The Hill (8 page)

The elevator took them to the very top of the building and spit
them out onto plush carpet, facing a glass-block wall with the BGE logo
shimmering on it.

London exited to the right and he followed her to a reception
area adorned with fine art, a couple of chairs, a few exotic plants and an even
more exotic receptionist behind a mahogany desk.

“Good morning, Arianna.” London flashed a smile at the
receptionist, who could moonlight as a model.

“Good morning, London.” Her dark eyes flicked to Judd.

“This is Judd Brody. He's going to be providing some extra
personal security for me in the next few months.”

Months? He had to maintain a professional demeanor with this
woman for months?

He nodded toward Arianna, who smiled serenely, as if a personal
bodyguard was the most common accoutrement in the world.

London continued to the back of the building, where individual
offices lined the walls and buzzing office staffers guarded their ground.

London nodded and waved her way through the maze until she
reached the back office. Another impeccably coiffed and dressed woman sat with
perfect posture behind a desk.

“Good morning, London.”

“Good morning, Celine. Everything ready for the meeting this
morning?”

Celine's gaze darted toward Judd and back to London's face.
“All on your desk. Roger has already been by this morning.”

“Thanks.” She tilted her chin at him. “This is Judd Brody.
He's...uh, with security.”

Celine smiled brightly. “Good morning. Would either of you like
some coffee?”

“I would. Judd?”

“Black.”

Celine scooted back from her chair and scurried out the
door.

An older gentleman—silver hair, impeccable suit, moneyed
ease—strolled into the outer office. “Nice to see you here, London. Are you
ready for the meeting?”

“I am.”

“I'll be seated to your right, and I can guide you through
anything that throws you for a loop.”

“Thanks, Richard.” She made a half turn toward Judd. “Richard,
this is Judd Brody. He'll be providing some additional personal security for me.
Judd, Richard Taylor, executive vice president of BGE.”

Richard nodded, a tight smile on his patrician face. “Welcome
aboard.”

Richard must have thought Judd was a new BGE employee or
something, but if London didn't see fit to correct him, far be it from Judd to
do so. He nodded back.

Did the vice president have a hankering to be CEO?

“I'll see you at the meeting, London—nine sharp.” He pivoted
out of the room, almost colliding with Celine carrying two cups of coffee.

“Sorry, Mr. Taylor.” Celine rolled her eyes at London and
handed them the coffee.

London waved Judd through another door. “My office.” She shut
the door behind them and sighed. “You don't know how much I hate walking through
that gauntlet of employees.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. They all work for me. Their livelihoods depend
on me and my decisions. I feel like they're out there sizing me up.”

“They probably are.” He perched on the edge of her desk and
folded his arms. “Why does my job title keep changing for every person I
meet?”

“They're all the same, aren't they?” She dropped her briefcase
on the floor by her chair.

“It all sounds vague.”

“I don't know.” She eased into the big leather chair behind the
desk. “You want me to keep quiet about the threats, and I don't want to come
across as paranoid.”

“What's the saying? If someone really is trying to get you,
it's not paranoia.”

Tapping the keyboard of her desktop computer, she said, “I
thought I wasn't giving anyone the full scoop.”

“Might be fun just to see their reactions. I wonder if anything
could break the mask that Richard Taylor wears. He's one smooth SOB, isn't
he?”

“Always has been. Do you want to meet the rest of the likely
suspects?” She twisted her monitor to one side. “I've got the rogues' gallery
right here.”

He stepped around to the other side of the desk and leaned over
her shoulder, taking in a webpage with an org chart and photos. He tapped a
finger on the top picture—Spencer Breck. “Looks like it needs to be
updated.”

“Putting my picture up there will make it seem so final.” She
scooted her chair to the side. “Have a seat.”

He pulled a heavy chair as close to the desk as he could get it
and hunched over.

She rattled off names and positions. He'd have to print out
this chart and study it more closely, maybe do a little background on these
people.

He held up his hand when she got to her cousin Niles. “Tell me
about him.”

“He's not much for business but loves the trappings. My father
and his had their issues, and Dad never much liked Niles. Left him some money
and property in his trust, but not much responsibility at BGE.”

“Is Niles an only child, too?”

“Too?”

“Like you.”

“I thought I told you at the bar, I'm not an only child.” Her
finger drew a circle around the picture of a serious-looking dark-haired man in
his mid-thirties. “That's my half brother, Wade.”

“You did mention a half brother.” Judd squinted at the name
beneath the picture. “Wade Vickers. He's not a Breck?”

“Vickers is his mother's name. He never took the Breck
name.”

“Bad blood between his mother and your father?”

“You could say that. Wade was born before my parents married,
so my father could've married Wade's mother. He didn't.”

“But your father still gave him a place in the company.”

