Her Bodyguard: A BBW Billionairess Romance (2 page)

The silence from the other end of the line was telling. “Oh, shit. Don’t tell me—”

“Yeah.” Drew cut him off. “I’m gonna pull a take. Be ready.”

***

Drew had been a soldier all his adult life, first for Queen and Country, then for his mates. When they were all dead and the bullshit level had gotten too high, he’d hired out for pay…if the money was good. With his level of experience and training, not to mention the uniform he used to wear, the money was
always
good.

He’d promised Tom a take within twenty-four hours, so just before 9:00 the next morning Drew approached the AmRey building. Given that this was an exercise, a test, he’d made no effort to blend in.

He had a couple of days growth on his face, and his battered cargo pants, boots, and leather jacket were nowhere near cube-farm norm. A sports bag was slung crosswise, the strap across his chest, allowing easy access to the contents. Contents that had nothing to do with any gym and were about to get a large amount of use.

He followed a couple of besuited workers through the door, using them as a shield between himself and the security desk. The guard had his attention on the screens in front of him, watching the feeds from the cameras around the lobby.

Drew altered his direction minutely, trying to blend into the group of workers heading for the lift. His aim was to get past the lobby without incident. If he could, then the rest of the take would go so much smoother. Once shots were fired, the clock started to tick, and it would be harder to get his target out. Because get her out he would. Drew had never failed on a job. Ever.

This was Tom’s gig though, so it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Drew grinned to himself as the familiar rush of adrenaline filled his veins. The fact that he was packing rubber bullets in most of his weaponry, and his opponents weren’t, didn’t bother him in the slightest. Tom’s guards were good, sharp and switched on, but there were perhaps a handful of guys on the commercial circuit with his level of skill and ability. So if they managed to get a shot anywhere near him then he deserved to be six feet under.

The guard looked up, a frown on his face. Immediately Drew looked down, concentrating on a pamphlet he’d picked up for some Museum and channeling his inner tourist.

“Hello, sir? Sir, can I help you?” the guard called out, before standing and skirting around the desk to approach.

That was it. He was out of cover.

Drew shook his head, dropped the leaflet, and pulled a modified Glock from his bag. Two shots later the guard was down. Not dead, but in his own little world of pain. With practiced ease, Drew turned and shot the lobby cameras out. Suddenly alert to a problem, people ran screaming. He shook his head, striding through them like a hot knife through butter as he headed for the stairs.

Ticktock, on the clock. He had a CEO to kidnap.

Glock held loosely at his side, he took the stairs two at a time. No one stopped him. Hell, no one even opened a door until the fourth floor. A warning shot elicited a scream, and the door slammed shut.

His mood darkened as he got higher without opposition. Shit, Tom knew he was going to hit, and Drew had gone as low-tech as he could: a simple virus uploaded into the security systems last night, and he’d all but fucking announced himself in reception. Someone, if not a small army, should have tried to stop him by now.

He reached the sixth floor and slowed down. Despite the size of the building, his target’s office was on the seventh. The first sensible thing he’d seen so far. Putting her office in the middle of the building meant any assault from above or below had at least six floors to travel. More time to get the primary away.

Except his virus had locked down the service lift from the seventh floor for ”maintenance.“ Ordinarily, he’d have just thrown a grenade in there to take it out of action, but if he started lobbing explosives around, Tom would lose his job for sure. So he’d had to improvise.

Reaching the door, he paused, took a breath, and yanked it open before hitting the deck. Sure enough, a hail of lead filled the air where he had been moments before. At last, some opposition. He grinned and reached into his bag again.

“Fire in the hole!” he yelled and threw the first smoke grenade. Now he could have some fun.

***

Heavy, booming sounds shook Amanda out of her daydream. She’d been having a glass of wine and some pizza. It was still too early for her to think of liquor. Another explosion and smoke started to fill her office. She jumped out of her chair and slipped on the trainers she kept under her desk. There had to be a fire in the building. Tom must be busy, or he’d have called her to get out. She grabbed her bag and ran for the door. At first she tested it for heat, but it was cool to the touch.

