The Socialite and the Bodyguard (6 page)

So who was the real Kayla? And why was she pretending?

He watched her hips sway as she walked up front with Tsini, the hem of her skirt barely reaching midthigh. Her toned legs went on forever. His muscles tightened. He’d been in a state of semiarousal since he’d set foot in her apartment. She was enough of a woman to push any man over the edge.

Except him. Not him. He wasn’t going to go there, no sir. She was a client. He as much as laid a finger on her and Welkins would have his head—or some other, more sensitive body part—on a platter. He’d definitely never work in private security again.

He needed to focus on the job.

“Must be frustrating to work for someone like her,” he remarked to Fisk. “You want to take her as far as possible and she doesn’t want to go. Is that what agents call a nightmare client?”

“Nah, man.” Fisk laughed. “She’s the best. She’s my favorite. Down-to-earth, good head on her shoulders. She’s plenty big as it is. More wouldn’t make her happier. You know what I mean?”

There wasn’t an ounce of animosity in the guy’s tone or body language. And he didn’t have much of a motive, either. If Fisk resented that Kayla didn’t bring in enough money because she held back, killing her would have earned him even less. And the murder of her parents and older brother wouldn’t have made any sense whatsoever.

“There’s a guy over there that I need to talk to.” Fisk was waving again at someone over the crowd. “You keep an eye on my girls.”

“That’s why I’m here.” And
not
to look at Kayla’s assets, he reminded himself, taking his gaze elsewhere. Then he nearly blew his top as she sent Dave off on some errand.

“So we agree that your life is in danger and you send Dave off. How smart is that?” He came up next to her.

“I still have you and Tsini.”

Damn right, she did. He scanned the room for her staff, for anyone else who might be watching, maybe an outsider who had paid off one of the staff to take that picture. Still not having a good handle on that bugged him to hell.

“Hang on to these, I’m going to try on that top.” She handed him the big pink shoulder bag that carried Tsini’s accessories. Then she gave him the end of the dog’s pink leash. The leather was covered in sparkles.

Before he could protest, she was taking a skimpy shirt from a vendor’s table and stepping into a makeshift changing booth.

“I don’t want you out of sight,” he called after her.

“You can see my feet under the curtain.”

Yes, he could. But he still had half a mind to go in there after her. Especially as the people who walked by gave him the once-over. Some smiled, some gave him come-hither looks. And not just the women! Man, oh, man, he needed to get out of here. He needed a smoky bar, a big cigar and a tumbler of twelve-year-old malt in his hand. He wanted a big-screen TV with a game on in the corner and a woman on his lap.

“It’s not easy being a man,” he told her. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Kayla popped out of the changing booth just then. The top she had on sported a winking dog outlined in glitter. He’d known her long enough now and was a good enough judge of character to know that she wasn’t a bimbo. But she definitely dressed like one and acted like one in public. Did she need attention that badly?

“What do you think?” She tilted her head.

The white fabric was so sheer he could practically see her nipples. Hell, he could practically taste them. Predictably, his body responded.

“Or would you prefer the black?”

He would have preferred to get the hell out of there. “This one’s fine.” His voice came out thicker than he’d intended.

“Fine?” Kayla seemed disappointed as she pulled back behind the curtain.

She was out in another minute or two, back in her own top that was just as provocative as the one she’d just taken off. Nash practically threw the pink bag and leash at her.

“Well, I like it.” She paid for the shirt and signed an autograph for the vendor before they moved on.

Kayla handed him the plastic bag. White with pink dogs on it. Tsini gave a high-pitched bark that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“Don’t forget who’s watching your back,” Nash warned the dog. He could have sworn she was grinning. Did dogs do that? Man, he was so far out of his element here…

“Oh, hi, you’re here this year. It’s so great to see you again.” An older woman came up to Kayla with a warm smile. “Tsini’s been doing better and better hasn’t she? I think this year she’s going for a win.”

Nash fell a few steps back to give them the illusion of privacy, watching every move the woman made, his right hand free to go for his gun at a moment’s notice. After the woman moved on, a tall, buff guy chatted Kayla up, his eyes all over her body. She was all smiles, didn’t seem to mind. Nash certainly did.

