13. Kael
Mattie was losing it. I saw it in the falter of her steps, and then the wide-eyed, scrabbling panic that had clearly settled into her thoughts. I tried to reassure her with a silent tick on her wrist that she was acting out of turn, that our plan was still on, that I wouldn’t leave her here like she apparently thought I would do. I didn’t blame her for doubting. One of the handful of things I truly excelled at was intimidation. It was just the way my face had been built. As a kid in elementary school, I’d gotten sent to the principal’s office for “death glares” and “insubordination.” I had Resting Kill Face. There was no cure for RKF, as far as I could tell, so I used it to my advantage.
And it seemed that Mattie had fallen for my frigid indifference, so I had to hope that she took my signal for what it was and didn’t lose her composure once we were inside. I motioned for her to go in first, and the laser-sharp gaze of her father followed her swinging ponytail as she went through the front door. I went in after Mattie, and then my attention fell to the extravagant apartment.
Like most penthouses these days, it had an open floor plan that swept away from the ornate foyer area. Nearly every exterior wall had been built from floor-to-ceiling glass, and wrapping around the perimeter, a verdant garden porch lined the white-dominant room with cheery green. For the most part, that was the only color to be found. White furniture sat on white marble floors, flanked by shiny white furnishings and achromatic decor. The Thornes didn’t prefer neutrality—they clearly abhorred color.
“Please, join me in my study,” Mr. Thorne offered, sweeping a hand to the left. The bottom floor stretched out to a living room, kitchen, and media room, all spotlessly sterile and as inviting as a root canal. But he led me past all of that to a door tucked away in a hallway, and when he opened it, revealed a glass and polished white marble study. I’d seen a lot of studies, libraries, mancaves, etc. I’d never seen one that looked like a museum lobby. White shelves lined the white walls perpendicular to glass panels overlooking the city. His desk held all the character of a full ream of bleached printer paper.
No wonder Mattie had gone crazy here. I felt crazy standing here. There was a safe behind the black and white cityscape photograph, I was fairly sure, based on the way it sat away from the wall. The drawers in the desk looked locked. The bookcases were largely ornamental, and I didn’t detect any hidden rooms in the architecture of the floorplan. Our best bet for finding what Mattie needed was the desk, the safe, or his personal computer.
Mattie and Mrs. Thorne filed in behind us, and then Augustus shut the door with a crisp snap before coming around to stand behind his desk. Mattie stood by her mother to my left, looking out the window at the dark New York skyline. Alicia and Augustus Thorne stared at me with rapt attention.
Well, that had been easy. I’d apparently already sold them on the idea that I was in control, and I hadn’t even spoon-fed it to them yet. Alicia Thorne looked immaculate in lightweight, wide-leg trousers and a pressed white blouse that looked like each individual ruffle down the arms had been ironed by the world’s smallest laundromat. Augustus appeared much the same in his three-piece, blue suit and tightly knotted, blue and red tie that was a millimeter away from being tight enough to strangle him. He shifted a look toward Mattie. “Thank you for returning her.”
Mattie stared out the window, looking genuinely morose. I forced myself not to glance at her anymore, and I fixed my attention on Mr. Thorne’s apprehensive, brown-eyed gaze. “I won’t deny that it was a challenge. But we worked it out in the end.”
Both parents glanced at Mattie, and then at each other. Alicia asked, “How did you do it?”
Mattie stiffened, lips tightening and pinched face beginning to round on her mother. I caught her look before she could get there, snagging those agate-hard windows into her fiery soul. Three, my hard look said. Her chest rose and fell with a heavy breath before she looked back out at the glittering skyline. I gave Alicia a questioning tilt of my head. “I was told my methods wouldn’t be questioned.”
“Oh, we’re not questioning,” Augustus rushed to assure me. “We’re just curious. For… future reference.” Sweat gathered on his upper lip, and he looked nervous. Probably at the idea of losing Mattie again. I still couldn’t understand their adamant need to have her here and trapped in their home, but I suspected that was all part of what Mattie had hidden from me.
I intended to find out sooner rather than later. I didn’t like the feverish, worried look in Augustus’ eyes. “I see,” I replied placidly, my left hand resting on my utility belt. My thumb idly caressed my taser gun, and both of the Thornes dropped fleeting glances to the gesture. “I believe Mattie and I came to an understanding.”
