Page 2 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

“This is Declan,” Ryder introduces us. “Can you get us two coffees, please?”

Raven holds out a hand confidently, although her highly dilated pupils tell me she’s trying hard to hide her attraction. I’m not on an ego trip; I’ve been trained to be aware of everything.

Every. Thing.

And I am.

“You can call me sir if that helps.” I smirk and shake her hand.

“See, he’s a team player.” Raven grins widely as her cheeks turn pink.

With long dark hair to her tight wee ass and wearing a cropped black shirt, short black skirt and dark lace-up shoes, she’s every guy’s schoolgirl fantasy.

Not mine.

She’s amusing and pretty, but there’s not even a twitch going on behind my zipper.

“Black for me,” I say, and she wiggles her fingers as she leaves to fill our order.

“She’s trouble.” Ryder shakes his head and starts walking.

“I can see that,” I follow him through the building and take one last glance at Raven, who is now in the cafe chatting to a couple of guys.

Correction: she’s flirting.

A sense of brotherly protection flickers, and I wonder if she’s aware of what could happen if she trusted the wrong person. I’ve seen girls who have been trafficked in different parts of the world, and it’s one of the most horrific things taking place right now. The very essence of their soul is destroyed.

Everyone under this roof is safe. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. I know Josh vets his crew thoroughly. I just went through it, and I worked with him.

“She street smart?”

“Yes and no.” Ryder pushes open a door and waits for me to walk through. “She will be when I’m done with her.”

Good to hear.

“So, essentially we hot-desk here because most of the team are out on assignments and our head office is in Los Angeles,” he shares.

“It was great to visit last month, thanks for arranging that.”

“Travis, who you met and heads up the tech team, is recruiting someone to be based here in New York. East Coast-West Coast teams, essentially. All the systems will be the same regarding ordering what you need, whether IT, stationery, uniforms, et cetera.”

Ryder leads me into another room full of technology. I feel like I just walked into a toy shop. He hands me a tablet and cell phone. “These are ready to go, so I’m told. Did you get an email with all the logins?”

“I have that.”

“Great. Then let’s get you some metal.”

Yeehaa!

He unlocks a cabinet at the back of the room, and after a few clunks, he pulls two doors open, and there before me is a vast display of weapons.

“Nice.” I cross my arms and spread my legs.

“There’s no lack of toys around here,” Ryder says as a guy wearing a BHS T-shirt walks over. “Hey, Sam, sign him out a 9mm. Any of those new holsters in stock yet?”

“Came in yesterday,” Sam says and shakes my hand. “Hey, I’m Sam. You must be Declan.”

“Nice to meet you.”