She talked to dozens of people as they moved around the room. That was what everybody was doing. This was, after all, a networking event. The buzz of conversations filled the large arena. He kept a careful eye on each person who approached her, and those who watched her from afar. He always stayed within reach, ready.

Picking the serious players out of a crowd wasn’t that difficult. Men like him always watched, were always ready for action. They could be relaxed on the surface, but their muscles were wound, waiting to deflect or deliver an attack. When they had to carry something, they carried it in their left hand. Their right was always empty. Basically, he looked for his own mirror image out there in the crowd—someone whose level of alertness was a notch above everybody else’s. But for the next hour or so, he found no one suspicious, nothing extraordinary.

Then Kayla wanted to go up to her room for a bite. He had insisted that she take her meals in her suite. For once she’d relented, if only because she wasn’t keen on people staring at her while she ate, and constantly interrupting her meal for autographs.

They had the elevator all to themselves on the way up. Tsini lay at her feet.

“So how are you surviving your first day at the dog show?” she asked in a tone that told him she knew very well he hated the damn thing. She probably enjoyed every moment of his misery.

“All in all, I think I’d prefer armed combat.”

She grinned, her face lighting up with humor, her strawberry-glossed lips stretching wide. “I bet.”

He needed to focus on something other than those lips. “You don’t always come. Why are you here this year?”

The smile slid off her face. “I didn’t want Tsini to come without me. I know we kind of think that those notes and the coat are about me, but if she’s in any danger, I’m not going to let her go across the country without me being there.” She shrugged. “Some work came in, too. Everyone’s here in one place. It’s convenient. Fisk and Ivan can make their deals.”

“You trust both of them?”

“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate as much as a tenth of a second.

He followed her out of the elevator and down the hall, held his hand out for her room key.

She gave it with a roll of her eyes. “We’re in a conference hotel with thousands of people around. Nobody is going to be stupid enough to try to hurt me here.”

Maybe she was right and maybe she wasn’t. Her parents and brother had been killed when they’d been alone, no witnesses. But Nash wasn’t about to take any chances. He scanned the rooms. “Where’s Greg?”

“All clear.” Nash told her when he was finished checking the room.

“He’s in the casino. He won’t be long. He doesn’t like places with a lot of people.” Kayla let Tsini off her leash and headed for her bedroom. “He decided to try out the slot machines. Mike is with him. I hope he’ll win at least a little and have fun.” Then she thought for a minute. “Or maybe not. A couple of years ago he had some trouble with gambling.”

“A casino rat?” He couldn’t see it. He was having some difficulty pinning Greg down. In fact, he had trouble getting near him. Kayla was superprotective of her brother.

“Illegal street racing.” She shook her head, all wide-eyed. “Can you believe that?” she asked as she disappeared behind her door.

“Sounds more fun than pushing coins into a machine,” he called after her. Maybe Greg wasn’t as done with it as Kayla thought either. He’d asked her for money for something. Nash still needed to look into that.

He picked up the room-service menu from the desk, but had barely opened the thing when Kayla screamed.

He had to fight Tsini to get through the door first. He had his gun out, grabbed Kayla with his left hand and pushed her behind his back, ready to face anything. Then he saw what had scared her.

Someone had sliced open her pillow. Feathers were all over her bed.

She had probably pulled the comforter back when she’d come in. It had been in place when he’d checked the room, so he hadn’t seen any of this mess.

He swore under his breath as he stashed his gun back into his waistband. “Don’t touch anything.” He backed out of the room with her, already calling Mike and Dave to get up there and bring Greg with them.

“He’s here.” Kayla’s eyes were huge in her face, her voice broken. “You were right.”

Her admission gave him no pleasure. “It has to be one of the staff.” She had to accept that.

“They were all down with us except for Mike and Greg,” she said, stubborn to the end.

“I couldn’t keep an eye on everyone every minute. Any one of them could have snuck back up here after Greg and Mike left.”

