Chapter 4
DEVON
And now she was crying.
Out-fucking-standing.
Lofton melted into the corner of the sofa, tears dripping from her chin. Her damp brown hair, curling at the ends, hung just below her shoulders.
Lofton Beck was one of Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies.
I’d seen her in movies so I’d expected her to be gorgeous—at least on the outside.
But without all the makeup and lights, she was a different kind of attractive.
Everything from her lips to her lashes was natural, lacking Hollywood’s signature touch of plastic.
Her nails were unpolished and jagged, and the freckles peppering the bridge of her nose were definitely something I hadn’t seen on the big screen.
She had a two-inch bandage plastered on her forehead, a minor injury I’d been briefed about on the way over.
But honestly, I could have passed her on the street without ever doing a double take.
And yes, I was a complete and total asshole for judging her physical appearance as she sobbed in front of me.
Never claimed to be a saint.
“You’re fired!” the petite blonde who had opened the door snapped, rushing toward Lofton.
“As nice as that sounds, I don’t think you can afford to lose me at the moment.
This shit is serious, and I’m sorry if that upsets you.
Your life is in danger. Not the hypothetical kind.
Not what-if or possibly. You are standing shit square in the middle of a worst-case scenario.
A maniac wasn’t just willing to kill to get to you—he already did. Twice.”
“You don’t think she knows that?” the woman seethed, hooking her arm around Lofton’s shoulders.
“She was there! In that house. Blood on her hands. Keeping my baby girl safe while a member of her family died. So you can fuck all the way off. We are both very aware of how serious this is. Your job is to make her safe, not taunt her with all the reasons she isn’t. ”
Maybe it made me a prick—no, it definitely made me a prick—but I was on a roll so I persisted. “Stating facts isn’t taunting. It’s a reality check. Better now than at her funeral.”
Lofton winced, causing the blonde to shout, “Get out!”
I headed for the door, more than ready to follow that order. However, when I yanked it open, I almost plowed into Leo, Johnson, and Apollo.
“Perfect timing,” I said.
Johnson leaned around me, peering inside. “She better not be crying because of you.”
I shrugged. “She didn’t like the truth.”
“Goddamn it,” Leo whispered, damn near knocking me off my feet as he shoulder-checked me on his way inside.
“Ms. Beck,” he said, his voice gentle and calibrated.
“I’m Leo James, owner of Guardian Protection.
Collin at Arrow Security briefed me on what you endured last night.
We got here as quickly as we could.” He stopped several feet away before dropping into a squat, putting himself at her eye level.
“My team would like to express our sincere condolences. You have my word that we will stop at nothing to keep you safe during such a difficult and dangerous time.”
I clenched my jaw so hard that it ached. Ever the professional, he was sanding down the edges and softening the reality I’d just been vilified for saying out loud.
Our client sniffled and lifted her head. “Thank you. Please call me Lofton.”
Little Miss five-foot-nothing offered him a tight grin. “Wonderful. Now that we’re all friends, can you remove this asshole before I’m forced to do it myself?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
He sighed. “I see you’ve met Devon.”
“Oh, is that his name? We wouldn’t know. He didn’t bother introducing himself when he stormed in and started laying down rules.”
Leo hummed. “We’re all furious with the LAPD’s mishandling of this situation. What Devon lacks in personality, he more than makes up for in competence. He’s the best in the business, with a résumé built on protecting A-list clients.”
It was client. Singular. But if he wasn’t about to go into detail, I wasn’t about to correct him.
“Do you mind if my men come inside so we can all sit down and have a conversation? It’s not safe here, and we need to move swiftly to get you to someplace more secure.”
The blonde slanted her head. “I don’t know. Is Devon capable of a civil conversation, or do we need to hear the rest of his rules first?”
“Brooke, stop.” Lofton said, rising off the couch. “We don’t have time for this. If it was that easy for him to get up here, then we need to get the hell out before whoever is after me figures it out too.”
Relief washed over me. At least she was rational. That was more than I could say for myself at the current.
“Please come in,” Lofton said before turning her attention back to her friend. “Go get Zoey. I hate to wake her, but if we need to leave, she needs to be ready.”
For once, the blonde didn’t offer any attitude and did exactly as Lofton instructed.
Must be nice.
Johnson and Apollo filed inside, pausing as Leo gave quiet introductions.
Once the meet and greet was over, we followed her into a connecting room where they settled around an ostentatious dining room table.
Lofton sat at the head, Leo to her right, Johnson to her left with Apollo beside him.
I stood guard in the doorway, keeping Lofton in my direct line of sight.
Leo spoke first. “I understand your home was broken into a few weeks ago.”
“I wasn’t there, but they ransacked my bedroom and took a few pieces of jewelry.” Her blue eyes drifted my way, lingering for too long, well past the point of comfort.
What she was searching for I had no clue, but my face was expertly blank so there was nothing to be found. Avoiding eye contact, I lifted my gaze over her head, keeping her in my periphery.
“Then I highly recommend you don’t go back there for a while,” Leo told her. “Do you have anywhere you’d like to go? I can’t make any promises, but we can send a security team out.”
She slid her attention back to Leo and shook her head. “Actually, yes. My family has a small farm in Dollton. It’s basically the middle of nowhere, about two hours west of Nashville.”
Now that piqued my attention.
Nashville?
As in Tennessee?
As in thousands of miles away?
Meaning, I could get in, do the job, collect a fat check, and not have to spend the next few months in this Godforsaken town?
Sign me the fuck up. Hell, I’d convert my entire wardrobe to orange and learn old Rocky Top if it got me out of there.
