“You’re not coming with me,” I ordered through clenched teeth.
“Then you’re not letting me do my job,” she replied. “I was hired to protect you, and I will.”
“I’m telling you to stand down.” I changed my terminology, so she’d understand it was an order.
That, in fact, jolted her, but only for a second. She quickly regained her composure and looked ready to take me on.
“Now, as I stated, you stay in the car.” I looked her up and down. “You’re not missing much. It’s fucking. So, unless you’re trying to get fucked, you’re not going to be on my hip, Brandi.”
“Sir,” she said in a low voice, “I need to sweep the room and ID the woman. Then I’ll stand guard at the door. Outside the door,” she clarified. “I’m not comfortable sitting in the car while you go into unsecured territory. Your enemies can be anywhere, sir. You hired me to do a job, and I’m requesting that you allow me to do it.”
Fuck.
“Brandi, I’m going up there,” I pointed to the upper stories of the forty-plus-story hotel. “To fuck. It’s an arrangement that happens once a month and has been going on for the past three years. So, if these women wanted to do something to me, they’ve had plenty of opportunities. I know I hired you, but this situation isn’t dangerous.”
I figured she would simply comply, but no. Her ass had to go and make a fucking point.
“Maybe no danger from her, but five hundred and forty-one other guests have registered rooms tonight, too.”
Guh.
“You want to listen to me fuck?” I asked her, for some incredulous reason.
“I don’t get paid to hear anything other than someone trying to harm you, sir.” Her expression told me she had answered honestly, but her eyes said something different. I wasn’t sure what, for the woman was a master at hiding her emotions, but I saw it. Briefly, but I saw it.
“Fine,” I cleared my throat.
Brandi opened her mouth, about to say something and then closed it.
“What?” I asked. “Speak freely, Cruise. I don’t like secrets.”
“Do you feel comfortable with me being outside your room? I can put a male agent on you next time, if you think that would work better.”
Hmm. I jerked my head toward the entrance. “Fuck if I care.” Then I marched my ass through the hotel door, retrieved my key from the front desk then rode up the elevator. Brandi, in full agent mode, led the way off the elevator with a hand on her gun. She cleared the floor and then asked me for the room key. I should have known better than to let her ass up there. Once the door unlocked, I knew I would pay for that poor decision.
Brandi came through like a force to be reckoned with. Regina jumped off the chaise longue with a startled gasp. She was dressed in the scantily outfit that I had picked out, showing tits and her sweet ass.
“Regina, it’s all right,” I said. “Sorry. This is a necessary precaution for our safety.”
Her eyes watched as Brandi looked into every nook and cranny, and then she proceeded towards the door and threw back, “I’ll stand guard in the hall, sir.”
Fuck me.
The door closed behind Cruise; then I looked at Regina as she smiled back at me. “That’s new.”
Chapter Five
Brandi Cruise
I stood outside Mr. Richardson’s room, arms crossed over my chest, on guard and ready. I had worked a double, but Mr. Richardson was particularly busy this week. He insisted that I be on his detail, which I found rather amusing, since he’d been so dead set against having a woman. Even to the point that on his scheduled times to fuck, he wanted me to stay in the vehicle. For all I knew, these women’s ex-husbands could be after him. Imagine those headlines: Mogul Eli Richardson Shot Dead While Having Illicit Sex in Fancy Hotel, with the subtitle, Bodyguard was in Car at the Time of the Murder. The woman, of course, would later come out with a tell-all story.
Nope.
Not on my watch.
I gathered the woman’s hair from her brush and anything else I could find. The initial tests cleared, but I’d go deeper tomorrow with the hair samples.
A long time ago, I learned not to watch the clock, since that would only make it move at its own sweet pace. However, it couldn’t have been five minutes before the door behind me jerked open, causing me to go for my gun and turn in time to see a pissed Eli Richardson storming out of the room.
“Sir…” I began, but he cut me off.
“Let’s go!” he commanded without looking back as he strode to the elevator.
My hand stayed on my gun as I backed away from the door, my eyes glued to it. Bitches these days were vicious.
Once we were on the elevator, my angst diminished a little, but not much. What I wasn’t ready for was Mr. Richardson’s wrath.
“Cruise, when I give you an order to stand down, you stand your ass down!” he barked. “Do you understand me?”
The question was rhetorical, I knew, but why was he going off on me?
“I asked you to do one thing, to keep your fucking ass in the car, but nooooo…”
He was definitely talking to himself at that point, but I didn’t like his tone.
“Sir, I could not in good conscience stay in the car while you are my charge. If you would like someone else to guard you, then I can arrange for someone to replace me.”
His eyes snapped to mine before he moved into my space. I wasn’t scared, but his expensive-smelling cologne hit me harder than I knew. In my face now, he hissed, “You are going no-fucking-where. You’re mine.”
Ummm.
I met his eyes straight on, and they told me many things. There was too much to unpack in the millisecond that I saw them and entirely too much for me to decipher.
The elevator doors opened and he stormed off, but not before he turned and hissed, “Don’t ever mention this…”
I’m not sure why I would mention anything, because I don’t even know what the fuck there was to say. My head did a quick jerk as I followed him to the car, while keeping a close watch for moving targets or possible assailants.
The car ride was the same as always…quiet. This time, Mr. Richardson sat alternately fuming and muttering to himself. If he could have punched something, I’m sure he would have. I tried not to speculate why he was so upset, but sexually frustrated men were not my area of expertise. My last relationship was short-lived, fucking in Greece with an older sergeant. It was simple, occurring during a break, and we had a great time. That was…shit…over a decade ago.
It couldn’t be.
My mind began to wonder about how I’ve had my nose to the grindstone for over ten years. Working to achieve my goals at any cost and no time for a relationship…
“Let’s go!” Mr. Richardson barked. “You want to provide protection. Now’s your time.”
Oh, he was pissy.
The car had stopped in front of his home, but nobody made a move to leave. Boomer usually opened the door for Mr. Richardson and I excited to scan the area, which was our normal routine. Due to the incident, Boomer had been upgraded to be armed; in case he had a situation that needed handling. The great things about the six-foot-three, former club bouncer, turned driver, was that he had a license to carry. Apparently was a sharpshooter of squirrels in the backwoods of Louisiana.