My insides slithered at the hopeful look they exchanged. I didn’t know what was at stake here, but it had to be something significant if they didn’t even bat an eye at the suggestion that I had abused Mattie into obedience. Alicia set her thin lips in an unforgiving line. “Ghost, we appreciate your bringing her home, but I really must insist—I must ask if you will prolong your assignment.” She took a hesitant step toward me, her reflective pumps clicking over the marble floor. “Just for a short time,” she rushed to add.
I fed off my curiosity about their motives when I gave her a speculative quirk of one brow. “Why?”
Mattie’s posture had gone from rigid to nearly vibrating with pent-up fury. She didn’t want me asking questions, and based on her body language, I estimated that I had maybe two minutes here before she blew a gasket.
Alicia shared another glance with Augustus before replying carefully, “There’s a joint venture we’re in the middle of. A rather important opportunity for us all.”
“It will allow us to retire,” Augustus added. “And secure the business for the future. You understand, I’m sure.”
He said this like I was an equal, like I had the same problems billionaires shared. It was a monumental effort not to rub my forehead in irritation. “Of course,” I replied placidly.
“Our good friend is the other party in this deal, but he’s a family man, you see,” Augustus explained, his attention straying to Mattie momentarily before returning to me. “He has ideas about stability.”
Well, that tracked. It was the same reason politicians polished their families and hid the rot underneath when they faced the press. Mattie was a bit old to qualify for the blissful family image, but then again, I was convinced that anyone in the one percent of America’s wealthiest had to be a little touched in the head. I nodded once. “So, you’d like to ensure that Mattie stays nearby until this deal is brokered?”
“Yes,” Alicia said, her thin shoulders melting with a measure of relief. “Precisely.”
“How long?” I asked, shifting like I was growing restless.
Only I wasn’t growing restless. Mattie was. Her fingers tapped against her thigh, and she gripped the front of her silver metallic jacket like she wanted to rip it off and go Hulk on the room.
“Two weeks,” Augustus promised swiftly. “On Halloween, we have a gala where we plan to be seen as a family. We’ll sign with him November first. I’ll arrange for it.”
Absurd. If any of this had been real, I never would have agreed to babysit an heiress for two weeks. It was a true testament to these people’s entitlement that they thought someone like me would entertain a laughable proposition like that.
But this was for Mattie. And these two were clearly mentally disturbed and greedy; I wasn’t leaving Mattie alone with them for even a second. “How much?” I asked.
Pinch point. How much was this worth to them? They hooked each other’s gazes, but it was Alicia who offered, “Four million. Two million for bringing her in. Another two for keeping her here until Halloween. And,” she added with a slight hesitation, “a promise to… handle… any outbursts on her part.”
My blood ran ice cold. I could play coy with them all night long, but with this, I refused to sugarcoat my words. “You mean,” I clarified with an even tone, “you’d like me to appropriately punish Mattie for infractions?”
Alicia’s features pinched uncomfortably. “Well, punish is such a gauche term.”
“Yes,” Augustus filled in, his stare devoid of any emotion. “That is what we mean.”
Mattie’s knuckles turned white, her fists shaking. I should just kill them, I thought with a ruthlessness that surprised even me. Any parent who asks a bodyguard to punish their kid—adult or not—should probably just be put out of their misery. Instead, I shrugged, yawning. “Sure, whatever you want. Mattie and I have our arrangement sorted out.” I waited until she looked up at me. I raised my eyebrows at her. “Don’t we?”
“We do,” Mattie bit out.
Alicia beamed, and I resisted the urge to gag. “I’ll have my operative send you the paperwork,” I added.
Augustus and Alicia looked sickeningly relieved. “Amazing,” Augustus smiled widely. Although he looked like a computer nerd in desperate need of a haircut, he sent his daughter a look that made my icy veins heat back to boiling rage. It was full of nothing but ire, like she was the inconvenient pebble in his shoe, and he’d finally found a way to remove it.
I wanted to punch his throat with my taser gun.
But I went to Mattie instead, bending my arm around her without touching her body. She took the hint and allowed me to herd her out of the study. Alicia followed behind us. “I’ll show you to Mattie’s suite. It has quarters for her bodyguards. She’s had several.”