She opened the door to a ton of smoke. Holy shit, the fire must be right on her floor. On her hands and knees, she tried to visualize the closest way to the stairwell. Was it to the right? Or the left? Aw, hell. She never paid attention to the stupid fire drills, because she was always in some kind of meeting. Now look where that got her.

Her heart thundered in her ears. Wait, no. That wasn’t her heart. Were those...? Those were bullets she heard. What the fucking hell? She crawled to the right, hoping she made a good choice in the smoky hallway.

Gunfire surrounded her. She couldn’t see anything, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to get scared. Then she heard someone yell her name. The voice didn’t sound familiar. Tom had hired people, though, so it could be one of the new guards. But why the hell did it sound like someone was shooting? This wasn’t a bank, and nothing of value was housed on her floor.

Crawling as fast as she could, with her head almost touching the carpet and her ass up in the air, she felt like a complete idiot. Thank god there was too much smoke for anyone to see that. And fine day to wear a skirt suit. Her knees chafed from rubbing on the carpet. She didn’t mind a few carpet burns, but there were better, more enjoyable, ways to get them.

With the loud noises to her back, she crawled faster until she reached out and touched a big boot. She brought her face close. The boot was black and had a leg attached to it. Thankfully.

She moved her hand further up the leg. He was braced, looking into the smoke. Definitely had to be one of the new guys. She got a vague impression of a powerful body in a ripped T-shirt. Then he looked down at her and smiled.

“Hey there, sweetheart.”

He did not work for her. No way in hell she’d be that clueless to not notice
him
. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Well, there went making a good impression until she knew what the hell was going on.

“Um, hi. Are you new?”

Please say yes
. Because if he said no, then she’d have to kick her own ass for being so oblivious to that kind of hot in her own damn building. They were in the middle of a fire, and he was hot enough to make her think about every dirty thing she’d ever wanted to try with a man. And what she really wanted to ask was if he was single, wanted to have babies, and maybe do some kinky stuff together. But she really didn’t want to scare him.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He reached a hand down and hauled her to her feet with ease, then spun her and trapped her between his hard body and the wall.

“As nice as it is to meet a new employee,” she bit back a groan. She’d almost forgotten about the fire thanks to him. Wow, what a muscular chest he had, all pressed up on her and…
Oh, hell
, was that a gun or something else? She sure hoped it was something else. Her hormones raged, probably from her lack of sex. Great timing. “Can we get off of this floor? There’s a fire somewhere.”

He looked down at her, and another smile flirted with the corners of his lips. “Sure thing, sweetheart, we can get out of here. But I’m going to need you to do exactly what I say when I say, okay?”

“You’re the new guy. Shouldn’t you just follow me? I mean, not to sound like a know-it-all, but I’ve been working in this building for a few years now, and I can find my way out.” She glanced at the door leading to the stairwell. “If we go down those stairs, we’ll hit the parking lot. My car is always right there. If you need, I’ll give you a ride.”

The little smile became a full-on grin, and he arched an eyebrow. “Who am I to turn down a ride from a pretty lady? Lead the way, sweetheart.”

She sighed. Thank goodness the hot new guard wasn’t going to be all macho on her. He probably wouldn’t know where to go. Besides, most of the hot men she’d encountered tended to have just a tiny, little bit missing in the smart-guy department.

She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the door. “I don’t know what’s going on on the other side of the floor, but we should probably run. I think a copier exploded.” She glanced over her shoulder and caught him staring at her ass but decided to ignore it. “Seriously, the sound was deafening.”

She shouldn’t think about how big his hand was covering hers. Or the fact he was a foot taller and could easily have thrown her over his shoulder in a full Tarzan move. Why the hell was she thinking of shit like that? No wonder Tom thought she needed extra guards. She was brain-dead the moment something critical happened.

Having such a mundane life meant the smallest thing was exciting.

“Don’t worry,” she huffed, rushing down another level. “I bet Tom and the others have the fire department on its way here. If they’re not here already.” She stopped to adjust the huge carry bag that held her laptop and the files she would work on from home. “This thing weighs a ton.”

