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“But being an agent isn’t always about shooting and fighting skills. It’s more about making intelligent decisions, quick thinking, and good preparation.”
She put her hands on her hips and opened her mouth, probably ready to spout more venom at him, judging by the flash of anger in her eyes. Just at that moment, a man came around the corner of the end of the hallway.
“Are you Aaron Powell?” When Aaron nodded, he continued. “I’m Steve. Sorry I wasn’t there to meet your chopper; I had a lame horse to tend to.”
“Not a problem, sir.” Aaron turned to look at the man, continuing to watch Julie out of the corner of his eye. So, this was Julie’s dad. He’d never met the man, but he could see a likeness already.
“Well, Daniella is on her way, so come on in.” Steve removed his Akubra and dusted it against his leg, slipping a key into a lock and swinging open a door, then used the hat to indicate into what Aaron assumed was the meeting room. “I see you’ve met Julie already.” Steve beamed at Julie, but she merely scowled at him until his smile fell away. “You may as well join us,” he said to his daughter with a weary sigh.
“Oh yes, I’ll be joining you, all right.” Julie brushed past Aaron and stomped down the hallway. He had to keep his gaze from drifting up to her rather nice ass, swaying along in those jeans that seemed to be made for her body. “But only to nip this conspiracy in the bud and make sure this…gentleman leaves on the next helicopter out of here.” She cast a quick look backward at him. It seemed Julie had lost none of her fire. She’d always been a feisty woman, even when she was seventeen, not afraid to go after what she wanted. Which was one of the things that’d attracted her to him.
Steve gave her a wan smile as she swanned past him into the room.
Aaron followed and watched as Julie dumped her hat and glasses on a large, boardroom-style table and took a seat on the opposite side, then sat and glared at him.
Aaron shifted his bag to his other hand and extended his arm. Steve shook his hand in a surprisingly warm handshake. Aaron noted a hint of relief in the other man’s demeanor. It seemed he’d been more worried than he was letting on. And to his credit, Steve never gave any indication that he’d noticed Aaron’s multicolored eyes. Aaron was used to various forms of scrutiny, some people even going as far as flinching away from him. He wasn’t some alien being; he was merely a man with different-colored eyes.
“Thank you for coming at such short notice.”
“Not a problem. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Steve. Please call me Steve,” the older man replied.
Before Aaron could answer, the sound of boots on the tiled floor alerted him to more arrivals. He turned in time to see a smartly dressed woman in white moleskin pants and light-blue, cotton shirt buttoned up high, with brown, bobbed hair enter the room, followed closely by a slim blonde carrying a tray laden with what looked to be coffee and homemade cookies. His stomach rumbled; he’d had nothing to eat since six this morning, when he’d grabbed a piece of toast and an instant coffee on his way out the door.
“I’m Daniella Williams.” The older lady offered her hand to shake. “And this is Skylar, my daughter and chef here at the lodge.”
“Nice to meet you both.” He acknowledged the blonde with a nod and noticed how firm Daniella’s handshake was in his own. At the same time, his mind scrambled to keep up with meeting these people, with all these different last names. This was why protocol dictated a good dossier on clients before taking a job, so he wasn’t left floundering, trying to figure out who was who.
As if Daniella read his mind, she said, “Take a seat and we’ll explain everything to you, before we get down to the real reason you’re here.” She waved him to the other side of the table where Julie was sitting, much to her distaste, if the curl of her lip was anything to go by. Daniella pulled out a chair for herself, and Steve sat next to her without a word. Aaron took the chair next to Julie, tucking his backpack beneath the table as he did so, and ignoring the aura of displeasure he could feel emanating from her, as if it were oozing out of her very pores.
Skylar placed the tray next to Daniella and then excused herself, pulling the door shut quietly behind her. But not before Aaron noticed a look pass between her and Julie; one of confusion—she obviously wanted to know who this stranger was—but also solidarity. Aaron remembered that Julie had once told him about a stepsister and a stepbrother, but at that time, she didn’t have a lot to do with either of them. It looked like things might’ve changed since then.
“So,” Daniella said, pouring the first coffee and handing it to him, then pushing the plate of cookies toward him. “The man who hired you, Dean Williams, is my brother. He used to work with the owner of your company, Jake Stillton, I think.”
Aaron merely nodded. That much made sense. Jake had spent time in America, learning the protection trade, so he could bring his skills back to Australia and start up his own company.
He reached over and snagged one of the sweet snacks. “Oh, wow.” The words were an involuntary exclamation as Aaron bit into one of the warm cookies. He was suddenly transported out of the meeting room, caught in a memory of his best friend’s mother baking something similar when he’d been only eight or nine, where he and Jason had sat in the cozy kitchen, stuffing their faces. He almost smiled. Until he remembered that his mother had never baked him cookies. She’d barely even been able to raise a civil smile for him, most days.
“Yes,” Daniella smiled. “Skylar is a very good chef.”
That was an understatement. He devoured the cookie and reached for another one.
Daniella passed more coffees around, one to Steve and one to Julie—who was still scowling—and then poured her own. Aaron watched the interplay between everyone seated at the table. Steve was deferential to Daniella, but that didn’t mean he was submissive. Aaron noticed a few times Daniella threw him a look as she spoke, almost as if searching for endorsement or consent. A man of few words, but not a man to be stepped on, either, it seemed.
“Dean is part-owner of this station. He helped me and Steve get Stormcloud off the ground. Steve and I are life partners.” She flicked him a warm glance. “But we never married, hence our different last names.”
“We were both married before, and decided once was enough for each of us,” Steve added.
That seemed fair enough to Aaron. As far as he could tell, marriage seemed far too overrated. His own mother had never married and had raised him as a single parent, and he’d turned out fine. Although, once he found out who his father had been… He halted that thought in its tracks; it was best not to go down that slippery slope.
He refocused his gaze on Julie and cleared his throat. It was time to see if he could draw her into the conversation.
“I admit, I was a little confused as to how your…extended family all fitted together. So, you’re Steve’s biological daughter, then?” He wanted to add that if he’d known he was coming up here to guard Julie Bradshaw, he would’ve refused the mission.
Julie sat up straighter. “You always knew I took my mother’s maiden name when my parents divorced. I certainly didn’t want to take on Tony’s name, after my mother married him, that was for sure.”
He turned his head and speared her with his gaze. “Yes, I did,” he replied. But it seemed the details of her father’s last name had slipped his mind. Perhaps he could call Jake and get Marco swapped in on this job. There was now a huge conflict of interest and surely Jake would understand that he could no longer take this job. “But that was a long time ago, and your name wasn’t in the brief. Besides—”
