Page 3 of Hold Back
Joseph was Mo’s billionaire bratty boy and had been a godawful nightmare until Mo took him in hand. Red had heard a lot about Mo on the grapevine. They were similar in many ways.
Monaghan’s had taken the rare decision to sack Joseph as a client to save their sanity and dumped him in CDR’s and the Biker Daddy Bodyguard’s lap. It had been an inspired move and one much appreciated by his former security team.
“Thoughts and prayers,” Quinn murmured.
“Don’t worry, we won’t put you on Joseph’s detail,” Craig added.
Red shrugged. “A job’s a job. I’m just a grunt, not a team leader.”
He didn’t understand the pause as both men looked at him, then each other.
What was that look for?
Quinn flexed his fingers. Red noticed how large his hands were. They could deliver a firm spanking. He didn’t know whether to pity or envy Cade.
Quinn seemed to be searching for the right words. “The Biker Daddy Bodyguards are not the same as most security operations.”
“You mean you fuck your clients,” Red said bluntly, not surprised when both men scowled at him.
“The only man I fuck is my boy,” Craig snarled.
“Likewise. My boy, not yours,” Quinn added when Craig turned on him. “Seriously, Red. You know better than to say something like that.”
Red raised an eyebrow. “I know you. I know who you guys are. And I know why you chose me. But I’m not interested. I stepped out of the Daddy scene a long time ago as you know.”
When my boy walked away from me. My heart couldn’t take that kind of hurt again.
“Find someone else to manage your boy,” he ended.
“He’s not so much a boy as a tattooed, pierced, glitter-loving chaos demon with no sense of self-preservation,” Craig muttered.
Red furrowed his brow. He’d heard something like that description before. A tattooed, pierced, glitter-loving chaos demon? It was kinda specific. Where had it come from?
Quinn pulled a folder toward him, but Red was done with this performance. It didn’t matter who the guy was. Chaos demon or not, he didn’t want to take care of a boy. His heart wouldn’t let him. Red stood, rolling his shoulders. “All I want is a job. Booted and suited.”
Quinn pressed his lips together. “I’ll refer you back to Dominic. He focuses on the regular security detail.”
“You could just look at the folder,” Craig suggested.
“Look at me. Do I look like the Daddy for a glitter demon?”
“Yes.” Quinn and Craig said simultaneously.
“You boys need to get your eyes checked.”
And Red walked out on that note, walking, not running, because he’d seen the name on the folder and that told him all he needed to know.
Christopher Monroe
Yeah,fuck it. He was running. And they never needed to know why.
Red headedfor his favorite bar, needing to change out of the suit, and shed the bodyguard persona, becoming Red again.
It was mid-afternoon and few customers were in the bar. He liked this place, quiet and unpretentious, the staff willing to leave the customers alone with their drinks. Red changed in the restroom, careful not to get his suit anywhere near the floor. Then he headed over to the bar where Aaron grinned at him.
The only concession to decoration was a string of fairy lights around the expensive bottles on the shelf behind Aaron. This was a pub to relax in, not to be seen.
“Early finish, Red?”
