Chapter Two #2
While Leo placed their orders, Kayne grabbed a booth with sightlines to the front door because old habits die hard, and the dangerous ones never die at all. The problem with this shop was that there were two main entrances.
Kayne thanked Leo when he placed a cup in front of him before sliding into the booth. He took a sip of his spinach and mixed berry protein-packed smoothie. Damn. That was good.
“This place is always busy,” Leo said. “They have the best drinks around.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
Leo leaned back. “My sister, Chloe, well technically she’s my cousin, but we raised her from age six, started posting workout videos online a couple of years ago. They took off, and she’s got millions of followers. Her website launched recently and crashed within hours from all the traffic.”
Leo took a long drink. “I might be overreacting. I hope I am. But last week, a man named Fraiser Talbot was arrested for stalking her and slapped with a restraining order, but you know how effective those are to criminals.”
Kayne’s jaw tightened. Most of the time, not worth the paper it was written on. “What happened?”
“He was waiting for her at her apartment. Tried to grab her when she got out of her car.”
“How’d it end?”
“She took self-defense classes, so she put him on his ass. He’s middle-aged and out of shape.
A cop who lives in her building witnessed it and arrested Talbot.
They found tons of photos of Chloe on his phone, taken around town, and a box of love letters in his car.
He drove here from Oregon. Claimed they were married. ”
“He the threat?”
“One of them.” Leo reached into his pocket. “This was on her car this morning.”
Kayne opened the folded paper. Blacked-out face. Die bitch in red across her torso.
“This is Chloe?”
“Yes. From her website.”
“You think Talbot’s retaliating?”
“That was my first thought, but he’s across the country with a GPS monitor. And his crimes have never been violent.”
That removed him as a suspect for the photo unless he had an accomplice. “Anyone else who might’ve done this?”
“No idea. Chloe thinks it’s nothing and that I’m overreacting. I might be, but she’s going through some major changes in her life, and there might be people who are jealous of her success . . . aw, damn it.”
Kayne was instantly alert. “What is it?”
“I wanted to talk this over with you first, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought that was your Rover, Leo,” a bright voice chirped.
Kayne turned, and his jaw dropped. Literally, to the tile floor. To the cellar, if the building had one. Hell, to the center of the earth. Mon Dieu, it was the woman from the commercial.
It might be his imagination, but everything went dark except for a spotlight that shone on her, making her blonde hair shimmer and highlighting bluer-than-blue eyes that could drown a man on dry land. Was that harp music in the background or was he losing it?
He kept his expression locked down, SEAL-level. Kayne, who had gone undercover in war zones, infiltrated armed compounds, and stared down cult leaders, felt his pulse do something humiliating.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were . . .” Her gaze flicked to him and widened. Pink touched her cheeks, and her voice faltered. “Uh, in, a-a meeting.”
“Grab your smoothie and join us,” Leo sighed.
The beauty’s brow furrowed, adorably wary. “Okay?” She made the word sound like a question.
Kayne watched her walk to the counter to place her order. He forced himself to look away before his expression betrayed the jolt tearing through him. “That’s your sister?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah. And she’s going to hate this. I didn’t want to spring you on her this soon, but here we are. I have to warn you, she will resist like crazy.”
“I saw a commercial this morning. The woman looked exactly like her,” he blurted out.
“Yeah, that was Chloe. Her clothing line just launched.”
“And she’s renovating a health club?”
“And her website. She’s an overachiever if there ever was one.”
Kayne thought Leo might be the pot calling the kettle black. The man had earned a law degree while playing major league baseball. That had to be a tough row to hoe.
Kayne felt her before he saw her. The air shifted and sparked.
“Are you sure you want me to crash your meeting?”
Leo scooted over and patted the seat. “This is about you.”
Chloe’s gaze shot from Leo to Kayne, her brows pinched. She sat uneasily. “Why do you have that?” She pointed at the photo.
Before he could answer, Leo spoke. “Chloe, this is Kayne Serruto. He works for CObrA Securities.”
Her eyes widened. “How do you two know each other?”
“I hired him,” Leo answered.
“Leo—”
“No, I’m not going to argue with you. This is happening, Chloe. Your success has catapulted you into the limelight. We need to be proactive.”
Leo started explaining. Kayne tried to focus. He really did. He tried not to stare. Tried not to think about how she smelled faintly of flowers and something warm, like sunshine on skin. Chloe was arguing with Leo. She was stubborn, fiery, and highly annoyed. Kayne couldn’t look away.
Finally, Chloe scoffed. “I’m not in the limelight, Leo.”
“I saw you on television this morning,” Kayne told her. “That’s a pretty bright spotlight. Anyone who might resent your success?”
“No. I don’t have any enemies.” She paused, her bottom lip caught between her perfectly white teeth. “Actually, there is another online fitness coach. Her numbers aren’t great. She told her followers to leave negative comments on my videos.”
Leo scowled. “And you didn’t tell me this, why?”
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Bad ratings can tank a business,” Kayne pointed out.
“I contacted the hosting company. They removed the fake reviews.”
Leo growled, “I could’ve handled it.”
“I didn’t need you to, Leo. I took care of it myself.”
“Whoever left the picture could be anyone,” Kayne butted in to stop the bickering siblings. Cousins. Whatever. “Better if no one knows why I’m here.”
“That seems extreme, even if I don’t think you’re needed.”
“He is,” Leo stated, his voice brooking no argument.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “I can at least tell my sister, can’t I?”
“No.”
Kayne’s brows raised at Leo’s vehemence.
“Leo, she’s my sister.”
“Half-sister, and I don’t trust her.”
Kayne mentally flagged that. Hard.
“Then how are we supposed to explain his sudden presence?” Chloe wanted to know.
“We’ll say he’s a colleague of mine and we’re working on a big contract.”
“That would clarify why I’m with you, but I’ll need to stick close to Chloe at all times.”
“We’ll tell people you two hit it off and are dating,” Leo suggested.
“That works,” Kayne said.
“No,” Chloe said sharply.
Kayne wasn’t vain—much—but he knew females found him attractive. A woman had never turned him down. Hell, he’d been propositioned more times than he could count. Women flirted, winked, and angled for attention. He handled all of it easily and had a ridiculous number of notches on his bedpost.
But the first woman to ever flat-out reject him was now sitting across from him with a death threat put on her car and eyes he couldn’t unsee.
Rejection from her felt like a glancing blow from a sniper he hadn’t spotted.
And the worst part?
He wanted to persuade her. Not because of the cover or protocol. Because some reckless, deeply stupid part of him wanted to know how it would feel if she didn’t say no.
It bothered him more than it should. More than anything should.
Merde, he was in trouble.