Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
D amian couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Thorn dragging his bedraggled assistant into the house through the patio doors.
“Christine? What are you doing here?”
“She was the one who set off the security light.” Thorn threw the hood on the floor. “And knocked my gun into the swimming pool.”
“You can let go now,” Christine sniffed, wriggling her arm free.
Damian nodded at Thorn, who had a bright red scratch on her neck, compliments of his ex, no doubt. Christine, on the other hand, didn’t have a scratch on her, despite being out of breath. Thorn must have easily subdued her, without having to land a blow.
Thorn released Christine’s arm.
Damian couldn’t decide who looked the wildest. Christine, with her usually sleek blonde hair an utter mess, shooting daggers at him, or Thorn with her strawberry blonde locks cascading down her back and over her shoulders like a glorious fiery waterfall, her emerald gaze simmering with annoyance.
“Damian, what are you doing here?” Thorn turned to face him, her hands on her hips. “I told you to stay in your room.”
Christine’s eyes widened.
“Thought you might need some help.” Ignoring her advice, he’d gotten his gun and followed her out onto the patio. He heard the scuffling by the pool and figured Thorn might be in trouble, but by the time he’d gotten to the patio, she’d been striding inside, pulling Christine with her.
“I’m fine.”
“I can see that.”
“Damian, what the hell is going on?” Christine demanded. “Who is this woman and why is she ordering you around?” Her gaze dropped to his weapon. “And since when do you carry a gun?”
He sighed and glanced at Thorn for guidance.
Now what?
“Why are you looking at her?” Christine snapped, her voice rising. “I’m the one asking the question.”
Thorn threw up her hands. “You may as well tell her, although it’s going to complicate matters. I’ll let the others know we’ve been compromised, and then I’m going to retrieve my Glock.” Spinning on her heel, she marched outside again. Damian thought he heard her mutter something along the lines of ‘stupid bitch,’ but he couldn’t be sure.
“Damian?” Christine’s voice quivered, her eyes narrowing. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a cover, Christine. You are right, she’s not my wife. It was all a scam, a ruse for the newspapers.”
“I knew it!” Triumph gleamed in her eyes before they clouded over with confusion and hurt. “But I saw you two kissing. If it isn’t real—” She petered off.
He sighed, relieved Thorn wasn’t in the room. “It’s complicated.”
Her lip quivered. “Do you love her?”
Love?
The thought made his chest tighten.
“No, don’t be ridiculous. She’s my bodyguard.”
Christine shook her head. He didn’t blame her for being confused. He was confused as hell too.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why’d you lock me out? Didn’t I deserve to know?”
“Not about this,” he said quietly.
She frowned, tears welling up. “I don’t understand. What’s going on, Damian? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“You could say that.” He shook his head. By coming here, she’d put herself in danger. “Let’s sit down, and I’ll try to explain.”
He wouldn’t tell her everything, that would be foolish, just enough so that she would back off and leave him alone until after the conference.
“I’m going to make an announcement at CryptoCon. Lydian will become more transparent, potentially exposing the identities of everyone using the cryptocurrency, particularly on the dark web.”
She stared at him as the gravity of his words sunk in.
“It’s made me a target. There have been threats.”
She gasped. “I thought the bomb threat was a false alarm. Some sick joke.”
“It was, but there was the crash a couple of weeks back when I drove off the road, remember?”
“You said your brakes failed.”
“My brake lines were cut,” he corrected. “My vehicle was sabotaged, Christine.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Only this morning, there was a drone attack on my house.”
She glanced up, horrified. “What? Here?”
He nodded. “It was loaded with explosives. My security team shot it down before it could do any damage.”
She gulped nervously. “I had no idea.”
“I know, and that’s my fault. I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want to put you in danger. The fake wedding was an attempt to protect you.”
“Protect me?” Her eyes glistened. “Then—Then you do care?”
He shook his head, trying to be gentle but firm. He wasn’t going to lead her on, not anymore. “I care about what happens to you, but you know as well as I do, it was just a fling.”
“It wasn’t for me,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
He felt a pang of guilt but knew he had to come clean. “I shouldn’t have led you on. I’ve put you in danger, and for that, I’m truly sorry.”
She sucked in a breath. “What do you mean, you’ve put me in danger?”
Christ, she was na?ve. “Don’t you get it? The people who are trying to kill me are ruthless. If they think we’re involved, they might try and use you to get to me. That’s why the office has been shut down, and the developers are in lockdown. That’s why there are FBI agents guarding the building, and why I have a private security company at my premises.”
“And why you have a female bodyguard in your house?” Her gaze narrowed, but then she hesitated. “She’s the woman that came to your office. She locked me in the restroom.”
“I know.” He sighed. “She was making a point. She was showing me how easy it was to get to me.”
Christine let out a sob. “That was my fault. I didn’t suspect a thing.”
“It was not your fault,” he reassured her as tears welled in her eyes. “You are not trained to look out for assassins. This has nothing to do with you.”
Her lips quivered. Please don’t cry, he thought.
Too late. Tears overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. She looked so forlorn, he reached out and gave her arm a squeeze. With a sob, she turned and buried her face in his chest.
Dammit. He could handle most things, but a woman crying really got to him. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. That’s when Thorn walked in, followed by Hawk.