“Other than me, Greg, Mike and you, only Dave has a key card.”

Definitely something to consider. Along with the gall of the bastard. That he would do this right under Nash’s nose. His blood heated.

“Hotel doors are easier to open than you’d think. Fire them all. Now. Send them home.” He could protect her, Greg and Tsini for the rest of the show, or ask Welkins to send in more men. They’d figure out what to do once they got back to Philly. He could even take her to a safe house while he launched a serious investigation into who among the staff was responsible.

“No.”

Man, she loved that word. “One of them is out to get you.”

“Maybe. But the rest aren’t. They’ve been loyal to me for years. I’m not going to dump them. They deserve more than that.”

She was loyal. He couldn’t say he didn’t like it, even if just now the quality was to her detriment. “You deserve to stay alive. You can’t be surrounded by people we can’t trust. Fire them. Seriously.”

“Somebody else could have gotten in here.”

He couldn’t argue with that. He’d broken into more hotel rooms than he cared to count.

“My staff stays.” The fire in her eyes told Nash she really meant it.

Someday he was going to have to ignore her wishes and save her despite herself. And get fired shortly after, most likely. But today was not that day. He could humor her a little longer. He was with her round the clock. The cocky bastard wouldn’t be able to help himself. He’d do something else to scare her, and Nash would be ready.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Fine. But I’m taking over your security. No more hiding that I’m here to protect you. I can’t keep you safe with a hand tied behind my back. I
will
talk to everyone. They
will
answer my questions.”

She glanced at the feathers on her bed, the vicious slice in the pristine white pillow cover. “All right,” she agreed at last with a haunted look on her face that twisted something inside his chest.

“But you can’t be rough on them. I still think they have nothing to do with this.”

“Of course you do,” he told her, having just figured out something about her. “You’re a middle child. You’re a peacemaker. I work differently.”

“Going after everyone who moves?” she accused him.

“Just the enemy. Look, I used to be military. Find the bastards, kill the bastards. That’s pretty much me.” And he wasn’t going to apologize for it.

“You’re a warrior,” she summed up with a dismayed look that said she wasn’t the least impressed by him.

Which shouldn’t have bothered him nearly as much as it did.

K
AYLA SAT
on the edge of the couch, a bundle of nerves as she watched Nash take apart her staff, one by one. Nobody had an alibi for the time when her pillow had been sliced. Everyone had been off doing their own thing, except for Mike and Greg, but even they had split up for a while in the casino. Which she didn’t like in the least. Mike should have been more careful than that. She couldn’t bear if anything happened to Greg.

She couldn’t help but think that Nash would never have been that careless. He hadn’t let her out of his sight save for their bathroom breaks. And then he’d arranged for backup.

“Who the hell are you to question my loyalty to Kayla?” Mike was getting right in Nash’s face on the other side of the living room.

She half lifted from the couch, ready to intervene if they came to blows, but Nash stood completely still, the epitome of calm strength. And she sank back down.

Mike threw his hands in the air and walked away from him, giving up at last.

Everyone was tired. Nash had been questioning them about the photo and the sliced pillow for over two hours, as they came back into the suite for dinner, one by one. Dinner was artfully arranged on the table, food that nobody touched. Kayla wasn’t hungry either. Her stomach felt as if it had a lead ball sitting in it.

“Who the hell do you think you are to bust his chops like that?” Dave took Nash to task, standing up for Mike.

They were second cousins, had worked together forever. Those two made a tight team and didn’t take it well when their authority was challenged.

“I’m the new head of security.” Nash looked around the room, daring anyone to challenge him as he broke the news at last.

All eyes flew to her for confirmation, and then went wide with dismay as she gave a weary nod. “I don’t know what else to do. I don’t think anyone here has anything to do with this, but if someone is out to get me, any of you could get hurt. Nash has the most experience.”

“He knows nothing about you,” Dave protested, taking a couple of steps toward her, his muscles rigid with anger, his neck turning red.

“For now.” She tried to placate him, placate all of them. “We’ll figure out the long-term plan when we get back home.”