“Here, let me.” He tugged the bag out of her hold.

“You don’t have to do that.” She yanked on the bag. “I don’t make anyone carry my stuff.”

“Maybe not.” His tone was firm as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “But all hell will break loose when we step through those doors, and I need you to have your hands free.”

What the hell was he talking about? It was just a fire. He pushed her behind him and held her hand in a tight grip. If she was a worrier—which she wasn’t, nope, she was not worried, that trembling in her stomach was just hunger—she’d wonder why all of a sudden he appeared a lot more dangerous than before.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and winked. “Exactly as I say. Just remember that.”

Chapter Two

He pushed the door open, and, as promised, all hell broke loose. Smoke and noise filled the air. Gunshots.

People were shooting at them.

She shrieked and turned blindly toward him, but he turned her around, his big chest hard against her back, and pressed something against her neck under her ear. A gun. Shit.

“I’ve got Ms. Rey,” he yelled into a lull in the noise. “Put your weapons on the ground, and she doesn’t get hurt.”

Wait. What the hell did he just say? She tried to look over her shoulder at him, but he had her in tight grip. “What do you think you’re doing? Let go of me this instant. This is going to get you fired! And on your first day too.”

Dammit, why did all the hot ones have to be stupid?

He leaned down, his warm breath stirring the tiny hairs on the side of her neck. “Sweetheart, I never said I worked for you, now did I?”

“If you don’t work for me, then who are you?” Her voice trembled despite the clenching of her teeth. She was nervous, pissed, and scared.

“If you’re a good girl,” he murmured, sliding a big hand over her waist to hold her securely against him. “Then you can call me gone. Very soon.” He lifted his head, and his voice rose. “I’m bringing her out now. No one makes a move, or she gets hurt.“

Oh, crap. She was going to die. Not the way she had hoped to go one day, due to multiple orgasms, but by the hand of a hot, muscular idiot bent on using her as a human shield. Life was so fucking unfair sometimes.

“Listen,” she cleared her throat, “I’m sure we can work this out. You don’t want me.”

“Is that so?” he drawled, pushing her ahead of him into the parking lot. “Why’s that? Seems to me I could have a lot of fun with a sweet armful like you.”

A security team stood around her car, their guns on the ground. Tom was by the driver’s door, his face white.

“Open the door,” her captor snarled, pressing the muzzle of his pistol harder into her neck. “Keys in the ignition.”

“Mister. Um...look you don’t want to do this. You’ll go to prison, and it will not be fun. It would be such a shame to see you turned into some big dude’s bitch.” She tried to drag her feet as he closed the distance to her car, but it made no difference. She’d never been skinny, but he handled her without breaking a sweat.

“You can find someone a lot more interesting than me to abduct. I’m boring,” she squeaked, fear making her babble.

Even his chuckle was sexy. Crap, she was really screwed in the head if she found her own kidnapper sexy. “Sorry, sweetheart, I’m not buying it. I happen to think billionaire CEO’s are sexy as fuck.”

She didn’t think, words just flowing out of her mouth. “I haven’t even had sex in months. Seriously, I am so boring. There’s tons of more-fun people to take.”

He barked out a laugh, half carrying her toward the door Tom opened. “Months? Well, that means you’ll be gagging for a bit of action, doesn’t it?”

He threw her into the car, bundling her over and sliding behind the wheel. A whimper escaped her as he threw it in gear and accelerated for the exit. She shifted to face her captor, watching him floor her car and steal it with her in it.

“You’re insane!” She kept from saying more for fear of the gun he had pointed at her. If they left the building, she was fucked. Her only consolation was that her babbling had kept him from shooting at any of her guards. Or Tom. Oh god, how many had he shot in the building?

“Why are you doing this?”

He flicked her a glance, then slammed the brakes on. The car squealed to a halt, back end fishtailing wildly for a few seconds before they came to a stop right in the exit.

“This, Ms. Rey…,” he said as he ejected the magazine from his gun and handed it to her, “was your wake-up call.”

She watched, dumbfounded, as he got out of the car, leaning on the side as Tom approached.