One Season And Dynasties Collection

‘It’s easy to be confident when everything you want gets handed to you,’ he said a couple of minutes later.

‘I take it we’re talking about me again.’ She swapped one crayon for another. ‘Were you this judgmental with the last person you bodyguarded?’

‘I don’t think bodyguarded is a word.’

‘Is now...’

When she glanced upwards he had his gaze on the open door as an announcement sounded from the auditorium and there was a wave of applause. As he lifted long arms out to his sides in a leisurely stretch the edges of his navy jacket parted, feeding her hungry gaze with the sight of a pale blue shirt stretched taut over his sculpted chest.

Godlike might have been an exaggeration but there was no arguing the man was ripped.

She wondered when he found time to work out and then pictured him hot and sweaty, pumping weights...

‘This is my first gig as a bodyguard,’ he confessed as he lowered his arms.

Miranda averted her gaze. ‘Well, that explains a lot. What did you do before you got here?’

‘Police work.’

‘What do you call this?’

‘Babysitting.’

‘I walked right into that one, didn’t I?’

‘Yup.’

When she glanced upwards again and saw him press his lips together her eyes narrowed. ‘Was that a smile?’

‘Those little triangle things are spicy.’ He tapped a closed fist against his chest. ‘Probably indigestion.’

Miranda felt her mouth curve into a smile of her own.

Shifting his weight on the chair, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and produced a cell phone, frowning down at the screen as it flashed.

‘Are you going to answer that?’ she asked.

‘It’ll wait.’

‘Player.’

He looked into her eyes. ‘What makes you so sure it’s a woman?’

‘Isn’t it?’ She blinked innocently. ‘For all I know it could be your wife.’

‘How long you been waiting to ask that question?’ When she didn’t reply he rested his left elbow on the table and showed her the back of his hand. ‘Do you see a ring?’

‘That doesn’t mean anything.’

He lowered the hand to lift something else off his plate. ‘Does to me.’

Miranda liked that it did. Without saying so in as many words he’d conveyed he was the faithful type. She didn’t have any proof of that without taking his word for it but she knew instinctively it was true. After all, she’d met more than her fair share of liars over the years.

People who attempted to befriend her because of what rather than who she was—who thought they could get her to speak on their behalf to her father or that dating her would deliver their five minutes of fame. She’d met them all and knew she had trust issues as a result.

She would never have the same problems with Tyler. He didn’t have an agenda other than doing his job.

Knowing that should have made her feel better but, oddly enough, it didn’t.

When she returned her attention to what she was doing, he took a short breath. ‘Since we’re playing the sharing game, how come it took you so long to have that talk with your mother?’

‘Congratulations,’ Miranda said dryly. ‘It took you a whole four days to bring up the subject. I didn’t think you’d last that long.’

‘Deflection—I invented that.’

She sighed heavily. ‘Mothers and daughters often have complicated relationships.’

‘My sister gets on fine with our mom now she’s got better about calling her.’

The comment lifted her gaze. ‘You have a sister?’

‘And three brothers.’

‘There are three more of you out there?’ The thought was a tad too much for her brain to contemplate.

A corner of his mouth lifted and for the first time—while looking directly at him as it happened—she realized the move lowered the other side. It was almost a yin and yang thing, hinting at two sides of his personality.

‘There’s only one of me,’ he said as if denying the thought she hadn’t voiced. ‘The rest of them get to spend their time trying to reach the high bar I set for them.’

‘You’re the eldest?’

‘I’m in the middle.’

‘I might need you to explain to me how the high bar works if there were two born before you.’

‘I raised it,’ he replied without skipping a beat.

Miranda nodded. ‘You tell them that, don’t you?’

‘Repeatedly.’

She tried to imagine what it must have been like to be part of such a large family. Apart from the freedom they had growing up, she envied the company they would have provided for one another. It made her realize how much she missed having Richie around. He’d be joining the campaign soon and they would have to find the time to talk. She just hoped he could forgive her for breaking their pact.

Pushing the thought from her mind, she jumped into the opening Tyler had given her to get to know him better. ‘What do your siblings do?’