Mattie looked like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken to its bursting point. The cork was going to fly off the top any second if I didn’t get her somewhere behind a soundproof, closed door.
Alicia led us across the sanitized ground floor, her heels clacking against the floors that had been polished so stringently, I caught my reflection in them as we walked. We went up a set of spiral floating stairs made with lacquered black wood, and on the second floor, Alicia took us left toward a hallway with doors on opposite ends before we reached what looked like an exterior door with a digital keypad and deadbolt. It locked from the outside.
Mattie’s frame went pin straight like a piece of rebar had been shoved down her spinal column, and she halted several steps before the door. I put a hand to the small of her back, bending down to sigh a whisper in her ear as her mother punched in a code on the door. “Four. I’m here, Mattie. It’s alright.”
She let out another steadying breath. Was this what she had endured before escaping? Imprisonment with not a single ally to turn to? This entire situation was even more bizarre than I had first imagined. Like we were in another century, and human rights didn’t exist. This was what true wealth afforded the corrupt, amnesty in the face of heinous crimes like keeping a woman captive under armed guard. I swallowed bile and forced myself to keep my stoic facade.
Mrs. Thorne opened the door and gestured inside. “Everything is just the way you left it, Mattie.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Was Mattie even their real daughter? I’d never seen a mother less feeling with her child. Mattie seemed to have gathered her composure, and she strode past her mother without so much as a glance. I paused at the threshold, meeting Mrs. Thorne’s aged face that had that oddly smooth sheen that revealed a skilled aesthetician with a ready Botox needle. “I’ll need keypad codes, and my operative will send an updated contract in the morning.”
“Of course,” she nodded, her demeanor about as yielding as her stretched skin. “We’ll ensure everything is in proper order. There is a room for you in her apartments.” She glanced at the rooms beyond the door, and then at her gold watch, like the capture of her own daughter was taking too long.
I barely managed to stop my eyes from rolling. “I can take things from here, Mrs. Thorne. Feel free to return to your night.”
“We knew you came highly recommended,” she replied with brisk relief. “We are happy to leave things in your capable hands.”
As far as they knew, I was abusing their daughter, not to mention what else a man could be capable of when left alone and in a position of power with a defenseless woman. And this bitch was waving me through. Green light. Go for it, Ghost.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
I nodded, my neck aching from the strain of holding back my honest reactions, and I walked through the door before it slammed shut behind me. The lock beeped, loud and long, and reminded me of prison security systems.
The “apartments,” as Mrs. Thorne had put it, led immediately into a small living area with well-stuffed, linen couches, a cream, quilted ottoman, and a framed flatscreen above a white brick fireplace. There were touches of Mattie there—a bright, yellow throw over the couch, weird pop art decor on the walls, and video game systems from every maker in the world. Then, the space continued straight back to a tiny kitchen that wrapped around to a bar facing the living space.
Mattie stood between the ottoman and the couch, her eyes huge and glassy. “You carried through.”
I pulled down one incredulous eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Why would you?” she challenged dryly. “I’d have taken one look at this nightmare and marched right back out if I could.”
“Your parents are absolutely off their rocker,” I agreed, advancing on her slowly. “But as much as I consider you one of the top three pains in my ass—”
“You have three things up your ass?” she cut in.
“—I’m not going to leave you at the mercy of those maniacs.” I reached her and tweaked her nose. “But the faster you find that shit you need, the better. This place gives me the creeps.”
She batted my hand away. “You’re telling me,” she muttered. Then her mouth puckered impishly. “Am I the number one thing up your ass?”
I rolled my eyes, moving past her. “Show me to my room.”
“Number two? Don’t tell me I’m number three because I really hate losing. It’ll only make me want to beat the first two.” She followed me as I stalked across the small living area. There were windows along the walls, but nothing like the first-floor grandeur. Once I made it to the kitchen, I saw that the rest of the apartment consisted of two bedrooms across from each other. The room on the right was clearly Mattie’s with its weirdly childish four-poster bed draped in gauzy curtains and tied up with pink bows. The room on the left looked more like a guest bedroom, and sported an extravagant, stained walnut bedroom set, walk-in closet, and three-piece bathroom with an open, dark-tiled shower.
