Guarded from Sabotage (Blade and Arrow Security Bravo Team #2)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

DANTE

I wish Sarah hadn’t insisted on coming to this meeting.

She’s already been through enough over the last twenty-four hours—social media accounts hacked, put on leave from her job, her apartment swatted and trashed, then arrested and interrogated. The last thing she needs is to hear news that, judging from the somber expression on Matt’s face, isn't likely to be good.

When I stopped by first thing this morning to check on her, I couldn’t miss the purplish smudges under her eyes and the fine lines of strain etched into her features. Even though she insisted she was fine, that she got some rest last night, I don’t believe her. And I feel guilty for leaving her alone in the client apartment instead of insisting she stay over at mine.

I almost did last night, after we had dinner and watched Beaches and Sarah was half-asleep on the couch beside me. She kept dozing off, her blinks getting slower and slower, and it was right there on the tip of my tongue to ask if she wanted to stay.

But then my increasingly irritating rational side told me no, that I had already pushed the boundaries far enough for one night, and that the professional, responsible thing to do was to escort her to the client apartment and come back to my place alone.

Sometimes I really hate being responsible.

And I really hated it as I lay in bed last night, wondering if Sarah was asleep, if she was having nightmares, if she was crying…

I’m not sure I got much more sleep than her, really.

At least she ate. I was worried she’d be too stressed to eat, so as soon as I finished my workout, I brought coffee and breakfast sandwiches over—yes, I knew she could make them herself, but if I was already cooking, it just made sense to make extra. So we ended up eating breakfast together and chatting about easy, non-stressful things like my addiction to the History Channel and Sarah’s love of museums and how we both would like to adopt a dog one day.

By the time we finished eating, things almost felt normal. Sarah was smiling, she had color in her cheeks again, and she actually sounded optimistic for the day ahead. “I’m going to call Hanna, and then my parents,” she told me. “Fill them in on everything. It’ll be a relief to tell them I’m safe and I have people helping me, so they won’t worry as much. And then maybe I can check out the gym and the sauna.”

But then I had to go and ruin it by telling her about this meeting.

I had to, though. It’s her life, and she deserves to know what kind of progress we’re making. Although I was hoping she’d go with my initial suggestion, which was that I’d meet with the team and fill her in afterwards.

Then I could give her any bad news in more comfortable surroundings. We could sit on the couch, she could wear my Army sweatshirt I sent home with her, and I could hold her hand if she got upset. If it got to be too much for her, we could take a break and I could show her around the property, meandering down the trails Niall cleared so he and Jade could walk together.

I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course Sarah insisted on coming to the meeting. “I need to be there,” she explained. “I know you’re worried, but I can handle it.”

She can. I know she can. But it doesn’t mean I want her to.

Shit. The protectiveness I feel for Sarah just keeps getting stronger. I can’t stop thinking about how she’s feeling, if her scraped knees are healing right, if her wrists are sore from the handcuffs, if the lack of food and sleep will make her sick…

I’ve always been a caregiver. It’s in my blood—my dad was a paramedic, my mom a nurse—and I’ve spent most of my life protecting people in one way or another. But this is different. With Sarah, it’s not enough to know she’s being taken care of.

I want to be the one taking care of her.

Which makes it so much harder to focus on leading this meeting instead of sitting beside Sarah and holding her hand, reassuring her, and doing whatever I can to erase the worried look off her face.

Matt’s tapping away on his laptop while we wait for Leo, one of my former teammates and the Sleepy Hollow branch’s resident tech guy, to join the meeting remotely. Back from his trip with Georgia, he’s been working with Matt to help investigate Sarah’s case.

“Leo’s just joining now,” Matt announces as he lifts his gaze to the projection screen on the wall. Glancing down the table at Sarah, he explains, “Since we’ve both been working on your case, I wanted Leo to be here, too. At least virtually.”

She gives him a tiny smile. “Thanks for doing this, Matt. Dante said you’ve been working every day on my case, and I really appreciate it.”

His cheeks go slightly pink. “You don’t have to thank me. Anything I can do to help—” He stops as Leo appears on the screen.

