Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

“Like me!” Rhion chirped, looking up to bat her lashes at me.

“What the fuck, Leo? Why didn’t I know about this? Christ, I scoped Brianna Turner’s house when she and Rhion first started talking. I pulled the woman’s bank records, for fuck’s sake,” Johnson grumbled.

“Oh my,” Brianna breathed, clutching her chest. “That’s hot.” Her eyes leveled on Johnson, a sultry smile pulling at her lips.

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, moving to the bar. “It was none of your business, Johnson.”

“None of my business?” he seethed.

Alex inched toward him in preparation of the pending explosion.

“I own a quarter of the company!” Johnson shouted.

“Yeah, well. Brianna is my client,” Leo replied, searching through the beers, inspecting the labels on each one. “Mine. Not Guardian’s. You did not need to know anything about her. I kept it that way.”

Johnson’s expression turned thunderous. “She’s Rhion’s best friend! How the fuck did you figure I didn’t need to know this?”

When Leo finally looked up, his body language was calm, but his scary expression told the real story. “I was the one who introduced them. I wouldn’t have put either one of them in danger, so chill the fuck out. You want to discuss business? You do it in private. But this conversation is done. You got it?”

Johnson planted his hands on his hips and glared at his boss. The entire room swung their heads back and forth between the two men—except for Brianna, who never tore her gaze off Johnson.

“Yeah. I got it,” Johnson finally said, relenting.

But I absolutely did not. Just when I’d thought everything was out in the open between me and Rhion, shit like this came up. I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get the full Rhion Park story or if all I would ever get was the pile of pieces she wanted to show me, keeping the rest locked away so fucking tight that I might not ever get them all.

“Well…okay, then,” Rhion drawled. “Who wants a drink?”

“Me!” Brianna exclaimed.

“Me,” Sarah chimed in behind her.

“I could use a drink,” Katie said softly.

Rhion pointed a finger at her stepsister. “You did good bringing her here. But this does not get you off the hook.”

“I know.” Katie’s shoulders fell, genuine remorse painting her face.

I narrowed my eyes on her as she continued to apologize.

“And I’m so sorry, Rhion. I swear it was an accident. She overheard me talking to Sandy about coming to visit you. I couldn’t remember your address. I’d only been here twice and—”

“We’ll talk later,” Rhion interrupted. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time. First, how you got this thirty-four-year-old to put down her work long enough to come see me.” She hooked an arm around Katie’s neck.

“I mean, for real. Thirty-four?” Brianna complained. “I’ve programmed my biological clock to stop ticking at twenty nine.”

“Six more months, then,” Rhion laughed.

“Don’t remind me.”

“Hey! Have you read Bait yet?” Rhion asked. “Since we’re all here, we could totally do the book club meeting in person this month.”

Every man in the room tracked Brianna as she moved toward Rhion with the grace of a dream.

“I did! I finished it on the plane. Casey Moore was so damn hot.”

They both smiled and then exclaimed in unison, “That hair!”

Chaos broke out as the four women started laughing and talking in some kind of code that I was positive no person with a dick would ever be able to decipher. Something about cliffs, triangles, and HEA. None of us dared to interrupt them.

Well, none of us with a brain between our ears and not just the one between our legs.

“Ladies, ladies. How about I make a pitcher of margaritas?” Braydon said, sauntering over.

Lark laughed and bumped me with his shoulder. “This should be fun. Twenty bucks he bags her.”

“Twenty bucks she amputates his cock,” Leo said, moving to my other side.

“Twenty bucks I cock-block him and bag her myself,” Devon piped up, joining the conversation.

But, through it all, the vise in my stomach twisted tighter. She’d never told me about Brianna. Though she was right—I hadn’t asked. But I hadn’t known that I’d needed to. For fuck’s sake, you’d think, after having spent every day with her for months, shit like that would have come up. Unless she was purposely keeping it from me. An idea that pissed me off as much as it gutted me.

Everything was out in the open between us. No more secrets. No more fiction. Only truths.

Or so I’d thought.

But, as I watched her throw her head back in laughter, Brianna Talbot doing the same, it was obvious I was wrong.

Braydon cleared his throat to interrupt them and extended a hand toward Brianna. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Braydon Hughes.”

She grinned but didn’t take his hand. “Oh, aren’t you cute,” she said in a patronizing tone before tapping him on the nose like a child. “Sorry, sweetie. I’m here for Devon.”

Devon went rock solid beside me as her amber-colored gaze flashed across the room.

An epic smile pulled at his lips until she finished with, “And Johnson.”

I couldn’t stop the chuckle as both of the men’s backs shot ramrod straight and they looked at each other.

“Nope. Nope. Nope,” Rhion said, walking in her direction. “Keep it in your pants, Talbot.”

She rested a manicured hand over her heart. “Who, me?”

“Yes, you. Now, let’s go hang out on the beach while the boys watch the rest of the game.”

“Am I forgiven?” Katie squeaked.

“Nope,” Rhion replied, heading down the hall. “But Bri is way better at doling out the guilt than I am. You screwed up by bringing her here.”

“Shit,” Katie grumbled as the four women disappeared into the ocean room.

When the door clicked behind them, a round of rumbled curses filled the room.

“Rock-paper-scissors!” Devon announced, heading toward Johnson. “Best two out of three. Winner takes all.”

“All being Brianna Talbot?” Johnson asked. “Fuck you. Every man for himself.”

Everyone laughed—except me. I stared at the door, a sick sense of dread turning my stomach. It must have shown on my face, because a second later, Leo cupped me on the shoulder.

“She wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

“Bullshit,” I mumbled, not looking in his direction.

“I’m serious. Do not read into this. Brianna made her sign an NDA the first—and only—time they met two years ago. Katie and Sarah signed one after Rhion convinced Brianna to start a damn virtual book club with them. If you think Rhion has a past full of secrets, you should see Brianna’s laundry list. I’m not even allowed to acknowledge that she’s a client. I only introduced her and Rhion because they were both such loners. They made it work because they needed someone who didn’t ask questions.”