“Why is he watching me?” she asked, and turned her face to Banan.
He pulled her away from the window and turned her so that her back was against the wall. Her fresh, sweet scent filled his senses, making him struggle to keep his lust in control.
“Tell me what happened.” When she didn’t respond, Banan tried another tactic. “I’m a bodyguard, remember? I can protect you.”
Jane’s large, coffee brown eyes glanced at the window. “While you’re here. You won’t always be around, Banan.”
“Let me help. Please. Tell me what happened yesterday.”
She squeezed the bridge of her nose between two fingers and closed her eyes. “I was in Richard’s office, taking notes for a letter he wanted me to draft. His cell, I mean, mobile phone kept ringing, and he kept answering it.”
Her hand dropped and she opened her eyes to look at him. “For each call, he spoke as if I wasn’t in the room. Normally, if it’s important, he tells me to leave. Otherwise, I must stay. It wasn’t until the last call that things changed.”
“How so?”
“He turned his chair around so that his back was to me before he ever even answered it.”
Banan nodded. “So it was a private call. Why no’ ask you to leave?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug, and looked away. “He was acting very odd. Then he asked me to leave. He thought I was gone when he went back to his conversation. But I heard something, and as I was paying attention to his side of the conversation, I ran into a chair. I stayed there listening until he noticed me.”
He frowned as her voice faded away. Banan smoothed a lock of hair away from her face. “Jane?”
When her gaze turned back to him, he saw the trepidation in her dark depths.
“His voice was low, almost a whisper,” Jane said, her own voice shaking. “But I know what I heard.”
“Which was?” Banan pressed.
“Dreagan and Sloan.” She leaned her head back against the wall. “I knew then that Richard was somehow involved with sending Sloan and Elena to that mountain. But why?”
Fury welled inside Banan because he’d known Richard Arnold was involved. Having Jane say the words made him itch to find Arnold right then and pound the truth out of him.
“Banan?”
He blinked, and realized he was squeezing her shoulders. Immediately he loosened his hold, but didn’t drop his hands from her. “Did Arnold say he sent Sloan and Elena to Dreagan?”
“No,” she answered with a small shake of her head. “Whoever he was talking to gave him some information. I know Richard was upset because he hadn’t known how dangerous it was, or at least that’s what he said.”
“At least you got out of there before Arnold knew you overheard anything.”
When Jane simply looked at him, a feeling of dread filled Banan.
“Bloody hell.” Banan spun from Jane and raked a hand down his face. He still had no idea if Jane was in on it or not. Everything she was saying could be a ruse.
Yet he knew her fear was real.
So was the man watching her flat.
“I like Elena,” Jane said.
Banan turned his head to find Jane with her arms wrapped around herself as she stared out the window. “And Sloan?”
“Sloan was…well, she could be like Richard. Richard and Sloan were always together. Several times they invited Elena to go to lunch with them, but she usually declined because she was busy with work.”
“You think they wanted her to be a part of whatever they were doing?”
Jane blew out a long breath. “I don’t know anymore. I had this weird feeling Richard might do something to me for overhearing his conversation. I had work to do. I never leave it.”
“Then why did you?”
Her large eyes shifted to him. “Something told me to run. It was like something was behind me urging me out of the building as quick as I could. I even took a taxi home because I didn’t want Richard to come down and find me.”
Banan simply stared at her, wondering how much of what she said was the truth.
“That’s silly isn’t it?” Jane said with a forced laugh. “I mean, why would he come after me? I’m just his secretary.”
Banan glanced out the window to see the man still staring their way. Banan sighed and made a decision he prayed didn’t backfire on them. “Jane, Arnold did chase after you.”
“What?” she asked breathlessly, her voice full of shock.
“I saw him. You’d just gotten into the cab when he came out.” Banan paused and looked her way. “I think the man at the street was sent by Arnold.”
“Oh, God,” Jane said, and slid to the floor so that her knees were against her chest. Suddenly she frowned at him. “You saw me leave work?”
“Aye, I—”
“And then you came here asking me to dinner,” she said over him. “You continued to bring up work. Why? Why are you following me? Why do you care what happened to me?”
He clenched his jaw when he heard the hysterical rise in her voice. “Jane, I’m no’ following you. I’m a driver for PureGems, remember? I was there.”
“No,” she said angrily. “There’s more. I know it. I thought…It doesn’t matter what I thought.”
He inwardly cringed as he realized she was going to say she’d thought he was interested in her. And the kink in the whole situation was that he was interested.
“Who are you, really?” she demanded, her eyes shining brightly.
Banan had opened his mouth to reply, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He held up a finger to her and quickly answered it.
“Well?” Rhys asked on the other end of the phone.
Banan looked out the window. “How close are you?”
“Close. Why?”
“There’s an unwanted visitor waiting for Jane. He needs to be taken care of.”
“Where?”
Banan saw a form move out of the shadows just a few doors down from the man. “He’s the one staring up at Jane’s window. I’ve a feeling he’s going to try to force his way in once I leave.”
“Why tell me? Why no’ take care of him yourself?”
Banan found Jane staring at him with a mixture of trepidation and fury. “Rhys, when you get done, come up to Jane’s.”