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“Do you want to stop the Cillian job?” Dev tensed at the question. It wasn’t a threat or a command, but genuine curiosity between two equals.
When I first met Alex, I thought he ran everything. His business, his relationships, his friendships. He gave off a cold, calculating, alpha energy that made me think he could never back down from any confrontation. But while he was Bex’s boss, he and Dev ran the company together. They respected each other, and Alex’s respect was clear in his question.
It was also clear that his question was the correct one, Dev’s muscles tensing as his eyes grew distant. After a moment of consideration, Dev shook his head, his shoulders slumping as the fight left his body.
“Keep her safe,” he murmured as he turned back toward Bex, more a plea than an order.
But Bex’s eyes were on me as she responded, “Always.”
I heaved myself out of the chair, my usual compulsion to break any and all tension forcing me to joke, “Well, if that’s settled, I think I need some ice cream. Or a bubble bath. Or an orgasm. Which one helps with stress again?”
It worked as expected, the guys huffing out small, tense laughs. Dev threw his arm around my shoulders, and Alex ruffled my hair, both of them reassuring me with their actions that I would be okay. And I didn’t question it, knowing that despite these men likely being the reason I was targeted in the first place, I was safer than I’d ever been in my life.
We left the back room, tension rolling off our backs and staying behind in the small space as I shut the door. A delivery arrived a few minutes later, giving me a good excuse to separate myself from the group as I unloaded the local, fresh-cut flowers into my walk-in fridge. The walls were made of glass, and I watched as the rest of the group quickly huddled together, likely discussing the intricacies of my security while I was out of earshot.
Since it was the off-season, the delivery was small, the last of the summer flowers now that everything was starting to die off with the cooler weather. I took my time checking the flowers, pinching off withered petals or discolored leaves, giving my security team the opportunity to finish their discussion in private.
I unloaded cosmos and zinnias, bachelor’s buttons and dahlias, the petals brushing against each other and emitting the unique scents that drew me to this job in the first place. I always went home smelling of flowers, and I took a few extra deep breaths, hoping that the calming effects from their scents would cling to me as well.
Once I noticed the huddle had dispersed, I brushed the pollen and small bits of dirt from my jeans and straightened, walking back out to the three of them.
“So I was thinking, if I’m going to be the president to your secret service, we should have code names. Or really, I should have a code name.”
“We’ll get right on that, Wrennie.” Dev brushed a kiss on my temple in lieu of goodbye, needing to get back to the secret Cillian job that had begun to take up so much of his time since he started it the week before.
“You should head out too, Alex,” I pushed him toward the door, recognizing the anxious energy tightening his shoulders as he checked his phone for the third time in as many minutes. I knew he was worried about Ames, especially now that it had been confirmed someone planned to come after the people closest to him.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Bex reassured him as he walked toward the front door, keys already in hand. “You take care of my sister, and I’ll take care of the little bird.”
I frowned at the nickname, Bex picking up on it as she smirked, “I thought you wanted a code name?”
I huffed my annoyance even as my stomach flipped. The nickname almost felt sweet, especially when combined with the possessive touches from earlier and Bex’s staunch insistence on being my bodyguard. But before I could dwell too long on her hot-and-cold attitude, her earlier words sunk in. “Wait. Why will we be right behind him?”
“I doubt your clothes will fit me,” she deadpanned, “and I’ll need something to wear at your apartment. Plus, I want to get some more equipment for your place.”
“My place?” I squeaked out, the anxiety that I kept under wraps the past few hours rushing back with a vengeance. Funny how a stranger breaking into my store, knowing the combination to my safe, and targeting me to make a point to Alex and Dev seemed normal, but the idea of Bex in my space had me on the verge of panic.
Bex rolled her eyes as she began to lock up, closing out the cash register, making sure the safe was locked tight - though at this point I barely saw the point - and arming the new security system she spent the day installing with a couple taps on her phone.
I still hadn’t moved, frozen in shock, as the security system gave the 30-second warning and Bex tried to usher me out the door. “Yes, Wren, your place. I can’t exactly keep you safe from the pool house. And while I’m sure Ames and Alex wouldn’t mind you spending the night, you’d either be stuck hearing them fucking from the guest room or sharing a bed with me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
* * *
Alex had takenBex’s car back to the house - the two of them switching keys during their huddle earlier - so she drove us in my black Beetle instead. This time there wasn’t a chance for me to even pretend I’d be driving, Bex plucking my car keys from my back pocket and slipping into the driver’s seat before I even noticed.
The drive home felt similar to the last time she drove us, tense quiet making up the majority of the ride. Both times involved Paige and some sort of anger on Bex’s part. Only this time, instead of Bex being the source of my fear, she had instead taken on the role of my protector. Her weird claiming of me in front of Paige, her staunch insistence on being the one to protect me, the promise to keep me safe to Dev, all of it was too much for me to comprehend.
My brain couldn’t wrap itself around the concept, still fully in denial even as we drove to pick up clothes for Bex to spend the night - more likely, multiple nights - at my apartment. My small, barely-two-bedroom apartment. Where I showered and got dressed and watched K-dramas for hours. Where Bex would be forced to do all those things as well. Except for the K-dramas, though I wasn’t sure she’d be able to avoid them if she had to be in my vicinity at all times.
“And here is where Bex kicked me out of the car and made me walk the rest of the way in the dark,” I pointed as we reached the bottom of the hill before Ames and Alex’s house, adopting my best tour guide voice. The sarcastic quip hadn’t been pre-planned, the blurting simply a result of the mounting anxiety at Bex being in my space.
But instead of an eye roll, Bex’s lips twitched in what almost resembled amusement, and I couldn’t help the manic laugh that escaped my throat at the idea that she found me funny. She’d already laughed once today, and I knew my nerves couldn’t take another genuine expression of amusement without my brain fully imploding.
“You’ll be fine, Wren,” Bex reassured me, likely thinking my panic was due to worry for my safety rather than my sanity. Her voice was kind and sincere toward me for the first time since we’d met. And that’s when I finally got scared.
