Present Day…

He was staring at me again. Those intense eyes were boring into me from across the table. When he was around the guys, he was just another one of the guys, hanging out and joking around. With me, he was possessive and overbearing. The stupid, sexy man was the epitome of tall, dark, and dangerous. He had black hair and a dark complexion. His eyes though were a bright, vibrant blue. If not for that particular feature, he would remind me of Knight. They both had the same dark and scary personality. Alec didn’t like that reminder though, and he actually had a sense of humor which helped keep his dark tendencies at bay. I could hardly breathe around him. All he had to do was look at me and all the air was sucked from my lungs. It was too much being in the same room with him, but I somehow managed. It was getting more and more difficult every day to work with him.

My only saving grace was that I was very focused on the job. Alec was too, but for the last three years, those eyes were always trained on me. Meaning that at times, he was more concerned for me than the client. Not that he wasn’t doing his job, but he took on my personal safety like it was the only thing that mattered in life. And I understood it. The few times that Alec had been injured, I thought I would go out of my mind with worry. But those injuries seemed to be more self-inflicted than anything lately. By self-inflicted, I mean that he purposely put himself in harm’s way so that I wouldn’t get injured. He didn’t even give me a chance to defend myself anymore because he worried so goddamn much.

“Are you two even paying attention?” Cap snapped. I broke my stare down with Alec and glanced over at Cap.

“Sorry.”

“Is it always like this?” Cap asked Craig.

“Pretty much.”

“How did you not see this before?” he asked Craig. “They’re practically fucking each other on the table.”

I flushed in embarrassment and glared at Alec. As far as I was concerned, this was all his fault. We had broken up. If he would just stop staring me down everywhere we went, I could have moved on.

“Trust me,” Alec muttered, still staring me down. “If I was fucking her on the table, you’d know it.”

“I don’t really need to see that. I see enough of you guys as it is around here. It amazes me that the women are more conservative than any of you guys. Hell, you guys wax each other.”

“I’ve never waxed anyone,” Alec said. “And if I did, it would be my woman.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “Here we go again.”

“I thought you two were broken up?” Cap asked. “So why are you two burning holes into each other from across the table?”

“We are broken up,” Alec responded.

“Good, then that should make things easier-”

“I’m still fucking her.”

“Here we go again,” I said irritatedly.

“What? Are you not aware that he’s fucking you?”

“I was referring to the fact that Alec’s going all caveman on me again,” I said, barely restraining my anger. “See, I like to keep things professional, whereas Alec seems to think he’s in charge of all things that involve me at all times, including in front of my boss.”

“I don’t think that at all,” Alec said calmly.

“Really?”

“I know that I’m in charge,” he retorted. “You’re my woman and it’s my job-”

“One, I am not your woman. You just said that we aren’t together, so it should be really easy for you to ignore me when we’re working.” I interrupted, hoping to stop this little lover’s spat. “We’re at work, so please try to remember that we both have jobs to do.”

He grinned that sexy half smirk at me as his thumb ran along his lip. God, I wanted to get him alone and beat his ass so I could fuck him. “And it just so happens that at work I’m also your boss.”

After a heated moment of him staring at my mouth, like he wanted to shove his cock inside, Cap cleared his throat.

“Right, so anyway, as I was saying, I have a job for you. I know you just got back from a job, but with our teams all beaten up at the moment, we need to start bringing in the income. And you’re the only team that’s whole.”

“I’m good with that,” I said immediately. If I hung around here with Alec, he’d just maul me all the time. At least if we were out on a job, he had to direct his attention to the client. Well, that’s what I kept telling myself.

“Good. This job is pretty simple. Jamie Hanson is a philanthropist attending a charity auction in New York City this weekend. He’s stopping by Philadelphia on the way to visit family and would like an escort into the city and then protection during and after the event. We’re looking at about a week on the road. Florrie, you’ll serve as his close protection-”

“Whoa, just a fucking minute,” Alec interrupted. “She’s not doing close protection on a male.”

“I’m sorry,” Cap said, a frown marring his face. “I didn’t realize that I was supposed to ask you who was going to be doing what jobs.”

“I’m the team leader.”

“You’re also too fucking possessive.”

“So, your solution is to put my woman on guarding another man?” he asked incredulously.

“Let’s just call it retribution for you hiding your relationship for so long. You’re going to have to learn to share and I think now’s a good time to start.”

“I’m not fucking sharing.”

“Oh, sorry, I meant learning to accept reality and let your team do their fucking jobs.”

That shut Alec up right away. One thing Alec never wanted to be accused of was not doing his job. And part of his job was making sure we were all performing the way we should.

“Now, Florrie will go as his date to the auction. This is all pretty standard. There are no current threats on his life that we have to worry about-”

“So, why does he want the protection?” Craig asked.

“He’s had a bit of a windfall and his net worth has just reached $550 million. He’s more worried that he’s going to be kidnapped and held for ransom. He hasn’t been able to finish getting a security team together, so if he needs additional security after this event, you’ll be following him back to Seattle.”

“Who currently holds control on his money in the even that he’s kidnapped?” Alec asked.

“That would be his wife, whom he’s currently in the process of divorcing. It’s very messy at the moment and he’s quite sure that she’ll do anything to get his money. Everything he’s sent on her makes her appear to be a gold-digging whore.”

“So, we need to be on the lookout for anything,” I surmised.

“Exactly. Nothing’s off limits as far as I’m concerned. I may send a few extra guys along just to ensure that everything’s secure. The last thing we want are any problems when we hold the contract for a very lucrative deal.”

“Then we should have me on close protection the whole time,” I said. “If I pose as his girlfriend and stay by his side wherever he goes, we may be able to ward off any potential threats. A second person makes kidnapping a little trickier.”

“Or it could put a target on your back,” Alec argued. “As his girlfriend, you’d be a target that needs to be taken out. You’d be disposable because you’re a threat to his wealth. If someone wants to kidnap him, what’s to prevent them from shooting you and snatching him?”

“Me,” I said testily. “You keep forgetting that I’m former military and can take care of myself. Not only that, but you and Craig will be there to protect him also.”

“She’s right,” Cap sighed. “We minimize the threat if there’s another person right beside him. She can take care of herself, and you need to trust that she’ll be looking out for both him and herself.”

Alec looked like he was about to explode, but held back. That could have been because Craig was gripping his arm like Alec might jump up from the chair and beat someone.

“When do we leave?” I asked. 

“Let me talk with Cazzo first. I need to work out logistics with him and Sinner, see if they can take this trip with you. We’ll meet up again once I have another team in place.”

We all nodded and I stood, ready to head back to the training center for a little extra time in the ring with Knight. I was frustrated and needed to work out the tension.

“Oh, and Florrie, nice dresses for this trip.”

“Sure, Cap.”

“No combat boots.”

I turned and glared at him, but he just shrugged. “Combat boots don’t go with ball gowns.”

“They do in my world,” I muttered as I walked out of the room.