Leo’s gaze moves around the conference table and his lips lift. “Hey, guys. Good to see you.”

“You too,” I reply with a quick lift of my chin. “How’s Georgia doing?”

His face brightens. “She’s good. Now that the morning sickness has passed, she’s been feeling much better. Although—” His mouth twitches. “She keeps complaining that she’s enormous and can’t possibly get any bigger. But we still have over two months to go, so…”

Sarah smiles at him. “I bet she looks gorgeous, as usual.”

Affection softens his voice. “She does. Radiant, really.” After a brief pause, he adds, “Georgia wanted me to say hello for her. And that she’s thinking about you.”

After another minute or so of small talk—how big Clara has gotten, the upcoming wedding of our Green Beret teammate, Rylan, and how crazy business has been—we get to the actual reason we’re here.

Matt starts it off, saying, “Well. We’ve found some information. It’s good and bad, depending on how you look at it.”

Sarah’s foot starts jittering under the table and her hands clench together in her lap.

“Not bad, exactly,” Leo adds. “Just… it makes things more complicated. But it’s not really unexpected, considering everything that’s happened to Sarah so far.”

I lean forward, resting my arms on the table. Glancing between Matt and Leo, I ask, “What do you mean?”

Matt exchanges a look with Leo, then says, “Okay. Good news is, we’ve found out quite a bit about how this was done. Which means we have more to work from. We can eliminate a lot of suspects based on the level of skill necessary to access Sarah’s information.”

Xavier’s forehead furrows in confusion. “And for the non-techies in here? Can you explain?”

Leo nods. “Based on what we’ve found, whoever’s behind this is very skilled. A run-of-the-mill hacker isn’t going to have the necessary skills. So we can cross a number of our possibles off the list.”

“Our hacker used VPN chaining to cover their tracks,” Matt says. “Which means they’re routing everything through two anonymous servers instead of just one, which is what inexperienced hackers typically do.”

“They also hacked into some of the companies in order to steal Sarah’s information,” Leo adds. “We’re working to trace access, but since it requires us to hack in as well, it takes a bit more time.”

Matt glances at Sarah, his expression turning apologetic. “I also found a keystroke logger on your laptop. Which would enable the hacker to gain access to your accounts, personal information?—”

“But I have it all password protected,” Sarah interjects. “And I use different passwords and two-factor authentication. I’m really careful.”

“I’m sure you are,” Matt replies soothingly. “Which is another reason why we know this person is very skilled.”

Sarah bites her lower lip. “But… how do we stop them?”

“We’ve locked everything down,” Leo answers. “Your credit, bank accounts, credit cards, loans… all the identifiable information has been changed. There’s no way for anyone to access it unless we want them to.”

“Why would you want this hacker to access Sarah’s accounts?” Rhiannon shoots Leo a puzzled look.

“A trap, potentially.” Matt smiles grimly. “If we can’t trace their movements, we can set up something called a honeypot and hope they take the bait.”

I glance at Sarah’s file on my tablet, skimming the list of names she gave us as possible suspects. “Do we have anyone on our list that could fit the criteria?”

“We’re looking into it,” Matt replies. “But unfortunately, no one is jumping out yet.”

“We should look into financials,” I reply. “It’s possible someone paid a hacker to do this. Hired them on the dark web.”

Sarah sucks in her breath. “The dark web?” Her voice goes wobbly. “Like what happened to Charlie? With the deepfakes? Is that going to happen to me next?”

Shit. This is why I didn’t want Sarah here.

“No.” It’s quick. Adamant. I hold her gaze as I say, “We will not let that happen.” To the rest of the team, I add, “I want surveillance on Sarah’s ex. Just because we haven’t seen anything suspicious yet doesn’t mean he’s not responsible. She broke up with him, he could be bitter?—”

“I don’t think he is,” Sarah interrupts quietly. “Bitter, I mean. And he doesn’t have a lot of money. Not yet. He’s still a resident, and he has his med school loans…”

“Psychiatrists are paid really well, though.” Erik finally speaks up, looking across the table at Sarah. “And the cost of hiring a hacker online might not be as much as you think.”

