Page 29 of Kiss Kiss Bang
CHAPTER SIX
BREAKING NEWS: Olivia Russo, current frontrunner in the race for Governor of Florida, was terrorized after a campaign speech in Miami. Photos of Russo after her vehicle was vandalized show a shaken and pale Russo hiding in a hotel lobby as her security team dealt with the situation. An investigation is underway and . . .
Joey hadn’t been lying when he said he’d been absolutely exhausted. The last forty-eight hours had been hectic with a new job checking the integrity of the cybersecurity of a large financial institution. It had taken him all of three minutes to break through their firewall, wiping the cocky smiles off the faces of the arrogant sonsofbitches who’d installed it. He’d been hired to test it, but then the president of the bank immediately hired him, at double his usual rate, to repair the faulty gaps in the system and consult the other firm.
He’d been ready to start on the second phase of the install when Annie, his sister and employee of ICS, had texted him the link to the breaking news of what was happening in Miami with Olivia. Immediately he’d called Olivia and when she hadn’t answered her phone, he’d quickly given the firm detailed instructions of what needed to be done. He’d talked them through most of it during his seven-hour drive back down.
Normally, he’d have called one of his guys at ICS to check in on things, but he couldn’t help feeling protective of, if not responsible for, Olivia. Even if they hadn’t had a conversation about it, even if she didn’t realize it, and even if it was too soon, she was his and he was the only one who would be protecting her. So he’d had his employees monitor her house until he was able to get to her.
Maybe it was the way she’d melted in his arms. It was probably arrogant of him to think he was the only man to make her feel this way, but she didn’t seem like the kind of woman who let her guard down and let a man touch her in an elevator or go racing in a go-cart. Hell, there was not one single photo of her with a man since Neil had passed away, and even in the few photos he’d found of her and Neil they looked more like friends than lovers. Everything with her was proper and calculated. Neil at her left, her manicured hands on her lap or by her side. No cute hand-holding or stolen glances. At least not in any of the photos he’d found. For God sake, she didn’t even let her hair down—literally.
Again, it was arrogant for him to make that call from just a few photos, but there was something—somewhere inside he felt as if it had been as different for her as it had been for him.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but fuck, he really wanted it to be different for her too. Which is why he was now camping out on her uncomfortable sofa instead of at home in his soft bed.
With Olivia, he had to proceed with caution, he’d seen that from the first day. She wanted him, but she didn’t want to want him. She needed help, but she didn’t want to need help. So he decided he wasn’t going to give her many opportunities to think or to second guess anything. As soon as she had gone to bed, he jumped up from the couch and did a quick search and lock up of the downstairs of her house. Once he felt that it was as secure as it could be, he took out his Sig, the metal of his weapon digging against his ribs, and slid it under a cushion. Then he put his feet back up and closed his eyes, knowing he’d be up in a few hours—like always.
Tom had better be there bright and early, because Joey had a lot to say to him. What had gone down today in her car? He should have never let that shit happen.
And her face on the photos he’d seen from his phone, ashen and alarmed—he didn’t want to see that look on her again.
These were the thoughts swarming his mind as he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Like clockwork, Joey woke up at a quarter to six. Even if he wanted to sleep in, his eyes popped open at the same time every morning. It was a big fucking parting gift from the United States military.
As he yawned and stretched his arms, he opened his eyes and immediately yelled like a fucking little girl. “Jesus Fucking Christ!”
And speaking of little girls . . .
A small girl with dark brown hair tousled all over the place, with cute freckles splayed around her nose and cheeks and the same plump lips as her mother, sat with her legs crisscrossed right in front of him, eating Cheerios straight from the box, just staring at him.
How long had she been staring?
He normally stirred with even the slightest noise, but this little girl could’ve been there for hours and he hadn’t noticed.
“You said a bad wod.”
Clutching his heart, which felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest, he dropped his legs to the floor.
“Sorry ’bout that. You scared me.”
She just kept staring. Quite frankly, it was scary.
She just continued to look at Joey as if trying to figure him out. “Who are you?”
He sat up now that his heart rate was under control and extended his hand to her. “You must be Sophie. I’m Joey. I’m a friend of your mom’s.”
She didn’t shake his hand back and he wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t like him or maybe she was scared of him. He was, after all, a stranger. “You like lizards?”
He tilted his head. “Lizards? Uh . . . yeah. I guess.”
She clapped excitedly before hopping off the coffee table. “Yay! Me too.” Then as if she’d known him her whole life she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen. “You like Cheerios?”
He shrugged. It had been a long time since he’d eaten Cheerios. “Yeah, sure.”
She reached into the box and took a handful and handed it to him, which made him laugh. “How about we get some bowls?”