‘My sister runs the legal department at her husband’s company. The rest of us are cops.’

Her gaze lifted again. ‘All of your brothers are with the NYPD?’

‘Third generation,’ he said with an obvious note of pride. ‘It’s in the blood.’

‘You never wanted to be anything else?’

‘Nope.’

It explained where some of his confidence came from. He’d known exactly what he wanted, worked towards it and achieved his goal, whereas Miranda’s confidence was born of a need to survive. It wasn’t that she didn’t have it now, but in her teens it was a different story.

‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ he asked.

Ouch. But considering she probably deserved it after the way she’d been with him, Miranda let it slide. Instead she set down the crayon and pushed her chair back. ‘Do you want something to wash down that mountain of food?’

‘Avoidance—I invented that one, too.’

‘I’m thirsty and a bottle of water might help with your indigestion.’ She felt his gaze on her as she approached the buffet table.

‘You sure you can manage to find it on your own? Don’t you usually have someone to do that for you?’

‘There are several things I’m perfectly capable of doing on my own.’

‘You’re just not given much of a chance to do them...’

‘No,’ she admitted before lifting a bottle of water from a bowl of ice and turning to look at him. ‘You want one of these or not?’

He nodded. ‘Go on.’

There was another announcement as she returned to the table, followed by loud cheering as she stopped by his chair and reached out her arm. Long, warm fingers wrapped around hers as she handed the bottle to him, providing a sharp contrast to its icily dewed surface. Miranda drew in a sharp breath in reaction to the heat travelling up her arm and tingling across her chest to her sensitive breasts. Moving downwards, it pooled low in her abdomen, creating an empty throbbing between her thighs.

When her gaze lifted the intensity in his eyes devoured her, leaving her in no doubt he knew the effect his touch had on her body. What she couldn’t understand was why he hadn’t done something about it. He didn’t strike her as a man who would let something as trivial as boundaries stand in his way.

Part of her was disappointed, another frustrated. But he had no way of knowing she was different with him than she’d ever been with anyone else.

As far as he knew she played the tease with every guy she met, safe in the knowledge if they attempted to cross the line she could simply step behind a protective wall of security personnel and add another tick to a battle of the sexes scorecard. He didn’t know how tough it was to date in high school with a bodyguard present. He couldn’t imagine how long it had taken for her to lose her innocence to someone who wouldn’t consider the virginity of the mayor’s daughter a significant notch on their belt. He would never know how disappointing the experience had been or that even with determination the three other times she’d managed to find enough privacy to have sex with the same guy hadn’t been a whole heap better.

In the end it had led to a bitter break-up, which left scars she covered with a veneer of self-assuredness it had taken years to perfect. Appearances could be deceptive.

A police detective should know that.

Slipping her hand free, she turned away and stepped over to her chair, curling her fingers into her palm as if she felt the need to save some of the warmth of his touch for later. While her father began his speech they both twisted the lids off their bottles and took a drink.

‘You haven’t answered the question,’ he said.

Miranda resisted the urge to look at him. ‘Because I know what you’re doing. You think by sharing things about your life with me, I’ll confide in you.’

‘Afraid I’ll sell the inside story to the press?’

‘No,’ she answered honestly. ‘Just suspicious about your motives.’

‘Cops ask questions. It’s what we do,’ he reasoned before adding, ‘isn’t sharing stuff and getting them to empathize how you usually persuade your bodyguards to cut you some slack?’

‘I think we’ve already established I have to work harder than that with you.’

‘Which is part of the attraction, isn’t it?’

Miranda’s gaze snapped up. They were actually going there? Before she made a fool of herself again she had to be sure. ‘Attraction?’

The cobalt gaze locked to hers remained steady. ‘I think you know what I’m talking about.’

‘Maybe you should elaborate.’

‘How explicit do you want me to be?’

Miranda ran the tip of her tongue over her lips and watched as his gaze lowered for long enough to follow the movement. ‘You think I can’t handle explicit?’

If he knew the number of times she’d imagined him telling her exactly what he was going to do to her...

