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“Close your eyes, Nate,” Frank ordered in a no-nonsense tone.
Eleanor peeked over his shoulder to where a young man stood just inside the door leading to the dressing room. The gangly redhead squeezed his eyes closed, gulping so mightily that his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his skinny throat.
“Did that kid just watch—“ Eleanor sucked in a breath. “Did he see? Did anyone else see?”
“No one saw anything. Right, Nate?”
“Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir,” Nate said, his eyes still closed. “The surveillance cameras were turned off as ordered.”
“See?” Frank tugged up her corset and pulled the laces tight. He then leaned over and pressed a kiss to the tops of her breasts before handing her both her panties and hot pants.
She didn’t have time to wonder at the tenderness of that kiss before he was up and on the move.
“What’s up?” Frank asked, rearranging his diaper, somehow managing not to look either ridiculous or ashamed as he crossed to the sink in the corner to wash his hands. For all she could tell, it was as if his subordinates caught him finger-fucking women every day.
Good God, maybe they did. What did she really know about Frank? She had no idea who this man was or what he was really about.
That was something she would do well to remember the next time she decided it would be a good idea to take her clothes off first and ask questions later.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Eleanor
Nate cleared his throat, but didn’t open his eyes. “Sir, the suspect is on his way up the outer stairs. He should be at the elevator in less than five minutes, arrival in ten.”
“Is the lobby staff ready?” Frank glanced over his shoulder, evidently checking to be sure that she was dressed. “You can open your eyes, Officer.”
“Ready and armed, and we’re ready back here whenever you say go,” the young man confirmed. Eleanor had to admit that it sounded like the Queen’s Guard had their shit together, even if she couldn’t say the same for the woman pulling their strings.
Then again, maybe Cindy had changed, maybe she really had sent this man to protect her and wanted to make amends. Maybe there was no other story, no selfish motive for her actions, just the need to mend a relationship that should never have been allowed to sour so completely in the first place.
“Right, and maybe I’ll win the Kingdom City Lottery and retire to the tropics,” Eleanor mumbled to herself before pushing to her feet.
“You can resume your position, Officer,” Frank ordered.
As Nate disappeared back into the hidden panel in the wall, Eleanor crossed to the fake plant in the corner. She had stashed a cattle prod back there not too long ago. She’d been too squeamish to use the device on the man who had brought it to her as a gift, but figured it might come in handy for self-defense.
“Where are you going?” Frank asked.
“I’m getting a weapon,” she said, pulling the instrument out from where it was buried in the fake moss at the base of the monstrous plant.
God, she hated fake plants. As soon as she worked somewhere that saw the light of day, she promised herself she would throw the hideous thing away.
“What is that?”
She held the pole up for inspection. “A cattle prod.”
“You don’t need a cattle prod.”
“Why, are you going to give me a gun?” She hadn’t shot a gun in ages, but the idea of holding one in her hand was tempting. If she was really going to meet the man who had been threatening her, she figured the more heavily armed, the better.
“Of course not. You don’t need a weapon,” he said, holding out a hand for the prod. “We’re here to provide for your protection. You just need to act naturally and go about business as usual until the guy crosses the line.”
“So I’m like…the bait?”
He lifted a shoulder. “In a way.”
“You were going to use me as bait, without even letting me know?” Eleanor asked, anger rising inside of her. It was all well and good to use her as a lure when she was on guard, but what would it have felt like to believe that she was in mortal danger before Frank and his boys burst in from behind the walls?
