining Zane's extraction team. This better be worth it.
I made a call on the way to an old buddy from the police force. I asked for everything he had on the Valeur family and on Cora Valeur.
A simple search brought up nothing, but if I’m walking into a hornet’s nest, I need to know.
I learned long ago that families of this caliber have plenty of skeletons in and out of the closet. I want to be prepared for anything.
I half expect to hear angels sing when I press the doorbell.
No answer.
I try to knock, my knuckles barely making a sound against the thick wood. If I keep standing out here, someone will call the police.
Zane said she just got out of the hospital. Maybe she’s injured? What if she fell inside and can’t answer? What if something happened to her, and I’m just standing here with my thumb up my ass when I’m supposed to be protecting her?
I was explicitly told she was at home and expecting me, so I pull out my phone and scroll through my messages for her number. Cora Valeur. Even her name sounds expensive.
No answer. Roger that. Time for Plan B. I pocket the phone.
The manicured lawn stretches out before me, each blade of grass looking like it’s been trimmed and styled. I’d bet my last dollar there’s a pool in the back. Hell, probably an entire water park, complete with a lazy river shaped like a dollar sign.
