Chapter Eleven
Two weeks into filming, the movie set ran like a machine. No delays, incidents or problems.
He looked like the best damn bodyguard on the planet…but the truth was, he wasn’t doing anything. Just standing around on movie star time, but that made things drag even more.
There were two weeks before the first class arrived. Nothing left to get ready in the training facility. Church should’ve been able to take the calm for what it was.
Instead, it set his teeth on edge. The more days that passed, the more convinced he became that things weren’t right.
Beneath the routine, he could feel it—the ground shifting, pressure building before the break.
And his gut said it had Zee’s name on it.
He left her at breakfast with a quiet word that he needed to speak to the security team before they left for the set.
“I’ll come back for you.”
She squeezed his hand and gave him a soft smile that made his heart dip. “I’ll be here.”
The scent of rain hung in the air as he crossed the distance between the lodge and the security office.
Theo and Gabe were already there when he walked in. On the big monitor that mimicked a war room was a conference call. The members of Black Heart Security who could make it to the early meeting blocked the screen in small squares.
Theo sat at the head of the table, a tablet in front of him. Gabe leaned back in his chair, shooting the breeze with the guys on the call. As Church walked in, the conversation cut off.
He took his seat without a word and Theo got straight to it.
“She still hasn’t opened it?”
Church shook his head once, dragging his knuckle along his jaw. “No. I see her looking at it. It’s like she wants to open it but can’t make herself do it. She said it’s the last thing she’ll ever receive from Matt.”
Theo drew his lips tight in an expression that looked thoughtful rather than alarmed. “Things have been quiet otherwise. No break-ins since the truck. No strange movement around her. Nothing on the movie set or in town.”
He nodded. “All is quiet. But that could just mean whoever it is hasn’t made a move.”
Theo nodded once. “Agreed. We stay on it. No changes to her security.”
Church didn’t argue when it came to orders, let alone when it came to Zee’s safety.
Theo set the tablet aside and focused on the screen. “Next issue. We’re stretched too thin. We’ve discussed it before. It’s been a concern for weeks now, and it’s time we take control of the situation.”
Denver and Gray let out low sounds of agreement that were nearly identical.
Carson spoke first. “We’ve been passing on jobs for two weeks now. We’re not in a position to keep turning work away. That kind of thing’s going to hurt our reputation. People won’t bother calling us because they’ll assume we’re already booked.”
On the screen, Colt steepled his hands. “We can’t lower our standards by hiring just anyone either.”
Oaks nodded. “So we recruit.”
Church leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “Who’s on the list?”
They started tossing out names—men they trusted, guys from other agencies who might be convinced to switch teams, and operatives out of the military looking for steady work.
Decker, known as Dutch to the team and Willow’s husband, cleared his throat to speak. “Some of the veterans about to rotate out of the therapy program could be solid.”
“Depends on who.” The early morning sun flickered behind Carson as he drove to wherever he was headed.
Theo made a few notes and paused with the pen over the page. “Anyone stand out, Dutch?”
There was a brief pause. Then Denver spoke. “Pope.”
Church focused on the corner of the screen where Denver’s video was located like some strange game show view of the Malone family. “Vander Pope?”
“Yeah,” Denver said. “Guy’s built like a tank.”
“And he moves like one too,” Oaks added. “You put him on a principal and no one’s getting close.”
A few nods followed that.
Dutch huffed a laugh. “He’d scare the hell out of anyone even thinking about getting near the principal.”
Church leaned back in his chair, considering it. Just then, Crew’s image popped onscreen. A week ago when another call came in for a bodyguard, they didn’t have any options left and Crew had agreed to take the gig.
“Sorry I’m late. What’d I miss?”
“We’re talking about Pope.”
Crew knew Pope well from the program. So Church watched his face closely to get a read on his thoughts.
After a moment, Crew nodded. “He doesn’t just have the size and skill—he has the control.”
“You think he’d entertain the idea of taking a position on the team once he’s through the program?” Theo asked.
“Not sure about that. But at the moment, he does seem as aimless as I was before leaving the program. I didn’t know what the hell I was cut out to do after leaving the military.”
“There’s the matter of getting through Rhae too,” Denver added. “She has to release him and deem him fit and able.”
