5. Ryker
CHAPTER FIVE
RYKER
NOW
My tattooed fingers tap against the steering wheel as I lean forward in my seat, looking up at the nondescript building Chloe’s car is parked in front of.
This woman makes being her bodyguard really fucking hard some days, but I suppose that could probably be solved by her knowing she had a bodyguard in the first place.
But Camilla insisted that if she found out, she would only make my job harder by insisting she didn’t need one, and my boss will kill me if I get myself fired.
I drag a hand through my ice-blond hair and sigh.
Chloe Weaver is an enigma.
Feisty and headstrong, she hides her fragility from the world. Ever since the first time I met her, I’ve longed to drag that side of her out, to give her a safe place to be the version of herself that she hides.
But once again, my boss would fucking end me if I ever laid a hand on her.
She doesn’t make it easy, though, keeping my distance and acting like nothing more than just another De Marco guard.
She’s been in there for too long.
She was only meant to drop the food off and then come straight home, and I hate the idea of her sitting upstairs with a bunch of criminals.
You’re a criminal, I remind myself.
Technically true, but I didn’t get that badge of dishonor from running drugs or selling arms.
I got it by killing the worst of the worst. Serial killers. Rapists. Pedophiles. And only when I’m certain of their crimes. If there’s even a shadow of doubt in my mind that someone didn’t do as they were accused, I don’t take the job.
I won’t have the blood of an innocent person on my hands.
Glancing down at my phone, I find the screen blank, no new messages from the woman who promised she would call if she needed me.
Maybe I should head up there. Just to make sure she’s okay.
I don’t know how I’ll explain my presence to Chloe, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it if it means making sure she’s safe.
I blow out a breath. Perhaps it’s for the best that I don’t let myself get any closer to her, because if I’m this fucked up about keeping her safe and she’s only a job, I don’t know how the hell I would keep my shit together if she were more.
Decision made, I make my way into the building, bypassing the elevator in favor of the stairs. I haven’t had a chance to get a workout in today, and it’s making me twitchy.
By the time I reach the top, I have a mask of indifference shuttered in place.
I’m about to walk into a room full of people that probably know multiple men that have died by my hands.
Not that any of them would know who did it.
Boss and I are very discreet and have the best cleanup crew in the business in our pockets.
I raise my hand to knock, but the door swings open before I get a chance. Kaos, a mountain of a man, stands with annoyance, dipping his brow.
“You here for Chloe?”
I nod.
He steps back and holds an arm out toward the hallway to the right.
I step inside without hesitation, but come to a grinding halt when I spot two men standing at the door.
Ordinarily I wouldn’t be worried about it, considering the reason we’re all gathered here. But it’s these two men in particular that have my hackles rising.
Lombardis.
Ronan and Damon stand on either side of the door, their backs pressed to the wall with matching anger tugging at their features.
And here I was thinking today would be another boring day on Chloe watch.
After I arrived in New York, I did some of my own research to pin point potential families Chloe may be hiding from. Not because I particularly needed to know, but because going actively hunting to being stuck on bodyguard duty is a violent change and I needed to stretch the muscles.
At the time, I narrowed it down to five familiar across the country, but it seems I’ve just figured it out.
I don’t know if anyone in this room knows the danger these men pose to her or if they’re all blissfully unaware that Chloe has been in hiding from this family for a decade, but I imagine my girl is freaking the fuck out right now.
No. Not my girl.
My assignment.
Just my assignment.
Nothing more.
Even as I think the words, my chest tightens. Apparently my cold dead heart has chosen the most inopportune person to open itself to, but I don’t have time to deal with that right now.
I need to get Chloe the fuck out of here and work out what to do next.
She’s going to want to run. It’s in her nature to flee a dangerous situation, but I won’t let anything happen to her. Partly because I care for her, and partly because Boss will kill me if I let any harm come to her.
Both my bosses, actually.
Fuck.
I’m not sure Camilla will be any more open to my feelings for my charge than he will be.
I wipe my face of any emotion, forcing my body to relax as I close the distance between Chloe and me.
“Gentlemen,” I greet, my smile easy and carefree.
“Who the fuck are you?” Damon snaps. He always was the one with the shorter temper, making him predictable but no less dangerous.
“Chloe’s bodyguard. I’m here to take her home,” I say, not bothering to lie to them. Any mistruths I tell need to be carefully chosen, and this one is hardly worth hiding from these two assholes.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Ronan replies, standing to his full height and putting him level with me. I’m sure he’s used to people finding him intimidating, but I’m tempted to laugh at the show of masculine peacocking.
“Well, she’s certainly not going anywhere with the two of you, so I suppose we’re at an impasse.
” I shrug. “In case you haven’t been made aware, Chloe is incredibly important to Camilla, which makes her important to the men of the Legion.
I trust you understand the implications of threatening those close to the Syndicate? ”
To their credit, neither man flinches, which is kind of disappointing to be honest. It’s been too long since I’ve had the chance to intimidate someone, and it’s making me itchy.
“She’s not going anywhere until we talk to her,” Ronan says, his gaze flicking over my shoulder to his brother.
The door opening behind them cuts off my response, and a furious-looking Bishop appears, closing the door over behind him and blocking our view of Chloe before I get the chance to make sure she’s okay.
The urge to check on her grows by the second, my skin itching with each minute that ticks by without eyes on her, but I keep my face neutral.
“She doesn’t want to see either of you,” he tells the Lombardis before looking up at me. “Did she call you?”
I open my mouth to lie, but instead just shrug. “She was upset when she left the house. I wanted to make sure she got here okay, and then I had a bad feeling.”
He appraises me for another second, his tired green eyes searching out any mistruth.
“I don’t give a fuck if she doesn’t want to see us,” Damon snaps. “She owes us answers.”
“She doesn’t owe you shit,” I growl.
It takes a lot to make me lose my temper, but these two are pushing me closer to the edge than I would like, and I try not to think about why that is.
One of the reasons I fly under the radar so well is because of my easy-going nature, but right now I’m anything but easy-going.
I’m ready to show them the demon that lies beneath the surface, the ones my victims face before they take their excruciating final breaths.
If they’re the mafia family she ran from a decade ago, I have a CliffsNotes account of what the Lombardis did to Chloe, and that’s enough to put them on my permanent hit list, if only my boss would say the word.
The door opens a fraction, and pretty green eyes meet mine through the crack before darting between the other men occupying this narrow hallway.
If it weren’t for how fucking terrified she looks right now, it would probably be comical, but all I can think about is getting her the fuck out of this apartment.
“Chloe.”
Ronan’s voice cuts through the tension, and my body locks at the same time hers does. Tears roll down her cheeks as she takes in the boy she once shared so much with.
The organ inside my chest squeezes at the sight of her pain. Although she’s been distressed the last few days since Camilla went missing, the look in her eyes right now is pure agony, and I fucking hate it.
“You ready to go, Siren?” The nickname I’ve only allowed in my own thoughts slips out, earning me a growl from both brothers and an eyebrow raise from Bishop.
Chloe must not notice because she gives me a nod but doesn’t open the door any further.
Getting her out past these two is going to be a pain in the ass.