“No reason not to.” She shrugged. “He's smart, has a good head
for business and likes this stuff a lot more than I do.”

“Your father still left you in charge.”

“Go figure.”

Wedging a knuckle beneath her chin, he turned her face toward
his. “Why are you here, London?”

“Because my father left me in charge, and I have something to
prove.” Her bottom lip trembled. “It was his last ditch effort to...to...”

“Turn you into him?” He waved his hand around the office with
its gleaming surfaces and dark leather. “This is him, not you.”

She wrinkled her nose as she glanced around the room. “I plan
to redecorate.”

“I'm not talking about the decor. I mean all of it—the
corporate world, shareholder meetings, the bottom line.”

“This
is
me.” She jumped up from
her chair and smacked her palms on the desk. “I can do this. You don't know
anything. You don't know me, Judd Brody. I'm not that girl in the tabloids. Not
anymore.”

She was right. What made him think he could give her advice,
judge her? And why did he care?

“Okay, okay.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe this is you.
What the hell do I know?”

“Let's get back to what you do know. Anything about any of
these guys that jumps out at you? Honestly, I can't imagine any of them going to
such lengths to threaten me. A few of them have told me straight up I'm in over
my head and to give it up—sort of like you.”

“Wait a minute. I never said that. You can probably do whatever
you set your mind to. I just didn't think the corporate world was a good fit for
you, but you set me straight.” He steepled his fingers. “Any one of them has
motive enough for getting rid of you, I suppose. How do you and your brother get
along?”

Walking to the front of her desk, she smoothed back a piece of
hair that had slipped out of the bun—another affectation. The bun didn't suit
her, either.

“Wade is more like my father than I am. He's almost ten years
older than I am—wife, couple of kids. He's a good guy, if a little dull.”

He took in the four walls of the office. This environment could
make anyone dull. “You two are on friendly terms?”

“I'd say so.”

“Did your father take care of him in his will? Is your brother
satisfied working for you?”

“Wade is very comfortable, thanks to Dad, and he's happy with
his numbers.” She sighed and perched on the edge of the desk. “I wish there was
one villain to point to, but BGE has no villains.”

The door to her office burst open and a stocky man with dark
hair charged through, with Celine on his heels. “I asked him to wait,
London.”

The guy bounded across the room, landed in front of London,
grabbed her shoulders and planted a kiss on her mouth. “La-La, I missed you so
much. I came straight here from the airport.”

Judd rose from his chair, his hands curling into fists. Who was
this guy and who the hell was La-La?

“London?”

She turned a flushed face toward Judd, her hands against the
man's chest.

The intruder glanced at Judd as if seeing him for the first
time and raised one eyebrow. “Who's this?”

Judd expanded his chest and took one step forward. “Who the
hell are you?”

The man finally dropped his hands from London's shoulders and
turned to face Judd fully. “I'm London's fiancé.”

 

Chapter Seven

London rolled her eyes.
Here we go again.

She'd better say something, since Judd looked about ready to use Roger for a punching bag and Roger looked about ready to slap Judd across the face with a glove.

She sliced a hand between the two men. “Not exactly, Roger.”

“You mean, not yet.” He chucked her under the chin with his knuckle, a gesture similar to one Judd had used on her just a moment ago. Only when Roger did it, she felt about two years old.

“Roger, this is Judd Brody. I hired him for some additional personal security. Judd, this is Roger Taylor, CFO of Breck Global and Richard's son.”

Judd thrust out his hand. “Sorry about the earlier antagonism. Ms. Breck never mentioned her engagement to me, so when a strange man burst in here and grabbed her, my adrenaline started to pump.”

Roger eyed the tattoos peeking from the sleeve of Judd's jacket. “No worries. London could use a little extra security, but you're not from BGE, are you? Unless you joined the staff while I was out of the country.”

“He did.” She met Judd's gaze over Roger's shoulder and put a finger to her lips. It would make her life easier if Roger didn't know she didn't trust BGE security—at least not with her life. She just needed to stick with the same story for everyone.

Judd dipped his head. “New hire.”

London let out a measured breath. “I'll see you in the boardroom, Roger. Judd and I have a few things to review.”

Roger reached for her again, but this time she sidestepped him. She didn't want him mauling her, especially under Judd's watchful glare.

Roger winked and turned his fingers into a gun, pointing at her. “Don't you worry about a thing, London. I'll be right there beside you in the boardroom.”

She pasted a smile on her face and nodded.

Roger exited the office, calling out to Celine, “Grab me a coffee.”

London snapped the door closed and rested her forehead against the heavy wood. “Now I have to smooth Celine's feathers since she absolutely hates it when Roger orders her around. He has his own executive assistant.”

“Fiancé?”

“No.” She turned, putting her hands behind her back and pressing them against the door. “He likes to think we have some understanding, but we don't. I don't. We dated a few times over the years, but we are not compatible in any way.”