“Keep him on the short list,” Carson said.
They ran through a few more names, people they’d fought with at different points in their military careers, tightening the list and cutting the ones who didn’t meet the standard.
By the time the conversation wound down, they had a direction.
Not a perfect map, but enough to get started on the journey.
Church pushed his chair back and stood. “I’ll follow up later. Gotta get to the set.”
He threw a wave to the guys and hurried out. The morning light spilled through the windows along one wall. He automatically turned his head to look out, and his heart slammed into his chest as he saw Zee.
She was walking back from her sunrise yoga class, a mat in a sling over her shoulder. Fern and Willow flanked her on either side, and she was laughing.
Really laughing. Not the polite version he’d seen when she first arrived on the ranch but pure Zee.
His world narrowed to her, and he studied her from across the distance.
She looked different. Not just healthier, though she did look it.
There was color back in her face and her spine didn’t look like it was pulled tight as she braced for the next hit.
The exhaustion that had clung to her was fading with each day that passed.
Church’s chest swelled as the truth settled in.
Somewhere between Matt’s widow coming to work for the training facility and Zee stepping into Church’s arms…he’d fallen for her.
Not a slow fall either.
He’d crash-fucking-landed.
Unable to harness the emotion bubbling inside him, he stepped out of the office into the ladies’ path.
They stopped, all three staring at him. But what Zee saw on his face had her breaking away from the group with a smile.
“I’ll catch up with you later.”
He stared down at Zee’s beautiful face, flushed from the crisp fall air, and she searched his eyes.
“I’m glad I ran into you,” she said.
His lips quirked at one corner. “That so?”
She tilted her head in a way that told him she enjoyed their flirting as much as he did. “Mm-hmm.” She twitched her head toward the barn.
His cock gripped with need as his mind went right to the place he wanted to take Zee—back to the shower for another one of their post-yoga routines.
He closed the gap between their bodies, his heart pumping faster. “Lead the way.”
* * * * *
Zee’s stomach teamed with butterflies, and when she stepped into the loft, they swirled faster around the knots that rooted there.
Every day that passed, she felt a change in herself. It was being here, with great people who treated her like she belonged.
It was Church…and the feelings she had for him. While that package went unopened, she couldn’t get closure.
She was glad she found him because she couldn’t do this without him.
The package sat on the coffee table, impossible to ignore another minute.
She had to face it.
She stared down at the battered corners and colorful labels. The room seemed to pulse with silence. She felt Church hovering near, giving her space without abandoning her alone with it.
“I’m ready.” Her voice came out raspier than she wanted. She swallowed and tried again. “I’m ready to see what Matt sent.”
When she met Church’s gaze, he wore a hesitant expression, as if he wasn’t sure whether to stop her or help her. In the end he stepped closer and touched her arm, steadying her.
“I’m here for you, Zee.”
Battling to keep her courage intact, she nodded. “Do you have your pocketknife?”
He fished it out of his jeans pocket and handed it to her. She used it to slice through the tape on the side, unwilling to mar the label that bore Matt’s handwriting.
She held her breath as she worked the knife through the outer paper.
She expected a hundred things. Something personal. Something painful. Things that would gut her.
Church seemed to hold his breath with her as she opened the lid of the small cardboard box. Nestled inside on a bed of packing paper was a black card.
Just a black card.
It was made out of a thick cardstock and at first glance, was blank. Her brows knitted together as she turned it over in her hand, searching for meaning she couldn’t find.
“What is this?”
Church leaned close. “There’s a QR code.”
There it was on one corner, no bigger than a pencil eraser and printed in a faint gray color that almost disappeared into the black stock.
“But what is it?” She barely registered her own question because her mind was working through much, much more.
Disappointment.
After all the waiting, and the dread and longing and fear packed into opening this thing, this was what Matt sent her? What followed her through several states for three long years?
Church took the card and held his phone over the code. The screen flashed, loaded a blank page, then failed with an error code. He tried two more times and got the same dead end.
“That’s weird,” he murmured.
She searched the packing paper for anything else. When she saw the envelope at the bottom of the box, her heart lurched with a mixture of fear and excitement.
Maybe it would explain what was on the card they couldn’t access.