Sarah sags. Her eyes drop to the table. “I just…” She swallows. “We were together for years. Even though he cheated…” Cheeks reddening, she continues, “I can’t imagine he’d be that angry at me.”

Shit.

I wish I could hug her. Cook her favorite meal. Watch as many sad movies as she wants. Literally anything to make her feel better.

“We’re going to find this person, Sarah.” Leo’s rumbly voice is quietly confident. “It’s just a matter of time. And we’ll fix everything they messed up. Your credit, your accounts, we’ll take care of it.”

Her chin quivers, and I can tell she’s trying not to cry. “I just don’t know what I did. How I made someone hate me this much.”

Would it be unprofessional to pull Sarah onto my lap and hold her?

Probably.

But I want to do it, anyway.

Instead, I reach under the table and take her trembling hand for a second. “We’re going to fix this.” As Sarah stares at me with a mix of hope and despair in her eyes, I tell her, “I promise, Sarah. We will fix this.”

I hope this wasn’t a terrible idea.

In any other circumstance, I wouldn’t even have asked. If it were any other day, I’d offer to spend the evening with Sarah making dinner and watching whatever she wants. Beaches again. Or The Notebook or A Walk to Remember , both of which she said are guaranteed to make her cry.

Or there’s that new romance movie on Netflix, the Christmas-themed one about a woman who moves to a small town in Vermont and falls in love with the man who’s protecting her.

It’s funny, when my sisters used to watch these kinds of movies, I made fun of them. But now, I’m watching them willingly. Not just willingly; I want to watch them because it makes Sarah happy.

Hopefully, this party won’t do the opposite.

It’s Jade’s birthday, which is why I really don’t want to miss it. Since she moved in with Niall, Jade’s become like a little sister to me, and I want to support her. Especially after everything she’s been through. And I did agree to man the grill, so people are kind of depending on me.

If Sarah really didn’t want to go, I’d stay back with her. But when I mentioned it, she immediately said yes. Her exact words were, “Of course I’ll go. It’s Jade’s birthday. Do you think there’s some way I can get her a present?”

As if I’d say no?

So while Sarah called her parents, I made the trip into Seguin to pick up something for her to give Jade. “She loves to read, doesn’t she?” Sarah asked. “Could you get her a gift certificate from the bookstore in town? And maybe one of those cute totes with a saying about books on it? I’ll pay you back as soon as I can access my accounts again.”

By the time I got back to B and A, Sarah was looking much cheerier. The conversation with her parents went well, although they were upset, obviously, but they were glad to know we’re helping her. “They know about Blade and Arrow from what happened to Hanna,” Sarah explained. “So they know I have the best people helping me.”

Nothing like the faith of the woman I can’t stop thinking about and her parents to really put the pressure on me and my team to solve this.

But we will. I’ll make sure of it. No matter what it takes, no matter how many favors I have to call in, I’m going to fix this for Sarah.

And then, once it’s all over, I can ask her out. And hopefully, she’ll agree.

But selfishly, I don’t want to wait.

Especially looking at Sarah as she walks beside me, so fresh and pretty, the setting sun casting a golden glow across her face and turning her hair to a shimmering bronze. She’s wearing a white dress with a pattern of orange flowers all over it; not tight, but just clingy enough to show off the swell of her breasts and the pert curve of her ass.

As we cross the backyard towards the restored barn, her head’s on a swivel, taking it all in—the thousands of white lights strung from all the trees, the luminaries set on either side of the path, the solar lanterns just starting to blink on, and the custom banner draped over the open barn doors that announces in bold lettering, Happy Birthday, Jade!

I knew what Niall was planning, and I’m even surprised by how everything came together. It’s definitely a far cry from how things looked when we first arrived this past summer, when the ranch was still in disrepair and the barn was one strong wind from falling down. But now?—

“It looks so pretty,” Sarah says, glancing up at me with a smile. “When I saw the barn the last time I was here, I didn’t get a good look. I had no idea how nice you guys made it.”

“Well, we wanted to have a place where we could all hang out,” I reply. “This way, we can be outside even when it’s raining. Niall wants to extend our underground passage to reach the barn so he can bring Jade out here without getting wet.”

Her brows jump up in surprise. “You have an underground passage here?”

