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“Larsen!”
Rowe’s shout made him jerk his gaze away from the door to the IT room toward his employer. Rowe leaned on the handrail surrounding the landing on the second floor. He waved him up.
Sven grabbed his water bottle and hit the stairs, taking two at a time in his haste. He followed Rowe into his office and closed the door. Andrei sat at the far end of the massive couch and gave Sven a small smile. While he was comfortable with both men, a little feeling of unease slithered through his stomach to be called into a meeting with the two executives of the company. Trying to keep his hands loose and relaxed at his side, he stood in front of his employer’s desk.
“Sit on the couch, Sven. I got it for all you giants.”
He wasn’t offended. Rowe didn’t mean anything by it, and Sven was used to the description. At six foot seven, he towered over most everyone, especially his boss who was at least a couple of inches below six feet. Rowe seemed bigger because he worked out hard, his stocky body strong enough to take down larger men.
But Rowe had nothing on the leaner man sitting next to him. Andrei was skilled in martial arts Sven had yet to learn. And Sven had been studying for years. He’d wanted the control. Needed it. With his size and strength, it was necessary.
“We’ve been officially hired by Geoffrey Ralse. He’s got a stalker problem,” Rowe said, moving to lean against the front of his desk. “Nonviolent. Mostly text and email threats.”
“But the stalker escalated last night,” Andrei added. The man’s normal calm was little more than a mask as anger vibrated in his words. “He believes he was drugged while at a club.”
Rowe nodded. He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right. “His home security has been compromised. He needs a twenty-four-hour guard, which means someone staying in his house.” Rowe paused and licked his lips. “Geoffrey has asked for you. Royce will come in for relief.”
A surge of panic slammed into his chest. He hated that Geoffrey was having a stalker issue, but spending twenty-four hours a day with him was terrifying. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Rowe to choose someone else, but another glance at their expressions told him this was a done deal. “Let me guess, he asked specifically for me. You know why, right?”
Rowe sighed and scrubbed one hand over his short beard. “I know how he is, Sven, especially with you. But the kid is scared. Really scared and he feels safe with you. I do believe that. He was sincere.”
“How does he know? He’s only known me here.” Sven cleared his throat. “And he’s not really a kid, right? I thought he was twenty-eight.”
Andrei snorted next to him. “Looks about eight years younger. But he’s better than he was. I would have sworn he was eighteen when I first saw him a couple of years ago.”
“He still looks eighteen to me,” Rowe said, curling his lip. “Kid is too pretty to be real.” He aimed a pointed look at Sven. “But I’m aware he’s a pain in the ass, and I’m aware of how he is with you.”
“Everyone is,” Andrei piped in. “It’s not like subtlety is something the man even remotely understands. He’s a small, walking billboard for everything he wants and feels.”
Geoffrey’s wants were not something Sven preferred to think about. “Tell me everything that happened.”
Rowe filled him in and Sven couldn’t stop his frown as his stomach twisted into knots. Geoffrey had skills when it came to self-defense. He’d once told Sven that his father had been worried when it seemed he wouldn’t be growing past five foot two. And when it became obvious Geoffrey was gay, his father had wanted him to be able to defend himself so he’d enrolled him in Aikido. It had been a good choice. That particular martial art worked on using the opponent’s weight against him.
Geoffrey had eventually grown, but only another three inches. Strong or not, the thought of some asshole making him that vulnerable made Sven want to punch things. “He has no idea what happened?”
“None,” Andrei answered. “But he believes someone drugged him and we have no reason to doubt him. Rowe and I glanced at some of his social media accounts. He goes out a lot, so he’d know if something had been different.”
“And the cops blew him off?”
“Guess one is a fan because he seemed to know a lot about Geoffrey’s online presence.” Rowe snarled. “Judgmental prick.”
“It is pretty vast,” Sven murmured.
Rowe’s lips twisted. “Looked him up, have you?”
He shrugged. “I was curious. One of the women in the class was talking about him being some kind of genius.”
“I don’t know about genius, but he has to be pretty bright to have created and sold an app that earned him millions at the age of nineteen. And get this.” Rowe reached behind him and grabbed a tablet off the desktop. He tapped on it a few times and then held it up for Sven to see.
