Bridge nodded. “Yup. That’s the crux of it. It’s a two-man job.”
East shrugged. “Can you take a date?”
“I don’t trust a date. But I guess Jessa is an option.”
East looked hopeful. “Maybe your cousin will let her come out?”
I laughed. “My cousin Roone is extremely protective of his wife.” Without seeming to recognize that Jessa, while a princess, was first and foremost a badass and could take care of herself. “But I just remembered, she’s on vacation. Working while they’re traveling, but still, on vacation. Last I checked they were in Thailand. There’s no way she’d get here quickly enough.”
Bridge rolled his shoulders. “Well, there is always your new employee.”
My brows snapped down. “Livy? No.”
“Oh, so she’s ‘Livy’ now? I kind of like the idea. She’s charming, certainly elegant enough. And, since she’s your new flatmate, you can ask her easily enough.” East went full Benedict Arnold.
“She’s not my new flatmate. We all agreed I need to keep her safe. That’s what I’m doing.”
Bridge grinned. “Yeah, right down the hall from where you sleep.”
“I’m not trying to bang her.”
My mates just laughed. They didn’t get it. I liked her. She was smart, funny, and had a vulnerable side that she showed to so very few people. Unfortunately, she’d shown it to me.
“Okay, fine. I can take her with me and explain the trip as being one for work.”
East nodded. “Okay, good. We’ll provide extra security. It’ll be discreet, just to make sure there’s no funny business. I don’t want you guys taking some wrong turn down a Parisian alley and not coming back to us.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t entirely wrong about how things could go. “You make it sound like people are trying to kill me every day.” It was so funny because it was true.
Bridge just raised his brow. “Oh, someone can actually make jokes now.”
“Sorry, just trying to ease the tension. None of this is funny. But I’ll get it done. I’ll bring her with me.”
“If anything seems off at all, call it off.”
The hell I would. “I’ll make it happen.”
After our meeting, I found Liv in her office on a call. She gestured at me to have a seat. When she finished, she turned to me. “Hey, I was going to text you. What do you want for dinner? Sushi?”
We’d developed an easy routine over the last week. We ate together, and she forced me to watch television and play Scrabble. I had her work out with me in the mornings. Just like a real couple. Nope. Like friends. Because that’s what we were.
“That works. You doing all right?”
“With Jessa technically out of the office, I’m handling a lot of what she usually has on her plate. So it’s a learning curve, but I’ve got it.”
“About that. There are a couple of client meetings that I need to handle in Paris. Normally Jessa would come with me, but since she’s on vacation, would you like to come?”
She stared at me. “Paris?”
“Yup, Paris.”
“Now is not the time to play with me.”
“I shit you not, Paris. So, are you in or out?”
“When do we leave?”
“In a couple of days.”
She grinned so wide her dimple peeked out. Christ. I wanted to do everything in my power to make her that happy all the time.
“Thank you. You won’t be disappointed.”
“I don’t think I ever could be.”
“While we’re there, there’s an event. Black tie. I might need your help keeping a competitor occupied while I close the deal with a client.”
She lifted a brow. “Dare I ask who?”
“Bram Van Linsted.”
She arched a delicate brow. “Let me guess, he’s going to try to stop that meeting from happening.”
“He is. So we’ll need to go covert.”
“I’ve always wanted to be Bond,” she said with a sly grin.
21
Livy
I’d finally managed to get Ben to stop hovering and let me go back to my old flat to pack for Paris. His idea that I could buy clothes there was bullshit. I could, but it was a business meeting. I needed to have my things.
Having familiar things would also help me feel a little more like me. Since meeting Ben, I’d been on my back foot. Or at least it felt that way. Like I was just a little bit unsteady all the time. And no wonder. Since that fateful moment in the closet a month ago, I’d gotten mugged, gotten a new job, lost my boyfriend, moved in with my boss, and found out that someone might be trying to kill me.
The tell-tale ding of the front door told me that Dexter’s code had been punched in, and the pit of my stomach dropped. Shit. It was way too early for him to be home. What the hell was he doing there? I hadn’t anticipated a fight.
Technically he still lives here.
Ben had sent me back to the flat with Todd, who doubled as a bodyguard and driver. Ben said he’d get dropped off there after he was done and we’d ride to Heathrow together. I should have had Todd come inside with me, but I’d thought it would be a relatively quick trip.
I quelled the irrational instinct to hide as I heard his footsteps on the hardwood, but I tried to hurry my movements.
“You’re home.”
I paused but didn’t turn around. “Not for long. I’m just packing for my trip.”
“You don’t come home for days, and when you do, you’re going away? Can I even ask where you’re off to?”
With every word out of his mouth, I could feel my blood pressure rising. “Paris.”
“You’re going to Paris?”
“For work.”
“Why is an admin being taken to Paris for work?”
I stopped trying to cram my boots into my bag and turned to face him. “Seriously. How is it you don’t listen to a single word that I say?”
He swallowed hard. “Liv, I—”
“Nope, you don’t get to call me Liv. That is reserved for people who love me. You humiliated me, tried to make it seem like it was my fault, then put me in a potentially dangerous situation. I’m done taking your bullshit.”
I moved faster, scrambling around and shoving things into my bag.
He was quiet for so long I thought he’d left, but when I hurried out of the bathroom, he was still there. Our gazes locked, and he pleaded with me. “I fucked up, Olivia.”
Well, at least he hadn’t called me Liv again. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Look. The other night got way out of hand. I was out of it. I know. And I get that Fenton makes you uncomfortable. I’ve been a complete twat. I never…” He let out a long breath. “I never should have spoken to you that way. I was out of order, and I shouldn’t have left you alone with him.”
I shook my head. “Dexter, I’m leaving. I can’t have this conversation with you. Not right now. I have to go.”
Stepping forward, he took my hands, stilling me. “I am sorry about the other night. I had just taken a pain pill.”