Typically, teams of three are assigned to each client based on skills, personality and expectations. For example, old Walter’s first go in the field will be with the Dowager Countess—lucky him—because the threat level is low and he’s what a lady of her stature expects in a personal guard. If I sicced Harry on her, with his fresh mouth and fetish for pop music, it wouldn’t go over well.
“We’re not private investigators,” I tell her, “so I can’t promise to find out who’s behind this, but I can refer you to some PIs who can.”
Hartley seems surprised.
“Just like that?”
My tone grows gentler, becomes reassuring, because I think she needs that.
“Yeah. Just like that.”
She sits up straighter, like she’s just recalling something important.
“Mr. Sullivan, Reid has frozen all the accounts. My lawyer has been working pro bono and our nanny’s been with Sammy since he was born. She’s practically family. I won’t be able to pay you until we sign—”
I hold up my hand.
“We’ll get that part sorted when things are more settled. Don’t worry about it now.”
Her eyes go teary and she bites her lip as she whispers, “Thank you. I just . . . I just don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
In real life, the opportunity to be a hero doesn’t usually come along, even if you’ve got the stuff for it. It’s like that David Bowie song—even just for one day isn’t attainable for most people.
But around here, we’re not most people.
“You don’t have to be afraid, Hartley. Not anymore. That, I can promise.”
After Gordon comes in and he and Hartley head out, Lo walks into my office. “We’re packing it in for the day. Was that Hartley Morrow?”
“Yeah, new client—I’ll fill you in. We should call James, see if he’s ready to come over full-time.”
James Winchester was the third guard with me and Logan on Prince Nicholas’s personal security team. He’s top-notch and still works with the royal family—on Prince Henry & Co. Though he likes the job, he’s been looking for something with less travel, that will let him stay home more consistently with his little boy, who he’s raising on his own.
“I think this one is just what James has been looking for.”
* * *
Later that night, after the shop is locked up and our new brood of hires has been sent on their merry way, and the Morrow situation is being dealt with, I get comfy in my bed. I settle in, lay back shirtless between the cool sheets, with the Haddock file perched on my lap, as I prepare to discover all of Abby’s filthy little secrets.
There’s a formal picture of her—white coat, delicate chin raised, brow relaxed, her smart mouth settled in a slight, refined smile. It was taken just after she finished medical school and began her residency, around the time of our first unforgettable meeting.
I looked for her, in the days after our kiss and slap. I asked around, tried to see her again, to get her number before they discharged me from the hospital. When she remained elusive, I figured maybe she was involved with someone. Unavailable. For a moment, I considered maybe she wasn’t even real—that she had been a seductive angel in my imagination, sent by God to bring me back from the pull of death. And then, after I’d fully recovered from my knock on the head, I got swept up in the rush of building the business, of starting something new that belonged to me and Lo alone, and the rough thrill of one dangerous job after the next.
I was a bloody fool not to have gone back for her, to have tried harder, looked more.
In my experience, second chances don’t come around often and I have no intention of wasting this one.
I can’t help but smile as I picture her in that swimming pool the other day—railing at an unruly frog, her wild mass of red hair glinting gold in the sun, and her wet, snug bathing suit highlighting those lissome limbs, the fine curve of her hips, and scintillating swell of her perfect breasts.
I get to guard that beautiful body for the next two weeks, up close and personal.
Fuck—I love my job.
CHAPTER FOUR
Abby
“WHO IS THIS PERSON?”
The surgical residency program at Highgrove Hospital encompasses rotations between several departments—general surgery, orthopedics, thoracic, plastics, pediatrics and oncology, to name a few. Each rotation lasts three to seven weeks, under the supervision of the department’s attending physician.
“Who is this person and why is he on my rounds?”
Rounds commence at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. sharp. They are teaching sessions—the observation and discussion of current patients between the attending surgeon and residents, interns and medical students. Rounds can make or break a career. It’s the chance to show off, suck up—to demonstrate your knowledge and skill. Perform well and you’ll be rewarded with scrubbing in for the most sought-after procedures—a hemispherectomy, a rotationplasty, or the unicorn, pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—an osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis.