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Donovan cleared his throat and said, “Okay, so, Mike, fill us in on the latest.”
He was having his weekly meeting on Monday morning with his team as they all sat around in his office. Mike and Jacob were sitting on the big leather couch, and Jordan and Kayla sat in his designer chairs. Kayla took minutes, and Jordan sat in his usual style—his big shoes against the side of the coffee table with his chair leaning back so the front legs rose from the ground.
While passing Jordan, Donovan realized that he wasn’t on his A game, because he would normally tip Jordan’s chair, irritated that he’d put those fucking shoes against his coffee table. Donovan paced the room while waiting for Mike to fill them in on his latest bodyguard job.
When he looked over at Mike, the rough-looking, dark-haired personal bodyguard simply narrowed his eyes at him but didn’t answer. What the actual fuck? When he looked over at Kayla, she smiled like the cat that got the cream.
“What?” he barked.
Mike shifted in his seat before responding. “Fuck, man. I just told you about Mrs. Weston and the way I easily took out her ex when he came for a visit. Were you even listening?”
Donovan cleared his throat and let his gaze go around the room. Jacob and Jordan were actually grinning at him. He never lost focus on the job, and they’d been with him from the start, so they would know. Even when he was at the office, he was always in control, because losing focus could mean losing someone’s life. It may sound a bit heavy, but it was true. The protecting and relocating of innocent women and children for the women’s shelter required his full attention.
Mrs. Weston’s ex wasn’t the first ex to come around for a “visit,” and unfortunately, he wouldn’t be the last. And then there were the jobs they did as private investigators. They’d come across some scary weirdos doing their investigations in the past years—Kayla’s stalker being one of them. Tom had even gone as far as tracking Kate’s phone so he could find Kayla and stalk her here in Austin.
At the time, he’d gone ballistic at the thought of Tom hurting Kate. And now he felt the need to protect her even more. She was finally his, and he would move heaven and earth to keep her safe. Hopefully she would understand. He’d just had to keep her safe. His mind returned to that day in the hospital waiting room when he realized that it could have been Kate lying in that hospital bed instead of Kayla. He never wanted to feel like that again.
He was brought back from his thoughts when Mike said, “I’m going to have to ask Don. Don!”
He turned around and stared into Mike’s blazing brown eyes. He wasn’t one to lose his temper, so for him to shout his name was way out of character. And normally, Donovan wouldn’t put up with this kind of behavior, but he’d been right to call him out on it. Enough was enough, and he could respect that.
Donovan sighed and said, “I’m sorry, man. I… I was somewhere else in my head. Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Mike shook his head. “Nah, tell us about your weekend. Or what the fuck else has been bothering you.”
Kayla chimed in, “Oh, boss man isn’t bothered, guys. He’s in love.”
Jordan practically fell from his chair at Kayla’s words as his feet slipped from the table to the floor. “W-what?”
Kayla scooted to the edge of her chair and leaned in as if to share a secret with Jordan. “Yep! And I happen to know for a fact that—”
That was enough for Donovan. He had to put a stop to this ridiculous meeting. “Kayla, stop blabbing about my love life. It’s nobody’s business.”
“Geez. Since when do you have a love life?” Mike scoffed.
Donovan narrowed his eyes at Mike, the everlasting bachelor. He wouldn’t understand how someone could enter your life and tilt it upside down. Someone who could make your heart beat just for them. Someone who—
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m dismissing this meeting. Sorry, boss man, but this is getting ridiculous. Look at you, all ready to rip me a new one and now standing there daydreaming. I’m outta here. Call me when you’re back in the land of the normal.”
Mike lifted his large frame from his seat on the couch, and the snickering Jordan and Jacob followed suit. Jacob closed the door behind him, and Donovan glanced over at Kayla, who hadn’t moved a muscle. She sat there watching his every move.
Kayla finally crossed her arms over her chest and ended their stare down. “Care to tell me why you’re so grumpy? You should be shitting rainbows out of your arse. Not be such a moody bastard.”
“We Mills brothers are definitely rubbing off on you, Kayla. Don’t know yet if that’s a positive thing.”
Kayla’s eyes gleamed as if she had him where she wanted him. She was always looking for a topic for them to spar over—to butt heads. It was kind of their thing. They both enjoyed ribbing each other, but they did so with much respect. She’d been like the little sister he never had.
She tilted her head in the direction of his desk and said, “Spill it.”
He dropped down in his leather chair behind his desk on a big sigh. Taking the pen from his desk, he scribbled on a notepad while he gathered his thoughts. Kayla was always so easy to talk to. She was like one of the guys, but with a woman’s perspective. In any other situation, he would ask her for advice, but this concerned Kate. He couldn’t tell her sister, of all people, that he was afraid he would fuck it all up.
Kate’s eyes traveled over his face before she said, “You’re scaring me. Is it something to do with Kate? I know you’ve talked to Errin regarding Kate.”
Sure, of course Errin told Kayla the ins and out of their conversation. He insisted that she not say anything to Kate because he wanted to be the one to explain his feelings for Kate to her. But one could never be sure, the bond between the sisters was strong, maybe even stronger than what he shared with his brothers, so she’d probably already heard.
He narrowed his eyes and said, “You talked to her, eh?”
Kayla seemed unaware of his irritation and simply responded, “Yeah, that’s why I was expecting you to be a lot more… I don’t know… happy? Or is all that you’ve told Errin false?”
