His Final Assignment (The Final Assignment #1)

Chapter 1

Being the world's most famous singer came with a price. It meant losing your identity, your privacy, and sometimes even your mental well-being. It meant living your life under constant scrutiny, allowing people to pick you apart for the entire world to watch.

And judge.

Sienna Carlisle knew the feeling better than most. She'd risen to fame at a young age and had lived in the spotlight for her entire adult life. To the outside world, she had it all—money, fame, accolades. The list was endless.

What most people didn't understand was how lonely it could be at the top.

Or how terrifying.

For the past week, Sienna had been receiving increasingly disturbing threats from a crazed fan.

They'd become serious enough that the LAPD felt round-the-clock surveillance was necessary.

Her biggest tour to date was about to launch, and her longtime agent, Patrick Patel, had insisted on one final meeting before she took the stage for her hometown crowd that weekend.

Sienna sat in her kitchen, working her way through a bottle of wine while Patrick and Keith spoke over one another, each convinced he knew what was best for her.

Patrick insisted the LAPD needed to do more than station two officers outside her door.

She was becoming a prisoner in her own home, and they all knew everything she'd spent her career building was riding on the success of this tour.

"There's no other way around this, Sienna. The police commissioner himself is personally recommending this guy. All I'm asking is that you meet him."

"Of course I'll meet him! I never said I wouldn't, Patrick. But explain to me why the police have no leads. No suspects. They have nothing. The tour starts tomorrow. Tomorrow!"

Sienna refused to cry, though she was dangerously close.

Keith, her road manager, finally said what everyone else seemed to be thinking.

"Maybe it's time we postpone the tour."

Sienna's eyes widened. She nearly threw her wine across the room.

"For fuck's sake!" she yelled. "I'm not canceling this tour! I will not let some psycho keep me from doing what I worked so goddamn hard for!"

"No one is canceling the tour, Sienna. Calm down."

Patrick held up a hand to silence Keith, who retreated to the corner looking defeated. Sienna turned her attention back to the bottle of wine and angrily poured herself another glass.

A knock sounded at the door.

Everyone looked at Patrick.

He glanced at his watch before meeting Sienna's eyes, and the expression on his face told her she wasn't going to like whatever came next.

"The guy the commissioner recommended is here, Sen. I asked him to stop by tonight to meet you. I know there's no way you're stopping the tour, but we can't take any chances. Everyone I've spoken to says he's the best. We're at that point, Sen. You said it yourself—the police have no leads."

Sienna stared at the polished floor as she took another drink.

She wasn't in the right frame of mind to meet anyone, but Patrick was right. Once the tour began, her life would reach another level of chaos—one even the LAPD might struggle to keep up with.

"Let him in."

Patrick quickly disappeared from the kitchen, doing his best to hide the relief on his face.

Keith stepped forward, apparently ready to apologize, but before he could get the words out, a tall figure appeared in the doorway.

Sienna's attention immediately shifted to him.

His blue eyes swept across the room before settling on her. He wore a dark suit that fit his broad shoulders almost too perfectly, and there was something about the way he carried himself that immediately set him apart from everyone else in the room.

Controlled.

Observant.

Intimidating.

"Sienna, this is Agent Bennett."

Cole politely extended his hand, his expression giving away absolutely nothing.

Sienna accepted it.

"Agent Bennett."

"Ms. Carlisle."

Their eyes met.

For the briefest moment, something passed between them—something Sienna couldn't quite identify. She released his hand before she could spend too much time trying.

Patrick broke the silence.

"Agent Bennett, just tell us what you need. We leave on tour tomorrow, and I'm sure you understand we're all a little on edge."

Cole kept his attention on Sienna for another moment before finally looking at her manager.

"I need you all to leave. I have some things to discuss with Ms. Carlisle, and I'd prefer to do it alone."

Patrick stared at him.

"With all due respect, Agent, we're Sienna's family. I'm the person who had to convince her to even see you."

"I speak with Sienna alone or not at all. And with all due respect, I work for Ms. Carlisle. Not you."

Patrick looked as though he was about two seconds away from throwing him out.

"Patrick."