“Out of the city is a necessity,” I interjected. “Out of state is even better.”
All eyes slid my way.
Johnson leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Oh yeah, why’s that?”
I didn’t need to explain it to him. However, after I’d been a dick and broken confidence with the client, he was offering me a chance to redeem myself—at least in her eyes.
“Your family home isn’t ideal since it’s more than likely already a known location for you, but we could send in Apollo to wire it to the nines. Cameras, perimeter sensors, drones, if the land allows it. Out there, we can control the environment instead of reacting to it.”
Lofton’s brow creased, causing her to wince. She gently rubbed the bandage on her forehead, and then circled her fingers in the air, signaling for me to continue.
“LA is nothing but noise. Paparazzi and tourists, searching for their next celebrity sighting, only to report your location in real time. A small town will have fewer eyes. Fewer cameras that don’t belong to us.
A stalker would have to commit to getting close.
Marty was on the right track, moving you to that rental, limiting the access points.
However, my guess is he underestimated this guy’s desperation.
Nothing against Marty. He just wasn’t working with the same intel we have now.
Bottom line, LA keeps you visible. Tennessee helps you vanish.
From a security standpoint? You can’t touch what you can’t reach. ”
I looked from Lofton to Leo to Johnson, and for the first time all damn day, no one looked like they were fighting the urge to tell me to shut the fuck up.
“I’m good with that,” Lofton said immediately.
“Me too,” Leo added. “How long do you think it would take to get the proper security in place, Lo?”
Apollo sat up straighter in his chair. “You got a budget in mind?”
Lofton shrugged. “What’s the going rate for not being murdered in your own home?”
“Right. No budget,” Apollo replied. “Then, assuming there is already a security framework in place, and I can find a team we trust, it shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to get things set up.”
“You got one,” I shot back.
He quirked a challenging eyebrow. “You want this done right or quick?”
“We want it done right,” Lofton said before I had the chance to open my mouth. “You may have a few hoops to jump through with my Dad, but my sister can help you with that when you get there.”
Leo grinned. “Alright, now that we have that settled. We still need to get you somewhere safe for the time being. Totally your call, but we have a safe house nearby. It’s already wired, secure, and vetted.”
Of course. Rhion’s place. Johnson hadn’t been offering a vacation spot when he’d brought it up. He’d been issuing a friendly reminder of our local resources, and I’d been so blinded by my own bullshit that I’d missed it. Dammit. What else could I have missed?
“Works for me,” Lofton said, decision made and already on her feet. “Let me grab Brooke and we can head out.”
“Actually,” Leo cut in. “That’s something else we need to address. I know you are close with your assistant, but I strongly advise she and the kid go home for a while.”
Lofton stopped in her tracks. “No. They live in my guest house. They can’t go back there.”
“Okay, then we’ll get them set up somewhere else. As hard as this may be for you to hear, until the cops catch this guy, they’re in more danger when they’re with you.”
Her shoulders fell and her dark lashes fluttered shut for a beat. “I know. I hate it, but I know.”
“I promise we’ll take good care of them. But you have to be our priority.”
She drew in a deep breath, releasing it on a resigned sigh. “All right, then at least let me say my goodbyes.”
Everyone stood as she rounded the table to leave.
Just short of the door, she stopped in front of me. She wasn’t particularly short for a woman—maybe five-eight or so—but I dwarfed her in both height and body mass.
Tipping up her chin, she met my gaze. “For the record, I don’t care what your boss says. You aren’t the best in the business. Marty was.”
She turned to leave, but I stepped into her path, careful not to touch her.
“You’re right. He was one of a kind.”
Surprise flickered across her face. “You knew him?”
“We worked together at Arrow when I first started. Lost touch after I moved.” My throat tightened, but I kept my voice even. “He was a damn good bodyguard. And an even better man. You have my word. From here on out, I’ll do a better job trying to fill his shoes.”
It wasn’t the apology she deserved.
But it was a promise I could keep.
She rolled her eyes. “I won’t be holding my breath.”
Yeah. That one landed.
But I’d earned it.
She walked away, disappearing into the bedroom without another glance.
Apollo immediately grabbed his phone and got to work.
Johnson did the same. Though his tone was gentle and warm, so it had to have been Rhion on the other end.
Leo walked over to me, a grin playing on his lips.
He patted my shoulder…
And then squeezed it so fucking hard, I thought it was entirely possible he would snap my trapezius.
His voice was low and deadly as he spoke.
“You have a bad day and catch an attitude with me? I’ll fuck you up, but I can handle it.
” Another white-hot squeeze. “Your friends, your family, any of the guys from the office? They too can handle it, or they dish it right back.” His grip tightened mercilessly.
“But you ever work through your shit by cutting into a woman who’s already bleeding.
Client or not. You’re gonna have to deal with me. Got it?”
I stared at him, careful to keep the pain out of my face.
Yeah. I’d fucked up.
I knew. He knew it.
Lofton sure as hell knew it.
And that was on me.
I wasn’t a total bastard. I had a mom and two sisters. Any man talked to them like I did when I got there, knowing everything they had been through, I’d have been the one putting them in the ground myself.
The stakes were high, people were dead, and I allowed my personal bullshit to cloud my judgment. It wouldn’t happen again.
It couldn’t.
“I got you,” I replied wholeheartedly.
He released his grip on my shoulder and took a step away, grinning as if he hadn’t just attempted to decapitate me. “Good. Now get the fuck out of my sight and do your job.”
I didn’t delay in marching out of the room.