Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

10. Kavanaugh

10

KAVANAUGH

I flipped through the dossier on my new fiancée. She was beautiful, that was for certain. Long brown hair, sparkling golden eyes, the perfect lips that were made for kissing. Yeah, the senator had really outdone himself finding this one. There wasn’t a single thing he hadn’t thought of.

She was a second-generation Brit from a wealthy family. She attended Brown University and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in art history. I snorted at that little nugget of information. The most useless degree in the history of useless degrees. What the hell was she going to do with that? But it looked good to the senator. It was the perfect degree for the wife of someone like me—the son of a senator. After all, we had to keep up appearances.

And on top of those accolades, she also devoted an extraordinary amount of time to charities, spending many of her weekends elbow-deep in some cause for the needy. Commendable, but not the reason I would choose a wife. And then there was the fact that she had a dog, though I wasn’t sure how that fit into his plans yet, but I was sure it was considered in his decision.

“We’re here, sir,” the driver said, pulling up in front of the building I would be staying in when I was in town. The brownstone was historical and probably fucking perfect on the inside. I already hated it. I wanted a manufactured home. Something slapped together by factory workers. Not because I liked the house, but because I wanted to stick it to the senator and maybe embarrass him a little in the process.

“Would you like me to get your bags, sir?”

“Nope. I just have the one,” I said, reminding him the only one I carried was in the back seat with me.

I already had the keys, courtesy of the driver when I got in the car. The whole fucking thing was a disaster, but I kept reminding myself it was for a greater purpose. I just had to suck it up. I flung the door open and stepped out, fingering the keys as I walked to the door. I fucking hated living in the city. Everything about it felt so wrong.

Despite it being night, I felt eyes on me everywhere. There was no underground silo with cameras up to keep an eye on the entrance, and there was no mansion to retreat to at the end of the night, filled with loud voices and beer. It was just this fucking townhouse and a woman I didn’t know waiting inside.

I headed up the stairs, each step feeling like a noose around my neck. I wanted to turn and run out the door, but that wouldn’t help the situation any. It was only for a few weeks, and I’d head home on the weekends just so I didn’t throw myself off the highest building to escape the senator.

From outside the apartment door, I could hear the sound of music from inside, but it wasn’t what I liked to listen to. I sighed as I shoved the key in the lock and opened the door to the strains of Tchaikovsky or whatever the fuck was playing. I dropped my bag in the entry and shut the door, taking in the opulence of my temporary home.

“Fuck me,” I muttered. Everything was covered in gold and rose colors. The floors were tiled and my footsteps echoed as I walked further into the home. A fucking chandelier hung in the center of the foyer, lighting the place up the like the Fourth of July.

I shoved my fingers through my hair as I entered the main room. I wouldn’t call it a living room since not a single fucking person alive would dare try to live in the space. The furniture was…well, it was unlike anything I’d seen before. I didn’t even want to touch it for fear I might dirty the pristine white cloth .

The windows were another problem. There were way too fucking many of them, and they took up too much of the walls. Without security, it was a walking nightmare. I headed out of the main room and into the open kitchen. It was a chef’s dream, not that I cared. I didn’t plan on cooking much. Beyond that was a bedroom so elaborately decorated that it could only be used for pictures. No person would actually be comfortable in the room. Hell, I would have nightmares just from the mirror attached to the ceiling over the bed. Who the fuck did that, anyway?

“Oh, you’re here.”

I turned and faced my new fiancée, my eyes skimming over her body. Yes, she was beautiful, but she was way too fucking put together. She stood in front of me in beige pants, perfectly pleated and cinched at the waist with a belt. The white top she wore accentuated her neckline, drawing my eyes to her delicate collarbone while also showing off her toned arms. I sighed at the outfit, hoping she wouldn’t actually be the robot I feared.

She shifted from one foot to the other, standing up straighter as she waited for me to say something. “I’m Olivia. Olivia Crawford.”

“Kavanaugh.”

She cocked her head at me. “Bradford, right?”

I shook my head once. “Don’t ever call me that.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Anything but that,” I said, striding past her out of the room. “Where are you staying?”

“Um…that’s my room,” she said, motioning to the room I just left.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You actually stay in that room?”

“Why?”

“Did you see it? It’s all…white.”

“I know. I hired the decorator.”

Christ. I ran my hand over the stubble on my jaw. “Just how long have you known you would be moving in here?”

“About a month.”

Fuck, a month. Looks like the senator was planning this for a while. “Where’s my room?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, almost looking offended .

