Chapter 4
Vic was running so late. She’d slept through the six a.m. alarm she’d set. Hauling her ass out of bed, she raced into the bathroom, snagging a towel out of the linen closet on her way past. She hopped in the shower and managed to wash her hair and be out again in seven minutes. It had to be a new record.
Uncle Austin had a thing about lateness. He hated being late and hated when people around him were late. Considered tardiness the epitome of disrespect. Except those times when he wanted to send a message. Tell the person waiting for him that he was the boss, and their time wasn’t all that important. It was all a game to him. One Vic found tiring. The politics of everything bugged her. Politics in general wasn’t her thing but she worked for her uncle, and he was a Senator, so she didn’t have much of a choice.
She wrapped a towel around her long auburn hair and as she reached for her toothbrush, her doorbell rang. What the hell? It was six-twenty-five. Who would be at her door at this hour? Oh god. Had she forgotten something? Was she supposed to be at a breakfast meeting with her Uncle? Her stomach dropped to her knees. Shit. Shit. Shit. It was probably Carl, her uncle’s driver, at the door. Her uncle was going to be pissed she wasn’t ready. What else was new? It seemed a constant state of things in her life. Three more weeks, she reminded herself as she tried to stave off the inevitable angst building in her stomach.
Wrapping another towel around her body, she made her way to the door. She undid the locks and pulled it open.“Carl, I’m just…”her voice petered out. A stranger stood there. He was very tall and well-built with dark hair and ice-blue eyes.
“Ms. Carlyle?”he asked. His deep voice sent a burst of butterflies through her belly.
“Um, yes?”Dear God, this man was sexy.
“I’m Ryker Sterling.”
She blinked.“Um, what are you doing here?”She hadn’t given her address to Archer Gray but clearly that didn’t matter. Open-mouthed, she stared at the stranger, who was studiously keeping his eyes on her face.
“We need to talk.”
Shit. She was late and this was going to make her even later. Tightening her grip on the towel, she moved back so he could enter the apartment and closed the door after him.“I’m not quite sure what you want to discuss.” I don’t have time for this.
He stood in the middle of her living room and suddenly the apartment seemed much smaller. He had to be well over six feet with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He was wearing a summer-weight light gray suit with a blue silk tie that matched his eyes. Gorgeous didn’t cover it. He had his hands on his hips and his gun peeked out from beneath his blazer. There didn’t appear to be an ounce of fat on him.
Her nipples tightened under her towel. This man oozed rizz. Everything about him said it didn’t matter how charismatic she found him, he was dangerous as hell. She’d never been so turned on in all her life. What the hell was wrong with me?
“If you want me to protect your uncle, I need some details.”
“Such as?”she said as she readjusted her towel. The one on her head started to slip so she just let it fall. She couldn’t hold both at the same time and she was late enough already that she didn’t want to run into her bedroom and get dressed and then come back out and have this discussion. She wanted it over with and him gone. There was no way she’d be able to concentrate on getting ready with him in her apartment. She was way too aware of him, and he was just standing there. If he kissed her, her body would probably explode.
“What did you tell your uncle about me coming?”
Oh, boy.“Nothing yet.”
He cocked an eyebrow.“What? Am I just supposed to show up and you’re going to say‘surprise’?”
“Well, not exactly.”Her heart hammered against her rib cage as sweat broke out on her palms. She’d been up all night worrying about this very thing.
His eyes narrowed.“So… what exactly is going to happen.”
She swallowed.“Look, I didn’t expect Gray to send someone so quickly. He said today but I assumed it would be, well, later today. Regardless, I’m going to tell my uncle that he needs more security and force him to hire you. I assume you have a good resumé.”Like it would be that easy. Her uncle wouldn’t like it one bit, not to mention Floyd Armstrong, his assistant. Floyd would have a cow.
“My resumé is the least of your worries. How are you going to‘force’him?”
“I don’t know yet.”She flapped her arms and almost lost her towel. Grabbing the top of it, she held on tight.“But I will figure something out.”