“Yeah. We have two egress points from the ranch—one in the pantry and the other in the basement, next to the gym. They come out to the garage, so if the house is ever—” My mouth snaps shut so abruptly my teeth click. Why am I mentioning a possible security breach after I promised Sarah it’s safe here?

“Anyway,” I add brightly, “It’s convenient if we have a big storm and don’t want to walk from the garage to the ranch. Helpful if we’re bringing home groceries or something.”

Sarah pats my arm. “It’s okay, Dante. I saw the one they have at the other Blade and Arrow. Hanna showed me. Considering it saved her life, I think it’s a great idea to have one here.”

Right. Sometimes I forget how much Sarah knows about B and A, but it’s natural Hanna would share that sort of thing with her. Especially since Hanna and Finn live at the Sleepy Hollow headquarters, and Sarah’s been there to visit her.

“It looks like a good crowd,” Sarah says as she tilts her chin towards the barn. “Who did you say would be here again? I know you told me, but…” She grimaces. “I was a little preoccupied before.”

Preoccupied by the news from the meeting is what she means. Preoccupied thinking about how she was going to tell her parents about all the crap that happened to her.

But here she is, cheerfully heading to this party so she doesn’t disappoint Jade, when she has every reason to decline the invitation. I wouldn’t judge her for it. No one here would. It’s another show of bravery that makes me like Sarah even more.

And it makes me feel even more protective of her, if that’s even possible.

As we approach the barn, the hum of happy voices grows louder, and I can see at least a dozen people standing in small clusters inside. Instinct has me taking Sarah’s hand—it’s a friendly thing to do, right?—as I say, “Well, we have the team, of course. And obviously, Jade. Plus, we have some friends from San Antonio here. There’s TJ and Milena?—”

“He’s the one who convinced you to join the Green Berets, isn’t he?”

I give her hand a little squeeze. “Yes. He works for the highway patrol now, and keeps busy with his wife and kids. And then there’s Hayden and Boone, Quint and Corrie, and I think—” Scanning the barn, I search for a tall, curly-haired blonde, spotting him over by the foosball table. “Nolan. He was on my team, but he’s still active duty. He’s on leave visiting his family in Austin.”

“I’d love to meet him,” Sarah says. “Which one is he?”

We’re nearly to the barn doors, and I angle my head towards the foosball table. “He’s over there playing against Erik. The tall one with blonde hair.”

She blinks. “Oh, he is tall.” Six inches taller than my six-foot-two, Nolan’s well over a foot taller than Sarah.

Intuitive as always—he’s always seemed to know things the rest of us didn’t—Nolan glances over and flashes a bright smile at us. He raises his voice as he calls over, “Dante! ‘Bout time you got here. These steaks aren’t going to cook themselves.”

He tosses his last beanbag, hitting the bullseye effortlessly, and bounds across the barn to meet us. “Hey, D.” Clapping my shoulder, he says, “It’s good to see you. Pretty nice place you guys have here.”

Then his gaze moves to Sarah, and his eyes brighten with interest. “And this is Sarah, right?” He holds out his hand to her, and she lets go of mine to take it. “It’s very nice to meet you, Sarah. I hope this guy is taking care of you.”

A rush of jealousy sweeps through me, and I nearly crack my molars trying to keep from snarling at him to stop touching Sarah. Which is ridiculous—I’ve known Nolan for years and would trust him with my life. And he would never, ever do anything to hurt a woman.

He’s just shaking her hand. That’s all. There’s no reason to be jealous.

Although. He’s giving her that enigmatic smile he always uses to flirt with women. And he’s still holding her hand.

I know Nolan would never hit on a woman I’m interested in, but all he knows is that Sarah is a client. A beautiful, sexy, sweet, intelligent client. He has no idea how I really feel about her.

Or maybe he does.

Releasing her hand, Nolan gives her a little nod before turning back to me. “I guess I’d better get back to the game before Erik claims he won by default. But after, we should talk. Catch up.” A tiny smirk lifts his lips. “You guys look good together, by the way.”

He darts off, presumably to stick his nose in someone else’s business, leaving me to explain his comment away.