I was about to walk away when the look on her face stopped me. “My room.”

“Oh…I assumed…aren’t you sharing a room with me?”

I could feel my eyes bug out. I must have looked like a fucking cartoon character as I stared at her. Was she fucking serious? She thought we’d share a room?

“Why would I share a room with you?” I asked, stepping closer to her. “We just met.”

“I just assumed…I mean, we’re engaged,” she said, her eyes shooting down as she shifted uncomfortably.

“Is that what he told you? That this is all real?”

Her eyes flicked up to mine and her cheeks burned in embarrassment.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “Just what exactly did the senator tell you?”

I watched as she struggled to compose herself. It was clear she was thrown off by this new development, and I actually felt bad for her.

“He…he said he needed…well, you needed…a wife,” she said, stumbling over her words.

“Did he, now? And did he tell you that I have a life somewhere else? That this is only temporary?”

The apples of her cheeks grew to an intense red color and she shook her head slightly.

“Let’s make this clear right now, Olivia. The only reason I’m here and going along with this charade is because I need information. The senator knows that. It wasn’t my idea to bring you in, and I’m not actually marrying you. This was all a setup. A fucking sham so he could manipulate me, but it’s not going to work. I will never be his puppet. You got that?”

She gave a jerky nod, visibly shaken by the lies the senator told her. I couldn’t blame her for being upset, but on the other hand, what kind of woman handed herself over to someone she’d never met? Was this about money? Position? I had neither to offer her, and I wasn’t about to start up anything with a woman who didn’t seem to have a mind of her own .

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I clearly didn’t understand the full magnitude of what was going on.”

Shit. Tears sparked in her eyes and she quickly brushed them away. This wasn’t her fault. Not entirely, anyway. The senator probably lied his ass off to get her to agree to this.

“Look, if you want out, it’s not too late.”

“It is for me,” she laughed humorlessly. “Contract signed.”

I tensed at her words. “Contract. Do you have a copy of it?”

She nodded.

“I want to see that.”

She hesitated, then seemed to straighten and pull herself together. “I’ll get it for you.”

As she walked away, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She clearly had no idea how much she was being manipulated by the senator. But I had years of experience with him. I knew better than to take anything with him at face value.

This was going to be a learning curve, one that I had a feeling would not turn out well for either of us.

A knock at my bedroom door had me glancing up from the paperwork I was looking over. The contract was fucking iron clad and she had little hope of getting out of it anytime soon. The problem was, how the hell did he plan on enforcing the contract when I left? Was he going to keep her around, waiting to see if I would give in to his demands? It didn’t make any fucking sense.

Olivia smiled hesitantly at me. “I was just wondering if you wanted a drink.”

“No, I’m good. I’m just going over this contract.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “Did you find anything out?”

“Other than the fact that you’re screwed?”

She ducked her head in embarrassment, biting her lip. “I’m sorry. I just assumed…I had no idea it was all a trick.”

“That’s the senator for you,” I sighed, letting the paper fall to the desk. “What else did he promise you? ”

“Just what’s in the contract,” she murmured. “I thought…I don’t know what I thought,” she chuckled. “I was hoping to start over.”

“Why?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t go home and?—”

Whatever it was, she wasn’t ready to tell me yet. I felt bad for her. The senator had a charming way of pulling people in and getting them to do exactly what he wanted. She didn’t stand a chance. There was obviously something else going on that she wasn’t ready to share, and until she told me, I couldn’t help her.

“You know what? I think I will have that drink.”

I stood from the desk and walked over to where she shifted in the doorway. “Okay.”

Her shy smile had me shaking myself internally. I was a sucker for a woman like this. Shy, intimidated, but still sexy as hell. It’s not that I wanted to date her, but I wanted to protect her from whatever my father had up his sleeve. She was clearly overwhelmed by what was going on.

“Wine?” she asked, walking over to the bar.

I winced. “Don’t you have anything more manly?”

A slight chuckle left her lips as she poured a glass of wine. “And what is more manly?”

“Whiskey, vodka…beer.”

“We don’t have beer, but I think we have some whiskey.”

She bent over, digging through the lower part of the cabinet. I averted my gaze from staring at her ass. As nice as she seemed to be, the Jackie O look really didn’t do it for me.

“Here,” she smiled, holding up the bottle triumphantly. “I don’t know how you take it.”

“In a glass is the best way,” I grinned, walking over to her. She poured and handed me the glass, then picked up her own.

“What shall we drink to?”