He stared at her for a long minute and then raised his hand, and brushed soap bubbles off her shoulder.“I have my own company outside of the Lock and Key Society. Sterling Security. It’s small, but very reputable. You are going to tell him to call Cal Wallingford. He will vouch for me. He’s a behind-the-scenes major power broker in Washington.”
“I know who Cal Wallingford is. I’ve met him.”He was another in a long line of DC elite her uncle was courting.
“Good. You told Cal of your worries about your uncle, and he dropped my name. Do not tell him you spoke to Archer. Your uncle won’t like that. Use Cal as a reference point. Does that work for you?”
Cal Wallingford made and destroyed careers every day.“I…I don’t really know Mr. Wallingford that well. Why would I tell him anything?”
“Because you saw him at the charity event you attended last Thursday night, and he caught you in a weak moment. You were scared because your uncle had just managed to escape being shot on an empty road in Virginia. You were shaken up. Mr. Wallingford bumped into you and one thing led to another. You spilled your fears. Cal offered my firm as a solution.”
“How do you know all of this?”She swallowed.
“I’m good at my job. Your job is to get me in.”His gaze raked over her.“You’d better hustle or you’re going to be late. Your uncle hates that.”He moved around her and grabbed the doorknob.“See you at eight, at your desk. Make sure I’m cleared before I arrive.”With that, he went out the door and closed it softly behind him.
Vic’s knees wobbled as she took a few tentative steps towards the bedroom. What the hell had she been thinking asking Archer Gray for help? Ryker Sterling was terrifying and sexy and bossy all at once. Her gaze landed on the bedside clock. Jesus! Was that the time? She’d have to worry about Sterling later. First, she needed to get into the office on time.
* * *
At exactly seven-thirty-three she walked into her uncle’s main office. He had an official office on Capitol Hill, but he liked having a space where he could do‘real’work as he called it without all the eagle eyes on the Hill keeping track of him when the senate was on summer break, like it was now. He glanced up and then pointedly looked at the clock on the wall.
“I know, I know,”she said with a grimace.“But I stopped to get you your favorite muffin from the bakery on the corner. It was a spur of the moment decision, and I didn’t plan for it appropriately.”She held up the bakery bag. She’d been thinking bad thoughts about her uncle all morning, and the guilt got to her. So she stopped for the muffin. Her uncle wasn’t a bad man. He just did things differently than she would and had different philosophies than she did. Truthfully, they had nothing in common but DNA.“Does that mean you don’t want your muffin?”
A large smile creased his face.“Plannin’ is important, but so are muffins,”he said in his thick Texas drawl. He reached for the bag, and she handed it over, her stomach relaxing just a fraction. If she were being honest, the muffin wasn’t just a guilt buy. She needed to get her uncle in a more relaxed state. Cara, the woman who worked the cash register knew her uncle and knew how intense he could be. She just threw the muffin in the bag and added it to Vic’s tab so she didn’t have to stand in line and pay. Cara was a good human. Vic owed her lunch.
She glanced at Floyd, who was sitting across the desk from her uncle, and nodded. He didn’t eat muffins so she hadn’t brought him one. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure Floyd ate anything other than yogurt and salad. He was average height but very lean. He was a runner and looked it. He also gave her the creeps. His dark eyes always seemed to be leering at her.“So, what’s on for today?”she asked her uncle as she stood in front of his desk.“Any changes in the schedule?”
Austin opened the bag and took out the lemon poppyseed muffin.“No. Nothing happened overnight that should affect it.”He broke off a piece of muffin and popped it in his mouth and then made appreciative noises.“Thank you for the muffin, darlin’.”
She sat down in the chair across from his desk. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself to start the conversation.
“You added a meeting to my schedule at six-forty-three this morning but failed to provide details.”His blue eyes pinned her down.
The air hissed out of her lungs. So much for the muffin. She tried to stay relaxed and even took a sip of her chai latte. She caught Floyd stealing a glance in her direction with a smirk on his face. Shit. This was going to be bad.
“Yes,”she said finally,“I did. Sorry for the late notice. I didn’t realize it would be happening today.”
Davis stared at her, ignoring the muffin completely.“What would be happening?”His eyes narrowed.“I don’t like surprises.”