Sienna's voice stopped him.

"It's fine. You and Keith can go."

Neither man moved.

"I said it's fine."

Patrick reluctantly nodded. Keith followed him from the room, although neither looked particularly happy about leaving her alone with a man they'd met less than five minutes earlier.

Sienna watched them disappear before turning toward the counter to pour herself another drink.

She'd barely turned away when Cole suddenly appeared within inches of her.

His finger went to his lips.

"Quiet," he mouthed.

Sienna froze.

She wasn't sure whether she was more irritated or confused as she watched him move around her kitchen, clearly searching for something.

Cole ran his hands along the cabinets, checking above and beneath them before opening one after another. His attention moved to every corner of the room with a level of concentration that made her reluctant to interrupt him.

Finally, he stopped.

"It's clean."

"Patrick has this place swept weekly," Sienna said, slightly offended.

Cole looked at her.

"You have a leak on the inside, Ms. Carlisle. It's pretty obvious."

Her expression hardened.

"Excuse me? You've been here for five minutes and you've already come to that conclusion? Based on what, exactly?"

"Years of experience."

Sienna fell silent.

The possibility that someone she trusted might be feeding information to the person threatening her made her stomach turn.

She forced the thought aside.

"You said you had something to discuss with me."

"I do."

"Then can we please get this over with? I have an early morning and need to get some sleep."

Cole studied her for a moment.

"If I'm involved, Ms. Carlisle, we do things my way. That means I'm with you twenty-four-seven. No one has access to you without my approval. I need to know that I'll have your complete cooperation."

Sienna's eyebrows rose.

"No conversations behind my back," he continued. "No private meetings without my knowledge. And I mean no one. I don't care how long you've known them."

Sienna stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm going on tour tomorrow, Agent Bennett. Do you have any idea how many people I'll come into contact with? You're one person. Unless you have some kind of superhero powers I don't know about, I don't see how that's supposed to work."

The corner of Cole's mouth lifted.

Barely.

But she saw it.

"Those are my terms, ma'am. Take them or leave them."

Sienna laughed.

She finished the remaining wine in her glass and set it down harder than necessary.

"I think I've heard enough."

She moved to walk past him.

Cole caught her arm.

"What the—"

"Your house could be bugged, Sienna."

His voice was low now, barely more than a whisper.

"At least give me time to check the other rooms."

He'd pulled her close enough that she caught the clean, masculine scent of his cologne.

Sienna stopped struggling.

Not because she appreciated being grabbed. She didn't.

But because something in his expression had changed.

The arrogance she'd seen moments earlier was gone.

This was concern.

Real concern.

She pulled her arm free and stepped back, but Cole's other hand had instinctively settled at her waist. For a moment, neither seemed to realize it.

His blue eyes locked onto hers.

Sienna felt an uncomfortable mixture of fear and adrenaline rush through her. She didn't know this man. She had absolutely no reason to trust him.

Yet standing there with him, she felt something she hadn't experienced since the threats began.

Safe.

And that frightened her almost as much as the stalker did.

What if Agent Bennett was right?

Cole seemed to realize where his hand was and immediately released her.

"Sorry."

Sienna studied him.

His expression was different now—less commanding, more human.

"Jesus," she whispered. "I really can't trust anyone."

Saying the words aloud made the situation suddenly feel far more real.

Cole looked at the woman standing in front of him.

When he'd walked into her house, he'd expected a spoiled celebrity accustomed to getting whatever she wanted. In less than ten minutes, he'd seen something else beneath the attitude.

Fear.

She was scared.

And she had every reason to be.

Whatever attraction he'd noticed when they'd first shaken hands needed to disappear. She was potentially about to become his client, and his responsibility was to keep her alive—not become another complication in her already chaotic life.

Cole slipped both hands into his pockets, creating a deliberate distance between them.

If he accepted this assignment, there could be no blurred lines.

Sienna Carlisle's safety had to come first.

No matter what.

She continued watching him, trying to decide whether allowing a complete stranger into every part of her life was any less frightening than the threats that had brought him to her door in the first place.

Cole held her gaze.

"You can trust me."