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“Oh, that’s good,” she said to herself, looking around. “I’m going to look for my friend. She should be here.”
“We’ll be behind you,” I said.
She slipped through the crowd, saying hello to people and giving hugs every once in a while. Sometimes people noticed us, but a lot of them were already drunk. Great. Drunk young people in a crowd was even worse, but nothing we couldn’t handle.
Taylor found her friend, another young, pretty woman who I recognized from monitoring her social media. Her name was Francesca, and she wasn’t a threat in any way. Francesca glanced at me, then at Harrison, then back at Taylor.
“They’re my bodyguards,” Taylor explained over the pounding music.
“Oh.” Francesca’s eyes widened before she blatantly checked me out. “Really?”
“Yeah?” Taylor looked over her shoulder at us. “It’s no big deal. They’re just here to watch.”
“Okay, no biggie.” Francesca gave Harrison one lingering glance before she went back to talking with Taylor.
Taylor wasn’t much of a dancer, so she, Francesca, and a few others who stopped by just talked. I kept my attention on the flow of guests through the party, getting updates through my earpiece from Ethan, who was posted near the door.
Eventually, Taylor shivered—heat lamps were around the perimeter, but even the heat from the crowd didn’t reach the center.
“Here, let’s go toward a heat lamp,” Harrison said.
We ushered Taylor, Francesca, and another friend to a heat lamp. I locked eyes with a man as we walked. He looked like all the other influencers here: well-dressed, good-looking, probably in his early twenties. But the look in his eyes, filled with irritation and aimed at Taylor, put me on high alert.
“Keep an eye on your four,” I told Harrison, keeping my voice low. “Dark hair, printed button-down shirt. He’s eyeing Taylor.”
Harrison nodded. “Got it.”
We got Taylor settled near the heat lamp and stood so we were watching her surroundings. The same guy came closer. Security had searched everyone, so I wasn’t worried about him having a weapon. But I didn’t want him to hassle Taylor. My gut was telling me that he wanted to, but I couldn’t shove him away if he didn’t do anything.
The guy muscled his way to where Taylor and Francesca were talking and laughing. The smile dropped right off Taylor’s face when she noticed him, but she put a weaker version of it back on.
“Hey, Kenneth,” Taylor said.
“Taylor. Didn’t know you’d be here,” he said.
He tucked his free hand into his pocket. He hadn’t really noticed or acknowledged me and Harrison. Or he was trying to act tough by pretending we weren’t here. Yeah, this kid hadn’t been in an actual fight in his life. If he had, he would have at least looked more unsure about being around two men who could have easily kicked his ass.
He wasn’t all that much younger than me, so maybe it was just a phase. When I was in my very early twenties, I was all about surfing, doing petty crimes, and trying to act tough.
But now, I wasn’t that man. I’d learned the hard way that my actions had consequences, and I doubted this kid would ever learn.
“I didn’t know you’d be here, either,” Taylor said.
“Is there even a reason for you to be here?” Francesca asked, looking Kenneth up and down.
“What, I can’t talk to my ex-girlfriend?” Kenneth asked with a fake smile.
I took a step closer to Taylor. So this was the kind of guy she dated? I hated the fact that he’d touched her before. Everything about him screamed douchebag. A flare of jealousy came up, too. He’d kissed her. He’d slept with her. Things I’d never do to her. Things I shouldn’t have wanted to do because this was my fucking job.
“If you’re going to cause a problem, then you can’t,” I said.
Finally, Kenneth noticed us. He made eye contact with me, his eyes hazy. A drunk ex-boyfriend? Even worse. He took a long sip of whatever his drink was, his stance unstable.
“How would I cause a problem?” Kenneth put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder, making her flinch. “We’re friends. Like you said.”
Taylor gave me a pleading look, which was all I needed. I got into Kenneth’s space, and he let his hand drop.
“Don’t touch her,” I said, keeping my voice as level as possible despite the white-hot hatred bubbling up inside of me.
