“Morning, sir,” said his driver, a man who knew better than to open and close doors for his boss.
“Morning,” Kaz said.
He picked up the New York Times that lay waiting on the seat next to him, opened it and turned to the financial section, but his thoughts went to the meeting he’d have in less than an hour with Zach Castelianos.
About what?
“I’d rather not discuss it over the phone,” Zach had said.
Why so secretive? Did Zach want him to take on something dangerous, something an investment fund manager would not do?
He would know soon enough.
For now, all he could do was hope.
Every now and then, every a man needed a real challenge.
CHAPTER TWO
Kaz stared in disbelief at the man seated across from him.
Zach Castelianos looked completely relaxed, arms loosely folded, legs outstretched, feet crossed at the ankles, a bland expression on his face.
In other words, he seemed perfectly normal—except, he wasn’t. If he were, he’d never have made such an outrageous request.
A real challenge?
This was a joke. It had to be. Or maybe Kaz had misunderstood.
A man could hope, he thought, and folded his hands on the top of his desk.
“Do me a favor, Castelianos. Run that by me again.”
“You heard me the first time, Savitch. I need you to deliver a woman to Sardovia on Christmas Eve.”
Kaz laughed.
“Trust me, dude. I am absolutely not going to Sardovia for Christmas.”
“You don’t have to stay. Just get her there, hand her over and leave.”
“Zach. Don’t you get it? I’m not going. And even if I were, why would I want to be some rich girl’s messenger service?”
“She’s a woman, not a girl, and you’re making this sound like something it isn’t. Maybe it’s my fault. She doesn’t need you to be her messenger service. She needs someone to l
ook out for her.”
“You want me to be her bodyguard.”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what, exactly?”
His old friend shrugged. “I need someone I can trust to be with her.”
“Worse and worse. You want me—you actually had the balls to come here to ask me to babysit some babe?”
Zach arched an eyebrow. “I knew I could trust you to put the right spin on this.”