“How about being railroaded by the senator?”

Her smile faltered, but she clinked her glass against mine and took a sip. I was just raising my glass to my lips when my phone went off. It was Red.

“Hey, you guys on your way? ”

“We’re just getting on the road. We should be there by morning.”

“What the fuck is taking you so long?”

Silence met me for a beat. “There was an explosion.”

“Yeah? Did Edu blow up another building?”

“No, it was at Isla’s house.”

I tensed at his words, the whole room spinning around me for just a second, then crashing to a halt. “What happened?” I asked, immediately going into work mode.

“There was a bomb in her fridge. She was there with Fox when it happened. Luckily, he wasn’t injured.”

“He wasn’t injured,” I repeated. “What happened to Isla?”

“The fridge door was blocking her, so it took the brunt of the explosion, but she was banged up quite a bit.”

“Who the fuck put a bomb in her house?” I snapped, slamming the glass on the table as I stormed away.

“We’re still working on that. Our initial suspect is, of course, her husband, but he’s currently at work.”

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t drive to her house and plant it in her fridge,” I seethed.

“Yeah, but we need proof, and until then, we have to wait for the evidence to come in.”

Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair and tried to gather my fraying nerves. “Alright, how is she?”

“I’m not sure. She’s headed to the hospital.”

“I want someone on her?—”

“Already done.”

I frowned slightly. “Who’s protecting her?”

“IKE.”

What the fuck was he doing in town? And why would they put him on her? “Since when is IKE back?”

“Don’t know. He showed up after the explosion and just kind of took over.”

I didn’t like it, but if he was there protecting her, I wasn’t going to argue. “I want him with her around the clock. What about her sister?”

“She was on a run when it happened. She’s okay.”

“There needs to be a security system installed and?— ”

“Kavanaugh, relax. We’re on it. Cash approved everything the moment Fox called it in. We’re taking care of your girl.”

I shoved my hand through my hair as I forced myself not to rush back home to her. I wanted to desperately. It had only been a couple of days since she walked back into my life, but I already felt like I found a piece of me that was missing. And now she was hurt.

But if I left, it would ruin the plans I’d already put in motion.

“I’ll call you if there are any more updates.”

“Tell IKE I want hourly updates. No fucking excuses.”

“Sure,” Red snorted. “I’m sure he’ll comply with that.”

“He’d better. I’m already fucking irritated with the way things are going with the senator. I need just one fucking thing to go my way.”

“He’s getting under your skin already?”

He had no fucking clue. I glanced at Olivia across the room. I’d almost forgotten about her since she was basically an ornament in the room. She wasn’t my real fiancée, and I didn’t give a shit about her other than the fact that we were stuck in the same situation until I could get the information I needed.

“There’s a change of plans,” I said, still staring at Olivia. “I’ll fill you in when you get here.”

“Shit, I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Well, you’re really not going to like it when you get here.”

“You know, I’m really starting to hate this job.”

“That makes two of us,” I said as I hung up the phone.

Fuck. A bomb. Her husband was the prime suspect. I didn’t know much about her, but I knew her husband was a shitbag. But he was also a cop. Would he really risk everything by planting a bomb in her house? I would say yes, but I needed to see all the information first.

Goddamnit, I wanted to be at home right now so I could check on her. I hated the idea of her being all alone. Thankfully, despite IKE’s less-than-thrilling demeanor, I knew he was good at what he did. He would keep her safe.

“Is everything alright?” Olivia asked.

I glanced up, surprised to find her not more than three feet from me. “Uh…I hope so. A friend of mine was in an accident.”

“A bomb?” she asked, tilting her head to the side .

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It just sounded really intense.”

“It’s fine,” I said, brushing it off. I stalked over to the table where my drink sat and tossed it back. I wasn’t normally a whiskey man, but hell, at this point, I’d take anything.

I hated being so far away from the action. I just wanted to see her and make sure everything was okay, but if she was in the hospital, calling her wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. I would have to wait for an update, and until that came in, I was left cooling my heels.

I pulled up IKE’s number and shot off a text, demanding that he give me updates regularly. It didn’t matter that Red already took care of it. I wanted him to know I was fucking serious. I waited for his reply, but got nothing. Maybe he was in the hospital with her right now. If that was the case, I was only distracting him from his job.

“Another?” Olivia asked.

“No, I think I’ll get some more work done. Goodnight.”

I walked away without another glance at the woman who, as of tomorrow, would be my fiancée. I should probably get to know her better, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it tonight when Isla was on my mind.