Watch Me

While I didn't know much about Clifton Hayes beyond what I'd seen in the papers, I did know that the man, in addition to having a shit ton of money, was also very single and had been for his entire adult life. No wife, no kids. There was various extended family, but the media consistently compared Hayes to the late J. Paul Getty. The man had a reputation for being a genius when it came to making money, but lacked any sense of morality and had no interest in sharing his money with anyone. In short, he was just another rich son of a bitch who had enough money to last ten lifetimes but still wanted more. Anybody he was grooming to take over his business would likely share the same values as him.

The pit in my stomach began to grow wider and wider. There was no question about where this was going. Mike must've sensed my unease because he quickly continued.

"But that's not all," Mike said. He actually scooted his chair forward and leaned across the desk before dropping his voice to barely audible levels. "Doug says the relationship between old man Hayes and his protégé isn't just professional."

The news surprised me. There’d never been any hint that Hayes might be gay. In fact, it’d been the opposite. In his younger days, the man had been a notorious womanizer. But he wouldn’t be the first guy to overcompensate to hide his true nature. An ugly truth hit me.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Mike, please tell me you aren't asking me to babysit this guy just because he and I might have something in common," I muttered. The fact that I was gay, something that Mike had known from the time we’d first met, had never been an issue between us and it had never played a role in my job, but I couldn't imagine why else he was bringing this to me.

"God, no, Nik. But thanks for thinking so little of me, you dick." He frowned and I immediately felt bad because I was letting events from the past creep into the present.

"Then why?"

"Because I’ve already assigned two of our guys to him and he's pulled the same shit with them that he did with the Premier guys."

That caught my attention. Despite the fact that Smithfield Security didn't have the prettiest paint on its walls or the newest training equipment, it had one thing that most other places didn't. It had quality men working for it. Men who had been the best in their fields. Men that I'd picked myself. Yeah, Mike had signed off on each and every one, but he hadn't questioned any of my selections. Some of the team members were a little rough around the edges and needed some polish, but they were all good, hardworking men I’d trust with my own life or that of my family's. One of my next goals as soon as Mike had the budget for it was to start rounding out the team with equally qualified women. Too many organizations dismissed women as being too weak or softhearted to do the job of personal protection, but that was utter bullshit as far as I was concerned. I'd met plenty of women in the military who could take down a man twice their size and there’d been nothing soft about the women when they’d done it. The sheer fact that a woman would be underestimated by an opponent was gold as far as I was concerned.

"Who did you put on him?"

"Lenny to start. The client,"—Mike paused only long enough to look at the name on the file folder in front of him—"Archer, managed to ditch Lenny in five minutes flat."

I narrowed my eyes. No wonder Lenny had been avoiding me the past several days. Clearly, he and I would be having a chat in the very near future. "Who else?"

Mike's jaw hardened. "Tolliver."

"What the fuck?" I snapped. Tolliver was one of the senior members of the team and probably the most experienced aside from me. "Tolliver let a suit get the best of him?"

"Not exactly. He managed to stick with Archer for a couple of hours."

"But?" I prodded.

"But when Archer offered Tolliver twenty large to walk away, you can bet your ass he took it."

I was certain I hadn't heard Mike correctly. "What?"

But Mike didn't repeat himself so I knew I hadn't heard wrong. Every muscle in my body felt strung too tight as I climbed to my feet and pressed my hands down on Mike's desk. "Tolliver sold out?"

"Fucker called last night and said he was jumpstarting his retirement."

I was moving before Mike even finished his statement.

"Kick his ass on your own time, Nik," he called. "Besides, Tolliver is probably already on a beach somewhere sipping Mai Tais with hula girls."

If I hadn't been so pissed, I would've laughed at Mike's very dated and not necessarily politically correct language. I forced myself to return to the seat across from Mike.