‘I think you still don’t know you’re swimming out of your depth.’ His tone was suddenly hollow and cold.

Subliminally Miranda responded to the accompanying emptiness she thought she could see behind his eyes with the need to offer comfort and return some of the heat he’d created inside her.

She wanted to be alone with him, really alone. She wanted him to want the same thing; to ask questions because he wanted to get to know her better and not because he was gathering information to make his job easier.

‘Miranda—five minutes.’

The sound of another voice drew her gaze to the open door. ‘Thanks, Roger.’

As he disappeared she gathered her things together and placed them back in her bag without looking at Tyler. Reaching inside, she produced the prerequisite Vote Kravitz badge and pinned it to the front of her blouse. ‘You want one of these? I always carry a few spares.’

‘I didn’t vote for him last time.’

Miranda smiled. ‘You probably don’t want to mention that in front of him. Unless you want to hear the one-on-one version of the campaign speech?’

‘Any other tips you want to pass on?’

‘If he says he’ll take it under advisement it means he’s going to ignore what you said.’

‘Good to know.’

While he cleared the table and walked to the trash can beside the buffet table she checked her appearance in the mirror of a compact and fluffed her hair into place. They met at the door, Tyler waiting silently by her side as she paused to take a breath and fortify herself for the trials ahead. It was time to put on her game face but before she did she allowed him a rare glimpse of a well-kept secret.

As the chill ran down her spine instead of hiding it she shook it off with a shudder of her shoulders. Once she realized what she’d done she glanced sideways and attempted to cover up her vulnerability with a wink. ‘Showtime.’

The low huff of amusement seemed to catch him as off guard as it did her, the immediate following need to shift his gaze to the people assembled behind the stage making Miranda’s chest expand with what felt a little too close to endearment. She knew he didn’t smile much but suddenly she ached with the need to experience it, to see how it changed his face and hear the sound of rumbling male laughter.

‘Your mother is making her way up from the audience now,’ Roger’s voice said, encouraging her to step forwards and focus.

When she got a brief glimpse of the packed auditorium as her mother appeared through the curtain at the side of the stage Miranda experienced a flutter of nerves. In need of reassurance, she glanced over her shoulder at Tyler and as their gazes met she thought she could feel it again: the silent understanding she’d been wrong about before.

The nod he gave her was almost imperceptible.

I’m right here, the unexpected warmth in his eyes said. I’ve got you.

She flashed a small smile in reply and for the first time in longer than she cared to admit she didn’t feel so alone. It was nice to think someone was there just for her.

Any concern she felt about the truth in the second part of his silent message she could examine later.

THIRTEEN

He’d been right about one thing.

Miranda was one hell of an actress.

No one on the outside saw how much effort she put into hiding her emotions. Burying them didn’t come naturally to her the way it used to for him. But when it came to the way she looked at him—as if he were some kind of tasty treat she wanted to savour—she needed to knock it off. Add their undeniable sexual chemistry to the flash of vulnerability he saw in her eyes before she faced the public and the draw he felt to her was so overpowering Tyler had to remind himself they weren’t alone.

He’d have to be careful when they were. The closer she dragged him to the edge, the more likely he was to lose what was left of his footing.

The next time she glanced his way he pointed at the curtain to let her know he would be out front. She nodded in reply before arching a brow at her mother when the woman reached out to brush her hair away from the badge she’d pinned to her chest.

‘Seriously?’

‘I’m not permitted to make motherly gestures now?’

‘Not if it takes us back to the days when you used to dress me like a Jackie Kennedy doll.’

Content she had something to distract her from any fear she felt of unseen dangers in the auditorium, Tyler moved into position. Standing where he had one-hundred-and-eighty-degrees’ coverage from the front of the stage, he checked everyone else on the combined detail was where they were supposed to be before running his gaze over the crowd.

‘...and with your help we can finish what we started...’

As the mayor’s speech whipped the crowd into a frenzy the cheers became louder, making it difficult for Tyler to hear if anything came through in his earpiece. The ever-present tension in his body coiled tighter as he raised his hand and used his forefinger to push it tighter into place.