“I can't imagine how a guy like that with a stick up his...back could ever think he'd be happy with a woman with your wild ways.”

She opened her mouth and Judd held up his hand. “Former wild ways.”

“That's just it.” She blew a strand of hair from her face for about the hundredth time that morning. “He loves my former wild ways. He used to pretend my antics frustrated him, but that was an act. My mishaps allowed him to be paternal toward me, correcting and chastising me.”

“That sounds like a seriously creepy dynamic.”

“Part of it has to do with all this.” She spread her arms wide. “If I keep screwing up, it gives him greater control over me and BGE—at least he thinks so.”

“Does he want it enough to kill for it?”

“Roger? I don't see him as a killer, but he wants it enough to marry me for it.”

Judd's blue eyes glittered, almost slicing through her. “And that would be a great hardship for him?”

The warmth started in her belly and made a fast approach to her face. She snorted and made a beeline to her desk, ducking into one of the drawers. “For him, I think it would be, but I'm going to spare him the sacrifice.”

She retrieved a pad of paper from the drawer and smacked it on the desk. “You can work in here while I attend the meeting.”

“How long will you be?”

“About two hours.” She couldn't stop the grimace that twisted her lips. “Then I'm going to stop by the hospital and visit Theodore. Do you want to come along?”

“Absolutely. I'm your bodyguard, remember?”

When he looked the way he did now, his raw power barely contained by his suit and his eyes hard and...possessive, she didn't want to forget.

She'd hardly gotten one wink of sleep last night with him downstairs on her couch. She could understand he wanted to keep their relationship professional. He must have all his female clients throwing themselves at him, and he couldn't accept every offer.

Hell, if he made good on the promise in his eyes, she'd be wondering if he bodyguarded everyone the same way.

Celine's tap on the door broke the spell between them.

“C'mon in.”

“Meeting in ten minutes. You probably want to be one of the first people there.”

“Thanks, Celine. Sorry about Roger.”

“He's so annoying.”

“I know. I'll talk to him again.” She gestured to Judd, who had removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. “Judd's going to be working in my office while I'm in the meeting. After the meeting, I'm leaving for the rest of the day.”

Celine's eyes widened behind her trendy glasses as she took in the view of Judd stretching, his muscles shifting beneath his crisp white shirt. She swallowed. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything, Judd—more coffee, water, supplies.”

A back rub. A soft place to rest your head. A mother for your children.

The thoughts marching across Celine's face could be London's own.

London dipped behind the desk and grabbed her briefcase. Might as well look as though she knew what she was doing, even if she was clueless.

Judd looked up, oblivious to the drooling females before him. “Knock 'em dead.”

London reached back, plucking the pins from her hair and shaking it free from the bun. “I will.”

* * *

J
UDD
 
RUBBED
 
HIS
 
eyes and shifted his chair to take in the view out the window. Spectacular. It still couldn't make up for being ensconced in an office in a suit all morning.

The job of CEO of an international corporation did not suit London—and it had nothing to do with her intelligence, her ability or her crazy ways. Maybe a little to do with her crazy ways. She struck him as a free spirit. This job might as well have
free spirits need not apply
stamped across its letterhead.

What had a hardheaded businessman like Spencer Breck been thinking when he'd left control of the company to her? Maybe he'd done it for spite.

Maybe father and daughter never got along. She hadn't seemed all that broken up over his death. Of course, what gave him any idea that he could adequately judge grief? He'd stuffed his away for years.

His brothers had been stoked when the real Phone Book Killer had revealed himself, but the news had left him empty—as usual. His old man had still offed himself. What kind of man did that to his family?

From all accounts, his father had been a good detective. When the Phone Book Killer had started his killing spree, the killer had begun sending messages to Detective Joseph Brody. The SFPD brass had become suspicious about the messages, and then evidence linking his father to the crimes turned up. His father was innocent, so why didn't he stick around and fight for justice instead of ending it all with a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge?

Celine knocked on the door for the tenth time in an hour, and he invited her in. This time she had company.

“Judd? Sorry to bother you again, but we need to leave something on London's desk.”

The older woman with Celine scowled at him over her glasses, her gray eyebrows meeting over her nose. “Who are you?”

Celine's cheeks sported two red circles. “I told you, Mary. He's working for London.”

Mary's gaze traveled from Judd's face to his arms, which were bared to the elbow. “As what?”

Celine giggled and rolled her eyes. “He's in security.”

The woman turned, blocking Celine's entrance. “That's all, Celine. I'll take it from here.”

Shooting him a glance over the ogre's shoulder, Celine backed out of the room.

When the door closed, Mary broadened her stance and crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “BGE security working alone in the boss's office?”