Nerves jangled along her spine. Her uncle had saved her from life on a commune back when she was a teenager, so she owed him everything, but she still found him intimidating sometimes.“After someone shot at you last week, I—I was upset. We were at the charity function Thursday night.”She bit her lip. She’d never been much good at lying but she needed to pull this off. It was for his own good.“I’m afraid I confessed my fears to Cal Wallingford when I physically bumped into him. He asked why I was upset and the whole thing poured out. He suggested you beef up your security. He said he’d send someone over. I got notice that the man he was sending would be here this morning at eight.”
Floyd tsked next to her and shook his head.“You should know better,”he murmured.“No one likes surprises.”
She ignored him and watched her uncle’s face closely. His expression was blank but she knew the wheels were turning. She just didn’t know what direction they would be spinning. Was she in a huge amount of trouble? Would he be angry with her? No one wanted Austin Davis angry with them. He could be cold as sin and just as brutal. So far, she hadn’t had to endure that aspect of his demeanor, not since she’d been a teenager, but this could be the breaking point. Why did he have to be so stubborn?
She rushed to explain a bit more.“I’m sorry, Uncle Austin. But you’re the only family I have since Mom and Dad refuse to leave the commune. The thought of losing you, well, it was just overwhelming. I—I’m sorry if I put you in a difficult position. Mr. Wallingford was so nice. He seemed genuinely concerned and offered his help. I—I just couldn’t refuse.”It was all true, to a point. She did consider her uncle her only family and she didn’t want to see anything happen to him. The rest was a complete fabrication.
Her uncle studied her and then finally let out a long breath.“Well, I appreciate your candor, even if it’s a bit late, on your chat with Cal Wallingford. I understand your concern but truly more security is not necessary. There will always be people who don’t like what I stand for, but they cannot be allowed to prevail. I will see whoever Cal sent over and then send them on their way. I’ll call Cal and explain you were just overreacting. That should cover it. But, Invicta, do not do this again.”He pointed his finger at her.“You’ve put me in a very difficult situation.”He turned towards his computer.
Floyd had his stare glued to his phone.
Vic’s stomach sank to her shoes.“I’m sorry,”she said as she rose from the chair. She was being dismissed. She turned and headed out of the office. Now what the hell was she going to do? She’d given it her best shot and come up short. Not to mention she owed Archer Gray a favor. That thought made her blood pressure spike. Oh god, did that mean she owed Cal Wallingford as well?
“Joyce?”her uncle said into the speakerphone.“Get me Cal Wallingford. I know he’s an early riser. He should be at his office by now.”
“Yes, sir,”Joyce said as Vic walked by her desk. All the air went out of Vic’s lungs. If he checked the story with Wallingford, would he find out it was all a lie, or was Wallingford in on it? Why hadn’t she gotten Ryker Sterling’s contact info?
She went over to her cubicle, which was down the hall from her uncle’s office, and crashed onto her seat. She worked next to all the other assistants and gofers. No special treatment for a family member. Although her uncle did give her special assignments, like the other night at the charity function. He wanted her to eavesdrop on a certain group’s conversations. It wasn’t her favorite thing and she rarely heard anything of value, or at least she didn’t think it was of value, but her uncle never said one way or the other.
Her stomach hurt. She pushed her chai away. There was no way she could drink it now. What the hell had she been thinking? She should’ve kept her mouth shut and trusted that her uncle knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, she didn’t think he did, at least not when it came to his safety. Three more weeks. Then she would be free to do what she wanted. What did she want? She pushed the question aside. Now wasn’t the moment.
She played with the papers on her desk. Tony Rodriguez and Vincent Miller were the two main bodyguards in her uncle’s world. Vinny organized everything and Tony was backup. Tony was alright. Not the swiftest bunny in the woods but seemed like a nice enough guy.
Vinny, on the other hand, made her skin crawl. She didn’t trust him one bit. He always seemed to be staring at her. He supposedly was in the military and knew what he was doing but she wasn’t so sure. She let out a sigh and tried to change her thinking about Vinny. He’d kept her uncle safe so far, and who knew what he endured when he was in the military. It was best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Vinny was probably a good guy. That said, she didn’t care to be alone with him.