‘We’ve come too far to give up now!’ the mayor shouted into the microphone. ‘Are you with me?’

The crowd yelled, ‘Yes!’

‘Are you with me?’

‘Yes!’

There were too many banners and placards waving wildly in the air to allow him to check every face. It made Tyler antsy, the fingers of his gun hand flexing at his side.

‘Then let’s do it!’

‘Kravitz! Kravitz! Kravitz! Kravitz!’

In the midst of the chanting there was what sounded like popping gunfire. Immediately pushing back his jacket to place a thumb on his service weapon, Tyler snapped his gaze in the direction he thought it came from. There wasn’t any screaming; the crowd wasn’t panicking—somewhere in his mind he knew they were both indications nothing had happened. But while his body created so much adrenaline it made his heart struggle to pump it through his veins his brain ignored the message.

In the end it took the sight of a woman scolding her son as she confiscated a bunch of balloons for him to avoid calling in the threat and drawing his weapon.

Lowering his arm, he ground his teeth together, self-recrimination searing his throat when he glanced at the stage. Miranda was standing in plain sight, smiling and waving with her parents. As her gaze sought him out the need to go to her and haul her into his arms was crippling.

He didn’t want her up there. He wanted her somewhere he knew she was safe. The thing that stopped him from jumping onstage and carrying her away wasn’t his job or who her father was; it was the certainty that place of safety wasn’t with him.

By the time they were driving back to the mansion through a not-so-safe-after-dark neighbourhood he was strung out and close to breaking point.

‘You okay?’

‘Yes,’ he gritted. But it was a lie. If he didn’t find an outlet for some of his tension soon...

When a figure walking down the sidewalk caught his eye Tyler’s brain ran through a scrolling roll of faces and hit jackpot. Checking for traffic, he turned the wheel and swung the Escalade around.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

He didn’t reply as the figure turned a corner. Instead he followed it, drew to a halt and unbuckled his seat belt. ‘Lock the doors and stay inside.’

‘What are you—?’

‘Keys are in the ignition.’ He got out and slammed the door. As the man lit up by the headlights turned and looked over his shoulder he called out, ‘Hey, Jimmy, remember me?’

The second he rabbited Tyler gave chase. One wrong turn later the idiot was trapped in a dead-end alley.

‘Haven’t you learnt you can’t run from me?’ He slammed him face-first into a wall before patting him down. ‘Out doing a little business—what do we have here?’ He took a step back and looked down at the clear plastic pouch in his hand. ‘Looks like I have you on possession...’

‘That’s not mine. It belongs to a friend.’

‘Do I look like I just got hit by the stupid stick?’

When the idiot made a predictable attempt to escape it was all the incentive Tyler needed to cut his dark side loose. Reaching for a wrist, he twisted the arm, spun him around and slammed him back into the wall. When he leaned closer his voice was purposefully menacing.

‘You know what I want.’

‘I heard you was off the case.’

‘You heard wrong.’

‘You can’t rough me up. I’ll file a complaint.’

‘Go ahead,’ Tyler told him as he twisted the arm hard enough to dislocate a shoulder and used his other hand on the guy’s head to press his cheek to the wall. ‘In the meantime here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna take a message to Demietrov for me. I’ll keep the sentences nice and short so you can remember them. You tell him I’m coming for him. He won’t know where. He won’t know when. Tell him to keep looking over his shoulder.’

‘You’re Dirty Harry now?’

‘No.’ His mouth curled into a threatening smile. ‘I’m his worst nightmare. You don’t deliver the message I’ll be yours, too. I’ll spread the word you’re my new best friend.’ He felt his hand press harder against the man’s skull and ignored the cry of pain while he fought the need to crush bone. ‘No witnesses here. It’ll be your word against mine and I think we both know you’re the weakest link.’

‘She’s a witness,’ Jimmy croaked.

FOURTEEN

Miranda’s breath caught when Tyler’s gaze snapped towards her. Fear trickled down her spine, creating goosebumps on her skin and chilling her bones. The violent edge to the scene, the savage need for blood pervading the air—they were valid reasons to fear the man she barely recognized.