Judd kicked his feet on top of London's desk and crossed his arms behind his head. “Celine forgot her manners. Who are you and what do you want to leave for London?”

“You're a smooth operator, aren't you?” She pulled back her shoulders and Judd feared the buttons on her high-necked white blouse would pop. “My name is Mary Kowalski, and I was Mr. Breck's secretary for forty years. None of this administrative assistant nonsense. I wasn't Mr. Breck's assistant. I was his secretary—I took shorthand, typed one hundred words a minute and, yes, I got him coffee and picked up his dry cleaning, because that's what we did back when I was first hired, and I was grateful for the job. I maintained the same level of service until the day I retired.”

Judd's eyebrows had been rising with each of Mary's words, so they were probably somewhere on the back of his skull by now.

He removed his feet from the desk and rose, Mary's eyes following his ascent. “Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Judd Brody, and Ms. Breck hired me as her personal bodyguard.”

“You're a big 'un, aren't you? That's handy in a bodyguard.” She reached into her enormous handbag and drew out a white envelope. She shook it at him. “You're one of those Brody boys. I followed your father's case closely. He'd been a good cop for years. I knew Detective Brody was no killer.”

“That I am, ma'am.”

“You can stop with the
ma'am
nonsense. Call me Mary and I'll call you Judd.” She settled herself in the chair facing the desk. “How's our girl doing?”

“Our girl?”

“London.” She chuckled. “Is she stepping in it yet with those ridiculous heels she favors?”

“Stepping in it?”

“Are you a P.I. or a parrot?”

He choked and took a swig of water. “I think she's doing just fine.”

“Nonsense. She's not cut out for this. I don't know what Mr. Breck was thinking.”

Since that was exactly what he'd been wondering, he warmed up to Mary even more, although she reminded him of his first-grade teacher, Mrs. K. Treated him like Mrs. K. had treated him, too.

“She's a grown woman. I suppose she can make her own decisions. I'm just here to—” he closed the website on the monitor “—make sure she's safe.”

“All kinds of ways to make sure someone's safe. I heard someone beat up Theodore two nights ago.”

She must not have heard about Griff. “He's in the hospital.”

She scowled and placed the envelope she'd had in her lap between a pencil holder and a framed photograph—one of Spencer Breck shaking the hand of some guy in a uniform as he got an award.

“Then London did the right thing hiring you. The first sensible thing she's done since her father died.”

“Were London and her father close?”

She smoothed her hands over her skirt. “She wouldn't say so, but he loved and admired his girl.”

“Admired?” That seemed to be an odd sentiment for a father to have about his daughter. Should be the other way around. Not that he admired his father—not at all.

Mary shifted her eyes from his face to just over his shoulder. “He admired her honesty and that she had the guts to do just what she wanted to do. It's only when she tries to please someone else that she gets confused.” Her eyes found his again. “Like now.”

He couldn't agree more, but he didn't think anyone could dissuade London from taking control of BGE—not even a killer.

Glancing at his watch, he said, “She should be back soon. Do you want to wait for her?”

“No.” She struggled to her feet from the deep leather chair, and Judd rushed around the desk to help her. She tapped the edge of the envelope with her finger. “I just came to bring her that.”

“Will she know what it is?”

“I don't even know what it is.” She kept hold of his arm with one hand while she tugged at her skirt with the other. “It's from her father. He gave it to me two years ago and asked me to deliver it to London a few months after his death.”

“Maybe it's the reprieve she's been looking for, and he's rescinding his offer of the company.”

“I wish.” Mary drummed her chin with her fingertips. “Anyway, when I retired last year, I asked Mr. Breck if he still wanted me to hang on to the envelope, and he did. Same instructions. If I'd passed away first, I assumed he would've given the same instructions to someone else.”

“Mary!” London barreled into the room and practically tackled the older woman. She wrapped her in a bear hug. “What are you doing here? Can I convince you to come out of retirement and come back to work?”

Mary smiled for the first time since entering the office as she stroked London's hair back from her face. “You look good, a little tired.”

“The past few days have been crazy.” She raised an eyebrow at Judd. “Have you met Judd Brody?”

“We were discussing you.” She broke away from London and grabbed his biceps, giving it a squeeze. “You let this man look out for you. I get a good feeling from this one.”

“That's what he's doing here, but what about you? What brings you to BGE?”

“I brought you something.” Mary pointed to the envelope on the desk. “From your father.”

“More forms?”

“I don't know what it is, London. He gave it to me a few years ago with instructions to hand it off to you after he passed.”

“That sounds mysterious. Why wouldn't he just give it to his attorney?”

Mary clicked her tongue. “You know I never asked your father questions. Not my place.”

London reached for the envelope, and Mary crossed two fingers in front of her. “Don't open it while I'm here. It's a private matter and you need to keep it private.”