Mattie leaned against the doorway to the guest bedroom, her eyes roving over the sparse furnishings. “I didn’t know that the… party… was two weeks away. Hopefully, we can snag something incriminating well before that.”
I turned, unbuckling my utility belt that weighed down my hips. “About that.”
Mattie lifted her brows. “What, you’ve changed your mind?”
“No.” I unclipped the fasteners that kept the bulky belt around my belt loops. “We need to have a chat about this party.”
Mattie schooled her features into a carefully crafted mask of indifference. “A chat?”
She really would fool most people with her poker face. It was damn convincing. Only, she couldn’t fool me, and I had run out of patience for her half-truths. I slid the belt off and tossed it onto the bed where it landed with a heavy thunk. “Tell me what I’m missing.”
Mattie straightened away from the door frame, her instincts clearly primed to avoid conflict. “Missing?”
“Did you know,” I drawled, advancing on her slowly, “that when a person is lying in an interrogation, they will often repeat words to the questions, rather than answering them?”
“Fascinating,” she said, stepping back.
“So, what are you lying about, Mattie?”
She left the doorway, backing away to her bedroom. “I’ve told you everything I know about my parents.”
“That’s not what I asked,” I replied softly. With two long strides, I caught up to her, and as though my palms had been aching to touch her, I felt a hum of relief when they connected with her forearms. I pulled her to me, swerving her sideways in the hallway so her back pressed against the wall and I caged her in. “I asked what you’re lying about.”
She didn’t fight my touch, but her breath kicked up in pace, and she stared down at my chest. “Alright,” she whispered, lashes fanned out across her smooth cheeks. She flicked a guilty look up to me, and I nearly drowned in the warm chocolate of her eyes. “I… don’t floss twice a day.”
I clicked my tongue in annoyance, rolling my eyes away. “Mattie.”
“And I drink too much coffee.”
I took her chin between my fingers, lifting her face to mine and bending down close to her. “You’re so full of it, Matilda Thorne.”
She batted her eyelashes. “Full of what? Intrigue? Wit?”
“Sass,” I corrected, my thumb smoothing up her chin like I had no control over it. I coasted the pad of my finger along the bottom of her lip. “And total horse shit.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed, and her eyes bounced between mine with a sort of dazed quality. “I think you like it.”
I did. Shit… I really did. My body drifted closer to hers, pressing her firmly between me and the wall. What am I doing right now? I wondered distantly. “This is not part of the plan,” I whispered, my breath caressing over her lips.
Her mouth quirked up a fraction. “When do your plans ever go well with me?”
“Never,” I murmured, bending down until our lips were nearly touching. “Not one time.” Get a grip, asshole, my logical voice chided. She’s your assignment, not your one-night stand. I placed my palms on the wall on either side of her, and gritting my teeth, I lifted away from her. “Regardless, something is off here. I can’t help you if I don’t know the details.”
“You have all the details you need,” she said firmly. “Really. We just need to find a time Augustus isn’t here, and once I have something useful, we can get out.”
My instincts clamored for me to make her talk, to find out what piece I was missing in all this. But suddenly, Mattie brought her hands between us and smoothed them down my chest and to my navel. I sucked in a breath, straightening away from the wall and widening my eyes in surprise. She reached the waistline on my pants and hooked a finger through a gap in my button-down. “A button came undone,” she murmured.
I stepped away from her, looking down, but all the buttons were still fastened. Mattie darted away, dancing to the side and slipping into her bedroom. I looked up just as she slammed the door. A tinkle of laughter trickled through the closed door, and I scowled at it. “I swear to God, Mattie, I’m going to put you over my knee one day.”
She cracked open the door, and half her face peeked out. “Always threatening me with a good time, Kael.”
“You little—” I stepped forward, but she closed the door firmly again and turned the lock.
“Goodnight!” she sang in a muffled voice.
I stood there with my hands at my belt line and face hot with irritation. Alright maybe it wasn’t just irritation. I felt heated, but I was pretty sure it had more to do with the idea of putting Mattie’s perky, bare ass over my knee than anything else.
“Fuck,” I hissed, turning on my heel. I went into my room and slammed the door. It was going to be a long two weeks.