Somewhere deep in her soul she could hear a voice calling out to him, ‘What are you doing? This isn’t you.’

But how could she know that for sure?

He released his captive. ‘Go.’

As the man ran towards her Miranda took an instinctive step back. By the time she looked at Tyler again she could sense the hostility aimed at her. Tendrils of rage flowed through the air with the oppressive weight of a brewing storm. ‘I told you to stay in the car with the doors locked. What part of that didn’t you understand?’

‘I...uh...’ She cleared her throat and tried to find her voice. ‘I was never that good at taking orders.’

‘I suggest you start.’ He stepped forwards and past her, his muscles carrying him with the same fluidity of movement she would have associated with a panther.

Her first impression of him as a predator crouched to spring on its prey had been right. She just hadn’t realized how lethal he could be until she saw him in action.

She hesitated before following him, torn between the need to know what had happened and an almost childlike desire to hide. Her gaze darted to the shadows between overflowing Dumpsters, her imagination filling them with everything from rats to Freddie Krueger.

Better the devil—even if it was plainly obvious she didn’t know him that well.

‘Tyler.’ She had to run to catch up. ‘Tyler, wait.’

He stopped so abruptly she almost tripped face-first into his back.

‘That’s the second time you’ve done that.’ She frowned at his chest when he turned around. ‘A little warning would be good.’

Chancing an upwards glance at his shadowed face she discovered he was looking at her through dark hooded eyes.

‘What just happened?’

‘Did you lock the Escalade?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where are the keys?’

She reached into the scooped neckline of her blouse to retrieve them from her bra, jangled them in front of his face and snatched them away before he lifted his arm.

Tyler waggled his fingers at her. ‘Hand them over.’

‘I don’t think so.’ She tucked them back into her bra. ‘You want them you’re going to have to come get them.’

‘You think I won’t?’

‘I think I’ll scream at the top of my lungs if you try.’ As far as she was concerned he wasn’t getting them back until he gave her an explanation. She folded her arms over her breasts to protect her bargaining tool. ‘I’m assuming that man wasn’t a friend of yours.’

‘Good guess.’ The corner of his mouth lifted in a move resembling a sneer. ‘I haven’t made many friends on the periphery of the Russian mob recently.’

Miranda’s jaw dropped. ‘That’s a joke, right?’ A small burst of nervous laughter left her lips. ‘Next thing you’ll be saying you like your Martinis shaken, not stirred.’

‘I’m not a spy.’

‘We’ve already established you weren’t a bodyguard until recently. So what are you?’

He shook his head and turned away, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as she unfolded her arms and fell into step beside him. ‘I’m a street cop—narcotics. The bodyguard thing is a temporary gig.’

‘But you’re still working on a case, aren’t you?’

‘Stopping the flow of drugs in any city with a market for them is like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. I can’t afford to take time off.’

‘Then why are you babysitting me?’

‘I’ve asked that question several times.’

‘But if you’ve never been a bodyguard?’

‘I took the close protection course a few years ago,’ he told her as they turned a corner. ‘Back in the days when I had a career plan I was gonna spend time in every department and work my way up.’

Naturally she wanted to know what had happened to knock him off course but first things first. ‘How long have you been with Narcotics?’

‘Three years—transferred from Vice.’

‘How long have you been a police officer?’

‘Coming up on twelve years.’

She blinked in surprise. He must be older than he looked. ‘What age are you?’

‘Thirty-two—ask a lot of questions when you’re scared, don’t you?’

‘I’m not scared,’ she lied. ‘I’m...’ Her head nodded a little from side to side as she sought the right words. When none was forthcoming she opted for a smidgeon of truth. ‘Okay, I was scared. I’ve never seen anyone... I mean, not in real life...obviously on TV and in movies but—’

‘View’s not so great away from the ivory tower, is it?’ he said dryly. ‘Down here on street level things can get dirty. I know of at least two cold-case homicides in this area in the last couple of years.’

She glared at his tense profile. ‘Are you trying to scare me again?’