“For what?”
After airing out all his embarrassing dirty laundry, including owning up to having sex with a client, Matt stared back at his boss in earnest.
“I let my personal issues with Katherine affect my ability to do this job. I called in King to take over without getting prior permission, and I—”
“Is Katherine protected?” Jake interrupted.
“Yes,” Matt quickly assured him. “I made sure they were both secure inside the cabin before I left.”
Jake nodded before taking a moment to process what Matt had told him. Then, the man shocked the hell out of him.
“While I would’ve appreciated a heads-up prior to your leaving, I understand why you did.”
Matt felt his eyes widen. “You do?”
With a tip of his head, Jake explained his thoughts on the situation.
“You have a history with this woman, and not a good one. You tried to tell me assigning you as her bodyguard was a mistake. I didn’t listen.” Jake sighed, looking a bit chagrined. “I saw the way you two looked at each other in my office and in the conference room. I could tell you were pissed as hell, but the way Katherine looked at you when you walked in…it’s the same way Liv still looks at me.”
Okay, now he was thoroughly confused. “I don’t understand.”
“I messed up with my wife, Turner. Before she was my wife. I lied and kept things from her, important things, and it damn near cost me everything. As pissed as you were when you realized Kat was our new client, I saw something else there, behind those guarded eyes of yours that made me think you cared.”
Suddenly it all made sense. In a shocking, knock-him-on-his-ass kind of way. “You trying to play Cupid, Boss?” Matt asked the man in charge.
Jake smirked and sat back against the couch. “I guess I was.” He ran a hand over the short, dark beard covering his jaw. “Looks like it backfired, huh?”
“You could say that,” Matt snorted.
“Damn, man.” Trevor turned to Jake. “And here I thought Derek was the hopeless romantic of Alpha Team.”
“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Jake ordered, though his tone held no seriousness whatsoever. “Look. Maybe it’s the impending birth of our baby. Sympathy hormones or some shit. All I know is, I get what it’s like to waist a chunk of time not being with the woman you love. To risk the one chance at happiness with the person who knows you better than you know yourself. I saw that in you and Kat, and I guess I thought if I forced you two into close quarters, maybe you could work through your shit and…I don’t know. Be as happy as Liv and I are.”
Something hit Matt. “Wait a minute. I thought you said Ryker wanted me to get close to her to figure out if she was in on the scheme to steal the formula.”
Jake simply shrugged. “Two birds and all that shit.”
Matt laughed at that, the sound almost foreign. He hadn’t done much laughing the past couple of days.
Grabbing the back of his neck, he squeezed his tense muscles. After taking in a long, deep breath, he said, “So, I take it I’m not fired?”
Jake looked at him like he was stupid. “You removed yourself from a situation where you felt your ability to efficiently protect our client had been compromised. Katherine is still being guarded by a member of Bravo, and you’ve been upfront and honest about everything. More than I needed to know, actually.” The man smirked. “So no. You’re not fired. Just…maybe next time call me first.Beforeyou leave your post.”
Matt released the breath he’d been holding. “Hopefully, there won’t be a next time, Boss.”
“Good answer, Turner,” Trevor smiled back at him.
“Now that we have that out of the way.” Jake changed the uncomfortable subject. “D filled us in on what he found out about Todd Kennedy. Obviously, someone was paying him to gain access to the formula. Since you’re no longer on protection detail, I thought you and Gabe could work with Derek to figure out who that was.”
“Actually, there’s one more thing.” Now came the tricky part.
“Okay. Let’s hear it.”
Matt filled his lungs once more before blurting, “I want to borrow the jet.”
His boss stared back at him silently, studying him with an assessing glance. “You want to confront Katherine’s father about what he did.”
“I do,” Matt answered honestly. He respected Jake too much to lie to the man.