There had already been two attempts on her uncle’s life, that she knew of. Once on the road in Virginia when he was on his way to someone’s hunting cabin, an event her uncle dismissed as some fool hunter shooting at things he had no business shooting at. The second attempt had happened when someone tried to run him over as he crossed the street. She’d been there for that one. Her uncle dismissed it as a drunk driver, but she knew the truth. Someone had been aiming for her uncle and he was so lucky he hadn’t been hit.
Her palms dampened as she sat in her cubicle and stared at her blank computer screen. If Austin Davis found out this thing with Ryker Sterling was a set-up, he’d be furious. Furious Uncle Austin was seriously frightening. He was scary on a good day, but when he was angry… Not because he would physically attack whoever had offended him. No, his words would be carefully crafted to do far more damage than his fists. And she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of any of those words. Funny how he could reduce her to that fearful teenager again with very little effort.
“Hey, you okay?”a voice said from over the top of her cubicle wall.
She glanced up.“Hey, Tracy. Yeah, I’m okay. Just got up late this morning. Made me a bit discombobulated.”She forced herself to straighten in her chair.“How are you?”
Tracy Langham smiled, making her dimples show. Her long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and her big blue eyes looked a bit tired.“Hangin’ in. You know. Your uncle is really into this new project so we’re working double time on it. Lots of late nights and early mornings.”
“Can you tell me anything about it?”Vic asked. Her uncle hadn’t let her in on his super-secret project yet. She dared not ask him about it but she kept hoping Tracy would tell her. She was an ace marketer and great with graphics. Vic had to assume it was some new marketing campaign he wanted to run. The Senate re-election race was way off yet so Vic didn’t think it was that.
Trace shrugged.“Not yet… But soon. I’m booking a vacay after this one. If I can get the time off.”
“Don’t blame you one bit. You deserve it.”She offered her friend a smile.
“Oh, gotta go,”Tracy said and then disappeared.
A few seconds later, Joyce appeared in front of Vic’s desk.“You cleared a Mr. Ryker Sterling?”she demanded.“Why wasn’t I told about this?”
Vic gritted her teeth. She and Joyce were oil and water no matter how hard she tried to be nice to the woman.“Yes, I did. He has an eight a.m. meeting with Unc… Austin.”Joyce thought it was unprofessional of her to use the word uncle around the office.“I put it on his schedule this morning. He is aware of it.”
She wasn’t going into the details with Joyce. Her uncle wasn’t pleased and she didn’t need this to blow up in her face any more than it already had. No reason to give Joyce any more ammunition. The woman was creative in coming up with ways to undermine Vic as it was. Vic had tried to extend an olive branch a few times. Offers of help, or lunch, but Joyce only ever rebuffed her.
“Well, he’s here.”
“What?”She glanced at her watch. It was only seven-fifty. He was early. That would impress her uncle. Too bad he’d already made his mind up and the whole thing was moot.“He’s early.”She stood and followed Joyce towards the elevators. She got there just as the doors slid open.
Ryker Sterling was even better looking than she remembered, and she wasn’t sure how that was possible. She swallowed.“Mr. Sterling.”She offered her hand and he took it, totally engulfing hers in his grip.“Nice to see you,”she murmured.“Come right this way and I’ll let my unc…Senator Davis know that you’re here.”She walked him over to the waiting area in front of Joyce’s desk.“Can I get you some coffee? Or water?”
“No, thank you.”He stood and seemed to be taking stock of the surroundings. She walked over and knocked quietly on her uncle’s door.
“Enter,”her uncle called.
She opened the door and entered, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. She stood just inside the office.“Mr. Sterling is here.”
Her uncle looked at the clock and gave a brief nod of approval. His gaze met hers.“Show him in.”Nodding at her uncle, she turned to go.“And, Invicta, I meant what I said.”
She glanced back over her shoulder.“Yes, sir.”Her heart slammed against her ribs, making the words come out with a staccato beat. The look he gave her made the warning seem more like a threat. She bit her lip and pulled open the door. It was official. She was afraid of her uncle.