“Mia?” Auntie questioned.
She sat down close to him, too close if the stiffening of all his lovely muscles was any indication. She wanted to grab his hand to comfort him, because the first hand touch had been so lovely, but then she remembered that might put him off. They’d get into his aversion to touch, later. Right now, she had to tell him how cheery he’d made her.
“I’m gobsmacked. So grateful. You are the toughest bloke I’ve ever laid eyes on, and Auntie and Uncle have told me about all your success and awards, and to think you’re going to protect me. You really will watch out for me, won’t you?” She blinked quickly to keep from crying. She’d been so terrifyingly gutted. Even with all her dad had done to throw up smoke and mirrors, even with his two best security guards, a former Royal Marine and a former Royal Air Force, staying by her side. Even when she’d gotten safely to the Deltas’ beautiful and peaceful valley, she still had this overriding fear and a pressure in her head that said that man was not far behind. That he’d track her down just like he’d promised in that awful note. Just as he’d found and kidnapped his other targets.
Never to be seen again.
“I …” He shook his head and eased away from her. “I …” Standing, he paced away, then turned around to face the three of them. He rubbed at the back of his neck and clenched his hands into tight fists. “I completely agree that she needs round-the-clock protection and that psycho ‘Sneaky Stalker’ needs to be filleted or locked up. I’d prefer the former, but …” He looked at Holly. “I’m not that guy. You know I’m not. I train. I fight. I train other people to fight. I plan and execute missions. I capture or kill the target. I can’t sit around with … her.” He gestured to Mia as if she were a problem. An enormous problem, if the angst on his face was any indicator.
Mia’s happy bubble popped, and she fell flat on her face. She hugged herself, chilled all the way through. The dry Colorado winter had nothing on the moist chill that penetrated to the bone in England, but she felt as cold as she had since finding that note on her pillow.
Run, beautiful. Run and hide. Because when I find you, life as you know it will be over.
The Sneaky Stalker
The other women had disappeared within three days of receiving the now famous note. Some of them had even been moved to witness protection programs but had still been snatched. The two that lasted the longest had hired private bodyguards and left the country. But he’d found them. He’d found every single one of the women he’d threatened. She could still picture her dad going to toe to toe with the lead detective, telling him he wasn’t trusting his girl’s safety to the “ruddy bloke” who’d let nine poor women be captured, sold like cattle, and never found, and the bobbies hadn’t even caught the mangy git yet. Mia had never heard her dad lower himself to such common slang terms. Her mum, most days of the week. Her dad? Too far above that. Until last night.
The poor detective had gone red and blustered, already intimidated by who her dad was, and then to be called to the carpet must have dug deeply. In the end, her dad had prevailed. As a billionaire and a Duke, he usually got his way. Unless he was fighting with her mum. Mia had never bested him in a battle of wills and she wouldn’t even have told him about the stalker’s original mailed notes, but her mum and the bobbies had both informed him.
The duke’s already impressive team of twelve private security men, all former British military, had brought in trusted friends last night. They’d driven a dozen different motorcades out of her parents’ estate where her dad had taken her after they’d left the station. Some teams headed for airports, others for yacht clubs, others for private estates far from Surrey. Her dad had stayed right by her side until he and four of his most trusted security guards had delivered her to Joseph and Holly. He’d told them he was leaving Commander Blaine Lewis and Lieutenant Charlie Portsmouth and he expected the Deltas to work with them to protect his little girl.
Mia had chafed at his tone and his terminology—she was not his little girl any longer—and the fact that Blaine would be part of her security detail. The Deltas hadn’t flinched. They’d promised the entire family would watch over her and taken it a step farther. They would bring in the most impressive military man they knew to ensure her safety. Her dad hadn’t been certain an American would have training more impressive than his Commander or Lieutenant, but he’d surprisingly not only agreed, but he’d also assured he would pay any reward the Deltas named for them and the man. Joseph and Holly refused any kind of money, which surprised no one, but said they would pass a reward on to Captain Hendrickson. Her dad had agreed and thanked them. Apparently his only daughter’s life in danger had humbled him. She did love her dad, but humble had never been associated with his name and she could count on one hand the number of times she’d heard him say “thank you.” Her dad had hugged her fiercely, the opposite of his usual crisp hugs done to please her mum, and he’d left, hoping to throw the Sneaky Stalker off even more by him and her mum being at their home this Christmas season.
Mia shivered and rocked slightly. It was all so heavy, and at Christmas time. She would be thrilled to spend a Christmas in the Delta’s gorgeous valley with this fun and huge family, so opposite her own, but seeing her dad so intense, not proper or arrogant, had scared her almost as much as that note had. Tears pricked at her eyes. She was devastated thinking about that awful note, the poor women who’d been taken, her mum at home worrying night and day.
She and Mum should be organizing Christmas presents for hundreds of children who would go without if she couldn’t deliver. It was the one time of year that Mia took off completely from work. Since graduation from university, she’d spent the past six Decembers finding deserving families who didn’t ask for aid but needed it desperately, shopping for the perfect presents, and then delivering them. She blinked quickly at the thought of those poor little ones, but the tears still trailed down her face.
Zeke’s eyes widened and he backed up, holding up a hand as if to protect himself. “No. Please don’t. Not tears.”
Mia sprang to her feet and stormed up to him. He held his ground, but she could tell he was worried she’d touch him or something.
“What do you expect me to do?” she demanded, overwrought with all the emotion. “Just let that scum take me, sell me to the highest bidder and then …?” She’d tried very hard to not think about the … what then. Too horrifying and disabling.
He leaned toward her, which surprised her. His eyes got that fierceness in them again. “Nobody will take and sell you. Not on my watch.”
His words rang in the air like the most beautiful promise she’d ever heard. Their gazes caught, and she never wanted to look away. She found her hand raising toward him. She wanted to touch one of his muscles, reassure herself he was real and he really could protect her from a monster as depraved as the Sneaky Stalker.
Zeke flinched away from her hand and stepped back. That stung. He looked at Uncle Joseph.
“You’re in?” Joseph clarified.
“Yes, sir.”
Joseph stood and nodded to him. “Good man.”
Mia thought normally Joseph would clap him on the shoulder. He looked like he was moving to, but thought better of it. The no touch thing was so foreign to her. It should be weird, and it was off-putting, but she also found it intriguing. A challenge, really. Not that she would admit that to anyone.
“Okay, let’s talk logistics.” Joseph escorted him over to the table and they sat, flipping open a laptop. They started discussing security systems, how the stalker had followed his usual pattern of flirtatious or romantic notes mailed to the other women until the final note on the pillow that was the same in every case, the possibility of it being a copycat, what they knew about Thomas Pederson and Alden Wilson, former flings of hers who had both disappeared, the only exception in this case, how the stalker found the other women, qualifications of her security guards, the extra help the Delta family would provide so her guards could sleep, eat, and exercise, which the Deltas were already prepared to do because of protecting the Delta “weapon,” whatever that meant.
Auntie stood by her side, wrapped an arm around her waist, and they simply watched the two men discuss for a bit. It made her mind spin. She could design clothing that women and reviewers would go crazy over, and manage an international business, but security details? Not only out of her reach, but it made her queasy.
Holly inclined her head toward the kitchen. They walked together. Mia looked over her shoulder. Zeke was studying her. His expression was closed off and completely indecipherable. He would protect her. Nobody would get through that tank of a man.
But that didn’t mean he was happy about it or that he “liked” her.
What would it be like to spend the holiday in that man’s very un-Christmas-like presence?
Mia shivered again. Whether from concern or because of how intriguing he was, she wasn’t certain.