My face inexplicably hot, I start, “Nolan’s nice, but he can be?—”

Sarah slips her hand back into mine and smiles up at me. “He does seem nice. And I’d love to get to know your friends. But did he say something about cooking? Could you use some help?”

My heart rolls over. Squeezes.

Tugging her a little closer, I reply, “I’d love some help. Maybe I could do the steaks, and you could take the dogs and burgers?”

Her smile brightens. “That sounds perfect.”

Spending the evening with Sarah, cooking with her, and introducing her to all my friends? Yeah. That sounds just about perfect.

And it is. Once we’re done cooking—and I’m doubly glad to have the help because these guys are damn vultures—we spend the next couple of hours talking and playing games with my friends. We play cornhole and a very competitive game of extreme Jenga with jumbo-sized pieces, emerging victorious at the latter after I hoist Sarah on my shoulders so she can place the last piece.

We lounge together on one of the couches, our knees bumping into each other, laughing at the stories TJ tells about his kids and looking at cute photos of baby cows from Boone and Harley’s farm. And every so often, Sarah will grab my hand or my arm for emphasis, electrifying my skin wherever she touches it.

As the evening goes on, she moves closer and closer to me, until our legs aren’t just bumping, but pressed up against each other. We’re close enough that I can catch the soft scent of her shampoo and feel her hair brushing against my arm whenever she leans in to talk.

We’re close enough that it’s torture not wrapping my arm around her, snuggling her into my side.

It’s torture being this close and not kissing her. Not telling Sarah that I feel so much more than friendly towards her.

But I can’t. If I’m thinking about kissing Sarah, or holding her, it compromises my ability to protect her. And that’s the most important thing.

That’s what I keep reminding myself as I walk with Sarah back to the ranch. It’s after midnight, and the rest of my team is still going strong, but once I noticed Sarah flagging—eyes drooping, leaning heavily against me—I knew it was time to call it a night.

She’s perked up a bit in the cooler night air, and she’s gazing up at the bright swathe of stars overhead. Abruptly, she stops and tugs me off the path and into the yard. Just as I’m about to ask if something’s wrong, she says, “It’s gorgeous, Dante. Being in the city, I forgot. But out here… you can see so many stars.”

I tilt my head up to follow her gaze. “It is beautiful,” I agree. “But not?—”

Shit. I can’t say what I was really thinking. Not now.

Sarah looks at me, a cautious hope in her eyes. “Not as beautiful as what?”

“Um.” I’m tongue-tied. Me. Thirty-eight years old, almost two decades in the Army, now the leader of an elite security company, and I can’t think of what to say.

She rests her hand on my arm as she meets my gaze. “Dante…” Her voice is soft. Uncertain.

“Sarah.” I could kiss her right now. Off the path like we are, no one would see. Sarah wouldn’t have to feel self-conscious. I could take her in my arms and we could have our first kiss here, under the stars.

But my job. My responsibilities.

“I think…” She leans closer and puts her other hand on my shoulder. After a long pause, she says, “I hope I’m not wrong…”

And then.

She kisses me.

It’s just a brush of her lips against mine. But it sets my body alive.

Everything in me springs to life. Need. Desire. Affection. This connection I’ve never felt with anyone before.

Her kiss is a question, and I want to give her an enthusiastic answer.

Yes. I want you. I care about you. I’d do anything to protect you.

But that’s the crux of it. Can I protect Sarah without my emotions clouding things?

So instead of kissing her back like every cell in my body wants, I let my lips linger against hers for only a few moments before pulling away.

Even in the dark, I can see her cheeks flush. She takes a few steps back and stammers, “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

This ache in my chest.

“Sarah… I’m sorry?—”

Her gaze drops to the ground. “No. Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t…” She stops. Takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’ll just… I’m going inside. You stay out here with your friends. Thank you for inviting me. It was nice meeting everyone.”

“It’s just that?—”

“It’s fine, Dante. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”

And before I can respond, she practically runs away from me.

Shit.

My chest feels carved out. Empty. My heart is twisted in a knot.

Do I go after her? Or will that make it even worse?

Did I do the right thing?

Or did I make a terrible mistake?