“I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll be here,” he promised.
With a wave, she hurried to the doors. They had been shut at some point. She might not have noticed as she yanked them open, but he did.
Frank, he thought.
True enough, the other man stepped into the room only moments after Juliette had left. If he had any thoughts on what he may have witnessed, it never showed on his face.
“Ryan Keating phoned,” he declared evenly. “He apparently tried you first, but you were preoccupied.”
Killian dragged his phone over and checked the missed call. Sure enough, there was one voicemail from his lawyer.
“He has the rest of those papers you asked for,” Frank finished.
“Tell him to fax them over,” Killian said, already moving towards the doors. “I’ll look at them in a moment. Also, tell Marco to take Juliette and her sister wherever they need to go for the rest of the evening and bring her back here. Have John and Tyson go with them.”
“John and Tyson, sir?”
Killian paused on the threshold and glanced back. “I don’t want her left alone.”
Frank inclined his head. “Yes sir.”
He took a quick shower before dressing in fresh clothes and returning to the office. Frank was exactly where Killian had left him. But he must have left at some point, because there was a stack of papers on Killian’s desk when he took his seat. He hoisted them up and flipped through them quickly. He would do a more thorough reading later, but at first glance, everything seemed in order.
“This is everything?”
Frank nodded. “The Twin Peaks Hotel is officially yours, sir.”
Chapter 12
Remembering how to shop was like remembering how to ride a bike, Juliette realized as she hefted her bags more securely along her forearms. Their weight was beginning to cut strips into her skin, but she refused to let the two men tailing her take them for her.
They were nice enough, she supposed. Neither said very much, but it was their silence and watchful eyes that was most disturbing. They followed her from store to store without complaint and occasionally would deter other customers from the changing area when she wanted to try something on. Juliette was almost positive the entire mall thought she was some kind of celebrity. One boy even grabbed his cellphone to snap a photo before the one named John intervened and took the phone away. Juliette had tried to apologize and get the shadow to give the boy his phone back, but Tyson had gently taken her arm and maneuvered her from the store while John stayed to talk things over with the boy.
As embarrassing moments went, it was probably the worst.
Ultimately, she opted to ignore the pair and finish her shopping. Had she not been starting her new position the next morning, she would have just gone home. No. She would have gone to Killian and yelled at him for sending the two in the first place. She wasn’t sure what their purpose was. Had he sent them to spy on her? To see where she was going and who she was seeing? The very idea was insulting and filled her with an anger that made her want to kick someone. But she saved it. Saved every ounce of her rage for the person responsible.
“I’ve got it!” she snapped when Tyson reached for her bags as they approached the gleaming SUV. “I’m perfectly capable of handling my own luggage.”
If her manner or tone in any way affected the pair, neither showed it. They remained perfectly mute and impassive. Part of her couldn’t help wondering if there was a robot hidden beneath their human skin.
Both were well over six feet tall with narrow, swimmer bodies and dark suits. Tyson had skin the warm color of chocolate and John looked like he’d never even heard of sunlight. Neither wore sunglasses, which made her eternally grateful. But they did have those plastic earbud things and every so often, she’d catch one muttering into the second half tucked inside the sleeve of their blazers. There were bulges under their jackets that she suspected were weapons, guns, no doubt and it only amplified her anger.
At the house, both men jumped out of the SUV before she could. Tyson held the door open for her while John grabbed her things. It was a well-oiled system that she would have found quite impressive any other time. But instead, she let John hang on to her bags. What was he going to do? Try on her bras? Besides, she had bigger fish to fry, namely Killian McClary.
The pair followed her up the stairs, keeping perfect time with her furious strides. Neither of them stopped her, which she found refreshing from the last time they’d chased her down with their guns drawn.
“You had me followed?”
She stomped into his office and found him, as she’s suspected, seated behind his enormous desk, the same desk he’d had her bent over just that morning. The memory sent a tingle through her she had to shove aside.
“Hello darling,” Killian said without glancing up from the papers in his hands. “How was your afternoon?”
Juliette glowered at him, not that it mattered; he still hadn’t glanced up.
“It was fine until your … goons, started shadowing me everywhere. What were you hoping they’d report back to you? That I bought underwear?”
That caught his attention and his head came up. Those magnetic eyes roamed over her in slow interest.
“Are you wearing them now?”
“Killian!”
With a sigh, he set the papers down and got to his feet.
“They weren’t there to report anything back to me,” he said evenly. “John and Tyson were there to protect you and I’m not sure they appreciate being called my goons.”
Juliette opted to ignore the latter. “Protect me? From what? A boy and his phone?”
Killian’s gaze shot past her to the two men as though silently asking what boy? What phone?
“There was a harmless incident,” the one named Tyson reported in a very official tone. “The situation was handled.”
“Handled!” Juliette barked. “They stole his phone and threatened him with bodily harm. He was barely fifteen! I’m surprised they didn’t pummel him into the ground and pull him into a choke hold.”
Killian looked on the verge of laughing, but he must have noticed the warning flashing in her eyes, because he wisely smothered it behind the hand he rubbed over his mouth. He fixed his attention on the two men over Juliette’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said. “Just put those in my room.”
Inclining their heads, the two turned on their heels and stalked from the room. Tyson paused just long enough to shut the door behind them, locking her in with the man watching her.
“Why did you send them?” she demanded. “I don’t appreciate being spied on, Killian, especially when I have never warranted your distrust.”
There was no amusement on his face now, just a weary sort of contemplation bordering on a touch of defeat she really didn’t like seeing.
“I meant it,” he said. “I wasn’t spying on you. I was trying to keep you safe.”
“From what?” she stressed, feeling her anger draining away to confusion.
Killian turned away and started back to his desk. For a moment, she thought he’d return to his papers. Instead, he turned and propped his ass against the edge and stared across the room at her.
“Who do you think you’re involved with, Juliette? Do you think I’m a banker or a teacher? Someone safe and harmless?”
A frown wrinkled the place between her brows. “Of course not.”
He looked tired, she realized. Like he hadn’t slept in days. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and fine lines bracketing the corners of his mouth. Part of her wondered why she hadn’t noticed them that morning. Maybe because he always held himself with such confidence. It was odd to see him show this sort of weakness. Or maybe she was just a bad person who never paid attention. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it.