CHAPTER NINE
"I didn't want anyone else but you."
And just like that, Ian folded like a badly constructed house of cards.
Liar, the voice at the back of his head told him, and there was no point of arguing. He'd folded the moment he saw Alex in here, coiled as a string and obviously tired.
Or maybe the moment Vic had come in and said Alex was there.
Either way, he was totally gone—again.
"Okay, we will figure things out, then." Ian turned to stare at the wall as he quickly went through different options. "We won't leave you hanging, don't worry."
Alex sagged even deeper into the couch. "Thank you. I know you're usually fully booked and I was worried…"
"Even if we were all booked, I'd still try to help you," Ian told him, more honestly than he should.
"But you're in luck. My partner has just gone on vacation and I've been delegated to a support role for the next two weeks, as needed.
I'm only busy tonight until around nine, so I can talk to Kalei and take you on. "
"Thank you," Alex repeated quietly, his eyes boring into Ian's, shining and bright. As if Ian needed any more reasons to—
Nope, not going there.
"Did you have an idea of what you'd want from this?" Ian asked, only realizing how that sounded when Alex opened his mouth and closed it quickly, glancing away. Damn it. "The scope of the assignment would depend on—"
"I don't need the usual stuff," Alex cut in as he faced him again, but his gaze was stuck somewhere on Ian's chest. "I still want to keep low profile while I'm here and it's better if I'm on my own for that.
But I need to make sure Boo is safe. I need to know I can leave him with my mom and they're going to be okay. "
There was no way Ian could even start to untangle the complicated mess of emotions he was currently experiencing at the thought of Alex being a dad, so he cleared his throat and pushed it all aside to deal with at some other time.
Perhaps a decade from now.
"So he's going to be our focus, then, not you."
Alex nodded. "Yes. It would mean staying inside most of the time and occasionally accompanying my mom when she takes him out on a stroll.
Like I said, the apartment has two levels, there's more than enough space for you.
Could you—" He hesitated. "I was hoping you would stay overnight as well.
It's like being on call and on location at the same time, but I promise it's not going to be a lot of work.
Probably—hopefully—I'm overreacting because this is our first trip somewhere.
I've hardly seen anyone outside of my immediate family over the last six months and I forgot what it can feel like. "
The words were falling out of his mouth quickly, as if Alex needed to get it out all at once, but then he paused again and waved towards the window with a grimace.
"I definitely didn't miss that part of it all."
What did you miss, then?
The question was there, right at the tip of Ian's tongue, but he swallowed it down. It had nothing to do with the task at hand.
With the assignment at hand.
Ian needed to remember they were here because he was good at his job and Alex's family needed protection.
"I didn't want anyone else but you."
As much as Ian might have wished for something different in the past, Alex wanted him for his professional skills, nothing else, and there was no use pretending otherwise. No use hoping for things that would never be real.
"Is that okay?" Alex's quiet question pulled Ian out of his thoughts. "I know it's a lot and completely last minute, so I'm fine with a bigger bill, of course. Money's no object."
For whatever reason, that irked Ian, but he tried to shove his feelings down.
"I hope you usually use other people to negotiate things for you, because that's a dangerous thing to say while discussing a business deal."
Something shifted in Alex's expression, his gaze dimming. "I do—or at least I did. For better and worse."
Ian blinked, unsure of what Alex meant, before it clicked.
Negotiations. He'd known more than most about some of the ripple effects that the band breakup had had on Alex and his legal and financial situation, which was probably still far from the entire horrid story.
"I'll have to talk to my boss," Ian said, already trying to figure out the best approach.
While he wouldn't mind a solo op, KRK Security didn't take on a lot of those, for a variety of reasons with safety first and foremost among them.
Thankfully, this didn't sound like a dangerous situation—more like a precaution, which wasn't out of character for someone coming back into public life while trying to maintain a secret he didn't want anyone to know about. Ian should be okay on his own.
None of his coworkers would be able to shield him from the biggest danger he was in whenever Alex Reed was involved, anyway.
* * *
"It may be a pretty straight-forward assignment, but I'm not leaving any of my people truly alone out there," Kalei said. "I'm fine with need-to-know, but I do need to know."
Ian was once again sitting on the other side of his boss's desk and it was hard to believe it had been less than an hour since they were discussing the New York branch. If it wasn't for Alex, Ian's head would still be spinning over Kalei's offer, but now, his focus had shifted.
"Of course, I understand." Ian nodded at his boss.
"I've told him that we don't take on assignments that are kept secret from absolutely everyone and he understands that.
He asked for the smallest circle possible, though, which is why I came straight here.
If I'm going to be reporting to you, there's no reason to involve anyone else. "
"With all the typical precautions."
Ian nodded. "Honestly, I don't take off my watch even outside of the work hours, so that's not a problem. I'll put in an encrypted memo in the system so it would be available for the comms crew the second I activate my emergency protocols."
"Add a note that they have to contact me immediately."
"Okay. But honestly, I don't expect any trouble to be had with this. I'll be nothing more than an armed house guest, lurking in the shadows."
"Don't lurk at sleep-deprived people, they may freak out." Kalei sat back with a snort. "Then again, once he knows you're a baby whisperer he may beg for you to stay on as a permanent assignment."
Ian had tried very hard not to think about the baby too much so far.
Very, very hard.
"Alex's mother shares the baby duties with him, so I'm not going to be the nanny. I'm an additional safety feature, that's all."
For a moment, as Kalei gave him that 'don't bullshit me' look, Ian wondered if the rumors had ever reached the boss. He'd definitely never spoken of it with Ian, and he wasn't saying anything now, exactly, but there was something in Kalei's demeanor that gave Ian pause.
Or maybe Ian was being paranoid now that he was all keyed-up from the thought of Alex—and Alex's son—being in any danger.
"Report twice a day for a routine check, and immediately if anything seems suspicious," Kalei said next. "I don't care about the hour, I expect to be notified. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"What's the plan, then? I know you agreed to assist with the Yang assignment tonight, but are you sure you're good with Reed leaving here alone?"
Hiding a wince, Ian shifted in his seat.
"Like I said, there's no concrete threat and he doesn't even want me with him when he's out and about, which means he's going to be on his own half the time.
" He cleared his throat. "I'll still want him to wear the watch with the tracker, and if he agrees, I'll add the same note to his tech. "
"Tell him, not ask him," Kalei said, repeating a rule as old as the company itself and the one with the biggest rate of complaints among their clients. "You're doing him a big favor, agreeing to take this on in the first place. Don't throw away protocol as you proceed with this. I won't allow it."
"Yes, sir." Ian nodded quickly. "I'll tell him."
"Good. It will likely be weird for you as is, considering everything," Kalei went on, and Ian's heart skipped a beat.
Did he— "Staying behind when he leaves for one thing or another is going to be a tough pill to swallow, so you'd better prepare yourself.
You're used to him being your charge, not the baby, which may mess with your ingrained reactions. "
Swallowing a sigh of relief, Ian nodded again. "I expect it may be an issue, but I'll handle it."
"Of course you will. But we don't skip our prep work around here just because we believe we can handle whatever the world tosses at us, do we?"
"No, sir."
"Great." Kalei sat up abruptly. "Now, the NDAs…"